Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Chris Copeland, Frank Vogel, David West & more on Ahead of the Curve – 11a-1p, 1070 the Fan

by Kent Sterling

The best two hours of my work are coming up, and Fox 59 sports director Chris Hagan and I might have assembled the best lineup of guests in the show’s history.

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Chris Copeland’s first interview since signing with the Pacers will be at 12:15p, although his signing won’t become official for procedural reasons until tomorrow.
We’ll also talk to Pacers coach Frank Vogel (11:15a) and power forward David West (11:45).
The Adidas Invitational continues today, and before the show, I’ll watch Dream Vision play before the show. I really like the way top ranked 2015 center Stephen Zimmerman, Noah Robotham, Chase Jeter, and the rest of this group play together.
And then there is the media disaster from KTVU in the Bay Area that broadcast a list of names of the pilots on the Korean airliner that crashed in San Francisco last weekend. The news director of the station used to be Hagan’s boss.
We’ll also talk a little Indiana Basketball. Yogi and Sheehey are going to come home from the World University Games with a finish of no better than ninth – after losing to Australia and Canada in consecutive games. There is also the issue of the tight scholarship situation. They have one scholly available for each of the next two classes, with a very good group of recruits available.
A statistical analysis of the Colts 2012 season shows a likelihood that the Colts will not finish with the same record as they did last year. It’s a good thing NFL games are played by men, and not on paper.

Chris and I will have a great time for two hours, and then head over to Victory Field for media batting practice, which is always hilarious. I expect nothing different here. I’ve hit thousands of softballs over the years, but haven’t seen a live baseball in ten years. My expectations are not his.

Incredible and Hilarious News Blunder from KTVU in the Bay Area

Nothing in “Anchorman” was this outrageous. The newsroom is run by former Fox 59 news director Lee Rosenthal. Been on the job for three months, but still work to be done I guess.

Usually, this kind of buffoonery is restricted to small markets where 22 year-olds cut their teeth. This is a real TV station in San Francisco for the love of God.

I included the clip with the retraction because I don’t believe for a second that the NTSB actually confirmed those names.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFA7t1sHxBI

Indy Star Sports Moving in the Right Direction with ‘Pat McAfee Show’

by Kent Sterling

Pat McAfee may be the most media savvy punter in the history of the NFL.

“It’s all about content, dumbasses,” is what I shout on a daily basis to people in the media. The delivery system is entirely beside the point. Unique content is everything.

I’m sure there were and are people at the Indianapolis Star who are wondering what the hell a bunch of ink stained wretches are doing hosting a web video with Colts punter Pat McAfee. I’ll tell them – they’re trying something different, and why the hell not do it.

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Sure, Bob Kravitz, Mike Chappell, Mike Wells, and McAfee aren’t polished performers like Bob Costas and Joe Buck, but who gives a damn? If they bring something unique and interesting to the sports conversation in Indianapolis, people will find it.

Big time media companies have spent so much time trying to figure out how to do what they do more efficiently that they’ve forgotten how to innovate. There are a million reasons not to do something different, but there only needs to be one reason to override all of them – that it’s going to be fun.

I was so pleased to see the story this morning about this weekly live show each Tuesday night that will be webcast live indystar.com. It’s been a long time since the Star has done anything that resembles fun.

Whether this show drives the interest needed to sustain itself is meaningless. The key is to keep trying things. Try enough nutty things, and one of them is going to strike a nerve. Screw concerns about failure, and try stuff – lots of stuff.

I worked for a very smart radio guy in St. Louis whose mantra was (and is) “Surprise and Delight.” When was the last time anyone in Indianapolis media made the effort to surprise and delight their customers? It might have been more than 40 years ago when David Letterman was doing weekend weather on WTHR-13.

The entire environment in mainstream media has evolved into job maintenance, so there is precious little in the way of risk, and there is nothing more compelling to consumers than risk. That’s the primary reason that little websites become giant websites. What the hell does a person with $3,000 invested in infrastructure have to lose? Not a damn thing but dignity, and dignity doesn’t pay the mortgage anyway.

