Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Indiana Pacers forward Chris Copeland stabbed this morning; two Atlanta Hawks busted for obstruction in incident

by Kent Sterling

Sharp shooter Chris Copeland felt something sharp this morning that caused a shooting pain in his abdomen.

Pacers forward Chris Copeland is okay, according to reports, after being stabbed a few hours ago while leaving 1 OAK, a club in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

That’s the important thing. Copeland is alright, the victim of a non-life-threatening knife injury to his elbow and abdomen just before the club closed at 4 a.m.

As part of the same incident, Atlanta Hawks players Pero Antić and Thabo Sefolosha were arrested for trying to prevent police from setting up a crime scene. Should the Pacers find their way into the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, that will provide a strange but fascinating narrative for a Pacers vs. Hawks first round matchup.

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Of all the Pacers, Copeland is probably the last you might guess would cause another man to stab him. He’s always good-natured and smiling. That won’t prevent some nut from sticking him, but it’s hard to fathom Copeland as a guy who might initiate street violence.

Copeland’s wife (as reported in the NY Daily News; other media refer to her as a girlfriend or fiancee), Katrine Saltara, was also slashed in the incident, according to the NY Daily News. She’s going to be okay too.

What’s interesting to me is that 10 years ago, this kind of incident would have caused outrage. Fans would have thought, “What the hell is going on with these Pacers? They’re always out late screwing around when they should be focused on the task at hand.” When you are paid millions to play 82 games of basketball, how hard is it to stay in the hotel and get a good night sleep?

But this is a different group of Pacers, and Copeland was the victim here, not the aggressor. Copeland wasn’t arrested; he was stabbed. He didn’t shoot up a parking lot, or appear in public to be a guy who spends his free time looking for trouble.

Staying out until 4 a.m. reflects a lack of understanding of how to avoid short-tempered, well-armed psychos, but blaming Copeland for being stabbed should be left to worried parents, not fans or the media.

Why Antić and Sefolosha felt compelled to throw themselves between the cops and the crime scene is unknown, but it might be a situation that raises the emotional temperature of a playoff series that won’t need much. The Pacers have eliminated the Hawks from the playoffs the last two seasons, and the two teams don’t like each other very much. Now there is a knife wound and two arrests to prove it.

Pacers President of Basketball Ops Larry Bird released a statement a few minutes ago, “We are aware that Chris Copeland was injured early this morning in New York City. We are still gathering information and will update when we know more. Our thoughts are with Chris and those injured.”

Whatever happened and why, the Pacers are not in a position to be distracted by concern for a teammate. One game behind the Celtics for the eighth seed and two in back of the Nets for the seventh with just five to play, the Pacers are fighting an uphill battle (especially with the Celts holding the tie-breaker advantage).

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Tonight’s game against the New York Knicks is a must-win, as are the other four games remaining on their schedule. Whether Copeland’s wound requires hours, days, or weeks to heal, the Pacers likely need to win their final five games to make a playoff berth.

Our prayers are with Copeland for a quick recovery, the wisdom to stay out of clubs as closing time approaches, and for the Pacers to retain focus as Paul George’s return to the Pacers has put them in position to raise a little hell in the playoffs.

(Kent hosts the Kent Sterling show afternoons from 3p-6p on CBS Sports 1430 in Indianapolis.)

Most unusual college basketball season ends with a predictable result and renewed hope for Indiana teams

by Kent Sterling

Betting against Coach K to fail in Indianapolis was proven again to be unwise.

The Final Four has been held in Indianapolis six times, and Duke has qualified for three of those celebrations of amateur basketball (1991, 2010, 2015). They have won the National Championship all three times. Yet, only 9.8% entrants in the ESPN Bracket Challenge guessed Duke would win. Idiots!

Kentucky was supposed to have been coronated last night as the first undefeated champ in 39 years, and they almost pulled it off. That was the most compelling narrative of the season, but not the only one.

Coming off a season where Indiana schools were shutout of the NCAA Tournament in 2014, the future was unsure for Indiana, Purdue, Butler, and Notre Dame. Each of those programs bounced back, but with different levels of success.

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After a 17-15 campaign, the pangs of discontent grew louder in Bloomington, and Indiana delivered early in the Big Ten season, posting a 5-1 record. That start was enough to allow Indiana to earn a ticket to the Big Dance as a 10-seed – the first double digit seed in program history, but a ticket is a ticket.

Fans hoped for a fresh start against Wichita State, but were denied as the Hoosiers again failed to play the kind of defense that results in tourney success.

