I think it's pretty clear where this year's Pacers team is at, after their fourth consecutive loss, a 107-94 drubbing at the hands of the Magic in Orlando. This team is good enough to beat the crap teams but struggle to beat the good ones. Occasionally, if all cylinders are clicking, if guys are playing up to their potential or if Vogel works his motivation magic, the Pacers can top those good teams, but you, me and everyone knows they won't be able to do it four times in a seven game series.

That's actually not a bad place to be. We keep forgetting that last year, while the team could still occasionally beat a giant, they struggled against the crap teams too, losing stacks of games they shouldn't have lost. That has been cut to a minimum this season, and I think it's a positive step.

At the moment, the Pacers, like everyone else in the East, is a few steps behind the Heat and the Bulls. They are also a step or two behind the Magic. Teams like Atlanta and Philly are roughly on their level, but with the way the Pacers are playing now I would say they are slightly behind those guys, even though the Pacers are ahead of the Hawks on the standings.

That would make the Pacers a likely 6th seed, which would match them up against the Magic -- provided the Magic keep Dwight Howard for the rest of the season.  If not, the Magic could slip, giving the Pacers a good chance to grab a top four spot if they can get their act together and keep up with Philly and the Hawks. At this stage, it's hard to envision the Celtics or the Knicks overtaking the Pacers, but I think they are teams that could make the Pacers sweat a little.

So where is the problem? Where do we even begin?  Obviously, the lack of a superstar hurts, but the team now has three former All-Stars in Granger,  West and Hibbert, and a potential future one in Paul George. That should be good enough. Not every team can get their hands on a Lebron James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh...

Nevertheless, Granger still shoots too much at too low a percentage (though in his defense he is trying); Hibbert is up and down -- and right now he is about as low as he has been all year; and West is still getting used to his post-surgery body and new team. It looks like a great nucleus on paper but it's actually a very fragile one.

A lot of people complain about the undersized Darren Collison at the point, saying that the team needs an elite PG. Those are hard to come by as well, and Collison should be serviceable with a lineup like this. He had great assist numbers for Chris Paul in the pick and roll setting but on the Pacers his passing has struggled. George Hill could fill in as the starter but he's not a natural passer.

Is the bench the problem?  Er...yes. George Hill has shown he can produce in spurts, but he's been unlucky with injuries this season. Same as Jeff Foster, who seems to always be injured.  Tyler Hansbrough, who tore up the preseason, has been "figured out" by the defense, so to speak.  He's been so awful it's hard to watch sometimes.  So that leaves...Dahntay Jones as the number one bench player?  Holy crap.  Lance Stephenson?  Too young and too much of a headcase still. Second rounder AJ Price? Serviceable...at times...for a second rounder.  The shit sandwich of Amundson and Pendergraph?  Hard workers but not enough talent or ability.  Now that I think about it, it's actually a miracle the Pacers are doing so well!

The team has talent and cap space.  Are they happy to keep being in the middle of the pack or will they make a move that will make them contenders?  It might still take a couple of years but it'll be interesting to see if Bird can pull a rabbit out of his hat. 

All I wanted was for the Pacers to not get smashed again against the Miami Heat like they did the last time these two teams met. Well, the Pacers not only not get embarrassed, they almost, and probably should have, won the game, which actually makes me feel a little worse.

After leading for the majority of the game after a stellar first quarter, the Pacers and Heat went toe to toe until Lebron James decided to take over in the fourth quarter and send the game to overtime. The Pacers looked like they were going to win it in OT too, until a few mistakes and a ridiculous jumper from D-Wade (who probably got fouled as well) with 0.1 seconds left against Paul George.  Game over.  Pacers lose 93-91, their third consecutive loss.

No moral victories here, though it's tempting to say that the Pacers showed they could hang with one of the best teams in the NBA, if not THE best. But hanging with and beating are two different things, and the Heat again showed why they are the favorites to win the title this year.

I wonder what might have happened had Jeff Foster or George Hill played tonight (both out with injuries), or if Roy Hibbert could snap out of the stinking funk he is right now. He is barely playing at an NBA level right now, let alone All-Star level. Hibbert was 2-11 with 5 points and 7 rebounds against little guys like Joel Anthony and Dexter Pittman, guys he ought to have dominated.

Fortunately, Danny Granger stepped up -- which meant he didn't get completely annihilated by Lebron James as he usually does. Granger had 19 points and 7 boards, which doesn't compare well to Lebron's 27, 8 and 4, but this is Lebron James we're talking about, and Granger can hold his head up high for keeping the King in check for 3 of the game's 4 quarters.