So they innovate. There are no meetings with corporate fatcats who have nothing to gain and everything to lose through risk, so the hurdles between the status quo and getting something done are only in the creativity – or lack thereof – of the owner/operator.

That makes for the kind of nimble workplace where incredible, or incredibly stupid, things can happen. Which of those the Pat McAfee Show will be is yet to be seen, but regardless of the outcome, good for the Star for stepping out a little bit and doing something different.

The Star is changing the game with some staff and form changes. That sucks for the people to whom the change happened, but it shows the energy that prompts innovation.

It’s been a long time since the Star did something fun – probably back to the days “The Old Scout” showed an irreverence toward the powers that be in Indianapolis.

Good for the Star. And good for McAfee – one of the smartest athletes Indianapolis has seen in decades. Hope they keep trying things.

Dream Vision Looks Like Team to Beat in Adidas Invitational

by Kent Sterling

Stephen Zimmerman is big, mobile, has great hands, and Tom Crean would like him to develop his game in Bloomington like Cody Zeller did.

There are some very good players in Indianapolis this weekend for the Adidas Invitational, but of the seniors-to-be games I’ve seen, there has been only one standout team – Dream Vision.

Not surprising they would be the odds on favorite to win the tournament, although for many teams, winning bracket games only means a chance to impress the legion of coaches here to watch prospects.

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Dream Vision, a team made up of kids from California and Nevada, is playing games like they want to take home a trophy.

They advanced this afternoon behind solid defense and balanced offense to overwhelm Billups Elite 65-54 to earn a berth in the round of 32 against the New York RENS. I saw Dream Vision play yesterday as well because people coming to the tournament all want to see the players so many coaches like have come to see, seven-footer Stephen Zimmerman.

He’s a top ten kid in the class of 2015 for good reason – runs the floor like a deer, a very adept protector of the rim, and a nice touch within 15-feet, and he’s a big reason to think Dream Vision will make it to the finals on Sunday afternoon.

Indiana is reportedly working hard to earn Zimmerman’s love, and for good reason. For those Hoosier fans who want to compare Zimmerman to recent first round pick Cody Zeller, feel free. The similarities are there, although Zimmerman is a more traditional big man than Zeller is.

They both run the floor extremely well. Zimmerman might be a better post defender as he is thicker and more difficult to move, but Zeller was a little more active moving to help. Zeller had slightly stronger hands, but whatever minor warts there are with Zimmerman, they are easily corrected – just as Zeller’s were.

Zimmerman can go to whatever school he likes.

Today I watched Dream Vision because I’m a fan of several players on the team, in addition to Zimmerman.

They have a point guard who is an incredibly adept passer. Noah Robotham is a floor general who does what’s necessary to put his teammates in a position to score the basketball, just like point guards are supposed to- or were supposed to before Allen Iverson came along and screwed everything up by being able to score so easily.

This is Robotham’s first tournament with Dream Vision, but looks like he’s been with them for months. He sees the floor, and finds the right guy at the right time. Websites say he’s 5’10”, but his dad says he’s a solid six-footer. Let’s give the dad the benefit of the doubt and call him 5’11 1/2″. No dad claims his son is six feet tall if he is exactly six feet tall.

I told people my son was 6’4″ for a couple of years, and he has never seen 6’4″ in shoes while wearing two pairs of socks.

Not sure whether Robotham is a good shooter, as he hasn’t put it up much in the games I’ve seen. He’s quick enough to beat his man to the rim and draw contact with the help, but the most impressive part of his game is in hitting guys where and when they like it. Defensively, he needs to position himself where he can see both his man and the ball, and block out with determination as he is often matched up against bigger players, but overall he is a smart and stout defender.

Robotham has interest from Virginia Tech, BYU, and Tulsa among others, and should. He’s going to make teammates at some school very happy.

Another interesting player is Jamal Aytes, who will be a freshman somewhere in six weeks. He runs well, and has great hands. He’s very adept at catching in traffic and finding a way to get the ball into the bucket. He’s strong, and is tough to beat defensively. Aytes has offers from San Diego, San Diego State and UC Irvine.

