Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Indiana Basketball – New video of Stephen Zimmerman should have Hoosier fans excited

by Kent Sterling

Stephen Zimmerman plays a lot like a left-handed Cody Zeller, and Indiana could use one of those.

Stephen Zimmerman plays a lot like a left-handed Cody Zeller, and Indiana could use another one of those.

There are enough parallels between 2015 big man Stephen Zimmerman and Indiana change agent Cody Zeller that IU fans should be excited about the possibility of the #4 ranked player in the 2015 high school class accepting Tom Crean’s offer.

Zimmerman looked very athletic and polished for a junior-to-be seven-footer last summer at the Adidas Invitational last July, and he looks even better now in this Oakland Soldiers Spring Extravaganza highlight tape.

Click here to follow Kent Sterling on Twitter

No one misses shots in a highlight tape, but the polish Zimmerman shows in his array of post moves as well as the way he runs the floor has coaches drooling. Indiana is joined by Kentucky, Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina, and many others as options for the services of a very impressive player and young man from Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas.

Talking to him in Las Vegas last year, Zimmerman was easy to like. He was much more concerned with people seeing the quality of play from under-recruited teammate Noah Robotham than himself.

Zimmerman won’t be playing in Indianapolis this summer as he will be on the NIKE EYBL circuit, so chances for Hoosiers fans to see him play will require travel.

Indiana Pacers earn East’s top seed as Miami Heat lose after sitting LeBron James and Chris Bosh

by Kent Sterling

Just like Lance Stephenson, in the Eastern Conference the Pacers are #1.

After the Miami Heat used their home court advantage to bludgeon the Indiana Pacers in Game Seven of the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, the Pacers made it their goal not to allow it to happen again.

And after Heat’s overwhelmingly one-sided 114-93 loss tonight to the Washington Wizards, the Pacers will not have to play a game seven on the road until the NBA Finals, and frankly if the Pacers could shift time to two months from now and find themselves facing a game seven in San Antonio or Oklahoma City, they would gladly take it.

Click here to follow Kent Sterling on Twitter

With home court hanging in the balance, the decision to rest the best player since Michael Jordan seemed odd, but the Pacers are hardly going to argue. The goal was the top seed, and however it comes is fine with them.

That the Heat players brought no energy defensively in allowing the 43-38 Wizards to hit better than 70% of their field goal attempts in the first half, and 59% overall for the game is not the stuff of champions regardless of who is sitting and who’s playing.

The Eastern Conference Finals are a long way off for both the Pacers and Heat as neither team is playing its best basketball of the season – or anything resembling it. Eighty-two games is a lot of basketball to jam into 5 1/2 months, and while the Pacers were playing 18 games in March with 11 on the road, the energy and prideful defense that led them to a 33-7 record on January 20th morphed from part of the team’s DNA to sporadic visitor.

Before anyone writes off the Pacers because of their recent 4-8 skid, the Pacers are a combined 12-1 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse against the other seven playoff teams from the East. They are a damn tough out at home, and that’s why expending all that energy to arrest home court from the Heat wasn’t a waste.

Yes, the Pacers embarrassed themselves at Bankers Life Fieldhouse against Atlanta last week scoring only 23 points in the first half of a 108-89 loss, but it’s still the only home loss against a team from the East all the way back to December 16th against the Detroit Pistons. It shocked me to start counting the wins versus the East at home to find they have won 15 of their last 16.

The local and national media are gnashing their teeth over the Pacers recent wobbles, but even as the season unraveled a little bit, the Pacers were still very formidable at home. There might be a few seven game series that lie between the Pacers and a trip to the Finals, but betting against them in any of those games is a dangerous financial choice.

Click here to get the best hot tubs made in Indiana by Royal Spa

Bumps and jolts lie ahead for the Pacers and their fans, but if they have shown anything during this long regular season, it has been resilience. That’s going to come in handy starting this weekend against the Atlanta Hawks.

Hamilton Southeastern’s Gary Harris Declares for the NBA Draft

by Kent Sterling

Gary Harris is the whole package – athleticism, diligence, smarts, and a team-first outlook.

Gary Harris is leaving Michigan State after his sophomore year to enter the NBA Draft. The choice wasn’t easy, according to the statement released by Michigan State.

