Oladipo and the Pacers make Minnesota cry wolf, 135-102!

10/24/17

from Target Center

Indiana (3-1) 135

Minnesota 102

Victor Oladipo had another 40 point game while Bojan Bogdanovic and Lance Stephenson had 23 apiece as the Pacers took advantage of the absence of Jimmy Butler, steamrolling past the T-Wolves 135-102 last night.  For Oladipo, that was his 3rd 40 point game, raising his average to 38.8 ppg.  Bogdanovic has taken his game to the next level, with 17.8 ppg and Stephenson has proved that he is a top NBA reserve, scoring 15.5 a game.  Philip Fitzpatrick only attempted three shots, making two for two from behind the arc, but to go along with his 6 points, he had a career high 9 rebounds.   Indiana soundly defeated Minnesota on the glass 44-33 tonight, as they held Karl Anthony Towns to just 3 boards last evening.  Towns did led his team with 21 points, followed by Jeff Teague with 19 and Andrew Wiggins with 17.  The real reason this game was out of reach was Indy's 61% shooting and 14-of-24 from long distance.

Pacers statistics

Fitzpatrick 6/9/3, Bogdanovic 23/6/2, Collison 10/5/6, Oladipo 40/3/8, T. Young 8/6/4, Jefferson 8/4/3, Stephenson 23/5/3, Joseph 8/2/2, J. Young 3/2/0, Leaf 6/2/0

Wolves statistics

Gibson 6/9/3, Crawford 11/2/5, Teague 19/3/7, Wiggins 17/3/0, Towns 21/3/0, Bjelica 5/7/0, Rose 12/2/3, Jones 2/1/8, Georges-Hunt 0/0/0, Dieng 9/3/0.

The Blue and Gold can sweep this road trip if they defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Wednesday, October 25.

Pacers cool off Heat with a strong fourth period, win on the road 113-98

October 21, 2017 at American Airlines Arena

The Indiana Pacers looked like they were going to jet-ski away from the Miami Heat, as the Blue and Gold took a 56-41 advantage at the break, with Victor Oladipo tallying 15 points, Bojan Bogdanovic netting 13 and Darren Collison dishing out 9 assists after the first 24.  But Indy melted in the third, as the Heat lived up to their name, tying the game at 75 apiece, with Goran Dragic posting 10 points to lead the charge.  But it was all Indiana in the fourth period, fighting fire with fire, outscoring Miami 38-23, with VO racking up 14 points, including 4 three-pointers while Lance Stephenson rounded out an 8-for-12 performance from the floor by scoring 10 in the final frame. Vic and Lance outscored the entire Heat team, and they were the big reason why the Pacers ran away with this victory.  Vic ended up with 33 points and 8 rebounds, while Bogey added 19, 'Born Ready' posted 18 and DC had a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists.  With Myles Turner out for a while, Philip Fitzpatrick, a 7'2" center from Notre Dame and Roncalli High School on Indy's south side, started, and was a disappointing 3-9 from the floor, but he did knock down 3 of 3 three-pointers, as he had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.  Al Jefferson was much better, going 6-8 in field goals, with 12 points and 6 rebounds.  At least Fitz will learn more about playing the NBA brand of hoops, with 3 games already under his belt.  For Miami, Dragic led his team with 23 points, while Dwyane Wade had 19 off the bench and James Johnson chipped in 18.  Indy is now 2-1, and their 3-game road trip continues in Minneapolis as they take on the T-Wolves at the Target Center on Tuesday, October 24.

Portland 'Rips' the Pacers 111-101 in a battle of high-scoring guards

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS 111
INDIANA PACERS (1-1) 101
10/20/17 from Bankers Life Fieldhouse
The fans were expecting a high scoring shootout between two of the best back court scorers in the Association, and they got it, but they didn't see the home team win as Damian Lillard put up 44 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists, out-gunning Victor Oladipo with 40 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, as the Trail Blazers defeated the Blue and Gold tonight.  Once again, both teams shot over 50% (PORT 42-80, IND 42-83), but 3-point shooting was the difference as the visitors from Oregon made 12 of 17 from deep while Indy was 6 of 12.  Lillard had backup ffom C.J. McCollum, who had 20 points, and the Blazers pasted Indiana on the glass 46-29 as Al-Farouq Aminu hauled down 15 rebounds and Ed Davis grabbed 8. For the second straight game no Pacer grabbed 7 or more rebounds (Oladipo and Bojan Bogdanovic had 5).  Darren Collison had 16 points and 6 assists, but Philip Fitzpatrick, starting for the injured Myles Turner, let his team down with 5 points and 4 rebounds, and attempting just 2 shots.

The Pacers now hit the road for 3 games, starting with a date with the Miami Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena on Sunday night, October 21.