Zimmerman and Robotham both play for Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, along with Dream Vision teammate Chase Jeter, a 6’10” power forward who’s ranked 46th in the 2015 class, and has offers from Arizona, UNLV, USC, and Oregon State. If Gorman loses a game, coach Grant Rice should re-examine his methodology. His brother Dave is the head coach at UNLV.

The tournament continues through the weekend, and an interesting match-up for Dream Vision might come in the Sweet Sixteen, where they could meet the Eric Gordon All-Stars team that has white hot former Indiana State commit Bryant McIntosh from Greensburg. That game would be played tomorrow at 3:30p at the Northview Middle School Main Gym.

For all bracket information, click here.

High School Basketball vs. AAU – Both Great for Different Reasons

by Kent Sterling

Ahmaad Rorie of Tacoma will go to Cal next fall, but he’ll play here this weekend with his friends.

There is something wonderful about the pomp, circumstance, history, and pride of playing for a high school team. There is also something magical about the bonds among teammates and thesheer volume of basketball played during the summer on a typical AAU schedule.

[For those trying to figure out whether I write what I believe will gather the most eyes, this post should put that to rest. It would be much more inflammatory if I trashed either high school or AAU in favor of the other. Killing high school ball would rile up the anti multi-class bunch in Indiana, and hammering AAU as a rogue led mess run by shoe companies trying to build bonds with adolescents would be equally appealing to those who loathe corruption in college ball. I will do neither because I love both.]

When a tournament with great players from all over the country comes to Indianapolis, the result can be an uneven mess. I watched six games yesterday at the Adidas Invitational featuring some of the highest ranked teenage basketball players in the country, and I regretted sitting through all but one. That game between the Eric Gordon Central Stars and New Heights was a wonderful example of why Indiana sends so many kids to college programs – they know how to adjust and overcome. EG was down 38-24 early in the second half, made New Heights best player Matt Ryan uncomfortable on offense, and stormed back to win by five.

Summer basketball is not about quality as much as tonnage. You need to sift through lots of junk to find the magic, and yesterday, there was a lot of junk. The worst game of the day that I saw was between Compton and Utah. More a sociology experiment than a basketball game, neither team played well, and what I thought looked like a fun clash of styles wound up being a tedious mess.

But the beautiful part of the summer experience can be the bonds that form among teammates and opponents during the down time. The kids don’t play more than twice in a day, and that leaves a lot of idle time with nothing to fill it but laying around watching movies, going to the mall, or just sitting around talking. There is no better petri dish for friendship like six hours to kill. Multiply that by 11 tournaments played over 40 days, and many of the best friends the kids playing summer ball will ever have are those teammates.

There are a lot of goofballs who put together teams, and they muddy the water a bit, but that’s part of the fun too. To be a coach, all you need is the ability to convince kids to play for you and some deep pockets to pop for travel, jerseys, food, and lodging. The rage that parents occasionally feel about the high school experience doesn’t exist in the summer because transferring is as easy as telling your current coach you are through after being asked by another coach to play with his team.

Some think there is a downside to playing so much, but it’s a big plus for the bench players who have to be productive throughout an event if a team playing two games per day is going to compete to win one of these tournaments. The crazy schedule also provides a stiff physical and mental test. Unless you love basketball, playing an NBA schedule in six weeks is brutal.

High school basketball games are events with the National Anthem, cheerleaders, fans who aren’t immediate family members, coaches in suits, and a buzz around school. None of that could exist for AAU teams. The travel is minimal in high school, and the schedule allows the kids to play at the highest level more often than during the summer because there are rarely more than two games each week (roughly 25% of what is required to win an AAU tournament).

The coaching is better in high school – most of the time, but many of the summer coaches also coach in high school. The coaches have time to scout and prepare for an opponent in a way that would be impossible in the summer when you don’t know you you will play until another game ends an hour before you get them.

The rich tradition that exists for high school basketball in Indiana is nowhere to be found in the summer, but the quality of teams is more often than not determined by geography. Where a kid lives generally determines where he goes to high school – except at Lawrence North, but that’s a topic for an entirely different column.

