Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Indiana Pacers – Jonny Flynn Talks About His Chance to Rewrite His Pro Basketball Story

by Kent Sterling

Former Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn starts his work today in the NBA’s Summer League in Orlando trying to resurrect a career that started very well as the #6 pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2009 NBA Draft, but spent last year playing in Australia.

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He’s an exceptionally honest and friendly young man who I’ll root for now after spending a few minutes with him.

Making the jump from free agent on the summer league team to the opening night NBA roster is a longshot, but Flynn is impossible not to like. Fox 59’s Chris Hagan and I spoke with Flynn after his first practice with the Pacers.

Urban Meyer Should Have Stayed Quiet – Text Makes Him Part of the Story

by Kent Sterling

There is no doubting Urban Meyer’s ability to win, but his text has opened the door to assess his ability to mentor.

There are times and ways to communicate with the media and Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer chose the wrong time and manner to speak up in the aftermath of the murder arrest of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, one of his former players at the University of Florida.

Now, media outlets like the New York Times are digging into arrest records of Meyers teams at Florida to show a pattern of disciplinary lenience to contradict Meyer’s claim in a text sent to reporter Tim May of the Columbus Dispatch.

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Meyer’s lone statement about Hernandez and his culpability in the murders due to his allowance of questionable behavior in Gainesville reads, “Relating or blaming these serious charges to the University of Florida, myself or our staff is wrong and irresponsible. Our staff, myself and our families worked very hard to mentor and guide him,”

That may or may not be true, but what is irrefutable is that Meyer was wrong to indulge his impulse to defend himself, his staff, and his former employer. There would be a time when he would likely need to speak about the Hernandez he coached, but this was not it, and texting it makes Meyer appear less than brave in choosing his method.

Not allowing yourself to be cross examined in a face-to-face interview fosters a public belief that there is more to the story than Meyer is willing to share.

Face-to-face and forthcoming – good media relations. Refusing to answer any and all questions in person would not be as good. Trying to control the media and manipulate the message through a text – really not good, as it’s the kind of response that prompts the NY Times to turn Greg Bishop loose to find what Meyer might be hiding.

Meyer would have been wise to monitor Patriots coach Bill Belichick. If he ever opens his mouth to reveal anything of substance regarding his former employee, it would be stunning.

Bishop’s report isn’t especially damning, but the revelation that of 121 players listed on the 2008 Gators roster, 41 have been arrested either while at Florida or after, isn’t positive.

There are a lot of people who get arrested during their college years. Of the friends I have with whom I spent time at Indiana University, at least one third were arrested at one point or another. As with the Florida players, most were for illegal consumption or something equally innocuous, and were dismissed.

Holding a coach responsible for the off field antics of 121 adolescents is a ludicrous standard, but that decision is best left to a public that recalls collegiate stupidity and would never have made Meyer the focus of the Hernandez story anyway. Now, nosey journalists are going to focus their work on making the apparently self-righteous Meyer – even if the message of his text was reasonable, and it is – acknowledge that his players at Florida were treated differently than the rest of the student body.

Bishop spoke to a Gainesville police official who told him that Meyer visited the department to tell cops not to treat his players any differently, but the report also details some examples of players being given a pass when ordinary students likely would not have received the benefit of the doubt.

Allowing the media to go for “GOTCHA!” is not the result Meyer was looking for in sending the text, but it’s what he’s got.

When Former NFL player and coach Herm Edwards talks to incoming NFL players, he warns them about social media by saying, “Don’t press send!” Meyer would have been wise to heed those words. Sometimes people are smart enough to determine where blame doesn’t lie on their own, and don’t require a person hitting a hornets’ nest with a stick to convince them.

There is one other thing that is absolutely true – if you are an Ohio State football player, you are now on double-secret probation. Whatever allowance for a youthful indiscretion you might have been due was exhausted by the appearance of that same treatment in Gainesville.

The current Buckeyes are either going to prove Meyer is an outstanding mentor by their exemplary behavior, or by being punished without mercy for any indiscretion.

St. Louis Rams Are Not Going Anyplace; CVC Move Was Expected and Not Harmful

by Kent Sterling

The St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission told the Rams in a letter dated July 2 that it has decided not to spend $700 million to upgrade the Edward Jones Dome. The move was expected by the Rams and everyone else in town, and mandated by the current lease between the Rams and the CVC.

The CVC doesn’t have $700M, and has no way to get it, so this was procedural and will have no effect on whether or not the Rams move to Los Angeles or anywhere else.

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The Rams hierarchy has maintained for months that the team is quite comfortable moving forward without a lease, and the CVC refusing to abide by the Rams lease to maintain the Jones Dome as a top eight facility in the NFL will cause the lease to lapse after the 2014 season. Right now, it’s closer to the bottom eight than the top eight.

Moving past this hurdle will allow negotiations to begin in earnest with the state and city to get something done without the contractually mandated meddling of the CVC.

Stan Kroenke, governor Jay Nixon, and Francis Slay are going to have to sit down to see what can be done to move this project forward if it’s a priority for Kroenke, and only if Kroenke and Nixon feel compelled to welcome Slay. No law that the Rams can’t move to South County or Earth City.