Oh well.

Pacers head over to play the other Florida team tomorrow.  I don't like their chances but if they can build upon this disappointing loss they'll have a chance.  Let's hope Dwight Howard has his mind on other things, you know, with the trade deadling coming up and all...

Okay, so the March 15 trade deadline is coming up and the Pacers have been at the forefront of some rumors. 

The list of candidates, as of now, are New Orleans big man Chris Kaman, Blazers swingman Jamal Crawford, Grizzlies swingman OJ Mayo, Wolves tweener Michael Beasley, Bobcats center Boris Diaw and former Pacer Stephen Jackson.

While all of these guys present something positive for the Pacers, none of them look real likely at the moment. And none of them would give the Pacers something that would allow them to compete with the likes of Miami and Chicago. Seriously, I know Indiana is not the most enviable location for marque players, but isn't there someone the Pacers can get with all that cap space?

Kaman has been decent since returning to the Hornets lineup, and he will provide a big body to back up Hibbert and David West. Hansbrough has been awful, Foster is always hurt and Amundson and Pendergraph are...well, let's not go there. I'd say he'd be a good addition, but if the Pacers have to give up a first round draft pick in next year's loaded draft, would that be worth it?

The other big man is Boris Diaw, who is long but is supposedly only 6'8" and out of shape. He has tremendous passing skill and is versatile when he tries, but maybe he's too far gone to have an impact on the team this season.

Jamal Crawford and OJ Mayo are guys the team could use as they don't have many guys that can create their own shot and provided a much needed basket when the offense becomes stagnant. But both are volume shooters and they would take away both shots and minutes away from guys like Paul George and George Hill.

There are reports that Portland is asking for AJ Price and a first round pick, but perhaps that is asking for too much, especially as Crawford is a free agent soon and it will probably be a short term rental. OJ Mayo is someone the Pacers had been after before and almost got a couple of times but things kept falling through, so unless something changes it doesn't look like he'll be coming this way.

Last, but not least, Beasley and Jax, two talented SFs who can be unstoppable at times. But both are knuckleheads and it's highly doubtful that Bird would want either after finally purging the team of questionable character guys (one of which was Jackson) after the brawl.

I say the Pacers stay put for now. Go after a real game changer in the offseason.

 

Looks like the Pacers aren't back on track, at least not yet.

In what was probably one of their more winnable games during this horrendous stretch, the Pacers dropped a close one to the Atlanta Hawks, 101-96, making it two straight defeats after a season-high six consecutive victories. The Pacers trailed for most of the game, and while it looked like they might have been able to produce something down the stretch, the Hawks answered every blow and put the game away at the line when Danny Granger missed a three that could have tied it. 

Now the 23-14 Pacers go back to the drawing board to try and snap out of this funk they're currently in. It's not going to be easy in next few games though, as they go up next against the Heat in Miami and then the Magic in Orlando.  So chances are we're going to have to wait until those two home games against Portland and then Philly to have a real chance of getting back in the winning column. If not, there's always the away-and-home series against the Jeremy Lin and the Knicks after that.

Things look kinda bleak right now, but with a surprising win the Pacers could turn things around in a hurry.  I hope. 

So the Pacers hung with the Bulls tonight...for 24 minutes. The second half was different, as Derrick Rose delivered on his promise to annihilate (well, he said he "won't forget it") the team that beat them on their home floor last time. The result? A 92-72 drubbing where the Pacers actually led by a point at the end of the first half. The loss dropped the Pacers to 23-13, snapping a season high 6-game winning streak.

I've said all along that the Bulls simply have an extra gear the Pacers don't, and they showed it again tonight. I guess it helps when you have the league's reigning MVP leading your squad and a bunch of hustlers that fight hard on every possession. The Pacers got their behinds handed to them because they couldn't grab any rebounds or get to any of the 50-50 balls. That and because they couldn't hit any shots in the second half under the stifling Bulls defense.

The two Georges, Paul George and George Hill, were the bright spots, scoring 21 and 17 respectively, but everyone else pretty much stunk. Roy Hibbert, in particular, was plagued by foul trouble all night and finished with 2 points on 1-6 shooting in 25 minutes. That's just one field goal in two games, Mr All Star.

The good thing about the condensed schedule is that the Pacers can bounce back tomorrow against the Atlanta Hawks back home. It's one of their more winnable games on this wild stretch, so let's hope they don't waste the opportunity. Otherwise we could be seeing a new season-long losing streak very soon.