“This was not an easy decision,” Harris said. “There hasn’t been a single day where I regretted my decision to return for my sophomore season. It was the right decision for me and I’m better prepared for a successful NBA career because of it. On top of that, I have another season of memories from being around this year’s team. But now it’s time to chase my lifelong dream of playing in the NBA.

Click here to follow Kent Sterling on Twitter

“There’s not a doubt in my mind that I’m going to miss Michigan State. There won’t be a bigger Spartan fan than me next season,” Harris continued as he extolled the virtues of being a Spartan. “I’ll be playing basketball somewhere else next season, but I’ll always be a Spartan. This is my home, and I’m already looking forward to coming back to campus whenever I can, just like all the great Spartans and former players before me.”

Coach Tom Izzo agrees that it’s time for Harris to pursue a shot in the NBA and the millions that come along with being drafted in the lottery, “Not only do I fully support and celebrate Gary’s decision, but after my information gathering process, I recommend it. I expect Gary to be a high pick in the draft, but more importantly, I know that he is well prepared for a long career.

“The cool thing about this process is that numerous times Gary has expressed to me his desire to always be an active part of this program,” Izzo said. “Given the relationships he’s developed with his teammates, his coaches, and former players, he’s going to be a valuable resource for me next season.”

Harris was clearly different as a high school player at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Indiana. Mr. Basketball in 2012, Harris was not only a a polished player and intense competitor on the hardwood, he would have been a difference maker as a wide receiver had he continued to play football in college.

A gritty defender and gifted scorer, Harris is a team-first player who has always allowed the game to come to him. The goal has never been to stand out, but to contribute to the success of whatever team he played for.

Click here to get you teeth fixed by Fishers best dentist – Dr. Mike O’Neil of Today’s Dentistry

The NBA team that drafts Harris will get a 19-year old superb athlete who works, listens, fits, and competes.

ESPN’s Chad Ford has Harris as the 10th play selected in his latest mock draft and CBS has him going 13th.

Harris is a great kid by all accounts, and will be the first HSE grad to play in the NBA. He will not be the first HSE basketball player to play professional sports. Joe Reitz is an offensive linemen for the Indianapolis Colts after enjoying a successful basketball career at Western Michigan.

Aldon Smith arrested for breaking cardinal rule of airport behavior

by Kent Sterling

Former Mizzou Tiger Aldon Smith failed to follow the golden rul of airport decorum – don’t imply you have a bomb.

Talent and fame extract idiots from trouble all the time, but there are behaviors allowable by being Alden Smith of the San Francisco 49ers are meaningless.

There is a saying, “That’s as dumb as yelling bomb in an airport.” Smith put that to the test yesterday as he literally did exactly that as he told law enforcement that he was in possession of a bomb after being randomly selected for a secondary search at LAX.

Click here to follow Kent Sterling on Twitter

It’s likely that Smith was angry about being pulled for the pat down, and sarcastically mentioned TSA officers were smart because he had a bomb. Maybe he said it to be funny.

One thing any frequent air traveler can tell you is that if law enforcement and customs officials have a sense of humor, it is not displayed in any form while they are on the job. Security is a priority, and a few laughs about bombs don’t enhance the sense of safety.

The 49ers are dealing with Smith acting like an entitled buffoon for the umpteenth time, but despite three felony counts of possession of an assault weapon and two DUIs, he can still get after the passer, so meaningful consequences have yet to be brought to bear to corral Smith.

He went through rehab during the 2013 season and missed five games, but still tallied 8.5 sacks. That may have helped Smith become sober, but it evidently didn’t make him any smarter.

The sad part of the downward spiral that ensnares people whose talent allows for destructive actions is that the bill eventually comes due, and by then it’s too late.

Giant paychecks make people impervious, or so they think. They are wrong. The athletic superiority Smith possesses is fleeting. Maybe it lasts two years, five years, or 10 years, but eventually age or injury returns immature mopes to mortality, and many times the formerly immortal do not adjust easily to being like everyone else.

Guys like Smith are surrounded by yes men who laugh at everything they say and do, and mistaking the behavior of those being paid for their support should not be assumed to transfer to TSA officers who are among the most serious people on the planet.

