I know its just the preseason, but what did you take away?

by Center on Dec 20, 2011 10:53 PM EST

My thoughts are below.

+ Tyler Hansbrough is beginning the season with the form he had last year, mid-range jumper looks very good, great off the glass. He even made a couple of good dump-offs for baskets, which has been a knock on him since college (can't pass)

+ Danny Granger looked a little pouty to me and did some very typical kinds of things. Jacked up a few ill-advised shots, made a couple of them. Played good defense in stretches, but seemed to fall out of focus at times. I know Granger tends to have bad preseasons, and I hope that is all this presages.

+ Lance Stephenson has game. He definitely showed his talent. And he also hogged 4 possessions in a row shortly after being put in. 4 good moves, one basket, no ball movement = bench. He seemed to be putting a bit more effort in on defense though.

+ Paul George continues to assert himself offensively (and defensively, but we knew that). Once he begins to put it together and cut down on the turnovers, he could be this amazing player people keep talking about.

+ Darren Collison looked steady but not great. If we keep up with the pick and pop game, however, I think he will begin to find his comfort zone.

+ George Hill's shot remained a bit rough early, but he seemed to find his rhythm in the second half. He definitely seems to be a more natural "2" than "1", and hopefully either Lance or AJ steps up enough that we can play him there.

+ Joakim Noah made Roy Hibbert look bad offensively. We were forcing it in to him early, had some trouble, and then never really came back to it, I think. Not sure what the problem was specifically, other than Noah being a very good defender and the Bulls dropping down on him when the Pacers couldn't buy a shot early.

+ David West definitely did not look to be in game shape. However, we saw what we should be able to get from him in flashes tonight: good but not great D-rebounding, a nice mid-range jumper, and better than average defense. I did not see much in the pick-and-pop/roll game from him tonight, aside from one bucket late. That is supposed to be his specialty, and I expect to see more of it as he gets adjusted.

++ As a whole....

Effort looked good, but sloppy. Definitely looks like we have a lot more gelling to do. Offensively, we looked better but not good (compared to last year). We shot like crap early, but this is a team full of good shooters. That will come around as long as the shot selection gets a bit better. Defensively, however, we did not look good at all. A lot of mental errors, and Rose killed us like the MVP he was last year, but aside from the sloppiness something just seemed off.

Your thoughts?

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Comments

nice analysis, I agree with you on most points

although I don’t think D rose was the problem, more like team defense and ball movement.

by latrell spreewel on Dec 20, 2011 11:20 PM EST reply actions

fair enough

Out general team defense did seem to be a bit off. There were definitely several times when people made the right move, rotating for help D, but just got over late.

Something that really bothers me, which I saw the Pacers do several times tonight, was fail to foul hard enough. I am not saying you need to knock a guy down or anything, but if you choose to foul someone so that they can’t get an easy shot, you need to really foul them. 4-5 times tonight we fouled someone in the lane and allowed them to follow through and have a decent shot at getting the +1.

Print It.

by Center on Dec 20, 2011 11:25 PM EST up reply actions

I feel like I saw that all year last year.

Alot of times it was younger guys, or softer guys. Which led me to believe that they either had a hard time deciding whether to pull back or foul hard. It’s tough.

peac.e

by trucutter on Dec 21, 2011 9:29 PM EST up reply actions

Bulls fan here

I like Paul George, he could be “A Superstar in the Making”.

by wee-un on Dec 21, 2011 12:50 AM EST reply actions

Pacer fan here

I like Derrick Rose, he could be “A Superstar in the Making”.

Check out my website at www.bradwellssucks.com

by daledavis on Dec 21, 2011 7:23 AM EST up reply actions

saw a lot of good and a lot of unfamiliar players playing together ....

David West – Will be a great veteran presence on this young team. He will be the 2nd or 3rd leading scorer on the team. His knee looks good in the limited time he was on the court. It’s a testament to his rehab over the months.

Tyler Hansbrough – Will be finally become the real deal this year. It’ll be hard to take him out of the starting rotation if he continues to rebound, defend, draw fouls, and hit the 15 ft jumper consistently. If he continues the current output what will be the Pacer’s response with him and D. West? I don’t know but it will be interesting to say the least.

Collison – Is a great facilitator and fast as all hell, but he drives way too much … sometimes bringing the offense to a standstill

G. Hill – hasn’t looked good in the preseason. He is still getting his legs (all his shots were short) and getting to know the new players

Stephenson – might seriously have the 2nd largest upside of any player on our roster behind Paul George. I’m hoping he gets minutes at SG (not just PG) to show his game and what he can do. Seems the young guy is growing up!