My son played both summer and high school ball, and enjoyed both immensely. The trips around the country doubled as family vacations, and we were lucky to be able to watch a selfless group of kids who loved each other compete at the highest level. The best basketball game I have ever seen played by high school age kids was in the AAU State Finals between my son’s team and Team SYF prior to their senior years. We had Matt Howard, Zach Hahn, JaJuan Johnson, Nate Blank, Joe Hughes, Kyle Miller, Terran Bibbs, and several other kids, and they had Robbie Hummel, Scott Martin, Gary McGhee, Antwan Boyd, and more.

From the tip, the two teams went at each other with ferocity. They couldn’t have played harder if there had been 18,000 fans in the gym. Neither team could create separation, but in the end our team won. The postgame behavior of both groups was no less dramatic than if they had played in the IHSAA State Finals. After that game, their was no doubt that the kids on both teams would go on to do special things.

They battled because they loved basketball and their teammates, and while that doesn’t happen all that often on AAU teams, it’s worth sorting through the ordinary to find the special teams so you get to watch it for yourself.

And that’s what I’m doing this weekend at the Adidas Invitational.

Metta World Peace Out in LA; Indiana Pacers Should Pass Emphatically

by Kent Sterling

His name might be World Peace, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t rage buried in the noodle owned by the former Ron Artest.

There will be those in Indiana who are compelled to campaign for the return of Player X – the queen bee who started the mess that nearly destroyed the Indiana Pacers with his erratic behavior – now that he has been released by the Los Angeles Lakers.

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He was known as Ron Artest when he climbed into the stands to beat the hell out of the guy who threw his drink on him while he laid on the scorer’s table in Detroit. “The Brawl” ensued, severe suspensions followed, Artest quit basketball to concentrate upon the least successful rap career in history, and fans are still being wooed to return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Pacers President Larry Bird remembers, and that should be enough to keep Artest/World Peace from coming back. If not, there are plenty of practical reasons to avoid a guy who is very friendly and affable the majority of the time. He will turn 34 during the second week of the 2013-2014 season, and until last season’s resurgence, he had experienced four straight seasons of reduced minutes and productivity.

When the potential/strange ratio weighed in Artest’s favor, teams were willing to take a chance, and there remain several teams who are a good fit for Artest, but the young Indiana team isn’t one of them.

Players like Lance Stephenson need to be surrounded by positive role models, and while Artest has certainly experienced a lot of what Stephenson has, what he has learned is a source of conjecture.

Artest has reportedly embraced sobriety, changed his name for the honorable reason of prompting sports fans to think about world peace, and has reduced the number of outbursts when he loses control, but the Pacers will be once bitten, twice shy about inviting their young roster to take a ride on the S.S. Artest, which was piloted for a number of years by Peter “Wrongway” Peachfuzz (the Bullwikle & Rocky character who sailed erratically).

The Pacers can’t take a chance that “Wrongway” will find his way back to the bridge of Artest’s medula oblongata.

Signing Artest would be a bizarre move given the recent success of the Pacers in building a roster that the fans can embrace. A change agent like Artest could completely undo all the years of work with one misstep, and while Artest is a wonderfully congenial guy 99% of the time, does Bird (or Herb Simon) want to bet the future of the franchise on Artest’s ability to regulate the release of serotonin (brian chemical that can cause violent aggression) into his system?

Can Artest help the Pacers win? Maybe. Can Artest cause such massive disruption to a team that it implodes so violently that aftershocks continue to be felt by fans almost nine years later? Yes he can, and he did on November 19, 2004. Stark reminders of that night should not be welcomed back.

[polldaddy poll=7245524]

Dodgers Outfielder Yasiel Puig Is the Justin Bieber of Baseball

by Kent Sterling

Like Justin Bieber, rookie Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig went from unknown to wildly popular to unfashionable, but in Puig’s case it took just over one month – and he’s still hitting .394. Even with the annoyingly arrogant Bieber the backlash took a couple of years to engage.

No one knew who Yasiel Puig was on June 3rd when he was summoned by a Los Angeles Dodgers team that was careening deeper and deeper into the National League West cellar with a record of 23-32.

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On June 10th, after his first eight games, the Cuban immigrant was a sensation going 16-of-32 with four home runs, and 10 RBIs. His night’s work led Sportscenter, and the Dodgers began to roll.

