[OldSkoolBasketballParticipant]

Witnessing a huge chokejob by the Pacers right now.

[I May Be WrongParticipant]

I would have been shocked if they blew that lead. But big props to the Pacers in this series thus far! They played with a lot of heart and deserve this win… It’s a damn shame how many Bull fans were at the game today SMH. Pacers were basically playing a road game IMO. That last possession where Boozer took a 3 is going to get over looked by the tremendous defense that Dhantay Jones was playing on Rose. He was all over him on that last position.

[bstokes25Participant]

 Paul george should play more than just 23 mins

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

The Pacers almost gave away the game, but what matters is they got the win.

They’ve already shown they can play the Bulls tough in Chicago. The first two games there could’ve easily gone the Pacers’ way.

The Pacers won’t win this series, but I like what I’m seeing from our team and our young coach.

[ProudGrandpaParticipant]

Welcome back.  We missed you in your absence, during which McKatieCouric took over the proud title of Points Leader from your venerable hands.

[rtbtParticipant]

Teams never learn and often try to stall and play the clock. Indiana was a prime example in both game one and today’s game where they had big leads in the 4th quarter. Instead of remaining agressive and continuing to do what gave them a big lead, they PLAYED THE CLOCK!

Whether it’s football or basketball, once you stop being aggressive, become passive, and start playing the clock instead of your opponent, you will lose all of your momentum. That’s how teams who are down a lot of points get back into the game.

It’s the eqivalent of a football team getting a big lead by playing a wide open game with lots of passing and exciting plays. Once they get the lead, they no longer play wide open and aggressive and call nothing but running plays to work the clock. That’s a huge mistake.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

@ProudGrandpa

 

I stopped paying attention to points a long time ago, but I haven’t post in almost three weeks. I tore my ACL and had surgery, so I’ve been icing, elevating, loading up on pain medicine and just trying to get this swelling down. I don’t have to wear the brace anymore, so it feels good to be able to get around a little better and bend my knee enough to sit at the computer desk.
 

@rtbt
 

That has something to do with it, but the Bulls also dig in a lot more defensively in the fourth quarter.

 

[ProudGrandpaParticipant]

So, IndianaBasketball, I have mad respect for you and I myself am a huge basketball fan from Indiana, but I was wondering, after looking at your recently created forums, do you have a Blake Griffin fetish?

[DanEboyParticipant]

Hey Antawn Jamison, I mean IndianaBasketball, put out a new rap video already.

Your fans are waiting.

[rtbtParticipant]

Indiana, sorry to hear about your surgery.

We have to disagree slightly. Yes, Chicago concentrates more on defense in the 4th quarter, however, the bigger reason for the collapse was Indiana’s decision to play the clock. They did the same thing in game one and lost a big lead with a little over 3 minutes to go.

It’s a lot easier to play defense when the other teams hold the ball for 18 seconds and then goes into their offense with 5 or 6 seconds left on the 24 second clock. Chicago only has to play tough defense for 5-6 seconds.

Note

I watched Indiana blow a big lead against the Knicks in the last 3-4 minutes of the game. I think it was about  ten days ago, as it was the next to last game of the season. Nobody can accuse the Knicks of playing tough defense in the 4th quarter. It was the same exact story. Stalling for 17-18 seconds and then trying to work your offense with only 6 or 7 seconds remaining on the 24 second clock is a huge mistake.

[APexParticipant]

No disrepect to Indiana, but if Chicago is struggling against a below .500 team in round one, then there is some cause for concern. Chicago is the better team, but Indiana made them work for those 3 wins. Hopefully they can step up because a more experienced team wouldn’t have lost those games. I thought it was a matter of time when one of these teams would have a complete game in the series, and it happened to be Indiana in this one.

[SteroidParticipant]

I wouldn’t worry too much about Chicago "struggling" in this series to put together a complete game because they will always have their defense when they are bad offensively. That will always keep them in games. I could see them going 7 games with the Hawks or Magic (if they make it out) in the second round. I think the Hawks match up well on paper with the Bulls, except they have no answer for Rose. How well their frontlines will play will determine the series I believe. Joe Johnson must have one or two big games also.

[OhCanada-Participant]

I watched the whole game and throughout the game never did I think Indiana would win this game until Boozer missed that jumper. Even when I saw Boozer spot up in the corner I thought the shot was going in. The TNT panel is calling Indiana the Denver Nuggets of the East. They are playing well plain and simple, and as Ive said in other threads are matchup threat for the Bulls, although the Bulls need to stop playingg to their competition play 4-qaurters, and ice this one. The Celtics, Heat, Magic, and Hawks wont choke like this in the clutch.

Also I see the Hawks as a huge upset threat against the Bulls if they beat the Magic. They have Hinrich who always plays great against Rose, Horford, Smith and Pachulia who would bother the frontcourt of Chicago, and Joe Johnson to dominate their bad defensive SG’s unless they want to put Brewer on him all game and sacrafice clutch 3’s. also Smith should be able to do a good job on Deng. Hawks are also in a very tough fight and are getting good playoff games vs the Magic, where as the Bulls are just struggling to execute properly outside of crunch time.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Lol Steriod I completly agree.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

ProudGrandpa – Other than my woman’s feet, I have no fetish lol. Joking…

Griffin is one of my favorite players though.

DanEboy – That’s my friend who looks like a light skinned Jamison lol. We’re currently in the process of putting out another video right now. We have a new mixtape that’ll be dropping this summer. It’s a double disc called Trainin’ Daily/No Brakes.

rtbt – The Pacers are definitely guilty of playing the clock. They need to stay agressive and go for the kill. We need a closer… Someone who isn’t afraid to have the ball in his hands when the pressure is at it’s highest.

[rtbtParticipant]

IndianaBasketball, the fact they don’t have a closer makes playing the clock an even dumber strategy than it normally is. When you hold the ball for 18 seconds before starting your offense, the team on defense only has to play hard for 6 seconds. And what usually happens, you see either a turnover or a forced shot to beat the 24 second clock.

When is the Indiana Head Coach going to learn the strategy of stalling is a huge mistake?

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

I don’t think they’re stalling intentionally.

I just think the game is at a crucial point where the pressure is so high, it’s either going to make a diamond or burst the pipe. We have guys that don’t want the ball… Don’t want to shoot the ball… Look like they’re running away from the ball. That’s why I said we need a real closer… A player who isn’t afraid to have the ball in his hands and attack. We don’t have that right now and Chicago does.

We basically have a bunch of guys who’s legs get tight during the final moments of the game.

[rtbtParticipant]

Except for your first sentence, I agree with everything you said. They are clearly playing the clock, holding the ball until it’s too late to get into their motion offense.

To me it’s so obvious that they stopped doing everything that got them the big lead in the first place. A football analogy applies here. It’s just like a team that displays a wide open offense with lots of passing until they get a big lead. Then they stop passing and start running on every play to work the clock. They’re no longer aggressive, they’re passive, and they leave door wide for their opponent.

Back to basketball, keep moving without the ball, send cutters through the lane, and look for the open man. When you’re aggressive good things happen. However, if one guy stands out near mid court dribbling the basketball for 16-18 seconds, only bad things will happen.

[Author]

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