Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Clippers sign Paul George to an extension – self-immersion & crapping on Pacers and Indianapolis continues

You can tell Paul George is talking about himself, not because he is smiling, but because he’s holding a microphone.

When an eighth grader suddenly blossoms and is welcomed by the popular clique, he leaves behind those with whom he was friends.  The former friends don’t understand why they were discarded, and the popular kid learns a little about empathy and the meaninglessness of popularity.

NBA all-star Paul George went through the first half of this metamorphosis at age 26.  He has yet to figure out the popularity he successfully sought does not elevate his true value as a human being, and that is sad.

Fresh off signing a ludicrous extension that could pay him $225 million over the next five years, George sat down for a podcast and exposed the unfortunate narcissism and self-importance he chose over being the best version of what he is – or should be – a decent guy who doesn’t need to be embraced by all-stars to be an all-star, on the court or off.

Forget for a moment that George’s extension is a reward for the same Los Angeles Clippers collapse against the Denver Nuggets that cost Doc Rivers his job.  George’s awful shooting in game seven was far more responsible for the loss than Rivers’ leadership.  But that’s not what we are here to discuss.  This is about George, the insecure narcissist – not the guy who makes big shots far more often in Powerade commercials than in real life..

When asked – again – to explain his exit from the Pacers, George climbed atop his Tower of Babble to declare he asked to leave for three reasons; because the Pacers were unwilling to engineer a trade for Anthony Davis, waning respect for the front office with Larry Bird gone, and that the Pacers were chiefly interested in competing rather than winning a championship.

He claimed to have made the decision immediately after a charity softball game where he told the media that he wanted to stay in Indianapolis for the rest of his career.

Now we don’t know exactly when the tumblers clicked in George’s brain to alter his desire to retire a Pacer, but we do know this – the softball game of which he claimed to take over “to keep it going” after teammate Roy Hibbert’s exit from Indianapolis is held to benefit the Indiana Children’s Wish fund, not raise awareness for cancer, as he claimed in the podcast.  That may seem a small quibble, but it shows the kind of indifference to facts that plagues George on occasion.

George also paid Indianapolis a backhanded compliment as a great place to start his career because there was nothing else to do but work on his game.  That stands in stark contrast to what he said about Indy in 2013 after signing an extension to stay here, “It’s pretty crazy. I just recently purchased a house on Geist, which I love – the whole community. I have kids bringing me grapes. It’s just crazy. I’ve never felt so a part of something and a part of the community like that.  It’s really love here and somewhere I love to call my home.”

That’s a long way from the pompous guy chatting it up about how Indy was fine before he figured out there was more to life than being nice to people, feeling appreciated and welcomed in a community, and becoming PG13 – whatever that means to him. And it’s a long way from the first-person pronoun delivery machine who said this yesterday about his extension with the Clippers, “I love being here.  I love the family that I’ve created in my first year. And this is where I want to be. This is home. I want to build something, a real foundation.”

As if that isn’t enough to demonstrate a wayward and manic love for self, George is among the NBA’s all-time leaders in self-invented nicknames with PG13, Young Trece, and the woefully inaccurate Playoff P.

It’s not that George is a bad guy.  He isn’t.  He’s a good guy who took an off-ramp to self-indulgence and just kept going.  Hope he finds his way back to being the guy would loved his neighbor’s grapes, worked tireless at his game, and won a bass fishing tournament at Geist.  Not only was he a better person, but he won more often too.

Indiana Basketball lost last night – why do I feel so good about the Hoosiers today?

Al Durham made some ill-advised drives to the rim, but his unselfish effort was always there. Hard to get mad at that.

Indiana lost 69-67 in overtime to Florida State last night, so why did I enjoy watching the game so much?

Losses nest with me forever – my personal defeats and those of teams and people I back – so this is a bit of a weird sensation.  I did a Periscope immediately after the game, and I smiled throughout.  I praised the Hoosiers for their loss.  Maybe social distancing has turned me soft.

It occurred to me to wait until I had some sleep to write about the game because I assumed my good feelings for last night’s losers would pass.  Then I could unleash the hounds about Archie Miller being in his fourth year without making marked improvement in results or culture.  My positive vibe remained – and is still here.  I’m still very happy about the Hoosiers effort, and bullish on their prospects to be the surprise team of the Big 10.

The result wasn’t there, but it seems the culture is.

There is a possibility that I am so pleased with the eighth-ranked IU football team that I have become conditioned to smile whenever I see 18-22 years olds wearing cream and crimson representing Indiana University.

