IC Cold Links: Pacers Lose Collison in 2nd, But Not the Game Until the Final Few Minutes
Wow, what a game last night! After watching the final quarter of the Miami HEAT v. Philadelphia 76ers game, my mind couldn't help but wonder about a similar game 2 for the Indiana Pacers. As we all know, these young guys have a tendancy for a let down after big games. This was yet another big game and these guys showed up huge again! Darren Collison goes down in the 2nd, creating a need for T.J. Ford...yep, same guy who was put on the trading block and granted permission to not travel with the team for a good portion of the second half of the season. I have to commend Ford for handling everything so professionally...he was given every opportunity to pout and detach from this team, but he shows up big while Collison was out last night.
I personally can't wait until Thursday's game. I think with the combination of the Pacers play and with the home crowd supporting them they could pull out a couple this week! Throughout last night's game, I kept thinking to myself, Paul George is playing great defense on Derrick Rose. However, Rose still ends up with a huge game and was easily the difference once again.
After the jump, check out the links of the day and more thoughts on last night's game...
I am not sure if many of you listened to Sir Charles during half time of the game, but he had some high praise for this young Pacers team! It's neat hearing "experts" express the same optimism for the future of the Pacers that this crowd shares here at IC. We have the potential to be a little biased, as we are all Pacers fans..so, hearing Barkely's praise and others is very refreshing.
If you are able, check out the Playoff Rally at Kroger's on 86th and Township today (see below for details). As Coach Frank Vogel would say, "Jump on the bandwagon, it's gonna be a fun ride!"...he was right, this has been a ton of fun so far...
- Box Score
- PACERS: Game Rewind - Bulls 96, Pacers 90
- PACERS: Playoff Rally at Kroger
- Another close one for the Pacers | Pacers Insider blog | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com
- Pacers fall into 2-game hole vs. Bulls, worry about Collison | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com
- Kravitz: Pacers do everything right but win | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com
- What Happened On That Pacers' Double Team? - NBA Playbook
- Indiana Pacers: Pacers try to limit Derrick Rose's touches - chicagotribune.com
- Chicago Bulls beat Indiana Pacers 96-90 for 2-0 series lead - chicagotribune.com Game recap from Chicago Tribune...
- 2011 NBA playoffs: Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls follow a familiar formula - ESPN Chicago Pacers getting some nice praise here....
- Derrick Rose pours in 36 as Pacers fall short again in Game 2 - NBA - SI.com Rookie Paul George gets some credit for his solid defense against Rose
- Miller: No interest in a coaching job | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com
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That's all - Indiana better have a packed house for Game 3 and 4
MikeWellsNBA Security was called over to the section where Pacers fans were sitting cause Bulls fans were throwing things at them during the game
probably
cheap bandwagon trash (sadly Chicago has the biggest set of bandwagon fans in the country especially when it comes to the Bulls). I’m sorry about that.
"4 inches, baby!" --ripped off from Kush
1/27/11 - The day the nerdosphere and their stats jumped the shark, trying to use them to disprove the obvious.
by anorexorcist on Apr 19, 2011 10:31 AM EDT up reply actions
Bandwagon fans
I’m not sure if bandwagon is the precise word – maybe more like dormant. Those fans went into hiding during the lottery years and picked a great time to come out of their slumber. I don’t think they were cheering for anyone else during that downtime – just not caring.
I do think there will be a good number of legit bandwagon fans in Indy supporting Chicago. I hope like hell they get drowned out.
Go Pacers!
by STLPacerFan on Apr 19, 2011 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions
Nope
Miami. Not even close. They don’t even have local fans, I don’t think. At least there are some legit Bulls fans and it’s an actual great sports town.
"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"
Come visit The Fantasy Ninjas. We'd love to hear from you.
Miami takes the cake for sure. I just know too many Bulls “fans” that couldn’t name me a player other than Rose prior to the playoffs.
