INCOMING!!! And we thought the Pacers defense was exposed in the last few games? Well, Phoenix has to feel pretty confident coming into the Fieldhouse tonight. They average 111 points per game and the recent defensive collapse of the Pacers must have them ready for a feeding frenzy at the hoop. Maybe the gold rush mentality will draw the Suns out of their game plan and the Pacers can put a solid effort together to post a W. Hey, the World needs dreamers, too. It wouldn't be the first time the Pacers won a game that they appeared to have no chance of winning. Of course, the Suns haven't lost a road game to an Eastern Conference team this year so I wouldn't advise laying any lunch money on the Pacers. In fact, the Suns are a win tonight and tomorrow against Philly from a road sweep of the East. That should be sufficient motivation to keep them focused tonight.
For a primer on what's going on with the Suns go check out Bright Side of the Sun.
REG REDUX
Reggie returning to action with the Mavs? This story raises the possibility. Makes for an interesting story but I find it hard to believe. The Mavs don't appear to need any help, so where will Reggie's minutes come from. Josh Howard's injury should be healed by the time Reggie would be ready to play.
Hey, if it happens and Reggie gets time and contributes to a championship, I'll be pulling hard for the Mavs. It all just seems to contradict his mindset up to this point. In a recent conversation on the Rick Carlisle Show, Reggie sounded quite happy with his current schedule on TNT and his new career as movie producer. Those won't go anywhere, but if he wanted to take a back seat role for a shot at ring, he would've done that a few years ago. Never say never, I guess.
PAINFUL LOOK BACK
Darrell Armstrong's post game comments after the Kings game sounded like an indictment of the teams preparation.
Mike Wells reports today that those DA is backing off the harsh post-game tone. He should. It's not like Kevin Martin and Mike Bibby weren't on the scouting report. Martin is the Kings'leading scorer so he had to be accounted for. Sounds more like a players' mind set to me. Like many Pacer fans, the players know Ronnie's MO can be to dominate the ball when he's intent on making a point. I understand that's what they were expecting, but when he didn't show up the top defensive targets become Martin and Bibby. If that was a surprise to DA or any Pacer then they are beyond coaching help. It's not like John Salmons or Kenny Thomas jumped up and went off for 30. Martin and Bibby needed to be accounted for but no one stepped up to the challenge, so instead we needed an accountant to add up their combined point total.
Please share your game thoughts (and frustrations) right here.