One side note – What the hell is going on at the University of Missouri? Smith, a former Missouri football player, is just the latest in a long line of current of former Tigers who run afoul of the law or societal mores. Not sure whether Gary Pinkel targets potential problems, if a lack of discipline while at Mizzou causes idiocy to blossom, or whether the water in Columbia is tainted, but it seems to be even money that the subject of a young athlete gone wrong story will either be or has been a student-athlete at Mizzou.

John Calipari’s new book reveals the uselessness of the NCAA in big time college athletics

by Kent Sterling

NCAA president Mark Emmert tends to be mocked as the cause for the NCAA’s woes. In truth, blame lies with the university presidents to whom he answers.

It’s time for the big money schools to declare independence from the NCAA.

Schools not in the big five conferences (Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Pac 12, and Big 12) are served very well through their membership to the NCAA. At that level, the term student-athlete is entire appropriate. The chances of a collegiate athlete at the highest level making it in the NFL, MLB, or NBA are scant and university athletic revenues are puny to nonexistent, so academics are a focus.

Click here to follow Kent Sterling on Twitter

For the 63 teams affiliated with the big five, the NCAA is a quaint, pain-inducing, anachronistic pain in the ass that neither serves their needs nor provides the level playing field sought by members.

Money keeps pouring into college athletics, and because of the wide chasm between the haves and have-nots within Division One membership, the players are treated like the pie-in-the-sky ideals of amateur athletics that have much more to do with branding than reality.

Truth be told, high major college football and men’s basketball are minor leagues that provide the opportunity to gain a education for those willing and/or able to accept it. Not everyone makes it to the pros, but everyone on scholarship reports for duty as freshmen hoping they will exit school for the millions going to NFL and NBA players. For the majority of players, responsibilities associated with supposed academic process are a necessary evil – at best. At many universities, many players cannot read – as we have learned from academic advisors who have recently spoken out.

Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari has a new book titled, “Players First: Coaching from the Inside Out,” being released tomorrow, and in it he lists 13 changes that the NCAA can make to become an effective source of leadership for the athletes currently working toward a professional athletic career.

Among his excellent ideas in the chapter titled “At War? Common Sense Versus the NCAA”:

$3,000 to $5,000 stipend for players to cover the full cost of attending a university
NCAA to cover eligible players’ insurance premiums
Allow college athletes to accept loans against future earnings up to $50,000
If a coach leaves his team, players should be permitted to transfer without sitting out for one season
Allow players the money for one round-trip flight home every year
Access to lawyers
Funds for formal attire to wear when representing the school

The NCAA will scoff at the list, in part because the majority of the membership has nothing to gain from these changes, and while many pay lip-service to a student first mentally in athletics and academics, most are driven by their ability to earn piles of cash. The other issue that will make this list easy to dismiss is the source.

Calipari is to the NCAA as Barack Obama is to tea partiers or Bill Veeck used to be to major League baseball owners. Whatever comes out of Calipari’s mouth is certain to be disputed by the NCAA, regardless of whether it makes sense.

Because the majority of the NCAA’s membership is intractably opposed to paying players a dime beyond tuition, books, and room & board, the members of the big five should secede from the NCAA to form its own association where the rules can serve their specific needs – and those of the athletes preparing for the pros.

Click here to learn about the best hot tubs in the world – at Indiana’s own Royal Spa

The blatant hypocrisies asserted by the NCAA have made the rules schools are asked to follow virtually meaningless. The idea that agents are not funneling cash directly to top athletes and their families is ludicrous. Of course they are, and why shouldn’t they? Johnny Manziel sells his autographs for a satchel full of cash, and sits for a whole half-game. The inmates are running the asylum, so why not be honest about it and start fresh.

The thought that a school from the MAC or Sun Belt should compete under the same set of rules as those in the Big Ten and SEC is madness.

The NCAA cannot effectively serve all its members, so why should the most profitable allow themselves to be hamstrung by the have-nots?

Because the NCAA membership is unable see the forest for the trees, it’s time for the members of of the big five to construct their own ecosystem where athletic departments and students can thrive.

Calipari didn’t say it first, but he’s the latest to call for NCAA membership to accept that just as water seeks its level, change can either be welcomed or rebuked, but it cannot be stopped. Logic is either going to come to the NCAA or around it.

Indiana University student is the worst Wheel of Fortune contestant ever

by Kent Sterling

The worst contestant in the long history of “Wheel of Fortune” did a great job of guessing letters, but was atrocious at solving puzzles, including one in which every letter was revealed. Sadly, he was wearing an Indiana University sweatshirt as he did it.

