Is It Time To Start T.J. Ford?

When the Pacers made the deal to ship off Jermaine O’Neal to Toronto for T.J. Ford, I didn’t know what to expect. But in his debut year with Indiana, I was quite impressed. He was fast, can pass the ball well, but the shooting…was pretty decent shall I say. He sometimes ballhogged a bit and was sometimes selfish and what not, but hey, he can fix it this season.

That wasn’t the case. Ford was a disappointment and was then benched for 18 straight games; letting guys like Earl Watson, Luther Head, and A.J. Price play in front of him. Jim O’Brien thought it would bring more wins. But according to our friends at Pacers Pulse, starting those guys brought a winning percentage between 20-23%.

That doesn’t sound very fascinating. With Ford back after the benched games, he was pretty good: averaging 15.5 PPG, four APG, and three RPG. He had a season-high 20 points with three assists and three rebounds in a 93-81 Bucks’ loss. He led the team and I liked seeing the improvement. Along with that, he had eleven points, five assists, and three rebounds in the 107-83 win over the Pistons.

So what should Indy do with Ford? I really don’t think they’ll be trading him, believe me. But with Ford back in action, should he start? In my opinion, it’s a yes. But what lineup? According to 82games.com, Ford is best in the lineup of him at PG, Brandon Rush at SG, Dahntay Jones at SF, Danny Granger at PF, and Roy Hibbert at C. The record is 6-2 with that lineup.

I think it would be a smart idea. Brandon Rush has also been improving as well. He’s been looking excellent. It would be nice to bring back Dahntay Jones as starter and also Danny Granger has fitted well at power forward whenever he was at that position. He can cause some trouble to other teams’ defenses with his speed and his range of shooting compared to other forwards/centers in the league. Also, Troy Murphy may be shipped off still and he hasn’t been looking good so far lately. Roy Hibbert will be much needed in every starting lineup with his size for rebounding.

This would interest me if Jim O’Brien would think of it. Other starting lineups in my mind could be A.J. Price at PG because he has been looking great in last few games lately and has been impressive. T.J. Ford would be there at SG and Danny Granger would move to SF. The two big guys would be Troy Murphy and Roy Hibbert.

What lineup do you think should be used? Should T.J. Ford start first of all? To me, yes. The starting lineups can be either of those two. I think the Pacers can turn themselves around if they dare to try. Ford’s been looking good. If Indiana gives up on him now after two years, what was it worth giving up O’Neal? Keep Ford. Making something out of the kid.