Links: More Previews, Copycats, International Relations

As we get ever closer to the start of the season, everyone seems to be waiting as long as possible to glean every single nugget of information from the preseason before posting their previews. Here at Shades of Blue, we expect to be wrong (and ridiculed for it), so we did our's a few weeks ago. But here are a few that you might not have seen yet.

Athlon Sports says the goal should be 30 wins this year.

FanIQ's "gearhead" is predicting 29 wins in his preview of the Southwest Division.

HoopsBlogging's "goathair" says we won't be good, we will be fun to watch and will somehow win 44 games. It's a rather confusing preview, in all honesty.

The Pacers recognize that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so they are copying what the Grizzlies did last year to win back fan support. From the Indianapolis Business Journal:

Last season, the National Basketball Association’s Memphis Grizzlies had star rookie Rudy Gay record a message with a information about a special “two for $22” ticket plan, which resulted in the team selling 1,500 tickets. Grizzlies officials said it resulted in a 4,000-percent return on investment.Fans were so excited to receive this call from Gay that they would forward it to their friends, resulting in a huge viral effect, according to Grizzlies officials.

The Pacers are having coach Jim O'Brien call, which might not be as effective as having a player do it, but should help nonetheless with their attendance issues.

Finally, we come to an interesting article from Nikola Olic on Hoopsworld.com (love the new site design, by the way). It talks about how international players relate to each other better than with their American counterparts, which seems like an obvious conclusion to reach, since they have had similar experiences in adjusting to the NBA and a new culture. In fact, the only thing I take exception with is the title of it ("Grizzlies' First International Duo") and this quote:

And with the addition of Darko Milicic, they are the first NBA team in a long while to have a frontcourt with an international twist.

How soon we forget the greatness that was Jake Tsakalidis. He is Chris Vernon's favorite NBA player of all time, after all.