The Official Site of TJ Ford

Thu, Apr 2nd 2009, 14:01

Starring in a new role

It’s no secret T.J. Ford would prefer to be the Indiana Pacers’ starting point guard.

Ford may never get his starting spot back if he continues to play well off the bench.
Coach Jim O’Brien put the ball in Ford’s hands down the stretch and watched him lead the Pacers past the Chicago Bulls.

Ford capped a 22-point night with a 10-foot fadeaway jumper with 3.9 seconds remaining in the Pacers’ 107-105 victory Tuesday night at Conseco Fieldhouse.

“I’ve said over the past week that T.J. is a quality professional and playing great basketball,” O’Brien said. “I’m sure he would like to start, but as long as he’s getting 38 minutes, he’s getting plenty of playing time and really playing at a very high level.”

After Chicago’s Ben Gordon made a 17-foot jumper to tie the score at 105, Pacers forward Troy Murphy missed a jumper, but Indiana got the ball back after it went out of bounds off of a Bulls player with 26.1 seconds left.

O’Brien called a timeout and told Ford to let the clock run down before taking a shot.

Ford toyed with his dribble out front as Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro instructed rookie Derrick Rose to make Ford go left.

Ford started left, hesitated with a between-the-legs dribble before continuing left and pulling up for the game-winning shot. He finished with 22 points, nine assists and only one turnover.

“They were pushing me that way the whole night,” Ford said. “For me, it was about getting to that spot. I knew it wasn’t going to be a pick-and-roll and I wasn’t going to have to shoot over Brad Miller. Just got to a spot and elevated.”

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