Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Donald Sterling apology too little, too late, and too odd

by Kent Sterling

Clippers owner Donald Sterling issues one of the least effective apologies in the history of contrition.

[As I begin all posts about this cretin who shares my last name, you are reminded that Donald Sterling’s last name before he changed it was Tokowitz. He is not related in any way, shape, or form to me or my family.]

There is only one thing worse than admitting you are a racist, and that is denying you are a racist.

A racist tag is applied in permanent ink, and no amount of apologies from a man like banned-for-like Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is going to scrub it clean or fade it.

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In America, murderers are paroled and forgiven by the families of victims, but racists are never allowed the ability to rehabilitate. The stigma of such ignorance never leaves because we believe a brain that takes a set of facts and combines them into racial stereotypes can never be trusted to not do behave that way.

Sterling is an entitled wing nut who has been so thoroughly programmed to listen to and obey only himself that his reputation – which sucked prior to the release of recordings exposing his idiocy – can never be reclaimed.

That won’t keep him from petulantly trying to hang on to the Clippers through the media and the courts, and his indifference to public opinion will likely result in a disruption four-and-a-half months from now when the Clippers and other NBA teams are scheduled to report for training camp.

His “apology” included a plea that the owners give him another chance, which speaks to the lack of proximity Sterling’s mental state has with reality. The SS Sterling has pulled from the port, been torpedoed, and now lies wedged in a crevasse at the bottom of an ocean so deep light doesn’t reach it. Yet, there he is standing on the bow of his boat pleading for rescue from a group that loathes him.

A reasonable human being realizes when a game ends. Helping wounds heal is the appropriate response to awful circumstances, but remember that Sterling made his bones as a divorce and personal injury attorney. His wealth has been garnered through the loving embrace of miserable behavior, and he’s not going to grow a conscience in a week, month, or ever.

This story is going to drag on because Sterling knows that the longer he can hang on as the owner, the more unpleasant it becomes for the NBA, and making something unpleasant disappear is worth money to rich people. Sterling will leverage the hideous unpleasantness his buffoonish comments have caused into a lot of money.

There is no gain for surrender, and thus Sterling will go down kicking and screaming.

Indiana Pacers stage furious comeback to put Wizards down 3-1

by Kent Sterling

George Hill isn’t on magazine covers, but when he plays as he did tonight, no one is more valuable to the fortunes of the Indiana Pacers.

Mistakes were plentiful throughout. Twenty turnovers are hard to overcome, but the Pacers kept fighting throughout the last 24 minutes, and where there is fight, there is hope.

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Tonight’s Game Four was the kind of game champions win. Down 19 points early in the second half, the Pacers stayed the course and clawed their way back into the game, and then finished it strong to post a 95-92 that gives them three chances to close this series and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

I’m sure they would prefer to need only one to get the job done with Tuesday night’s Game Five in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

In the playoffs, all it takes is one terrible stretch to lose, and the Pacers had a tough run that lasted an entire quarter when nothing went right. The Wizards outscored the Pacers 29-11 in the second as Andre Miller, Drew Gooden, and Al Harrington turned back the clock like Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, and Hume Cronyn did in “Cocoon.”

Not sure whether that trio swam in an alien infested pool like those film geezers to rejuvenate themselves, but the result was nearly a tied series as they combined for 15 points, nine boards, three, steals, and three blocks during their time together in the quarter that almost tied the series at two wins each. Whatever they bathed themselves in, the Pacers must have gotten a little of it at halftime, and then again when the Wizards scored off nine straight points after the Pacers tied the score at 74.

From the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter, the Pacers finished with a 19-7 run to put the Wizards in a hole so deep with walls so slippery that climbing out appears impossible.

Paul George led all scorers with a career playoff high of 39 points in just 20 field goal attempts, and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead all players. He hit 7-10 three pointers, and picked up two steals – one on the last Wizards possession that sealed the deal for the Pacers.

Roy Hibbert played like an all-star again – particularly in the second half. His 17 points and nine rebounds were right in the sweet spot the Pacers need from him. David West chipped in 14 points and eight assists, many of them in the first half, helping the Pacers remain in distant contact with the Wizards.

But the guy whose play was spectacularly steady as usual was George Hill. The Pacers are very, very tough to beat when Hill scores 15 points as he did tonight. When he has a +/- of +9 or better, the Pacers are 6-0 in this postseason. As little ink as Hill gets, his level of play is a huge indicator of whether the Pacers will be successful.