The Hoosiers ended the season 20-14, a step in the right direction, but not exactly the stuff that an supposedly elite program is expected to deliver.

No one graduates, but Stanford Robinson and Max Hoetzel both announced their intention to transfer. With big man Thomas Bryant set to report to Bloomington, and Hoosiers guards Yogi Ferrell, Robert Johnson, and James Blackmon likely coming back, the Hoosiers should take another positive step in 2016.

Expectations for Purdue were low, and after losses at Mackey to Gardner-Webb and North Florida fans were nearing full revolt. Then the Boilers came together, found their collective heart, and rolled to a 12-6 conference record.

After an opening round 66-65 overtime loss against Cincinnati, fans still felt a few positive steps had been taken. With the core of the team expected to return, even brighter skies are expected in West Lafayette in 2015-2016.

Butler struggled through Brandon Miller’s only season leading the Bulldogs with a 14-17 record (4-14 in the Big East), and when he decided to abdicate that position, no one knew what to expect from the Bulldogs. Chris Holzmann took over, steadied the ship, and veteran leadership brought some magic back to Hinkle Fieldhouse.

A bounce-back 12-6 conference mark included a loss in what was the best game I saw all year – a 68-65 loss to Villanova. Butler’s fight was evident in their NCAA Tournament overtime loss to Notre Dame as well. Every starter for the Bulldogs played at least 40 points, but they couldn’t get over the hump, and the season ended with work left undone.

The loss of Alex Barlow and Kameron Woods will hurt, but with what Holzmann has returning, another solid season appears within reach.

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Notre Dame was a revelation in Mike Brey’s 15th season in South Bend. It appeared that entrenched mediocrity might be Brey’s ticket to an early retirement, but after a miserable 15-17 season, the Irish re-booted and won the ACC. After advancing to only one Sweet 16 in 14 years, Brey rolled into the Elite Eight in 2015, and was three missed late free throws from bouncing undefeated Kentucky.

Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton will graduate and be difficult to replace, but the ceiling has been raised by Brey, and his job is again very safe.

The Big Ten was down by all accounts this year. Before the season, Wisconsin was correctly and obviously projected as the best team in the conference, and Rutgers and Penn State were thought to be the worst. The 11 in the middle were almost indistinguishable from one another.

To see two Big Ten teams get to the Final Four was a big surprise, and at least in part attributable to the generosity of the selection committee giving Michigan State a relatively simple path, but still a very positive result for the conference.

College basketball seasons give us a chance to outsmart ourselves with upset predictions and ordaining greatness before it’s earned. I’m getting out in front of 2021 NCAA Tourney when the Final Four returns to Indy. If Coach K is still leading Duke, I’ll take them to win it here again with a bunch of kids who are now seventh graders.

(Kent hosts the Kent Sterling show afternoons from 3p-6p on CBS Sports 1430 in Indianapolis.)

John Calipari heads to Basketball Hall of Fame while the arguably more deserving Tom Izzo waits

by Kent Sterling

Tom Izzo was nowhere near this anguished when he learned that John Calipari was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, while he was not even a finalist.

This argument on the day of a National Championship that could have featured both Kentucky’s John Calipari and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, but doesn’t. is whether Izzo should have beaten Calipari to enshrinement in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Hall is expected to announce this morning that Calipari has been elected as part of the 2015 class, while Izzo was not a finalist.

In the end, it won’t matter as both coaches will have their day, but opening the gates for Calipari prior to Izzo seems a strange choice.

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Calipari spent the first 17 years of his career as a head coach at UMass (Atlantic 10 Conference) and Memphis (Conference USA) before coming to Kentucky of the Southeastern Conference for the past six years. He’s amassed a 593-176 record with five trips to the Final Four (adjusted for the two that were stripped due to NCAA violations) with one National Championship.

Izzo has been the head coach of Michigan State (Big Ten) for 20 seasons and has put together a 495-199 record with seven Final Fours and one National Championship.

Kentucky has been the top basketball program in the country during the Calipari era that has seen many talented players report there to prepare for the NBA, which is the goal of most of the top talent in the country. That recruiting philosophy has brought a six-year tour of basketball excellence to Lexington.

Michigan State operates a little bit differently. Slightly lesser talent heads to Michigan State, develops, and becomes different versions of a cohesive team.

The separation between the two comes with the conferences in which both have competed and the resulting gap in strength of schedule. Calipari’s combined strength of schedule for his teams at UK, Memphis, and UMass – 5.57. Issue’s is a robust 9.20 because not only does Michigan State play in the Big Ten – often college basketball’s best – but he schedules a very solid slate during the preseason.

