Aloha,
What a weird day yesterday. The Pacer had the best record in the NBA since the 1st of the year and we beat them without Luka and Lebron for probably under the circumstances, the best win of the year.
Austin scored 45 points, reminding everyone that, yes Luka is coming but he is also pretty good at basketball. Rui chipped in with 24. His 4th 20+ game in the last 5. It’s not lost on me that when Rui is given the touches he has good scoring games. And his defense on Siakam was very good as well.
And defense again was huge. The entire team was locked in. It’s amazing to me Vando looks after missing so much time. Myself and probably everyone thought it would take time to ramp up but it’s like he was never injured.
Yes everything was looking bright, and I allowed myself to believe we had at least a punchers chance at a championship until the gut punch came.
After the game I’m scrolling through Bleacher Report for reactions and there it was. The Mark Williams trade was rescinded. I’m not going to speculate on what went wrong with our medical staff’s evaluation but the entire trajectory of our season change. While we should be able to find a good center this summer, we are kind of screwed for this year.
While Jackson has ramped up his game recently, it’s clearly not enough. Looking at the centers that have been bought out or are available made me nauseous. When Mo Bamba is the best center out there so far, one worries.
First Rob probably should tell Cam not to unpack because he is gone. We have 2 options. We can sign a guy like Bamba. Or we can cut a 2nd guy, probably Morris and sign both of our 2 way centers. We are far enough under the cap to add two prorated rookie minimum contracts. We could have a center by committee set up. Koloko is the shot blocking lob threat and Tre, the big body banger.
It would certainly help to know the status of Wood. I see him on the bench every game but still no word.
Still I think we are a very good team and will definitely be fun to watch. If we continue to play the connected defense we have been playing, that will make up for some of our center woes. I’m still expecting a playoff run, but my hopes have definitely been tempered. Go Lakers.