On the negative side, the bench was awful – outscored 32-2, and Lance Stephenson likely played a better game than fans believed as they watched live. That’s as nicely as Stephenson’s effort can be put. His six turnovers were ugly, but the six assists and nine boards were integral to the Pacers success. Suffering through a game where Lance is off his game isn’t too painful when it’s in a win.

Now, the question becomes whether the Pacers will continue to choke the air out of the Wizards in Game Five and end this series at the first opportunity – or allow the Wizards to steal one at Bankers Life Fieldhouse giving them a chance to win a home game to force a Game Seven?

MMA champions sense weakness in an opponent and lock them in a submission hold at the first sign of self-doubt, and that is what the Pacers need to do Tuesday night. Allowing the Wizards to stay in the fight longer than is necessary will make ending their postseason more and more difficult.

Doing it the easy way hasn’t been part of the Pacers playbook after game 40 of the regular season, but they are starting to show the stuff of a mature, hardened, and determined playoff team.

What’s next for this team became slightly easier to predict tonight – slightly.

Indiana Pacers – Game Four to bring clarity to series with Washington Wizards

by Kent Sterling

Lance Stephenson has been playing very well this series despite not being a focus of the offense. He selflessness is key for the Pacers success.

There are two possible consequence for the outcomes of tonight’s Pacers vs. Wizards Game Four showdown. If the Pacers win, they will enjoy three opportunities to close out their latest overhyped foe on the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. Or if the Pacers lose, a best two-out-of-three series begins Tuesday night in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Either way, Pacers fans are going to feel pretty good about the prospects of another two or three weeks of impossible to predict basketball from the most compelling team in the NBA. They hoped for a split in DC after the Game One loss, and the Pacers banked that in Game Three.

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It’s been said again and again that the Pacers appear to respond poorly to success, but the truth is that periods of prosperity have been so few and far between, predicting how they might battle tonight with a chance to go up 3-1 is a coin flip.

What might be more important is how the Wizards will come out while cornered. This is the first postseason pressure they have felt in years, and have an opportunity to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since Wes Unseld and Elgin Hayes led them there in 1979 – the same spring that current Pacers president Larry Bird took Indiana State to the NCAA Finals against Michigan State, and Michael Jordan was a sophomore in high school.

I could go on with bizarre explanations of prices and ages the last time the Wizards (Bullets) made any noise in the postseason, but the point is that this franchise has not achieved any success when it been under pressure like this in the lifetime of a majority of its players.

Pacers fans will hope for the continued re-emergence of center Roy Hibbert, who has put together very solid performances in games two & three. Coach Frank Vogel doesn’t need brilliance from Hibbert – just functional productivity on both ends without silly fouls.

The Wizards would like to see some free throws drop in the basket rather than clank hard off the side of the rim. After hitting 73.1% of their foul shots through the regular season, they have managed to make just 59.4% through the first three games in the series. Worse, over the past two, the Wizards are hitting a Shaq-esque 16-33.

Game Four provides the Pacers a massive opportunity to put the Wizards in a hole from which they will have great difficulty climbing. Needing to win three straight with two in Indianapolis is a very difficult challenge that will appear daunting to a very young team.

The Pacers are playing better and better, and there is no reason to believe that should stop. Sports bar analysis that might also be accurate is that they may have been exhausted by a March in which they played 18 games – 11 of which were on the road. The every other day schedule of the playoffs with limited travel has allowed the Pacers to recharge.

Fatigue is a bitch, and in basketball it cannot be overcome except through rest. The Pacers appear rested and ready to take control of this series.

I don’t need to explain to Pacers fans why believing they are ready to exert their will and vanquish the Wizards is so dangerous. The truth will be told starting in a couple of hours, and even though the murky waters of the Pacers future are beginning to clear, no moment can be safely predicted until either the Pacers or Wizards win their fourth game in this series.

Inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis – Mayor Greg Ballard’s race injury should be instructive for IMS

by Kent Sterling

The people who were nervous prior to the standing start were proven to be prudent, not paranoid.

When the mayor of Indianapolis receives medical treatment because of an on-track mishap, corrective measures at the World’s Greatest Race Course need to be made.

The standing start was a cause for concern for the drivers before the race, and that concern was validated when pole sitter Sebastian Saavedra sat motionless as the green light signaled drivers to hit the throttle. Several of the cars in line behind Saavedra avoided his stalled car, but those coming from the back with more distance to build speed were not so lucky.