Calipari’s work in the SEC for six years has been great, but the SEC is rarely playing the same level of basketball from night to night as the Big Ten, and then add the A-10 and C-USA years, and comparing Izzo’s success favorably to Calipari’s becomes even easier.

While Calipari has had two teams stripped of Final Fours as well as a number of wins and losses, he has never been named as a violator in either NCAA investigation, so there is no need to indulge in a conversation about rules and recruiting methodology in evaluating Calipari.

If you want to grade Calipari down because you refuse to believe he didn’t know about the payments from an agent to UMass All-American Marcus Camby or Derrick Rose’s decision to have another person pass the standardized test needed to gain eligibility at Memphis, that’s fine. I choose to trust the NCAA findings and not use those incidents as demerits against Calipari’s candidacy.

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Not only is does it assume facts not in evidence, it assumes facts not in evidence.

Izzo’s slate with the NCAA isn’t completely clean either. He was suspended for one game after the NCAA found that he employed a camp staffer who was associated with a recruit. Izzo apologized for paying the counselor $475 for one week’s work, but said the violation was inadvertent.

Both Izzo and Calipari are iconic coaches in college hoops who have enjoyed rare success. Both belong in Springfield, and will be there eventually. Not sure what the motivation was for the committee to select Calipari first, but seeing the wisdom of the snub of Izzo is difficult.

(Kent hosts the Kent Sterling show afternoons from 3p-6p on CBS Sports 1430 in Indianapolis.)

Kentucky loses to Wisconsin, but the Andrew Harrison postgame issues are fine by me

by Kent Sterling

Kentucky's perceived lack of sportsmanship not an issue - at least not to me, and who respects Kentucky less than me?

Kentucky’s perceived lack of sportsmanship not an issue – at least not to me, and who respects Kentucky less than I do?

Twenty year old kids are going to behave erratically when forced to shake hands and answer questions immediately after an emotional loss.

When Kentucky’s dreams of an undefeated National Championship run were ended late last night at Lucas Oil Stadium, the Wildcat players were crestfallen. They knew their run to perfection had ended, and their behavior belied their immaturity.

Andrew Harrison used language in front of live microphones in response to a question about Wisconsin center Frank Kaminsky that should never be uttered anywhere, and he and a few teammates decided the ridiculous ritual of shaking hands immediately after a game’s end was not worth their effort.

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Some are saying that Kentucky players revealed themselves as classless. Nonsense.

I may be the last person on this planet expected to defend any perceived negative regarding Kentucky Basketball, but in this case, I have only one issue and that is Harrison’s use of the 100% repulsive use of the N-word to describe Kaminsky.

The handshake line is an ill-conceived attempt to codify the notion that these young men play sports without ill-temper and can be best buddies immediately after a hard fought game. Nothing like vacuous utterances of “Good game. Good game. Good game…” to make those watching believe that basketball is just a well-intended diversion for the players.

Forget that many of the players who both won and lost last night work many hours every day to refine their basketball skills from age six through yesterday just for the chance to play in a game as meaningful as last night’s.

Many never get over the disappointment of losing a game like last night’s classic in an hour, a day, a year, or ever. Fans and the media expect kids to get over it in fifteen seconds. “Tough loss boys! Shake hands!” Yeah, right.

As for the “F**k that n***r,” comment from Harrison. Do you expect Harrison to send Kaminsky a bouquet of flowers to congratulate him. Minus the n-word, I have no problem with that either. The media and fans always blather about their fatigue for players and coaches sticking to the postgame script. They want honesty – until they get it. Then they eviscerate the guy who has the temerity to say what pops into his head.

Harrison is a competitor who had a chance to be a part of something that has not been done in 39 years. This Kentucky team would have been welcomed into a very small club of immortals, but because they took their foot off the throttle and allowed Wisconsin to stay in the game longer than they had any business being in it, the kid’s dream was crushed, and he muttered ill-tempered invective near a live mic.

I’m good with all of it.

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Kentucky lost last night in a hell of a basketball game. They flirted with disaster against Ole Miss, Georgia, and Notre Dame, and they finally came up against a fundamentally sound and experienced team that played a great final five minutes. Goodbye 40-0.

That chapped Harrison’s ass. I would expect it might.

If I were putting together a team, Harrison and his twin brother would be among the first in college basketball I would go get.