Regardless of my possible psychological metamorphosis, I’m even looking forward to Sunday’s game against North Alabama, and I hate win-stuffer games prior to Big 10 play.

Here is another possibility for why I’m pleased with the Hoosiers – because these guys plays hard and together, and that is all that can be asked.  Basketball is like jazz in that all five guys in a quintet needs to play attention to the other four just as keenly as they focus on themselves.  This is the first Indiana team since 2013 to do that.  After years of watching Hoosiers treat Simon-Skjodt Assembly Hall like a holding cell they were forced to endure before being released to the NBA, finally we have a team that appears to be unified in their desire to succeed as an Indiana unit.

Gone are the silly lone wolf antics of the east coast kooks who were lured to Bloomington as a bastion of future pro development without being able to point to Indiana on a map.  They have been replaced by young men who understand basketball is a game played by five together – not five individuals all trying to showcase individual gifts.

Even Trayce Jackson Davis, who put together a George McGinnis esque 25 points and 17 rebounds stat line was anything but selfish.

Even if the result is an overtime road loss against a ranked team, I like it.

Sure, the 14 turnovers were maddening.  Against a well-coached team like Florida State, you need to be strong and smart with the ball.  Three-point shooting continues to be a problem so entrenched that it’s shocking when a shot from deep goes in.  Players feel it too.  Indiana guards pass up open threes regularly.  Guards trying to get to the rim while three Seminoles were already surrounding it was futile, but I never interpreted that as selfish.

Defensively, Indiana works hard and together, and that gives me reason to hope for better results as this season gets serious in January, February, and (fingers crossed) March.

I’m so happy about how Indiana competes that I’m willing to overlook the result it produced last night.  Although I don’t expect my new found sanity to stick around forever without some scoreboard validation, it’s nice to feel this way about a Hoosier team.

It’s been a long time.

Big 10 to approve rule change that will allow Ohio State to play in the Big 10 Championship

Across from each other on the field there is no doubt Ohio State is a better team than Indiana, but at the 14-seat Big 10 conference table or Zoom call, the Buckeyes and Hoosiers should be equals in a way they obviously are not.

Despite a rule enacted by the Big 10 to keep teams unable to play six games this season from competing in the Big 10 Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the 5-0 Ohio State Buckeyes will represent the East Division in that game.

The unjust rule change will be voted on and approved by the 14 conference athletic directors this afternoon.

The Big 10 released its football schedule, canceled its season, and re-launched in a six-week period last summer, so no change of course is surprising.  These are unprecedented times in college athletics, and Ohio State playing only five games was not anticipated by the conference when it enacted the silly six-game minimum.

Before I launch into a diatribe about the lack of fairness this change represents, let me clear one thing up – Ohio State is the best team in the Big 10.  There is no question that if the Buckeyes played Indiana again, they would win.  It would likely not be nearly as close as the 42-35 score in the game played in Columbus on November 21.

Hoosiers quarterback Michael Penix tore an ACL the next Saturday as IU throttled Maryland, and has been replaced by Jack Tuttle.  Chief among the reasons IU was able to crawl out of a 35-7 hole against Ohio State was Penix.  Expecting Tuttle to be as dynamic or efficient as Penix defies credulity.

However, rules are rules.  I’m not privy to why the Big 10 chose a waterline of six games to determine eligibility, although I assume it was to protect itself from a 5-0 team not clad in scarlet and gray playing in Indy over a 7-1 Buckeyes team.  Whatever the the rationale behind the rule’s implementation, there it was – until today when the Big 10 again became the BIG ONE and Little 13.

The Big 10 understands Ohio State has a far better chance of being selected for the College Football Playoff where it will earn the conference a significant payday.  Instead of ceding that cash to the SEC or ACC, they Zoomed a fix.

If you haven’t been paying attention, college football is a big money enterprise, and the administrators who run things enjoy being paid exorbitantly for their meager contributions to its popularity, so whatever is needed to stake their claim to cash – that is what they will do.

So there is little old Indiana, having done nothing wrong being legislated out of an invitation to an event that it had previously and unwittingly been legislated into.  The Hoosiers are in the midst of a magical season of winning unprecedented in their last half century.  And there is big old Ohio State, demanding its ticket be punched despite the rule everyone agreed to just three months ago.

Fair at Ohio State is defined by being seated at the head of the table, ordering the entree for all, being served first, choosing the wine, leading the pre-meal prayer, and enjoying second helpings others are denied.  Indiana begs for scraps from the kiddie table.