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Saavedera was punted twice, first by Carlos Munoz and then by Mikhail Aleshin who was rolling at 100+ miles per hour. Debris was strewn everywhere – one piece hitting Mayor Greg Ballard, who had just dropped the green flag.

The weather was beautiful, and the rest of the race was mostly safe and routine. James Hinchcliffe suffered a concussion when more debris from another accident hit him in the head, but everyone else was treated at the scene and should be ready for practice – assuming their cars are.

Simon Pagenaud won the race, which served as a far better event to kick off the month of action than opening day ceremonies of the past, and the crowd looked much bigger than the estimated 40,000. The mounds along the infield turns were filled, and what is normally referred to as the turn four grandstand had a crowd bigger than any I recall on a Pole Day since 1993.

There are always some kinks that need to be worked out when any event is run the first time, and the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis is no different. Somewhere in race control, it’s damn likely that more than one IndyCar or Hulman Family official scribbled, “NO MORE STANDING STARTS!” in a notebook.

As the debrief for May is held, there will be a brief discussion about the second GP of Indy, and the vote to abandon a started start will likely be unanimous. Maybe at some point, the behavior of IndyCars and drivers will be predictable enough to allow the series to take a limited risk to provide excitement, but yesterday’s debacle should force the series to embrace safety over thrills.

There are many upgrades to the facility that are planned for the immediate future, and that is a good thing because the relics belonging in a museum were not restricted to the unbelievably cool car show that took place in Pagoda Plaza prior to the race. The televisions in the media center and suites I visited are 4 X 3 standard definition sets that 90% of Americans won’t allow in their homes, and the giant video screens that allow fans to see the action in other areas of the track are almost completely useless.

It’s fun for dads to take a step back in time and describe to sons how things worked when they were young, but it shouldn’t happen at a place where the heritage is so closely intertwined with technological advancement.

The upgrades are coming, and the culture of cool being re-established by Hulman CEO Mark Miles – a guy whose track record of doing things right is unblemished.

Growing pains are to be expected, and yesterday’s botched start was no different. Occasional mistakes, learning, and improvement will all be a big part of this May. Yesterday brought fans a heavy dose of all three, and as long as Mayor Ballard can avoid another trip to the Infield Hospital, we’ll consider whatever else happens through the May 25th running of the Indianapolis 500 a success.

Despite the horrific start being the most talked about moment in the race, the day was a great showcase of speed and color that set a great tone for the rest of the month – certainly a hell of a lot better than the dull opening day pageantry in the past.

“Ahead of the Curve” live from the IMS today with Ed Carpenter and Colts top pick

by Kent Sterling

On the heels of a dominating performance in Washington, the Pacers have snatched back home court advantage from the upstart Wizards. The Colts drafted two guys – an offensive lineman from Ohio State named Jack Mewhort, and Dante Moncrief, a wide receiver from Ole Miss. The inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis will be run tomorrow at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

What better day to host a sportstalk radio show? Fox 59’s Chris Hagan and I will be live from Pagoda Plaza at World’s Greatest Race Course for two hours of fun starting at 11a on 1070 the Fan, 107.5 FM, and 1070thefan.com.

IndyCar owner/driver Ed Carpenter will stop by to talk about the road course at Indy, and we hope to talk to Mewhort by phone. We will definitely talk to Ohio State offensive line coach Ed Warinner about a player that the Colts will undoubtedly rely heavily upon this season. Position coaches are always the best source about a kid’s potential, so we are likely to learn something at 11:15a, when Warinner joins us.

There will be more, much more, about the butt whooping the Pacers put on the Wizards. The 63-points scored by the Wizards was the lowest in franchise history. Was it a matter of the Wizards being pathetic, or the Pacers defending exceptionally well? Good question, and we’ll that some educated perspectives.

We’ll also have plenty of surprises, as is always the case when we venture out of the studio.

The weather is supposed to be spectacular, so if you are making it a day out at the track, please stop by the tent and say hello. Hagan enjoys a break from listening to me yammer during breaks.

Indiana Pacers – Blowout win over Wizards swings home court back to #1 seed

by Kent Sterling

Not many reasons for David West to flash that famous scowl in tonight’s win.

Predictability is not a strength of the Indiana Pacers, and that’s a very good thing tonight. The one outcome that seemed least likely was a Pacers blowout win, so of course that is exactly what happened.

Indiana, a team of a penchant for delivering drama took charge in the second half and posted a huge 85-63 win over the oddly overhyped Washington Wizards.