Granger – Not looking good at all besides hitting the three. I don’t think Granger fits in well with the group as a whole bringing the offense and sometimes the defense to a stretching hault. I believe that he plays till the trading deadline and he is moved. If he is moved in a deal with Eric Gordon I think everyone will rejoice … PG goes to SF with EG at SG with stephenson behind him … IF only it was that easy

Hibbert – Needs to toughen up … the man is the 2nd tallest player in the NBA, puts in all the work you’d ever want, great attitude, and has the ability .. it’s time for him to put up or shut up … Noah and Boozer THREW HIM AROUND … no reason Hibbert shouldn’t be averaging 18 and 10 a game … Time will Tell

Paul George – Will be our future all-star with maybe Hansbrough. He has the ability, work ethic, and situation to be “special.” He’s the better “Granger” on this team, but he still has a hell of a maturation process to get to that point still

Foster – Makes me chuckle everytime I see his hustle, defense, and rebounding … He pisses every player off on the other team, does his job so well, and makes every player on HIS team love that they play with him … Every time I see Boozer, Gibson, and Noah B#$%^% when he guards them I just smile!

D. Jones – Continues to do most if not all the things he is NOT good at on the 2nd unit … wish we could just pencil him in as our defensive stopper and get him to stop doing everything else

B. Rush – Oh yeah I forgot he was traded …. surprised i didn’t notice ….

I still feel we are one other big scorer away… We trade Granger and whatever else to make that happen at trade deadline or seasons end it would be great …

IND: Eric Gordon, Okafor

NOLA: Granger, 1st round pick in 2013 (can’t give up 2012 b/c we traded it to get G. Hill), and whatever else to get the deal done

by actionjack853 on Dec 21, 2011 1:00 AM EST reply actions

agreed with alot of what you said

but i think collison needs to drive more and be more aggresive. iv seen alot of good things happen when he gets to the rim or even mid-range. as far as the trade goes…. wait till the trade deadline and see how things are going and if gordons not injured.

by hoosier18 on Dec 21, 2011 1:38 AM EST up reply actions

Agreed

by actionjack853 on Dec 21, 2011 8:24 PM EST up reply actions

I agree with most of this

And I’m a huge Eric Gordon apologist. But I don’t think it’s time to trade DG for him. Granger needs a year with this group, just like the rest of the team needs a year together, before we make any moves. Besides, I think a sign-and-trade next off-season is probably more likely.

A few more things:

I’m starting to agree with people who say Stephenson deserves minutes…I’m just not sure where. His skill set obviously dictates that he should have the ball in his hands. He doesn’t move well without the ball, and seems to be able to get to the rim with ease, though he doesn’t finish consistently enough yet, nor do his passes look particularly NBA-caliber-smart. So I’m not sure if 1 or 2 is where he needs to be. Seems like our backcourt would be a little ball-dominant if he played with DC in a rotation, but if he played with George, he could guard opposing larger 2s, though I’m not sold on his defense yet…

I think HIbbert’s problem continues to be the same problem that most tentative bigs have, starting with grade school. It’s al confidence. He’s tried to be slender Roy. He’s tried to be bulky Roy. He’s tried jump hook Roy, jump shot Roy and head fake Roy. He needs to just work on being simple drop-step and crash toward the basket Roy. He’s not drawing double-teams like a 7’2 player should, and he’s not any better at dominating with his size than he was his first year in the league. And the worst part is his confidence will be shot if he’s not handled properly.

PG-Love him. Moving on.

West-I’m not in panic mode yet. Like you, I think he’ll be a valuable addition. I was worried about the knee this off-season, but the gamble is so minimal given the length we gave him, that I had no problem when they signed him. I feel like a worse-case scenario is he doesn’t get into game shape until the second half of the season, and Hansbrough, as you said, has been more than capable with starter’s minutes so far, going back to his stint as a starter last year when he was one of the team’s leading scorers.

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by LukeNukem on Dec 21, 2011 6:18 AM EST up reply actions

we didn't give up the 2012 pick. i thought we got G.hill for our 2011 1st, our two 2nd rounds, and stanko. i hope am right because 2012 draft is known to be deep.

by the pac on Dec 21, 2011 7:06 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

Yep, you are correct

There is some ambiguity on trading back-to-back picks though, but I’m pretty sure it’s allowed as long as it’s not in the same trade (like I can’t trade my 2012 and 2013 picks for the same player/s). But I could be wrong.

