Tyler Hansbrough's Very Good Terrible No Good Day

Within the team aspect of the game, there are individual victories and losses. This fact is hard to ignore, and this fact was on display this afternoon as the Indiana Pacers came within a few plays here and a few plays there of sending the city of Chicago into a frenzy not seen since the days when Mrs. O'Leary's cow was kicking over lanterns. Today the cow would have been former North Carolina standout Tyler Hansbrough, as he drained a countless number of eighteen foot jumpers in the face of a helpless Carlos Boozer.

Gilgamesh is Cuneiform for Blake Griffin is a Zombie

For a basketball player to be so decisively inspiring on the court, it is quite precarious when we find that all he can do off of it is drool into the mic, and, if nothing else, Blake Griffin is this juxtaposition of hard silver, uniquely crafted and adorned, serving up spoonfuls of mush and gruel, that is entirely absent of form and substance.

Central Division Profiles: Danny Granger, the Hustler

Russ previewed the Central Division earlier, which was followed by a profile piece on Joakim Noah.  Now we've got the story of Danny Granger, who will either prove to be a franchise player or a fraud as the Indiana Pacers continue their search for respectability:

Danny always swore he could hear God whisper to him through the wood of a pool cue, or maybe it was money, or maybe the feeling of fresh bills in one's pocket is the same as being touched with the spirit, speaking in tongues and a choir full of angels.  Whatever it was, Danny liked it, felt in tune with it, and went from pool hall to pool hall in search of it, cocky as all get out.