“Please sir, may I have some more?”

Again, there is no doubt Ohio State is the best team in the Big 10.  Indiana is second.  That was proven in their head-to-head matchup, but at what point will Big 10 president Kevin Warren grow a pair and exert some tough love for Ohio State as he does for the other 13 member universities?

This is a sad but profitable day for the Big 10, which distinguishes it poorly from all the other days when cash trumps all and Ohio State Football drives decision making in a conference that should be audacious enough to treat all of members equally.

Indianapolis #Colts – Five reasons NOT to trade for demoted Eagles QB Carson Wentz

Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz is being replaced as the Eagles starter just as an expensive contract extension is about to kick in. Colts fans who believe he’s the next franchise QB aren’t reading the tea leaves correctly.

With the elevation of jalen Hurts to starter for the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend, the availability of demoted quarterback Carson Wentz at the end of the season is in play.  Because Frank Reich has worked with Wentz before and incumbent QB Philip Rivers turned 39 yesterday, the Colts seem to be the sexy pick to hand his services.

Even though Wentz has played well in the past – he had a very nice 2017 – it seems a stretch to believe GM Chris Ballard would part with assets to welcome someone else’s damaged (and expensive) goods as a potential savior to replace Rivers.

Here are five reasons the Colts won’t make this move:

Rivers is still playing at a higher level than the much younger Wentz – There is no statistical measure for a quarterback that is less kind to the resolutely immobile Rivers than QBR, and even at QBR Rivers holds a wide advantage over Wentz.  Rivers is ranked 21st in the NFL with a QBR of 63.  Wentz is 28th at 49.2.  Throwing the football, Rivers is ranked 12th by Pro Football Focus – Wentz is 31st.  It would be nice for the Colts to have a guy who can run at QB, but not at this discrepancy of arm talent.

Wentz leads the NFL in both interceptions and sacks – With four games remaining this season, Wentz has already been sacked the 47th most times in NFL history.  If he kept his starting position and maintained that bruising pace, Wentz would easily slide into an all-time top five slot.  As for picks, Wentz’s 15 give him a comfortable lead among his peers.  The rap on Rivers when he signed with the Colts was that he throws it to the other guys too often, but Foles has out-erred Rivers by six, and the difference in percentage of passes intercepted is 3.4% to 2.1%.

Insane expense line for Wentz stretches through 2024 – Wentz is owed over $120M for the next four years with most of it guaranteed.  If the Colts get the very best Wentz has to offer, the money is still a stretch.  If Wentz performs as he has in 2020, it would be a deal that dooms the Colts to mediocrity at best for those years and beyond.

Any trade requires Colts to send something to Philly – Is there a player on the Colts roster or draft capital that Ballard might agree to send to the Eagles in exchange for Wentz AND that burdensome contract?  The answer is no.  Ballard is a smart guy, and would never agree to send an asset for a withering but costly talent.

Jim Irsay’s patience – “If you try and solve the quarterback issue in a year, and don’t do it right, you can set your franchise back 10 years.”  That’s a Jim Irsay quote about quarterbacks.  The Bears have always been impatient, and their last excellent quarterback was Sid Luckman!  The Colts will find the next franchise quarterback, but it is going to take time.  Until then, Rivers will do just fine.

I thought about countering my anti-Wentz arguments with five that are positive, just in case Ballard sees things differently, but the five arguments I promised you are not worth sharing.  After writing things like, “Wentz’s best year was his last with Frank Reich as his offensive coordinator,” it just seemed silly to continue.  My heart wasn’t in it because I know it won’t happen.  Trading for Wentz goes against every principle by which the Colts and Ballard operate.

Rivers has worked out significantly better than the Colts could have dreamed.  His numbers are good enough to give the defense the help it needs to win twice as many games as they have lost, and his leadership is outstanding.  It’s impossible to talk to his teammates without a broad smile coming to their faces.  Check the Eagles Zoom calls – not a lot of smiles.

Maybe Rivers will start to play to his age, but what skill or talent of Rivers can anyone believe will erode beyond where it is in 2020?  Is he going to lose foot speed he doesn’t possess?  How can Rivers lose a fastball he doesn’t have?

With Rivers, the Colts are 8-4.  If they had a crack at an elite quarterback like Patrick Mahomes or Aaron Rodgers, maybe a deal would make sense.  Not for Carson Wentz.