Kelly Dwyer of BDL Tears the Pacers Apart

I like most of Dwyer's blog posts. His attitude/tone is a bit off putting sometimes, but overall I like him. And he posts for a large sports website (yahoo) so his opinion... matters.

Tuesday  was bash the Pacers day! At least you think he could wait until after a horrible loss not a win. But none the less, after the jump, notable quotes from Mr. Dwyer.

 

Kevin Love is averaging 15.6 points and 12.5 rebounds in just under 32 minutes. And 2.7 assists (or 1.3 assists fewer, per game, than your starting point guard). Those are ridiculous numbers, for a man in his prime. Much less a guy who turned 21 four months ago and is playing with a Power Glove on his strong hand.

Cackle all you want about PER, but he's 12th in the league. His rebounding, per the amount of rebounds available with him on the court, is virtually identical to Dwight Howard. He's not only a franchise player, but he's a top-notch franchise player.

(That is to say, "not Danny Granger.")

Ouch... don't understand the Danny Granger dig here. The trade offered was never Granger for Kevin Love. I don't see the point of bringing up Granger when talking about Love.

This is a team that won 36 games last year with a few players having career years and Danny Granger scoring 26 a game over 67 contests. That's just about the peak, and yet, Bird thinks he can crack .500. Won't trade Granger (again, leading a team to 36 wins while dropping 26 a game over 67 contests) for Al Harrington Jefferson at his absolute cheapest (a year removed from managing 23 and 11, at his lowest trade value coming off an ACL tear).

So wait... Danny Granger's 26ppgs for a 36 win team in 67 games isn't good. But Jeffereson averaging 23-11 for a 24 win team in only 50 games is a ton better?

Is this what you want, Indiana? Are you satisfied with a comeback win over the mercurial Toronto Raptors, one that saw your Pacers give up 51 points in the game's opening 16 minutes?

Two things here.

1. No one is satified with anything. Look at the attendence. Look at the comments on this site. No one is happy with this team and the direction the team is heading.

2. Why focus on the negatives for the Pacers for THIS game. yes... we sucked the first 16 minutes. But where is the dig at Toronto for letting a team bad enough to give up 51 points in 16 minutes come back and beat you? Oh and why not focus on the Good in the game? Granger owning Bosh at the defensive end in the 4th quarter? Second round pick AJ Price coming in and producing... SECOND ROUND POINT GUARD!

Because Bird thinks you are. Bird thinks you're just a step away. How else do you explain these win-now moves? Dahntay Jones. No big trades. Not trading Troy Murphy(notes) at his peak, the ultimate sell-high moment. Drafting a 24-year old.

1. No big trades... who the hell would want anything on our roster to facilitate a big trade?

2. Not trading Murphy... at least wait until after the trade deadline to bash Bird. If he doesn't trade Murphy when their seems to be interest I will gladly lead the charge. Until then... I will sit back and pray like the rest of th Pacer fan base.

3. drafing a 24 year old... he just needed to add "that isn't any goodand with better players on the board" for it to be a perfect statement. Thats just my opinion though :)

4. Bird thinks your a step away... sadly it was true. This off season he did for whatever reason. Hopeful... HOPEFULLY he sees the error in his ways now and unloads some of these guys.

It's ridiculous. And Dahntay Jones finally reveals himself as exactly who we thought he was. Nothing against Dahntay, because he works his tail off, but he's Dahntay Jones. For some reason, Larry Bird thought Dahntay Jones could become Dahntay Jones!

 

I don't think anyone expected anything out of D. Jones but some defense and some toughness. Any scoring was to be seen as a bonus. I think people got spoiled, including JOB, by his hot offensive start. I still believe he should be starting for Head (Head is not any good...) or backing up Rush at the 2... if for anything to get some trade value out of him if it comes down to it. I never thought there would be a completely article on a player that makes less money per year then Mark freaking Madson.

for the full articles go here

agree, disagree with either of us below. At least the Pacers are getting some attention!