Click here to follow Kent Sterling on Twitter

College week competitions are usually nice forums for spreading brand awareness for schools lucky enough to have a contestant selected to compete. This is not the case for Indiana University as not only did this student bring embarrassment to the viewers who saw the show live, but to millions of others now laughing as the video has gone viral.

I’ve had the link to the video sent by email from friends six times this morning, and seen dozens of Facebook posts mocking the school and contestant today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZttcNJbm21U

The saddest part is that the kid booted away a car and a chance to win a million dollars in the show’s bonus round.

For high school juniors pondering Indiana as a potential college choice, this humiliating performance might sway them toward one of their other options. In the wake of this disaster, no kid is going to want to tell adults or peers he or she has chosen the school also attended by a student who cannot correctly read the name “Achilles.”

This video might rival the “Boom goes the Dynamite” sports highlight package produced by Ball State’s telecom department for humiliation.

There might be a positive bounce back in that prospective students may see the video as an indication of the low level of academic competition at IU. Applications from C-level high school students may surge, just as I’m sure they did for media hopefuls at Ball State after the “Boom” video became a sensation.

One sad outgrowth is that IU grads will be forced to honor a self-imposed moratorium on making fun of the University of Kentucky.

Indiana Pacers – Just how important is home court advantage? Really important

by Kent Sterling

Home court means more to Lance Stephenson than anyone on the Pacers. All five of his triple-doubles this season have been notched at home. The Pacers are 4-1 in those games.

The way the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat are playing as they limp toward the end of the NBA’s regular season, fans might think neither team values home court advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs.

When Miami lost Saturday night in Atlanta, and the Pacers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder yesterday, the Pacers moved to within one win (or a Heat loss) from the regular season Eastern Conference championship.

Click here to follow Kent Sterling on Twitter

What’s the difference between playing at home and on the road? After all, as we learned in “Hoosiers” the rim is at 10-feet and the free throw line is 15-feet from the bucket in all of the world’s gyms. Can staying in a really nice hotel and being booed really make that big a difference in the level of play?

Whatever the meaningful or cosmetic differences between playing at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and other arenas across the country, the Pacers really enjoy home cooking. Over the past 41 games – when the Pacers put together a thoroughly mediocre 22-19 record – the Pacers have still been a very good 14-5 at home. Away from Indy, they are 8-14.

Against playoff teams during that stretch, the Pacers are 6-4 at home and 2-8 on the road. The difference is even more stark against competition from the East. At the Fieldhouse, the Pacers are 4-1 against playoff teams in the East, and 1-4 on the road. Interestingly, I suppose, the lone loss at home and win on the road came against the same team – the team that is the likely first round playoff opponent – the Atlanta Hawks.

There is plenty of time to talk about the challenges the Hawks present as an eight seed (speed that may render Roy Hibbert of little use, the difficulty in defending Jeff Teague, keeping sharpshooter Kyle Korver from getting space needed to fire bombs, etc…), but the Hawks are in fact the only team in the Eastern Conference playoffs to beat the Pacers at the Fieldhouse.

The Pacers were 2-0 at home against Miami, Toronto, Chicago, Brooklyn, and Washington. They were 1-0 against Charlotte. One the road, the Pacers were 0-2 against Miami, Toronto, Chicago, and Charlotte, 0-1 against Washington, 2-0 at Brooklyn, and 1-1 against Atlanta.

That’s why the Pacers have acknowledged earning home court through the East as their overriding goal since the moment the lights went out on the 2013 postseason in Miami.

If Miami loses tonight in Washington or the Pacers can beat Orlando Wednesday (forget about the Heat losing the season finale against the brutally bad Philadelphia 76ers), the race is over, and the Pacers will host the first two games and the last in every series they play until the finals.

All that work over 5 1/2 months just to host one additional game against the Miami Heat. The Pacers found out how important that is last year during the game seven blowout loss in Miami.

Click here to treat your teeth to the best – Dr. Mike O’Neil of Today’s Dentistry

With all the less than stellar basketball played since January 20th when Indiana beat Golden State to run their record to 33-7, the Pacers are still right where they wanted to be when the season started.

Twenty-three turnovers in yesterday’s game showed there is still a lot of work to do, but the win against one of the NBA’s best put on display the borderline greatness of which this team is capable – at least at home.