"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"

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by LukeNukem on Dec 21, 2011 8:07 AM EST up reply actions

Should be fine

They drafted Leonard so they can trade the 2013 pick. I’m pretty sure that a team could keep drafting players and then immediately trade them and do this year after year.

by pendulum55 on Dec 21, 2011 8:26 AM EST up reply actions

Hib is the weakest

Right now Hibbert could be the weakest player on the front line and with many teams in the NBA you could get away with starting West and Hans. As long as the other team doesn’t have a tall scoring C we would be ok.

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by daledavis on Dec 21, 2011 7:26 AM EST up reply actions

Am I the only one that saw Hansbrough get lit up on defense last night?

He definitely scored more than I thought he would, but he got abused on D and made a lot of bad rotations or didn’t pick them up at all. The team defense wasn’t exactly stellar last night, so that plays a mitigating role. I just don’t see why people were so tough on McRoberts for lacking defensive presence when Hansbrough doesn’t show it either.

He gives a ton of effort but he seemed lost on defense and just outclassed against Boozer or Gibson.

by redmid17 on Dec 21, 2011 10:45 AM EST up reply actions

Yikes.

Sounds like last year with a few new names and no “but he’s a really smart player and just knows how to move the ball and help the offense flow”…attached to Mike Dunleavy.

peac.e

by trucutter on Dec 21, 2011 9:32 PM EST up reply actions

3 keys

Shooting, Defensive rebounding, and assists, are the three biggest things we need to work on. Our offense sucks, and the only two highlights so far have been George and Hans. Hibbert looks iffy but the hook seems to be getting a little better. Not as awkward when goes up for a shot. Love our offensive glass work, and we seem to be a better free throw shooting team as opposed to last year. I like how we are protecting the ball better. Avg 12 turnovers, but last year they had plenty of 20 plus turnover games. Can’t wait for Amundson to play for us. He is going to be fun to watch with the goon squad. Tyler is definitely ready, and I think he should start the first few weeks of the season. Hill seemed better this game, as did Lance. Glad the games start to count Monday.

by The_Dawson on Dec 21, 2011 1:15 AM EST reply actions

WOW!!!!!

Not too long ago we had a ton of Tyler haters. Where have they all gone now? Glad to see some became a “born again” Tyler believer.

by denggoy7 on Dec 21, 2011 7:41 AM EST reply actions

I never hated Tyler...never thought he could be a long-term answer at starting PF

But last year he proved to me that we wouldn’t be screwed if we couldn’t go out and land a star PF FA. I still think Tyler is what he is. The play we’ve seen from Tyler in the pre-season is really nothing new. It’s the same Tyler we saw through most of the month of March last year, and in game 1 vs. the Bulls in the first round series…until they figured him out. I’d still like to see some improved decision making on his part, which he’s sort of shown in flashes through two games with his passing. He still gets a head of steam though, and tunnel vision, and I don’t think that’s ever going away. All in all, there’s no reason to complain about Tyler Hansbrough. He makes the team better, I just don’t think he, or David West really, will make the team good enough to contend with some of the best bigs in the league.

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by LukeNukem on Dec 21, 2011 8:11 AM EST up reply actions

- Hans is going to look good coming off the bench like he should. His weaknesses won’t be as apparent and his strengths will shine.

- George could be really really really good.

- I still don’t see what others see in Lance.

- I really really wish we had got Mayo. The fact that D. Jones is in the rotation scares me.

- I am losing confidence in Hibbert. And this seaso nis huge. If we lock him down to a huge contract and this is all we aregetting then we are screwed.

- The people saying “we will challenge the Bulls for the division title” are off their rocker.

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by dbcb on Dec 21, 2011 9:14 AM EST reply actions

Should've traded Hibbs for Minny 1st.

"A champion is someone who gets up when he can't."
- Jack Dempsey

by infinityzero.systemerror on Dec 21, 2011 10:06 AM EST up reply actions

I agree

I don’t think they would have really done that. I remember when it was supposedly on the table, but I doubt seriously it would’ve worked. We’d still need a center, but who knows what would’ve happened…

Eh, Hibbert’s still probably better than 60-70% of the league’s starting centers. He’s just going to struggle against very good interior defenders.

"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"

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by LukeNukem on Dec 21, 2011 10:30 AM EST up reply actions