An Evening with Indy Cornrows

Five o’clock is considered evening this time of year, right? Anyways, with one day before the season opener in L.A., we were able to exchange questions with Tom Lewis of the excellent Indiana Pacers blog Indy Cornrows. Still think the Pacers got Pritchslapped in the Jerryd Bayless deal? Tom might try to change your mind about that. Later tonight we should have our gigantic Blazers preview up, so be on the lookout.

And now, the answers:

1. From an outsider’s perspective, what are your thoughts on the Blazers this year?

The Blazers have a bounty of young talent at every position. It’s insane. Of course, their greatest strength is also their biggest weakness. None of that young talent is a finished product and they’re all growing together trying to develop into a successful team.

If I was a Blazer fan I’d be extremely pumped to watch those guys go through the development process. Just make sure you bring a little patience because I’m sure you’ll need it at times this year. With Brandon Roy and Nate McMillan the Blazers have solid leadership to push the team to improve.

I have U-Dub ties so I’m a huge BRoy fan and I watched Greg Oden play numerous times throughout his high school career, so I naturally keep an eye on what’s going on with the Blazers. There are minor things about both of their games that bug me and I try to suppress, but hopefully they’ll both put it all together and continue to raise their level of play. I guess the biggest compliment I can give the team is that I will be seeking out their games to watch this year and I’m sure I’m not the only general NBA fan who will do so.

2. How do you see your matchup with them playing out? What part interests you the most?

The Pacers and Blazers had a couple of entertaining games last year, although maybe I enjoyed the Ws more than the actual level of play. If I recall correctly, the first game in Portland was plenty ugly. Both teams have several different players in the mix this year so I imagine the team that takes care of the ball and knocks down shots will likely win. No kidding, I know, but I don’t think either team will have to play out of their mind to beat the other. The Blazers are strong where the Pacers appear weak, in the post. A winning game plane for the Blazers should include feeding Aldridge all night and then letting Oden clean up the mess. The Pacers will have to have their perimeter shots falling and be able to control the pace which for the Pacers means pushing it into a track meet. The team that can impose their style of play on the other should have the best shot at the coveted W.

3. If you could grade the Pacers’ off-season, what would you give it?

Moving Jermaine O’Neal was incredible and probably deserves an A on its own. To have one third of the team’s salary cap tied up in a guy who didn’t want to be there, wasn’t playing yet was a polarizing figure in the locker room was steadily sucking the life out of the franchise. This off-season pumped fresh air and new life into the franchise.

The moves didn’t make the team a title contender, but they did set the team up for the future so I’d give the Pacers a B+ for the off-season roster cleansing. The Pacers are now able to move forward and plan ahead with some cap flexibility in their future. Moving Jamaal Tinsley would move the grade into the A range, although if Roy Hibbert continues to develop and contribute something this year that could do it also.

4. What excites you most about the Pacers in this upcoming season?

The seven new players on the roster excite me, just because the team needed a fresh start a couple of years ago and now they’re truly getting it. I’m not delusional about T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Jarrett Jack or any of the new talent that was added. But the team is more athletic, much quicker and much better suited to play Jim O’Brien’s preffered style of basketball.

5. Realistically, where would you put the Pacers ceiling, high and low?

Realistically I see the Pacers winning 36-40 games. If they can stay healthy and improve a little on the defensive end, 45 wins would be a realistic high end surprise. On the other hand, if the injuries creep in and the defense continues to struggle, 30 wins before an empty Conseco Fieldhouse would mark a franchise low point.

6. Looking at the team from all angles, what is the one thing that worries you about the Pacers?

The Pacers will struggle to score inside this year. Roy Hibbert has shown flashes that he may be the answer in the post in the future, but I’m certainly no relying on anything from him this year. That leaves Rasho Nesterovic and Jeff Foster to play heavy post minutes. If they could combine their strengths into one player, the problem would be solved, but I think the league is a few years away from that type of technology.

Team defense as a whole remains a concern. Pacer opponents shot a high percentage from the perimeter last year and the team also struggled to keep the ball out of the paint. Not a healthy combo. Jim O’Brien has called his team out and made defense priority number one. So far the results haven’t been there in the preseason, but neither have all of the starter so at this point it still remains a worry.

7. If you were able to replace Larry Legend (without getting struck by lightning) and be GM but could only make one move, what would it be?

I would run out and bring in a legit power forward with the ability to rebound and score in the paint. Yeah, I know, sounds like Jermaine O’Neal. True. But I’m not interested in paying said PF max dollars and hope that whatever money is paid will provide the production to match the salary.

8. What is the key to the Pacers success this year?

First and foremost, defense will key any success this year. The team is improved from the one that fell a game short of the playoffs last year. But the East is better and losses will mount if the Pacers can’t get any stops when they need ’em.

9. Any sleepers we should look out for?

I mentioned Roy Hibbert earlier and he could surprise a lot of people this year. The guy has a nice offensive game and moves up and down the court far better than advertised around the draft. His touted strength, defense, is actually is biggest weakness right now. If he can learn to play decent defense and stay out of foul trouble, Roy could really help the Pacers this year.

Also, Marquis Daniels should be a pesky and productive option off the bench. Last year he struggled when forced to play some point guard minutes. Playing a utility role off the bench should better suit his game. He just needs to stay healthy.

10. How do you feel about Jim O’Brien as head coach?

I’m a big fan of Jim O’Brien and his no non-sense approach. He demands common sense effort from his players and last year he had a strong impact in improving the sour culture fermenting in the locker room when he arrived. With the house cleaning this summer, he has a full team that appears to be on the same page and working together toward the same team goals. As much as I appreciate JOB’s effort, I can see him serving the role of a bridge coach for the franchise. He comes in, cleans up the mess, gets the players working hard and the team headed in the right direction and then gives way to another coach to take the team to a higher level of play. Hope I’m wrong (well, wrong about JOB leaving not about the success/higher level of play part).

11. From a Pacer perspective, what did you think of the Bayless/Ike for Jack/Rush trade? Yay or nay?

I give it a yay. I was pumped when the Pacers took Bayless but the deal was huge part of the Pacers turning around the franchise this summer. They desperately needed (and still need) to gather assets in young talent, draft picks and/or friendly contracts. So they essentially traded Bayless (Ike Diogu was not in the plans) for a solid shooting guard who can defend both wing positions and an upgrade at backup PG.

12. As Blazer fans we’ve had the Jarrett Jack Experience and are more than happy to pass it along. Are you excited about Jack possibly playing the 1 and 2 or cautiously waiting to pass judgment?

I think Jack will be fine as a backup point guard. I can tell just from watching him in preseason that he’ll be solid, not spectacular one night and drive me nuts on other nights. The turnovers seem to come in bunches right now, but in his defense he’s being asked to play at a break-neck pace and it is preseason, so I’ll give him a couple of months before passing judgment.