Despite the struggles and hysterics from fans and media, everything the Pacers wanted is right there for the taking. And it’s a hell of a lot more likely to happen if they can host four out of seven in every series until the finals.

“Ahead of the Curve” will bring mojo at 11a today on 1070 the Fan as Pacers try to find theirs

by Kent Sterling

It’s hard to justify optimism for the Indiana Pacers after last night’s 16-0 run to start the third quarter as the biggest game of the regular season got away from them.

But I’m going to bring that optimism because what the hell is the point of believing that the postaseason will bring more of the same for a team that looked like they were worthy of a championship banner.

Click here to follow Kent Sterling on Twitter

I can’t speak for Fox 59 sports director Chris Hagan, but I still believe that when the bell rings for the playoffs, the Pacers will answer it.

That’s not all going on in the world of sports. The Masters is ongoing, but as much as I love the tournament, without Tiger and Phil playing this weekend, it’s not likely to compel casual golf fans to watch as Jim Nantz’s soporific tones set the mood for a weekend of naps. Bubba Watson leads by three, and only two of the last seven players leading by three after 36 holes have walked into Butler Cabin wearing a Green Jacket in the Sunday gloaming.

John Calipari has written a book, and at first you and I would both think that this book was written with the sole purpose of stuffing more cash in Cal’s network of wallets, but he writes some very interesting things in “Players First: Coaching from the Inside Out.” His 13-point plan for fixing the NCAA reads like I wrote it myself.

We’ll talk to the Sklar Brothers, who are good guests because they know all about sports and they are funny. Interviewing funny people used to make me a little nervous because if you don’t ask the right questions, they might not be as funny as they would like to be. Then I remembered interviews that Johnny Carson did with funny people. I don’t remember a single question he asked. Carson just let the funny people be funny while he listened. Good strategy.

The Cream & Crimson football scrimmage will be played in Bloomington today. Traditionally, that’s the day that close friends and family crown the first three rows at Memorial Stadium to watch the one game Indiana is guaranteed to both win and lose. Athletic director Fred Glass will join us at Noon to tell fans why the game will be a little different this year and fans should make their way to the stadium for an afternoon of fun.

We will also hear from Indiana Sports Corporation president Allison Melangton and IUPUI head basketball coach Jason Gardner. Melangton is prepping for the Super Bowl pitch to the NFL owners next month, and North Central grad Gardner is trying to turn around the fortunes of the Jaguars.

This is likely to be the very best show we have ever done, and I can’t wait to get started!

Indianapolis secret for attracting Super Bowls & Final Fours – “under-promise, over-deliver”

by Kent Sterling

The Indianapolis skyline doesn’t scream for visitors, but cities are made of people, not buildings.

Listening to smart people is vastly underrated, and when Indiana Sports Corporation president Allison Melangton explained to me today the reason Indianapolis is so successful in attracting a relentless stream of huge sporting events as, “We under promise and over deliver,” I thought it’s that kind of smart that makes Indianapolis work.

In other cities, the game is to get the most while providing the least. There is infighting among government entities, all with their hands out, and the happiness and convenience of the fans is an afterthought at best. Those aren’t Melangton’s words – they are mine. I’ve seen it many times in cities other than Indianapolis.

Click here to follow Kent Sterling on Twitter

For those like Melangton and her staff, the challenge is to continue to raise the bar despite competing only with itself in terms of delivering infrastructure, ease of operation, honesty, and willingness to accommodate.

Smart people – really smart people – always communicate concepts simply. “Everyone involved is always eager to help,” Melangton said of the government leaders whose help is needed to successfully host a Super Bowl or Final Four. When the state, city, and organizers work toward the same goal, it’s hard not to succeed.

Melangton reminded me of the Dave Thomas quote that hung in Wendy’s restaurants for many years, “Just be nice.” Say what you mean and hold the flowery hipster babble. It works in Indianapolis, and Indianapolis works for organizations who want a host city that delivers without drama.

Mediocre minds like to show off their ability to overanalyze by creating Rube Goldberg versions of mission statements and labyrinthian credos that combine 40 different buzzwords that serve no purpose other than to baffle, “The Sterling Corporation pledges to bring impactful solutions to the table through the holistic leveraging of proactive paradigms to push the envelope toward robust sustainability with streamlined empowerment and bandwidth exploitation.” The Sterling Corporation is not run by a person with great clarity of thought.