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ESPN’s Bill Simmons said prior to the game that he believed the Wizards would win the next three games to end the Pacers season, but he should have known better. What appears the most obvious scenario with these Pacers is always the least likely.

The rejuvenated Roy Hibbert posted his second straight solid game with 14 points and five rebounds. He even smiled a little bit after what qualifies as a circus shot for him – a reverse lay-up high off the glass.

Interestingly, for the second straight game, the Pacers equalled a franchise record for fewest offensive rebounds (four) and avoided turning the ball over in the bulk that had become customary. Ten total turnovers is a very manageable number.

At halftime, this looked like it was going to be a game that new commissioner Adam Silver would mandate all records and video evidence be destroyed. It was one of the ugliest halves of postseason basketball in NBA history, and that suited the Pacers just fine.

Paul George, David West, and the rest of the Pacers put this game in a death grip and never let go, winning the third quarter 26-12 and the fourth 25-18.

As good as Marcin Gortat was in the Wizards Game Two, he was just that horrendous tonight with four points on 2-7 shooting. Throw in John Wall’s seven turnovers, the team’s 32.9% shooting from the field, and 17 turnovers, and this was clearly not the Wizards night.

Because of the Pacers win tonight, they will come back to Indianapolis for a Game Five that will either be one of three opportunities they will have to close out the series, or be the first in a two-out-of-three with two of those games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

This game will not go into a time capsule, but in the playoffs a win is a win is a win.

So now, fans have been shown that the Pacers are the better and more poised team in the series, and that means expectations will be raised. If we have learned nothing else over the past three months, it’s that lofty expectations with this group is a ridiculous self-indulgence.

What happens in Game Four is anyone’s guess. To think Washington will assume it’s correct place in the Eastern Conference pecking order and wilt before the #1 seed is lunacy, and to think the Pacers are ready to play like one for three straight games is even crazier.

If you have to look for a trend, the Wizards scored 73 points or less three times in the 2013-2014 season, including the postseason. All three of those games were against the Pacers. The 63 points was the franchise record low for the Wizards in postseason – by 12 points – and the lowest in any game in franchise history.

This series is far from over, just as it would have been had tonight’s result been reversed. Washington is going to keep showing up and competing, and if the Pacers allow themselves a moment of relaxation all of the well earned optimism could be flushed into the sewers that carry false hopes and dreams to the sea of despair.

Sure the Wizards completely unraveled and imploded late in the game, but all that happened tonight is that the Pacers got one win closer to the four they need to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. To believe anything more than that happened tonight leads to nightmarish disappointment.

Filling in for Dan Dakich on 1070 the Fan from 12p-3p – Always fun but today should be special

by Kent Sterling

It’s Friday, so I’m not going to be dressed like this – and I sure won’t be rocking the orange spray tan.

There are days in radio when you have to dig a little bit to figure out what to talk about, but not today. Not with the Pacers @ Wizards game tonight, the portion of the NFL Draft that is meaningful for the Colts, and the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis tomorrow afternoon. Today, I could do six hours and still have bullets left in the chamber.

Roy Hibbert and the Indiana Pacers are grinding through one of the most interesting single seasons ever played. A great start, difficult second half, seven-game series against Atlanta, wild mood swings, a fascinating trade and signing, and now what looks to be a very difficult series with the young (minus the twin Methuselahs of Andre Miller and Drew Gooden) Washington Wizards.

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We’ll hear from Conrad Brunner and Eddie White about the alternating plights and triumphs of Hibbert and the Pacers this afternoon. Both are insightful and informed. We’ll also talk to Mike Wise from the Washington Post for an opposing perspective.

The NFL Draft continues tonight at 7p, and the Colts will use the 59th overall pick to help somewhere. Smart money is on an interior lineman or safety. The guy I keep talking up is center Weston Richburg from Colorado State, but that’s because I like his name rather than his game. I haven’t seen much of Richburg, but his name fits a guy who might wear a skipper cap like Judge Smails in “Caddyshack,” so I’m all about Richburg.

The Rams won day one of the draft with two picks in the first round, and finally the bounty from the RG3 trade is known. I thought they were going to trade down knowing that one of the top four tackles were likely going to be around through the 15th pick, but they loved Greg Robinson. With the 13th pick, the Rams took the explosive defensive tackle Aaron Donald, which completes their set of four first rounders on the line.

Defensive backs appeared to be a need for the Rams, but one great way to improve the cover skills of cornerbacks and safeties is to build a dominant pass rush. Every pro DB should be able to stay with a receiver for three seconds, and it shouldn’t take much longer for Robert Quinn, Chris Long, Michael Brockers, or Aaron Donald to get to a quarterback.

