We all knew it was going to be a rough stretch.  Even if it's a mix of good and bad teams, there are lots of road games and loads of games stacked into a short time frame.  We called it a 'make or break' part of the season for the Indiana Pacers.

And right now, they are breaking.

I won't go into all the specifics, but in short, the Vogel effect is now all but gone.  The excitement and freshness that came with a new coach has slowly evaporated over time, and if Vogel doesn't do something to inject his squad with a renewed vision and passion, these Pacers will be no different to the team that Jim O'Brien was fired from.

The Pacers have now lost 3 straight road games against Western Conference teams -- getting blown away by the Thunder in Oklahoma, losing one against the Mavs in Dallas without ever being a serious threat, and then getting blown away by the Rockets in Houston. 

That makes it 5 losses in 6 games.  Even with the Charlotte Bobcats almost deliberately bombing out the rest of the season, the Pacers are still not a lock for the playoffs.  And you can just about forget moving up to the 7th seed.  The 27-35 Pacers are way behind the 32-30 Philadelphia 76ers at the moment -- though the Pacers do have an opportunity to cut into that lead with a victory against them tomorrow night.

It's a home game, and it's after a brief rest, so if the Pacers are really serious about turning things around, we need to see a victory.

After that, they go on the road again for another 3 game stretch, but this one is much less strenuous -- Minnesota, Toronto, and New York.  They need to go at least 2-1 for that stretch to keep the season afloat, because after that they play New York again, Boston, Chicago, then Memphis.  If the losses keep piling up it will look brutal by the time March is over!

So come on Pacers!  Channel your inner Charlie Sheen!  Be 'bi-winning' -- win here (at home) and win there (on the road)!!

Pacers beat Warriors

The Indiana Pacers almost gave away another one, but thankfully they buckled down and earned a tough 109-100 victory over the Golden State Warriors, led by Danny Granger's 27. 

The Pacers raced out to an early double digit lead, but when the second unit took over in the second quarter, the momentum shifted, and the Pacers actually found themselves down at the half. 

They raced out to another lead in the third, and had to hold on for dear life down the stretch.  Very lucky to get away with a W, as they gave Dorrell Wright a wide open three in the corner with about 30 seconds to go that would have tied the game.  Instead, he missed, and the Pacers hit their free throws the rest of the way to secure the W.

Tomorrow night is against the Thunder, and it'll be bloody hard to get a win.  I still remember Russell Westbrook being unstoppable last time.

Oh, and it was great to see Lance Stephenson getting some minutes out there.  This was his second NBA game and he looks like he was 'Born Ready'...sorry, that had to be said.  Paul George and Tyler Hansbrough are also becoming more and more integral parts of the team.

Former Pacer Troy Murphy joins Celtics

Here's an interesting one.  After being bought out by the Warriors, former Pacers power forward Troy Murphy signed with the Boston Celtics rather than the Miami Heat, who also picked up Mike Bibby.

Murph had a good run in Indiana as the second option behind Granger and was one of the league's top rebounders and three point shooters.  In New Jersey he got next to zero playing time and was traded to the Warriors just before the trade deadline.  And all of a suddent he is considered the missing piece to a championship.

I'm somewhat fascinated by all of this.  First of all, Murph chose Boston over Miami -- and it must be because he thinks Boston has a better chance of winning than Miami -- even though with Haslem still out and with the Miami Big Three, he has a chance to get more minutes and shots with the Heat.

In Boston, provided Shaq and Jermaine are playing, he'll be way back on the depth chart (behind also KG and Big Baby), but probably before Kristic and definitely before Chris Johnson.  In Miami, he'd be the first guy behind Chris Bosh at PF and can play the Centre when they need more offensive punch.

Secondly, I'm suprised that Murph is such a coveted player.  Sure, he can spread the floor with his outside shooting, but his rebounding stats are overrated because he played on an Indiana team that relied heavily on him for boards.  But most of all, his defense is absolutely atrocious.  Any Pacers fan can attest to that.  He gets bullied around under the ring by bigger, stronger guys, and he can't keep up with anyone more athletic than him, which is just about everybody. 

Would he help a team like Boston, a team that is built around its defensive prowess?  Or would he actually harm them in the playoffs?  Remember, this is a guy that's never played a playoff game in his life.  That said, I wish him all the best.  He has a genuine opportunity to win a championship.

Maybe I'm being harsh here, but the Indiana Pacers have once again looked like a Jim O'Brien team the last couple of games, both home losses -- to the Utah Jazz and then the Phoenix Suns.  Both teams have now swept the Pacers in the season series, and it brings back memories of when the spectacular collapse earlier in the season.

In both games, the Pacers didn't deserve to win.  Against the Jazz they were down most of the game and then collapsed finally in the fourth to allow the Deron Williams-less team to run away with it.  Against the Suns, more of the same, except they pushed it to overtime before Channing Frye hit a buzzer beater in Brandon Rush's face.  Yes, he hit a tough shot, but the Pacers didn't deserve the W with the way they defended all night long.  Not being able to hit shots didn't help either.