Melangton has no desire to be perceived as anything but supportive, creative, diligent, and clear.

Over the next year, she and her crew will have plenty of opportunities to prove their mettle as they prepare and execute their presentation to earn the right to host the 2018 Super Bowl, get ready to welcome tens of thousands for the increasingly Super Bowl-esque 2015 Final Four, the Big Ten Football Championship, and countless other events.

Indianapolis will welcome visitors with big smiles, helpful advice, and clarity of purpose. Other cities treat visitors like a cranky rich uncle who’s tolerated under the well runs dry.

Sports fans like coming to Indianapolis, not for casinos, thrills, or pictures of landmarks worthy of a Facebook post. This city works for two reasons – it was built with this precise purpose in mind, and Indy is filled with good and happy people who tell the truth and like each other and their guests.

Indianapolis is a great place to visit because it’s a great place to live. The phrase “Hoosier hospitality” is sometimes inferred to mean that people from Indiana are saps. Nope, just glad to be here.

Indiana Pacers – Phase Two of Frank Vogel’s rest & deploy plan debuts tonight vs. Miami Heat

by Kent Sterling

Paul George and LeBron James matchup for the fourth time this season. Winner likely gets the top seed in the East.

Indiana Pacers coach Frank “Iceman” Vogel made the call to rest his starters Wednesday night despite the Pacers training the Miami Heat by only 1/2 game for the top spot in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. The gamble initially paid off as the subs eked out a 104-102 win in Milwaukee.

Chris Copeland’s runner with 1.2 seconds left earned Vogel’s eternal love and admiration as the difference in the win that allowed the Pacers to regain sole possession of the lead in the race for the #1 seed.

Click here to follow Kent Sterling on Twitter

Tonight, the starters, who had appeared exhausted for weeks after starting the season like an unstoppable machine, return to try to lay a death grip on home court advantage until the NBA Finals.

The difference between earning home court and failing to do so doesn’t matter until the third series of the playoffs is tied at three, but the Pacers saw first hand how big a deal it is months ago when they were one game away from the NBA Finals, but failed to win game seven on the road against the eventual champion Heat.

There is a lot of heavy lifting to do before a rematch might be played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in June – especially for a team that is barely a .500 team since January 20th.

Paul George, David West, Roy Hibbert, George Hill, and Lance Stephenson played a lot of basketball in March – 18 games in 31 days with 11 on the road is a good way to sap whatever energy remains in your legs after a long offseason of hard work, followed by a magical first half of the season where the Pacers outplayed everyone in the NBA to post a 33-8 record.

So Vogel took the biggest chance of his young head coaching career. With the season on the line, he turned to Luis Scola, Donald Sloan, Evan Turner, Ian Mahinmi, and Rasual Butler to try to steal a road win against the league’s worst team while buying an uninterrupted four-day respite for a starting five who have played virtually every game this season.

It all worked perfectly due to Copeland’s offensive magic, and now phase two begins. If the Pacers can beat the Heat, and split with the Thunder and Heat in the final two games of the season, the gamble will have paid off huge.

If the Pacers look as listless as they have in most of the other games since that 102-94 win at Golden State on January 20th, Wednesday will have been meaningless minus the fun it was to watch the Pacers mob Copeland after he hit the game winner.

It’s all right there in front of the Pacers if they can just take it. Wednesday’s call by Vogel was either a master stroke by a genius with a cool hand, or too little too late for a roster that should have been rested more often throughout the portion of the season when they were posting double-digit wins in bunches.

The Heat are in worse shape than the Pacers with Dwyane Wade, Chris Anderson, Udonis Haslem, and Greg Oden among their barely walking wounded, and James is starting to buckle under the weight of carrying the load with only caddies Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers able to provide meaningful help.

Click here to buy the best built hot tub on the market at Bob Dapper’s Royal Spa

Whatever happens, it’s has made for great drama. After a regular season that is too long for players, coaches, and fans, the real season starts tonight.

If the mercurial Hibbert and Stephenson like playing for Vogel, whose seat could get very hot very quickly with a poor effort tonight and in the playoffs, they need to pony up some serious team-first effort.

Should be great stuff tonight beginning at 7:30p.