Back home in Indiana in a BIG way: Oladipo the hero on Opening Night

INDIANA PACERS 113
Brooklyn Nets 111
10/17/17 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse

For Victor Oladipo, coming back to Indiana meant something.  He was a former college star at Indiana, who was the #2 overall pick in the '13 Draft who was trying to make his mark in Orlando and Oklahoma City.  But he was coming home, as the Pacers traded their superstar Paul George to the Thunder to get Vic.  And boy, did he impress everyone at the Fieldhouse with 42 points and 6 rebounds as the Blue and Gold won in the final seconds on a Oladipo field goal to edge Brooklyn 113-111.  Vic was 17 for 29 from the floor and 7 of 8 from the line as he proved that he belongs in Indiana.  Another newcomer, Bojan Bogdanovic, also was outstanding, as he was 8 for 10 in field goals, good for 19 points. And the players who came back to the team also contributed: Lance Stephenson added 11 points and 4 rebounds while Darren Collison made everyone forget about Jeff Teague with 8 points and 12 assists. Indy was on fire, going 55% from the floor and Slick Leonard was at his best as the home team drained 11 'Boom Babies'.  And they also were great in taking away the ball, with 11 steals, 3 of them by Oladipo, 2 apiece by Thad Young and T.J. Leaf.  On the down side, Brooklyn out-rebounded our heroes 44-30, led by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson's 14 points and 10 assists, and 8 boards each for Timofey Mozgov and Quincy Acy.  While the Nets' bigs fared well, Indiana's men in the middle struggled as Myles Turner only had 8 points and 2 rebounds while Philip Fitzpatrick just had 2 points and 2 caroms.  But winning calms all fears as the Pacers rode on the shoulders of Victor Oladipo tonight.

UP NEXT: The Portland Trail Blazers make their only Bankers Life Fieldhouse appearance on Saturday night, October 20.
The Pacers are 1-0 this season.

As promised, here's a writeup a friend did for me on Philip Fitzpatrick.

Born and raised a devout Catholic, Phillip Fitzpatrick didn't take long to find his true calling.

An early growth spurt pushed the freckle-faced youth to a surprising six feet by the time he was 12.  Awkward at first, he suffered through a tough developmental phase, before finally becoming accustomed to the attention his size gained him.  He slowly added weight to his height and became a force on the schoolyard basketball court, although his sometimes-bruising style of play got him into a few scrapes.

"You might say I did my time in the confessional," he admits.

In high school, he developed a solid interior game, his limited leaping ability actually forcing him to improve his footwork and positioning.  He also became adept at rotating the ball out of double teams, to the spot-up jump shooters dotting the perimeter.

"Fitzie," as he was commonly called, became a crowd favorite through his work ethic.  He willingness to help other players is an extension of his natural openness, which blossomed as his confidence grew.

"I always just liked to help people," he said in a recent interview.  "It's the way I was brought up."

Drafted in the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016, then traded to the hometown Indiana Pacers in 2017, Fitzpatrick has been a quick study, according to the coaching staff.  He is frequently among the last to leave after team practices.

"We project him to be a 15-10 player, and a solid presence underneath the basket.  His quickness is not A-Grade, but his all-around savvy and positioning are excellent for a young player.  He's picking up on things real quick."

While he searches for a more permanent residence, Phillip is sharing a small apartment with his wife, Erin, and their toddler triplets, Liam, Ireland and Finlay.

"We wanted a family, but we didn't know just how quick we'd have a full house," he said with a laugh, surprised at how fast his life is changing.

"There are so many things going on right now, I'd like to keep things as simple as possible," he says.  "A house is a big deal, and we want to find just the right place.  We only just got a larger car, because of the triplets.  I was never big on stuff like that.  My old Civic was always good enough for me.

"You know, my Dad worked at several jobs over the years.  We never had a lot of 'stuff.'  We always had food on the table, and new clothes when we needed them.

"But my brothers and I were taught the value of a dollar.  I know that sounds corny, but that's just the way we were raised."

Now that you know about Philip, it's time to start the season, which begins October 17 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse against the Brooklyn Nets.

Welcome to my first official blog!

Hello, my name is Fred Benson, and I am a big fan of tabletop sports games, especially baseball and basketball!  I am going to start the 2017-18 Indiana Pacers replay using one of my favorite tabletop games, Strat-O-Matic basketball!  The Pacers finished 48-34, 5th in the Eastern Conference, and they almost gave LeBron James & the Cleveland Cavaliers fits in the first round, taking them to 7 games.  In this replay, you will see why Victor Oladipo was an NBA All-Star, as he averaged 23 ppg last season. Also, check out other players, like Myles Turner, Darren Collison, Bojan Bogdanovic, Thaddeus Young and Lance Stephenson, whose cards will perform just like in real life.  I also added a created player, Philip Fitzpatrick, a 7'1" center-forward who was born and raised in Indianapolis, went to Roncalli High School in Indy, and was a star in college at Notre Dame.  I will talk about Philip in my next post.  The Pacers are a talented team that is gonna make waves in 2017-18, and with a few rolls of the dice, the Blue and Gold are ready to alter NBA history for the better.  Are you ready to see Indiana's Team in action?  Then, let's do this!