Within another couple of weeks, the biggest discussion in baseball was whether this extraordinary talent was worthy of a trip to the All Star Game.

Going into the game tonight, the Dodgers are 45-45, having won 15-of-18, just a game-and-a-half out of first place, and people are talking about Puig like he is a pox on the game.

Players are outraged that a guy with only 35 games under his belt could be named to the National League roster ahead of players who’ve been around for many years – and have “paid their dues.”

Really. “Paid their dues” through the toil of playing baseball for a longer period of time than a man who just began his major league career. Hey, playing baseball is a stressful job that requires some preparation, but it’s not quite like talking to a cardiologist who saves lives with his talent. If I ever get my chest cracked open like my Dad did, I would much rather have a guy with a few years under his belt than some newby who needs a map to find my aorta.

But if I have to pick a guy to get a big hit in a game that will decide home field advantage for the World Series, I’m going with Miguel Cabrera first and then Puig.

His opponents don’t like him. His teammates are miffed that he won’t talk to the throng of media who follow him because they migrate to their lockers to ask about Puig, and that’s a pain in their asses. And the media aren’t big fans for the same reason. Access means ratings/page views/circulation, and ratings/page views/circulation mean job security. No job security means a less than generous depiction of who Puig is.

Puig’s star shot up, and teammates, opponents, and the media have blown it out of the sky. Dodgers fans didn’t think enough of Puig to click an online box to vote him in despite the tremendous success their team has enjoyed since his call up, so he’ll get a few days off instead of a trip to New York where fans would have some interest in a game that is watched with total indifference.

And so Puig, who has become the Justin Bieber of baseball, will concentrate on the job he has done very well for the first six weeks of his career. The Dodgers will be much more competitive than they were without him, and Puig will be blissfully ignorant of all this idiocy because he luckily has not learned enough English to realize what a bunch of kooks American sports fans and media are.

Fame is a fickle mistress, but if she breaks up with you in a language you can’t understand, you don’t even realize you were in a relationship with her.

Adidas Invitational – Good Basketball, Crazy Basketball – All Kinds of Basketball

by Kent Sterling

Kevin Looney flies down the wing about to convert an alley oop.

There is something wonderful about summer basketball tournaments. From one game to the next, you have no inkling what might happen.

Teams that are assembled from neighborhoods can go to war against the nation’s best, and you never know. Some are well coached and others are led by a goofball who spends the entire game talking on his cell phone. Some teams care deeply about competing, and others just show up because that’s what they are told to do.

No expectations are necessary to enjoy watching these games, and despite never seeing most of the teams and kids from around the country who are in Indianapolis for the Adidas Invitational, it doesn’t take long to figure out which kids can play, care about each other, and will make excellent college players,and which have their heads screwed on backwards and stuck in the wrong place.

This morning’s marquee matchup was between the Milwaukee Running Rebels and Florida Elite. Milwaukee is a crazy team that runs no offense, minus the occassional ball screen and whose players can’t wait to shoot and pose. Florida is reasonably well coached and as unselfish as any summer team can be expected to be.

Milwaukee is led by Kevon Looney – a 6’9” power forward, who is a top 10 ranked kid, and the target of Duke, Florida, UCLA, Michigan State, and others. He has all the measurables, but he’s never in a defensive stance, trails the play, and seems indifferent to the result. I guess coaches believe that can be changed once on campus.

The point guard for Milwaukee is driving me crazy. Damontrae Jefferson is a little fella at 5’8” who dominates the ball, shoots without success (in this game and last night’s), takes ridiculous defense risks, chirps nonstop, and bickers with teammates during timeouts. He has offers from Cleveland State and New Mexico.

Florida has the 25th ranked kid in the 2014 class – Florida bound 6’5” wing Brandone Francis, He’s fast, hustles, and has a smooth shot. Dante Buford and Prince Ali are also fun to watch, as they play the kind of basketball I enjoy watching.

As is so often the case in these tournaments where kids stay in hotels, play at 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 at night, the results can be impossible to predict. Milwaukee led the majority of the second half through a strange combination of defensive chaos and sporadic shooting.