And for those thinking Kaminsky might harbor ill-will against Harrison, that’s even sillier. Players know how deeply disappointed they are after a loss. If Kaminsky liked Harrison before the comments, I’m sure he still does. If he respected him, that probably hasn’t changed at all either.

If you think all of these players are good-natured choir boys who understand basketball is just a silly game, you’ve never invested the time needed to be great at a team sport.

Don’t let this media-created maelstrom shade your feelings about Harrison. He’s the same kid he has always been, and similar to the way most are. He was just more honest at an inconvenient time.

(Kent hosts the Kent Sterling show afternoons from 3p-6p on CBS Sports 1430 in Indianapolis.)

Indiana Basketball – Commitment of Thomas Bryant gives reason for hope in 2016; that’s not always a good thing

by Kent Sterling

A ray of sunshine is all Hoosier Nation needs to invest hope in another season, and that is exactly what Thomas Bryant brings with him to Bloomington.

The narrative changed a little bit today, but that doesn’t mean the reality will be any different for Indiana Basketball in 2016.

As I sit watching Michigan State’s season wither at halftime, thinking about what it would take for Indiana to return to the Final Four for the first time in 14 years keeps dancing in the back of my mind.

As miserable as the Spartans fans sitting in front of me in the south end zone of Lucas Oil Stadium might be, at least they are her – at least they enjoyed an extra 15 days of hope this might be their year.

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Indiana fans have knocked into each other for years wondering if hope is a good thing in which to indulge, and today’s commitment of a 6’10” talent is enough to lure them back.

A significant din of voices began calling for the head of coach Tom Crean as the season unraveled in February, and has only grown louder since IU’s season was ended by Wichita State in the round of 64.

Re-plating the cultural build undertaken by Crean seven years ago is a big decision. One need only to look at Mike Krzyzewski (35 years), Tom Izzo (20 years), and Bo Ryan (14 years) to see the wisdom of of consistent leadership. John Caliper is an outlier in that he has an unreasonably good knack for attracting talent to Lexington.

Hope is an alluring mistress, and all that is necessary to ignite it is a small change in the construct of the team. When things are going badly, any change is seen as a positive.

The commitment of Bryant – a McDonald’s All-American at the position where Indiana has a significant need – is just such a reason. Even after a Big Ten record of 44-46 over the past five years and 16-20 over the past two, Hoosiers fans will be willing to see a glimmer of hope at the end of this 14-year long tunnel of mediocrity.

But hope means expectations will again be raised, and where there is hope and expectations, disappointment lurks perilously close to Assembly Hall. Another blah season and the calls for Crean to hit the bricks will be stronger and more resolute than ever.

The development of Robert Johnson and James Blackmon and return of Yogi Ferrell for his senior season might have been enough for the easily swayed to climb on board for yet another year of believing until logic demanded otherwise, and for some the logic train pulled out of the station for good with the Sweet 16 loss to Jim Boeheim’s Syracuse Orange and early departure of Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo – which should have been a plus for Crean.

Crean is paid like an elite coach, and Indiana fans are continually told and echo the belief that IU is still a top five program despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.

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Indiana has been average in the aggregate for nearly as long as Bryant and the other incoming freshmen have been alive, but Bryant gives them a chance to improve, and that might be all that’s needed in a Big Ten where the middle is expected to be as crowded next year as it was in the season that’s ending right now for the Michigan State Spartans.

At this time next, maybe Indiana will be lucky enough to have its season end like this in Houston

(Kent hosts the Kent Sterling show afternoons from 3p-6p on CBS Sports 1430 in Indianapolis.)

Final Four Weekend – Kentucky, Wisconsin, Duke, Michigan State, and Lawmakers ready to cut down nets in Indy

by Kent Sterling

The legacy of this Final Four will be the freedoms won by the LGBT community in the corrected RFRA law.

Now that the Indiana State Legislature and governor have learned arrogance never pays, now the nation can turn its attention to basketball rather than a neanderthal attempt to marginalize the LGBT community. Ignorance was revealed, corrected, and now Indiana has enacted its first protection of LGBTs as a class.

Winning comes in many ways and forms in government, but basketball is different. Winning and losing depends upon points scored, not enlightening the sadly narrow-minded.

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Kentucky is the prohibitive favorite to cut down the nets in Indianapolis Monday night because they have a historically talented roster of players, most of whom will earn millions very soon in the NBA. The Wildcats are tall, long, generous, well-rested, and coached well enough to beat teams without access to similar prowess. UK is 38-0 and will try this weekend to become the first team to go undefeated since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers.

