Tag Archives: Danny Granger

Putting a Fork in Indiana

For a while now, I haven’t been posting as much as I would like to on this blog, but haven’t done anything about it.  The problem is not that I don’t have enough material or desire to write, but its more because of I didn’t know how I wanted to write.  As I constantly read stories and article written by guys like Rick Reilly and Adam Schefter, I felt inspired to offer my point of view on whatever interested me at the time.  But instead of using that as a starting point, I tried too hard to emulate the structured and formal work that they did.  I realize now that isn’t what I wanted to do.  I found myself sitting in front of my computer for hours on end just thinking of something that people wanted to read about – usually whatever was headlining on ESPN that day – and how I was going to voice my thoughts in a way that was similar to the writers on the major sports networks.  That was mistake, and I’m going to give this another try.  From here on out, I won’t be spending hours at a time researching statistics just so I can spit them right back out and tell you what they mean.  This blog is going to be an outlet for my thoughts on sports – as outlandish and brutal as they may be – and if you don’t enjoy that, I completely understand if you stop coming here.  If you’re going to stick around, you’re obviously very intelligent and I appreciate the support.

Now that I have that off my chest…

Does anybody really think that the Pacers even have a fighter’s chance against Miami?  It’s understandable to say yes only if you’re associated with one team or the other, but I really don’t want to hear the same old cries of “It’s not over ‘til it’s over” or “It’s a seven game series.”  Save your breath.  Even without Bosh, they should bully Indiana and end the series in 4 or 5 games.  Beyond that is a different story, as they have nobody down low to match up against the Tim Duncans or Andrew Bynums that lie ahead.

LeBron James eats Danny Granger for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  He has done this his entire career, and I don’t expect it to change. When LeBron was in Cleveland, he played defense on Granger 4 times a year, and locked him down every single time.  The matchup isn’t any better on the other end of the court; all you have to do is look at LBJ’s stats in Game 1.  Using this argument alone, I feel like I can rest my case.  There is nobody on the Pacers that can stop the best player in the world from completely taking over the game – not to mention D. Wade – and that’s why their season ends right now.  Mark it down.

Seeing this series go the other way would be one of the more ridiculous things I have seen in sports.  I don’t doubt that Indiana is a very good team, and I understand that they had the 3rd best record in the east, only 4 games back of the high-and-mighty Heat.  This doesn’t change my opinion at all.  They played out of their minds for the last six weeks of the regular season, and used their physical nature to win games (against a weak conference).  I can’t fathom Miami being outmuscled; Wade and James won’t let it happen.

I’m willing to listen to arguments, although I doubt there will be many.  The general public knows that a Heat victory is almost a certainty, but they are not so hasty to consider the Pacers dead.  I am.

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