This is a showcase as much as a tournament. Coach K, Steve Alford, Bruce Weber, and another 50 coaches watched this contest – most because they still believe they have a shot at Looney.

I couldn’t help but wonder what they thought when the chirping chucker from Milwaukee made enough plays down the stretch to beat the more poised and selfless group from Florida 69-61.

Basketball is a funny game, and it’s never funnier than at summer tournaments like the Adidas Invitational, which continues through the 14th at North Central High School, and several other sites on the northside of Indianapolis.

It’s enlightening and entertaining, and every once in awhile a kid like Jefferson defies the expectation his behavior builds to change your mind. Despite his apparent inability to do anything the way I would like to see it done, he walked out of the gym a winner this morning.

New England Patriots – Alonzo Dennard – The Dumbest Patriot Ever Must Go

by Kent Sterling

Two down, 51 to go.

There are different levels of stupid, and New England Patriots cornerback Alfonzo Dennard might have set a whole new standard if he did what cops accused him of – making the decision to get behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated.

Driving drunk, buzzed, or altered is dumb no matter when it’s done, but to do it when on probation for another conviction two weeks after teammate Aaron Hernandez is charged with murder and only a couple of days after the owner of the team through himself on a spit for “being duped” by Hernandez takes thoughtless to a whole new level.

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Dennard is a 23 year-old coming off a rookie season that showed promise. The seventh round pick started six games, and appeared to be making strides in building a positive rep after being placed on probation following his conviction for felony assault of a police officer.

Assaulting a cop also qualifies as egregiously stupid, and calls into question just what the hell kind of standards of behavior the Patriots require of their draftees – as if the draft of Hernandez didn’t already prompt fans to wonder.

Dennard was projected as a second or third rounder for the 2012 NFL Draft out of Nebraska as the Big Ten’s defensive back of the year before that arrest, and lost tens of thousands of dollars as a result. The loss here for a young man who claims on his twitter page that he is “bless to be in a Situation to help my mom and family,” likely will lose that blessing.

There is no way that a player with such a fundamental lapse of judgment can be trusted to be a part of a team, and the likelihood will be that the Pats feel no option but to cut Dennard once they are convinced of the circumstance of the arrest.

Dennard did make one wise decision which led to another charge – he refused a chemical test, which if positive would have removed all doubt of his guilt and led to a very objective and permanent finding against him.

The Patriots are in no position to look the other way – even in a victimless crime like this one. DUIs have far greater consequences than the driver’s arrest, so in that sense Dennard is a lucky man, but it is very likely that his NFL career will at the very least be interrupted by a suspension and possibly incarceration for a violation of his probation.

NFL players who weren’t already clever enough to understand that this period between Hernandez being arrested and the beginning of camp is a zero-tolerance period will likely have all doubt removed before the end of the day.

Indiana Pacers – David West Sets the Tone for the Pacers Attitude and Work Ethic

by Kent Sterling

What David West requires of others, he requires of himself.

Pacers President Larry Bird is a man disinterested sharing platitudes. What he says, he means, so when he told the media Wednesday about why David West was re-signed, he didn’t mince words. “David has done more for this franchise than he can imagine.”

Talking to West, there is little question what Bird meant. West appears to be just as unmoved to say things for the sake of saying them. His demeanor when we spoke changed markedly when discussing his role as a mentor to the younger Pacer.

West understands that his most lasting imprint upon the team will be made in the attitudes of the youngsters for whom he sets an example.

The Pacers six years ago were guided by their id – the part of the psyche that demands that cravings are satisfied without thought of consequence. West has imbued the Pacers with a conscience – a force that compels players to live up to the franchise’s expectations both on and off the court.

Players like that are absolute necessities for a team to be successful. There must be a peer that demands buy-in to the team-first concept for it to flourish.

Great leaders walk the walk, talk the talk, and not only set an example, but require that others follow it. That’s West. What a gift for a young player like Lance Stephenson, and for a coach like Frank Vogel. Leadership like West’s makes everything easier.

With apologies to Horace Greeley, and everyone else reading this because it’s trite and ridiculous, the Pacers motto for its youthful contributors should be “Go to West, young man!”