Their first hurdle will be their toughest. Wisconsin is a unique team with size, talent, and a precision to their play that is rare. Anchored by likely National Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky – a seven-footer with the ability to shoot from distance, and Sam Dekker – a disciplined and athletic player with a long NBA career ahead of him.

But Wisconsin isn’t about their parts. This is a machine with five equally important cogs operating as one.

The key to Wisconsin is their ability to execute their game plan to virtual perfection. All little things must be done correctly by all five players simultaneously, or Kentucky could overwhelm them. Miss a block-out, give up a put back. Set sloppy screens, the offense grows stagnant. Make dull cuts, turn the ball over. Miss open shots, give up buckets in transition the other way.

Kentucky can overcome mistakes with physical dominance. Wisconsin cannot.

Duke and Michigan State is a different game. Sparty wasn’t supposed to be here. A seven-seed with 11 losses – one of those in East Lansing to Mike Davis’s Texas Southern team – this looked like a rebuilding year for Tom Izzo as likely to end in the NIT without as a seventh Final Four for the emotional leader.

While the Wisconsin vs. UK game is a rematch of their Final Four game last year (a one-point UK win), Sparty and Duke played earlier this season. That game was won 81-71 by Duke because the Blue Devils made 14 more free throws. Free throws have been a problem for the Spartans all season, and might cause trouble again tomorrow night.

Michigan State ranked 336th of 351 Division One teams this season by converting only 63.1% of their foul shots. Over the course of the season, the Spartans were outscored at the line by 124 points. You don’t think free throws are important? Ask Mike Brey about the three FTs missed by his Fighting Irish down the stretch of the Elite Eight game won 68-66 by Kentucky last Saturday.

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Matching up the teams reveals athletic advantages virtually everywhere for the Dukies, but the talent Mike Krzyzewski (coaching in his 12th Final Four) has at his disposal is young. Kahlil Okafor, Justice Winslow, and Tyus Jones are all freshmen, and while talent is coveted, a little experience and maturity is nice too. Quinn Cook is a senior leader, but can he get his freshmen to rise to the occasion?

Michigan State has senior leadership from Brandon Dawson and Travis Trice, and more experience from juniors Denzel Valentine and Matt Costello.

The real winners in Indianapolis will be the fans who converge on the city for a weekend of fun. Rihanna, Zac Brown, and Imagine Dragon will headline three days and nights of concerts to add to the basketball fun, and because of the idiocy caused by the ill-timed passage of the ill-conceived RFRA that caused such a ruckus, Hoosiers are going to be especially concerned with making sure visitors understand what hospitality is.

At their worst, Indianapolis hosts are as nice as anyone on the planet. This weekend, natives will treat fans from around the country like family (or “kin” for those from Kentucky).

As always, we will be in the middle of it beginning at 3p with a live broadcast from the Tin Roof at the corner of Maryland and Penn – just north of Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where the Pacers will fight for their playoff lives tonight and Sunday.

Talk about madness, there’s plenty everywhere downtown this weekend. From Lucas Oil Stadium to the Fieldhouse to the Statehouse to White River State Park (the site of the music festival), Indianapolis is filled to the brim with crazy this weekend.

Heart prediction – Wisconsin over Kentucky; Michigan State over Duke; Michigan State over Wisconsin

Brain prediction – Kentucky, Duke, Kentucky!

(Kent hosts the Kent Sterling show afternoons from 3p-6p on CBS Sports 1430 in Indianapolis.)

Indiana Basketball – Two possible roads to success for Hoosiers are on display in this Final Four

by Kent Sterling

Four of the best coaches in college basketball being at the Final Four tells you one thing about college basketball – to succeed, and program needs a hell of a good coach.

The road to this Final Four was paved in one of two ways. Kentucky coach John Calipari has developed a system to acquire as much talent as possible, enacting it immediately upon arrival in Lexington, while the other three either built or continued a culture of excellence that regenerates each year.

Indiana is obviously trying to embrace the second of those two options as athletic director Fred Glass hopes momentum builds toward self-sustaining success as Tom Crean graduates classes who remain plugged into the IU program.

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Michigan State’s Tom Izzo will coach in his seventh Spartan team in a Final Four this weekend. For 20 years, he’s run the show after serving as an assistant under Judd Heathcote – who led Michigan State to an NCAA Championship in 1979 and retired in 1995.

Izzo inherited a culture that he quickly evolved to reflect his own personality without disrupting what Heathcote built. Through the years, Izzo has built a family of tight-knit alums, including Magic Johnston – the charismatic star of the 1979 team – who hold current players accountable for their actions on and off the court.