That said, you couldn't fault them for effort -- because they sure worked their tails off in both games, but the execution and defense weren't there.  And both were winnable games and terrific opportunities to build some momentum heading into a brutal stretch of the season.  But now, even with Charlotte basically giving away the season, the Pacers can't seem to build any ground.  At the moment, 8th seed is not a problem, but the 7th seed, with Philly streaking ahead to be around 0.500, is almost an impossibility.

On the bright side, Vogel is a positive guy, and the chances of the Pacers losing their confidence and falling into a mental lull again are much lower.

Let's hope they can rebound against the Golden State Warriors, who have the exact same record of 26-32.

Two birds with one stone, or rather, two news items with one post.

First of all, the Pacers beat the Pistons in a grudge match, 102-101, thanks to a seemingly wayward Danny Granger desperation pass that found a streaking Brandon Rush, who threw it down two-fisted to give the Pacers a one point lead; then Darren Collison played surprisingly good defence on Rodney Stuckey, who threw the ball away with a second to go.

Oh, and Mike Dunleavy suffered a broken thumb in the game against Washington the day before, and is out indefinitely.  Too bad, because Mike has been shooting the ball well and gives the Pacers another streaky presence -- though this now gives Rush an opportunity to work himself back into the rotation and may even give Lance Stephenson a chance to get his first minutes in the NBA.  Defensively, you've gotta like Rush over Dunleavy.

But the biggest news of the day: the Pacers were ready to trade Josh McRoberts for OJ Mayo from the Memphis Grizzlies, but the deal fell apart at the last minute.  Thank goodness!!!

Mayo, a 6'4", 23 year-old shooting guard, was once the best high school player in the nation, but this season has been sitting on the bench a lot.  Right now he is averaging 12.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and shooting just 0.409 from the field.  His career averages of 16.7, 3.5 and 2.8 are a lot prettier.

But my question is: WHY would the Pacers want yet another swingman?  And WHY would it be at the expense of of their energetic power forwards, who has actually been playing quite well?

Don't they already have too many?  Rush, Dunleavy (even though he's out), Granger, Paul, D. Jones, and Stephenson (though he hasn't played).

McRoberts is no franchise player, but he's been adequate and is still improving.  He may only be averaging 7.4, 5.4 and 2.2 per game, but he's shooting over 54% from the field and is the team's most athletic big man -- one that regularly features on the highlight reels.  His defense is still lacking and he still occasionally makes bad decisions, but the Pacers need him a lot more than they need Mayo.

McRoberts has a PER of 15.9 (league average is always 15), while Mayo's is only 12.4.  'Nuff said.

While I would have liked to have seen the Pacers make a move to be more competitive before heading into the offseason with lots of expiring contracts (and not much of a chance of landing a prized free agent), this was one trade that I'm glad didn't go through.

HOWEVER, the fact that the Pacers even contemplated this trade has got me thinking -- what are they looking for?  Are they trying to tell Hansbrough that he's going to be the MAN at the power forward position?  Are they saying that Brandon Rush is effectively gone after this season?  Dahntay Jones?  And what kind of effect will news of this kind have on the team and their performance? 

Very interesting.  I guess we'll see when they take on the Deron-Williams-less Utah Jazz.  I still remember when they spanked the Pacers in Utah.  It's time for payback.

No Pacers were invited to All-Star Weekend in LA, but that's a good thing for this team right now.  Sure, Collison, George and/or Hansbrough probably could have gotten an invite for the Rookie Challenge, but this break gave the team a much needed rest, especially after it suffered its first two-game losing streak under Frank Vogel.

Well, they are back and they won their first game with ease against the struggling Washington Wizards, 113-96.  After some sloppiness initially, the Pacers put their feet on the gas and streaked ahead with a bunch of fast break points.

Granger had 21 and 10, Hibbert had 16, 6 and 4 blocks, Hansbrough had 17 and 5, George had 11 and 9, and Collison had 11, 5 and 6 assists as every player on the roster scored.

With the entire NBA focused on the recent Carmelo to New York trade and now the Deron Williams to New Jersey trade, the Pacers are kind of sneaking under the radar a little bit (not that they were the focus of much attention before that).  It's unlikely that the Pacers will made any significant moves before the trade deadline with monetary restrictions and Indiana being not exactly a popular destination for free agents, the team will just have to make do with that they have right now.

Tonight, they get a chance at redemption against the Detroit Pistons, the team they lost to just before the All-Star Break.  I expect the Pacers to come out, play hard, and win easily.  It'll be a test they'll need to pass if they want to seriously move up in the playoff ladder.

Looking ahead, the 25-30 Pacers have a great opportunity to step into the 7th spot (currently occupied by Philly) and potentially the 6th (New York) if Melo screws NY up (highly unlikely).  Conversely, if they're not carefuly, they can also easily fall right out of the race again.

We'll just have to wait and see.

PS: Don't even get me started on Reggie not making the finalist list for the Hall of Fame.