We’ll hear from Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star on the Colts, and ESPN’s Nick Wagoner about the Rams draft.

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Can’t wait for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis tomorrow at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This race was just too logical a piece of the May puzzle not to be added to the schedule. The cars and drivers are here, the road course is here, why not hold a race? Makes sense.

We’ll also take some calls, and I going to try to raise my game to Dan’s level in dealing with them to make sure listeners don’t need to listen to silliness for any longer than necessary.

Best three hours of my Friday for sure.

Indiana Pacers – Roy Hibbert going back to DC to try to repeat Game Two magic

by Kent Sterling

Pacers fans hope a homecoming will inspire an appearance from Happy Roy tonight.

Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert is going back to Washington DC, where he became a dominating presence in the Big East, and as we try to find reasons to predict whether good Roy will show up, that’s a good as any.

Nothing substantial was different between games one & two of this series, but Hibbert was a total bust in the first game with no points nor rebounds in 18 minutes, and an all star in the second with 28 and nine.

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Hibbert is like my front porch light – sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t. Changing bulbs and knocking on the thing guarantee nothing. It seems to have a mind of its own.

Possible explanations for Hibbert’s light going on in Game Two include – his college coach spoke to him and attended Game Two, he and teammate Paul George went fishing on Tuesday, David West and Rasual Butler gave Hibbert a pep talk, he didn’t talk at all in the shootarouund, and Andrew Bynum was told to pack his bags.

Hibbert’s lightning fast migration from the outhouse to the penthouse might have been caused by one of those things, a combination of those things, or none of those things. Diagnosing the psychological state of a fragile mind is best left to clinicians trained in those exploits. I couldn’t get a rat to learn a maze in college, how in the hell am I going to crawl inside Hibbert’s brain to find answers to his motivation?

The question for tonight’s game in Washington DC is no longer how to get the light go on for the big fella, but how to keep it on. It’s much easier for teammates, coaches, and friends to try to keep Hibbert’s fire burning than to start it.

There is no better place to do it than in Washington DC, the town Hibbert called home throughout his college career. He has a support system there, people he trusts, and a track record of success.

All that said, Hibbert being more like the dominating center he was Wednesday versus the dour mope he was Monday is a crapshoot that will likely be determined by a roll of the dice, and it will probably determine the outcome of the game.

There are other issues for the Pacers beyond Hibbert, like the franchise postseason low of four offensive rebounds in Wednesday’s win, Paul George’s ability to attack the rim, and George Hill’s defense keeping John Wall a non-factor scoring the basketball.

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Seven-game series can be fascinating. Each game a chapter in a compelling book, and the Pacers have been nothing if not compelling for the past six-and-a-half months. The Pacers need to pick up one of the three games scheduled to be played in Washington and hold serve at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in order to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. Which of those it wins is not important.

Winning tonight would guarantee the Pacers would not face elimination in Game Five, but facing elimination has not been much of a problem in the past. In fact, it appears the Pacers thrive when cornered. It forces them to revert to the winning style of play that defined the 33-7 first half of the season they enjoyed.

Without the looming consequence of a premature end to their season, the Pacers have been sloppy on both ends, and have difficulty committing to the hustle and execution necessary to beat good teams.

Nothing tonight would be surprising – other than a Pacers blowout win. A blowout loss would be par for the course, they have been allergic to taking a series lead. Hibbert being an active and engaged participant regardless of stats would be a huge help, but not many would be willing to go out on a limb to predict his level of play.

Maybe the trip to DC will be just what the doctor ordered for Hibbert to continue to make a positive difference.

Still something very cool about Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May; Saturday will be cooler yet

by Kent Sterling

Just short of 300,000 fans will make this year’s Indy 500 the most attended sporting event in the world – as it is every year.

The Indy 500 is not the iconic event it once was, but there is still something amazing about being at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway each May. It just feels right to come out here and watch cars fly around this place.

It’s a little different this May with the month starting not with qualifications on the World’s Greatest Race Course for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, but on the newly reconfigured road course for the inaugural Grand Pix of Indianapolis.

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Running a second race at Indy during May makes nothing but sense. Why not use the place more than once for a race during May? The drivers, cars, and teams are here anyway, so running a race on May 10th is a cost-effective way to compel much more interest than extended qualifications and endless drama-less practice.