From Jamie Feick to Mateen Cleaves to Chris Hill to Alan Anderson to Drew Neitzel to Kalin Lucas to Draymond Green to Keith Appling to Gary Harris to the current team, the lineage of the Spartan way has been passed.

It has resulted in consistent excellence and occasional greatness.

Duke took a different route by choosing to go outside the program in the spring of 1980 when it hired a 33-year old who had played and coached at Army to lead the Blue Devil program to prominence. Whether the people who chose Coach K to run things at Cameron Indoor were prescient or lucky depends upon to whom you talk, but the patience shown through the first three seasons of mediocrity (a record of 38-47 and zero trips to the NCAA Tournament) sure paid off.

Since then, the Dukies are 905-204 with 31 trips to the tourney, four championships, 12 Final Fours, and an overall tournament record of 86-26. Eighteen former Duke players are on current NBA rosters, and 44 others have retired after NBA careers. The names are a who’s who of basketball, and they take tremendous pride in their ties to Blue Devil basketball.

When Wisconsin needed to replace Dick Bennett in 2001, it kept the hire in the university family as it tends to. The coach at UW-Milwaukee had excelled at UW-Plattville for 15 years before the promotion to Milwaukee, and had been pretty good there too, so Bo Ryan had finally earned his shot at leading the Badgers.

For 14 years, Ryan has led Wisconsin to relentless positive results, never finishing outside the top four in the Big Ten standings and always having its ticket punched for a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The last two years have provided the trips to the Final Four his resume’ lacked. Penney, Harris, Leuer, Hughes, Stiemsma, Brust, and dozens of others led the Badgers under Ryan to maximize their potential and pass on the secrets of Ryan’s swing offense to younger players who yearned to understand.

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Starting over is a loathsome and risky process. To say goodbye to Crean is to say a prayer that the next hire will be the coach where the road to consistent success can begin. There is also the option of dipping back into the Bob Knight coaching tree to build a bridge spanning 15 years from the Knight era to current day, which would ask fans to wipe the previous generation of Indiana Basketball from its collective memory or dismiss it as a foul dream sporadically interrupted by two sunny seasons of mirth and hope.

There is only one Calipari so hiring to a culture of future pros who cycle through every year or two would be difficult.

That leaves Glass with a hell of a decision – hope that Crean can find his way to success next year or risk bring fans into a malaise from which they may never emerge, or trust his instincts to bring in the next great architect of a once exemplary program that can pass the rock from generation to generation, leading the Hoosiers back to the kind of relentless success enjoyed by the four programs vying for the title this weekend.

That’s why they pay Fred the big bucks.

(Kent hosts the Kent Sterling show afternoons from 3p-6p on CBS Sports 1430 in Indianapolis.)

Indiana Basketball – Brad Stevens to Texas would be Hoosiers worst nightmare

by Kent Sterling

This angry mob of Indiana fans can stand down – Brad Stevens is not going to Austin as Rick Barnes’ replacement.

Seth Davis tweeted a name he has heard linked to the Texas Basketball opening – former Butler coach Brad Stevens.

When I read his tweet, so many thoughts raced through my mind a pen and paper weren’t able to contain them. The first was that Hoosier Nation’s collective head would explode if that happened, and black bunting would be hung from the top of Assembly Hall before Stevens got off the plane in Austin.

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If rumors of that hiring became reality, Indiana Basketball zealots would begin to quickly cycle through the four stages of grief. Denial comes first, and would simply involve them dropping to their candy stripe covered knees while crying “No, NO! Brad, noooooo!” This would pass quickly and be followed by the second stage – depression.

Stone faced Hoosiers with red and puffy eyes would wander into Big Red Liquors for a fifth of Fireball and a case of Hamm’s. No Hamm’s? Then Wisconsin’s Best. No Wisconsin’s Best? Natty Light will do.

A few gulps in, the depression would quickly turn to anger. Torches made by affixing useless but still inexplicably delivered copies of White and Yellow Pages to broom sticks would be lit. A march on Assembly Hall would ensue, and athletic director Fred Glass would get a quick and ultimately harmless (Indiana fans are crazy, but not psychotic) glimpse of what it was like to be Nicolae Ceausescu as his reign in Romania was violently ended in 1989.

Then would come acceptance that Brad the Savior had chosen Texas over Indiana as his post-NBA destination. Acceptance would look a whole lot more like a bunch of townies and students filled to the gills with cheap novelty whisky and speedily brewed $9/case beer forgetting why they were so agitated and deciding a piss and nap is a higher calling than yelling about Stevens flying over Bloomington to get to Austin.

