Satyr
Paster of Muppets
Indiana ML (1.63 @ Pinnacle) 5 units
Pacers are coming off a boosting win against the Bulls and are ready to take on the defending champs with their new team. The echo of the 8 man trade with the Warriors is slowly fading away, it's time to bring out the best game and focus on making a winning run before the all star break.
A small reminder about the trade: Pacers gave away Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson ,Sarunas Jasikevicius and Josh Powell; brought in a talented PF Ike Diogu (coach still isn't using him but will slowly introduce him to the gameplan), Mike Dunleavy, who never had any problems scoring regardless of which team he played for, Troy Murphy who is just a tad better than Harrington and Keith McCleod who is still unavailable.I think the biggest difference maker here could be Ike Diogu, who can be used in various schemes with Jermaine O'Neal (Diogu still has to adapt to a more conventional lineup Carlisle insists on, compared to Don Nelson's small ball approach), something Pacers tried to pull out with Foster, which obviously didn't work.
I wouldn't say the Pacers are going to be title contenders all of the sudden, but they should improve their record which is constantly flerting with .500. Miami are rather unpredictable and frankly I don't think they'll have any edge tonight, I like the matchup tonight and I love the fact Indiana have improved both in the inside (outjumped Chicago 47-36) and from the outside, having a variety of shooters to depend on now. I like the possible swing the Pacers could get from the trade and what is very important here is that Heat's top scorer Dwyane Wade is questionable for tonight's start. Same can be said for Jamaal Tinsley, hence the lower stakes, but Pacers have several options to rely on from the outside, even when ball distribution is concerned. After all the newcomers settled in a bit, I'm on the home team here. 5 units is the call.
more coming up...
Pacers are coming off a boosting win against the Bulls and are ready to take on the defending champs with their new team. The echo of the 8 man trade with the Warriors is slowly fading away, it's time to bring out the best game and focus on making a winning run before the all star break.
A small reminder about the trade: Pacers gave away Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson ,Sarunas Jasikevicius and Josh Powell; brought in a talented PF Ike Diogu (coach still isn't using him but will slowly introduce him to the gameplan), Mike Dunleavy, who never had any problems scoring regardless of which team he played for, Troy Murphy who is just a tad better than Harrington and Keith McCleod who is still unavailable.I think the biggest difference maker here could be Ike Diogu, who can be used in various schemes with Jermaine O'Neal (Diogu still has to adapt to a more conventional lineup Carlisle insists on, compared to Don Nelson's small ball approach), something Pacers tried to pull out with Foster, which obviously didn't work.
I wouldn't say the Pacers are going to be title contenders all of the sudden, but they should improve their record which is constantly flerting with .500. Miami are rather unpredictable and frankly I don't think they'll have any edge tonight, I like the matchup tonight and I love the fact Indiana have improved both in the inside (outjumped Chicago 47-36) and from the outside, having a variety of shooters to depend on now. I like the possible swing the Pacers could get from the trade and what is very important here is that Heat's top scorer Dwyane Wade is questionable for tonight's start. Same can be said for Jamaal Tinsley, hence the lower stakes, but Pacers have several options to rely on from the outside, even when ball distribution is concerned. After all the newcomers settled in a bit, I'm on the home team here. 5 units is the call.
more coming up...
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