Kevin Pritchard Has Case For Executive Of The Year
Victor Oladipo is the strong frontrunner for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, and his play this season may indirectly result in another award landing in Indiana. As Dakota Crawford of The Indianapolis Star writes, Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard has a strong case for Executive of the Year, in large part due to how his much-criticized trade for Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis has worked out.
Bogdanovic's Role Living Up To Expectations
- Offseason addition Bojan Bogdanovic has thrived for the Pacers this season and is filling the role he expected when he signed with the club over the summer. “I was not looking for the money. I was looking for the opportunity that I was going to be a starter and play a decent amount of minutes,” Bogdanovic, who averages a career high 30.8 minutes per game for the Pacers, told J. Michael Falgoust of The Indianapolis Post. “Talking to the coaching staff during the summer in free agency they told me exactly it was going to be this way I didn’t have any doubts signing with the Pacers.“
Pacers Recall Ike Anigbogu
- The Pacers have recalled Ike Anigbogu from Fort Wayne, the team announced on its website. He had five points, five rebounds and a block last night in the Mad Ants’ loss to Erie in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Booker Playing An Important Role
Despite playing a limited role – only 16.0 minutes per game – the Pacers believe that recently-acquired forward Trevor Booker is an important piece of Indiana’s chances come playoff time, reports Mark Montieth of Pacers.com, especially with big man Domantas Sabonis missing six of the team’s last seven games with an ankle injury.
Booker was brought in to back-up Thaddeus Young at power forward, but has filled in admirably for the Pacers while Sabonis has been out.
“He brings a physicality to the floor,” Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said. “With these injuries and teams playing smaller fives, we’ve had to play him there some, and he’s done a good job for us. It allows us to make adjustments. He’s a power forward, but he plays bigger than that.”
“He’s a hard-nosed guy who’s going to go out and rebound the basketball,” says Young, the Pacers’ starting power forward who Booker backs up. “He has the ability to score on the block. To make a few jumpers here and there — not consistently, but he gives us the energy and the poise and the passion that we need. When he’s stepping out there with that second unit he does a really good job of carving out space and putting guys in the right place.”
Power Forward Spot Must Be Addressed
- The Pacers will have to address the power forward spot even if Thaddeus Young opts in this summer, Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports opines in a mailbag column. Trevor Booker, whom the team recently signed as a free agent, could be an option, Agness adds. Booker is averaging 5.2 PPG and 5.0 RPG in 17.4 MPG over 10 games since joining Indiana.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 3/26/18
Here are Monday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- Lakers‘ rookie big man Thomas Bryant has been recalled from the South Bay Lakers, the team announced today. Bryant, 20, has averaged 19.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 2.1 APG in 37 G League games this season.
- The Pacers assigned center Ike Anigbogu to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team’s G League affiliate, the team announced. Anigbogu has appeared in 10 games with Indiana, averaging 1.3 PPG and 0.9 RPG.
Central Notes: Collison, Big Three, Horst, Blakeney
In a young man’s league, Pacers point guard Darren Collison, 30, is the definition of a veteran, but doesn’t want his ability to reflect it. In his ninth NBA season, Collison wanted to make some adjustments and improvements, which led him to a phone conversation with one of the all-time greats.
Mark Monteith of NBA.com writes that Collision set up a call with future Hall-of-Famer Steve Nash. Collison wanted to pick Nash’s brain on how to adapt to playing against younger guards, implementing new moves, and improving his diet. Collison said he has long admired Nash and wanted to learn as much as he can.
“He was one of my favorite players to watch, because he’s not athletic, he’s not big, he’s not strong,” Collison said. “But when you guard him, it’s the hardest thing to do because he just knows how to keep the defense honest in the pick-and-roll. He doesn’t go fast, he doesn’t go slow. He makes every read precisely. I’ve watched a lot of film on him, so I figured why not just call him and pick his brain?”
Collison is averaging his usually solid numbers this season with 12.7 PPG and 5.3 APG in 59 games. If he ever needs it, he now has one of the greatest point guards in league history just a phone call away.
Check out more Central Division notes below:
- With Reggie Jackson back on the court, the Pistons finally have their three best players healthy simultaneously. Midseason acquisition Blake Griffin, prolific rebounder Andre Drummond, and Jackson are a strong trio that can do a lot of damage if healthy, NBA.com’s Keith Langlois writes. “If we can get Reggie healthy and keep him healthy,” head coach Stan Van Gundy said, “with those three guys, that’s going to be a formidable group to play against for anybody.”
- After recent reports suggested that the Bucks nearly traded Jabari Parker at the deadline and have a list of potential replacements for interim head coach Joe Prunty, general manager Jon Horst rejected those stories during a radio appearance in Milwaukee. Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays Horst’s comments, in which the Bucks GM denied the reports and indicated they came from erroneous sources.
- As we relayed earlier today, Bulls two-way guard Antonio Blakeney suffered a fractured left wrist and he will miss the rest of the season.
NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 3/14/18
Here are Wednesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
9:00 pm:
- The Pacers have recalled Alex Poythress from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, according to the team’s website. The Kentucky product has played in seven G League games this season where he averaged 20.0 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
4:56 pm:
- For the second consecutive day, the Jazz sent Dante Exum to the G League and then recalled him later in the day, the team announced in a press release. The former fifth overall pick is preparing for his return from a shoulder injury by practicing with the Salt Lake City Stars.
- The Lakers have assigned rookie big man Thomas Bryant to the G League, according to the club (Twitter link). Bryant, who has averaged 19.2 PPG and 7.5 RPG in 32 G League games this season, is expected to suit up for the South Bay Lakers on Thursday night when they host the Agua Caliente Clippers.
- Chris McCullough, who had been playing for the Northern Arizona Suns, was recalled today by the Wizards and then re-assigned to the Erie BayHawks, according to the team. Washington doesn’t have a G League affiliate of its own this season, so McCullough is eligible to play for other G League squads via the flexible assignment rule.
Sabonis To Have MRI On Sprained Ankle
- X-rays were negative on Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis, who left Tuesday’s game in Philadelphia with a sprained left ankle. He will undergo an MRI when the team returns home.
Pacers Assign Alex Poythress
- The Pacers assigned Alex Poythress to their Fort Wayne affiliate, according to a post on the team website.