Happily, the fact is that there is no way Stevens will go to Texas. Reports from Austin are that a new coach will not be paid more than $3-million to lead the Longhorns during the winters that follow football season. Stevens will not take a pay cut from his current six-year, $22 million deal given to him when he agreed to leave Butler.

Stevens is widely acknowledged as one of the best young coaches in the NBA. During a Celtics rebuilding project that is now in year two, leading a roster of unknowns, Stevens has the Celtics on the brink of a playoff berth. To lead Avery Bradley, Evan Turner, Marcus Smart, Jared Sulligner, Gerald Wallace, and Tyler Zeller to the postseason would be the single most incredible feat in the history of coaching, regardless of the sport or level.

He would leave that for a pay cut at a school where passion runs lukewarm for basketball compared to football? Not a chance.

If Stevens is going to leave Boston for anywhere, logic would tell us it would be for Indiana, but only if Glass was given access to Calipari-esque money ($7.5M per year) to try to entice him to the place where his dad brought him to watch Bob Knight led teams excel – the place he dreamed of playing while becoming Zionsville High School’s all-time leading scorer.

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Hard to imagine Stevens coming back to the college game anywhere with its recruiting, academics, compliance, and still maturing youngsters, but absolutely impossible to see him heading to Austin.

Tom Crean’s job is likely safe for another year as there isn’t an obvious Stevens-like candidate waiting in the wings to swoop in and rescue the Hoosiers from the mediocrity in which it is currently entrenched.

For those who want to watch Stevens coach, they will have to settle for Fox Sports Indiana’s coverage tonight as the Celtics host the Pacers.

Not only is Crean apparently safe, those arcane relics from an era when we let our fingers do the walking are too.

Indiana needs to correct classic legislative Hoosier Inhospitality blunder before damage is permanent

by Kent Sterling

Specials like “Showdown in Indiana – the Battle over Religious Rights” on CNN aired all over national TV last night, and they threaten a hard-earned reputation of Indiana as a welcoming state.

Legislative arrogance + stupidity = irreparable damage to Indiana’s reputation and standing as welcoming host for events like this weekend’s Final Four.

Who in his or her right mind objects to baking a bake or arranging flowers for a gay or lesbian couple excited about getting married? That’s an extreme example of the effect of Indiana Senate Act 101 that was signed into law by Indiana governor Mike Pence last week, but one that is being cited as the national media scoffs at the lunacy of Hoosiers intent upon being viewed as morons.

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A few years ago, I stood at the podium of the Indiana House of Representative with then speaker of the house John Gregg, who turned to me and said, “Look out there. 75% of those people are idiots.” I laughed. He corrected me, “I’m serious. Idiots.”

Can’t argue that today as ESPN, CNN, MSNBC, and a variety of other national networks decry the law that opens the window to allow discrimination of members of the LGBT community. That window needs to be closed immediately and permanently for many reasons, but the two most important are to correct the perception that Hoosiers are stone cold fools mired in a consciousness straight out of 1952, and to remove a good excuse for conventions and sporting events to pull the plug on Indy as a host city for their lucrative events.

I’ve read the law, and in my understanding it provides protection for individuals and corporations who assert religion as a reason for denying services or goods to a customer. It doesn’t promote discrimination, but it sure doesn’t prohibit it as the reason for denial to those in the LGBT community.

Not only is passing such a flawed law the result of cockeyed priorities; it’s imbecilic from a pragmatic perspective. The expected economic impact for this weekend’s Final Four to the Indianapolis area is $70.8 million. The value of the marketing exposure for the area dwarfs that number.

This city was literally built to host major sporting events, and this legislation puts at tremendous risk all of what city leaders began planning nearly 50 years ago to distinguish Indianapolis from other similar communities.

There is a fix, but it requires to kind of quick action rarely seen in any state legislature. A law protecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community from the kind of discrimination this law allows must be passed prior to the Final Four.

The law itself is a no-brainer – a fait accompli – because, number one, it’s good policy to ensure that no group is discriminated against for any reason. It’s always been absurd to view the LGBT community as aberrant or worthy of scorn, but today it is also bad for business, and as the economy of the midwest has evolved away from manufacturing to service and hospitality, exclusionary legislation is bad business.

The NCAA has said they are monitoring the situation, and the NFL doesn’t need much of an excuse to shun a small market like Indianapolis as a potential host for another Super Bowl or the annual host city for the Scouting Combine. For all of the events related to sports that call Indiana home, there are dozens of lucrative conventions that enjoy the convenience and friendliness Indy provides.