While the rest of the world adjusted to the short attention span theater the American sports consumer has embraced, Indy remained set in its ways with an incredible four days of qualifications, and more than a dozen days of practice. I was never sure what the drivers and teams were practicing for. Cars were not allowed to be tweaked too much, and the track is what the track is, so cars running each day seemed a perilous waste.

Not anymore.

After two decades of tradition for tradition sake, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is going to try to engage fans with high speed drama more often. I love the change in attitude. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway should be more than a living museum each May. Finding ways to engage fans every time they come out to 16th and Georgetown is not just reasonable anymore, it’s a necessity.

The national profile for this singularly amazing event has never been lower, and fixing it will require great imagination, the occasional risk, and great patience.

It’s always been mind-blowing that the Speedway would encourage busloads of children to visit during practice days when there is no context or drama. They were inviting people to be turned off by the inactivity interrupted now and then by a few cars running in circles, when the event itself is one of the great spectator events in the history of sports.

There is nothing in the world – nothing – like sitting in Turn One for the start of the Indianapolis 500. It is the most thrilling thing I have ever seen, but people other than the heartiest race fans outside of central Indiana have no affinity for it because speeds have either held steady or regressed over the last 18 years.

That NASCAR is more popular than Indycar is one of the great shames of sport, but that’s what happens when a day long event called “Bump Day” is entirely bankrupt of bumps from the 33 car field. For many years, logic and showmanship took a backseat to the status quo.

The mandate from new Hulman CEO Mark Miles is to do cool things, and that is exactly what this place needs.

Saturday, a new era starts, and tickets for a day of racing are only $25. The month of cool stuff will end 15 days later as the field of 33 drives 200 laps after being serenaded by Jim Nabors signing “Back Home Again in Indiana.” It will be a special moment that makes no sense at all to people outside of Indiana, but here there will be a lot of tears when Nabors warbles about the “moonlight on the Wabash” one final time.

Some traditions you just don’t mess with.

Indiana Pacers – Fans and media should stop riding Roy Hibbert

by Kent Sterling

Roy Hibbert is his own worst critic, so what’s the point of fans ripping his ass?

In a perfect world, professional athletes would be smart enough to avoid watching ill-informed knuckleheads dissect their every move on TV, listen to music in their cars, and ignore the easily agitated fans who boo or tweet about what they perceive to be failure.

Jerry Seinfeld heckled a heckler at her work on “Seinfeld,” and she didn’t care for it. I wonder what would happen if Roy Hibbert followed fans around during the course of their day and booed when they made an error. Speak out of turn in a meeting, and Hibbert bellows from the corner about what an idiot you are. That would be entertaining for the rest of us, but unpleasant for the target.

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Last night, Hibbert answered critics with a season high 28 points, but also removed all doubt that the donuts in scoring and rebounding in Game One were behavior based and not the result of a physical malady. Those elevated expectations make him an even bigger target.

I get booing. I like booing. Professional athletes are reasonable targets for boos. They are adults, and should know that beer soaked tools are likely to indulge in voicing their frustration when disappointment occurs. It’s usually reserved for opposing players, but home fans occasionally yelp at mental farts and poor effort.

But booing Hibbert seems a cruel response to an emotional young man prone to taking personally his own failures. Hobbert trying to put the ball in the bucket has been like a blind man feeling for a doorknob, and fans have become irritated when his efforts prove futile.

If fans of a team hope to have a positive effect on a player’s performance and their favorite team’s result, jeering a player seems counter productive. Despite Hibbert’s 28 and nine last night, I’ve never seen an employee respond well over the long term to harassment and embarrassment.

In no way am I saying fans shouldn’t find a reason to rain down hell on players once in awhile. If a baseball player fails to run out a ground ball, or breaks into a home run trot on a hit that fails to reach the wall, turn it loose. If a basketball player is obviously dogging it, let the guy have it.

Hibbert has been uneven in his play for months, and clearly has been troubled by the level of production he has exhibited.

The point of communication should be to enlighten or alter perception. Hibbert was already well aware that he sucked, so the booing and constant din of criticism has been nothing more than self-indulgent piling on.

Sure, Hibbert is paid more than $14 million per year, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a sensitive guy being hurt by fans ripping him to shreds every time he falls down trying to establish post position or missing a point blank shot.

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Zero points and zero rebounds is an unacceptable result for an all-star in a playoff game, but unless he appears not to own his poor play, what’s the point of hammering the poor guy?

The players try more often than not to be the best version of themselves while of the floor. Fans in the stands and on social media should do the same.