Bulls fan test:
When you see a Bulls fan freaking out that “WE CAN’T WIN A PLAYOFF SERIES WITH KEITH BOGANS STARTING!”, tell them “Luc Longley disagrees” and see how long it takes them to respond.
ASIK AND DESTROY
Oh no doubt
There’s no way Bill Cartwright would even make the 15 man roster on this year’s Chicago team! Talent is better from top to bottom. It could be a lot worse than Bogans.
"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"
Come visit The Fantasy Ninjas. We'd love to hear from you.
well put.
tho i would say that there might be more bandwagon fans of the Blackhawks
Harper's on Miller, McKey, gets in to Miller for the win and...
Hail to the Orange.
Hail to the Blue.
Hail Alma Mater,
Ever so true.
We love no other,
So let our motto be
Victory, Illinois, Varsity.
Chief Illiniwek lives
by wonillionaire on Apr 19, 2011 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions
Paul George
Loved this from cnnsi
• Despite Rose’s gaudy numbers and strong finish, he was also forced into six turnovers and shot 11-of-25 from the floor. Paul George deserves a ton of credit for quality defensive work against Rose throughout the game. The 6-foot-8 rookie used his length to contain Rose about as well as one could ask, and also had four blocks and three steals in an active performance. Given how good George looked as a rookie shooting guard playing against a possible MVP point guard, he has to be considered potential All-Defensive team material in the future.
Love this from Wilbon:
Don’t waste time with the argument that it’s only the Pacers, the seven-games-under-.500 Pacers, because the Pacers have a better roster by miles than fourth-seeded Orlando and play with a passion the Atlanta Hawks couldn’t possibly understand. Whichever of those two the Bulls get in the second round won’t come close to testing the Bulls the way the Pacers will over this series.
Finally getting some respect.
As a Bulls fan...
There was pretty much a consensus that we’d rather have had the Hawks (though we’ll be happy if they off the Magic) or 76ers in round 1. Though the Bulls just aren’t playing well right now for whatever reason, and that’s a good part of what’s going on, the Pacers are just a really good match against some of the higher-seeded teams. Very gritty, overall big team, and very physical. If you look at a big part of the Bulls offense, it’s either Rose driving or Noah/Boozer posting. Normally big guys aren’t a huge problem for Rose, because he can speed right through them, but the Pacers have a lot of bigs, and they’re not just big — they’re very athletic, too. They do a great job of collapsing and clogging the lane. And Boozer is just playing way too soft, he isn’t going to win a lot of his ground fights. The normal option to kick out is being slaughtered by abnormally bad shooting these first couple games, so that makes it even worse.
With the Pacers combination of size, grit, and athleticism (especially on defense), all it takes is a good shooting streak and they become an incredibly deadly team. The best thing you guys are doing this series is reminding people how little a regular season record means — being a fan of a team in the NFL Central Division, I’m already tired of hearing the “X team doesn’t deserve to be in the playoffs” argument. Players have to go through so much to make it to the pros. The difference between a 62 win team and a 37 win team can be remarkably narrow, sometimes that 37 win team just needs a small addition to get them over the hump to win consistently. And the gap is narrow enough that if the 37 win team goes into the post season with more heart, they can cover it easily.
ASIK AND DESTROY
Collison
I don’t think nearly enough was made about Collison’s injury. I’m not saying they need to completely revamp the first row (though the lower bowl would be cleared out if it were Rose’s ankle) but rather acknowledge the lead the Pacers had when Collison went out.
Someone should have gone over and chewed out that photographer
He had his legs sticking way out, and did not even try to retract them as the play came his way. What a slob!
never really could bring myself to blame Rodman
for kicking that cameraman in the nuts way back when
I don't know what to do. At all.
Dick Stockton is off his meds
He spent the whole night mispronouncing things, calling fouls that never happened, or generally confused about nearly everything (Chris Webber gushing about interior passing and accurately calling Granger a ballhog every time he touched the rock didn’t help). I’m not surprised he didn’t spend adequate time on Collison’s injury.
"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"
Come visit The Fantasy Ninjas. We'd love to hear from you.

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