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Risking that reputation to take a political stand that compels votes from those who espouse the doltish theory that homosexuality is an abomination is a step toward Indiana returning to its long discarded status as the much maligned birthplace and home to the KKK.

Indiana is better than this – way better than this. Hoosier hospitality is a well-earned and valuable economic asset for the state, but it is quickly becoming a punchline as legislators have indulged their religious preferences and thirst for votes from those still convinced that homosexuality is a choice, curse, and plague.

Time for Indiana to step up to favor inclusiveness, reason, and economics, and pass a law to protect the LGBT community.

How often does a path show itself to be pragmatic, wise, and decent at the same time? The legislature has a chance to prove wrong those who believe them to be dunderheads. Do they have the smarts to embrace it?

(Kent hosts the Kent Sterling show afternoons from 3p-6p on CBS Sports 1430 in Indianapolis.)

Final Four set – Big Blue Nation coming to Indy a self-impressed conquering horde with full wallets and flawed consciences

by Kent Sterling

Kentucky Basketball fans will descend upon Indianapolis this weekend with long memories, big thirst, and full wallets.

“Hey, their money spends good!” is the best Indianapolis basketball fans can mutter as Kentucky fans make the trip to Indy for its coronation this weekend.

Thirty-nine years ago, Indiana University completed its mission of winning a National Championship with the last undefeated season in college basketball. Without much else to celebrate in the current iteration of the Indiana Basketball program, being the last undefeated team is something that Hoosiers fans cherish.

John Calipari and his very talented soon-to-be college dropouts will come to Indiana’s capitol for what they expect to be a quick 80-minutes of joyous revelry that will end with nets being cut down, and another opportunity to crow about the superiority of Calipari’s recruiting, training, and coaching.

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The truth is that Kentucky has benefitted from a ridiculous rule that oppresses the ability of African-Americans to earn a living playing basketball professionally at a point when players are plenty ready to compete in the NBA. The rule exists for all college basketball programs to exploit, but Calipari does it best.

So Calipari wins.

That’s not to say that he can’t coach, but Kentucky’s success – like virtually every other basketball program – is dependent upon talent acquisition. Like playing cards, a superior hand is hard to beat, and nobody stacks a deck like Calipari.

So Kentucky will play other blue bloods (Wisconsin and then the winner of Duke vs. Michigan State), but nobody’s blood is bluer that Kentucky, and they are coming to a state filled with people who have great disdain for a basketball program founded on the principle that winning means everything, and the current repressive NBA Draft eligibility rules are a suitable foundation for success.

In the absence of a team from Indiana representing a state as proud of its basketball heritage as its breaded tenderloins and celebration of speed during the Month of May, the best fans here could hope for was a visit from its neighbors to the south because rooting against your sworn enemy is almost as much fun as backing your own team.

Kentucky is as close to a blood enemy as Indiana has, and while fans here might be repulsed by the thought of the smug Calipari cutting down the nets and holding the National Championship Trophy aloft a week from tonight, the thought of them leaving a few million bucks behind might be the best revenge.

No program rivaled Kentucky in basketball excellence this year, and no fans travel as enthusiastically either. They like staying in nice hotels, drinking expensive booze, and eating thick and pricey steaks. They are great guests – mostly jovial knuckleheads primed for the party as much as great basketball, and that should suit Indianapolis business owners and servers just fine.

While basketball fans in Indiana might be repulsed by Calipari’s recruiting tactics and successes, there is not a reasonable fan who should extend their disgust to the players. They are outstanding and selfless, and who can blame them for signing on for this kind of thrill ride/love fest. Loathe Calipari if you like, but enjoy watching the kids – even if you can only do it through gritted teeth.

Indianapolis was built for a weekend like this – designed to help guests leave their cash here while being impressed with the genuine pride of Hoosiers thrilled to host thousands of visitors.

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No city does it better. It’s just a shame that it’s damn likely Kentucky fans are going to roll south next week, very pleased with themselves for hiring a coach that understands capitalizing on a morally perverse rule better than anyone else. Cal’s team can yield a weekend long party with a Monday night finale that satisfies thousands of basketball crazed fans willing to look the other way as athletes are compensated for their excellence with 25% or half an education.

That’s business in college basketball these days. The only consolation for the slightly more pure of heart Hoosiers where Notre Dame, Purdue, Indiana, and Butler ensure the term “student-athlete” means exactly what it should is the payout for hosting their party.