The Rams aren’t going anywhere because there is nowhere to go to. Los Angeles is in no position to welcome a team, and London is not viable for the Rams.

It’s a shame that something hasn’t been worked out to this point because a positive resolution would be a win for both sides. St. Louisans can drive to Indianapolis to see what a new stadium and all the associated events can mean to a metropolitan area. Indy was in a similar position ten years ago with reports of Colts owner Jim Irsay standing up at an NFL owners meeting, and asking, “What do I have to do to move my team to Los Angeles.”

Cooler heads prevailed. Emmis CEO brokered the peace between Irsay and then Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, and Lucas Oil Stadium was built. Indy got a Super Bowl during one of the most temperate early February weeks in the city’s

These unis are much cooler than the gold and navy.

history, and all of a sudden, more and more restaurants opened.

Had the heads of city and state governments allowed the Colts to walk, the downtown would have regressed to its India-no-place worst of 20 years ago.

St. Louis needs to understand and embrace its imperfections and develop a workable plan for a downtown revitalization, with sports at its hub.

The Rams aren’t going anywhere, but that doesn’t mitigate or excuse stonewalling partial public funding of a new home for the Rams.

If St. Louis and Missouri refuse to evolve forward, there are plenty of cities willing to, and whether or not the Rams are in St. Louis, that pride will cost the city a very bright future.

Nixon, Slay, and Kroenke should convene to get a new house for the fans, and if the Rams want to make me happy, adopt the alternate jerseys (see right) as the primaries. The gold and navy are way too dark – especially in the natural-light-free Jones Dome

Butler Keeps It in the Family – Hires Brandon Miller to Replace Brad Stevens

by Kent Sterling

“The Butler Way means that Butler people know best, and Butler stays in house to hire its basketball coaches. From Collier to Matta to Lickliter to Stevens has been the line of succession for almost a quarter century. None of those hires has given any reason for Athletic Director Barry Collier to doubt the cycle of success will continue with Brandon Miller as the next head coach of the Bulldogs.

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The former point guard for the Bulldogs will take over the reins of the program immediately – just in time for the first evaluation period of July, beginning on the 10th.

Miller also spent time at Xavier, Ohio State, and Illinois. He returned to Butler to replace Matthew Graves in April, when Graves made the decision to leave Hinkle Fieldhouse to take over the North Alabama program.

Life is about timing, and Miller’s timing was as good as Graves was bad.

Miller was the starting point guard for Butler from 2000-2001 through 2002-2003, leading Butler to three straight Horizon League regular season titles, and a trip to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1962 as a senior with back to back upsets of Mississippi State and Louisville.

He’s 34 years old, – a little long in the tooth for the job compared to Stevens, who accepted the job at the age of 30.

At many schools, alums and boosters would question hiring a 34-year-old to running the marquee program at their school, especially after the success Butler has achieved under Stevens. It’s worked pretty well for Butler.

If Miller has any questions about how he should handle tough situations, his boss is right down the hall, and the guy who began this run of incredible success.

Just over a year ago, Miller was coming off a year sabbatical when he took a special assistant position for John Groce at Illinois. Today, he became the head coach at Butler.

The line of succession at Butler is a little reminiscent of how the St. Louis Cardinals. The Butler Way is strangely similar to the The Cardinal Way, and the hire of Brandon Miller has parallels with the reasoning used by the Cardinals in hiring Mike Matheny following Tony LaRussa’s retirement. Matheny took time away from baseball to be a doting father and husband in much the same way Miller left coaching in 2011 because he didn’t want to miss the tee ball games of he sons.

Being a good dad is what mattered most when Miller left Ohio State, and it led him back home where he will now call the shots for his alma Mater.

Life is about timing, and Butler fans are hoping that Miller’s acumen as a coach measures up to his timing in building his career.

“Ahead of the Curve” – Chris Copeland, D’Marco Farr, Christian Watford, Jonny Flynn and more

by Kent Sterling

Today on Ahead of the Curve – 1070 the Fan/107.5FM – 11a-1p – www.1070thefan.com (if you are outside of Indiana)

Self-immersed athletes are a pox on whatever team they play for, and Dwight Howard has shown that he’s one of the most egomaniacal of our time. Houston gets what they deserve for participating in that circus. If they sign Josh Smith – all the better. It will make avoiding both much easier.

It’s funny that Brad Stevens is rewarded by Boston for being so selfless the same week Howard reaps such enormous benefits for being the complete opposite. Weird culture in the NBA, and that might be why it’s so fun to watch.

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We’ll talk about Howard, Stevens, (who will be riding in the Connersville Bicentennial Parade during the show), and hopefully talk to Chris Copeland, the newest Indiana Pacer.

NFL analyst and Super Bowl champ D’Marco Farr will talk about the culture of the NFL. He has some interesting ideas about why there are so many arrests among those on NFL rosters, and will tell us what the difference is between an NFL player and the rest of us.

Christian Watford and Jonny Flynn will also talk to us from Pacers Summer League practice.

Weird that we are so NBA heavy almost two weeks after the Heat won the championship, but with all the free agent signings, that’s where the news is coming from.

Can’t wait to get started. This is my favorite two hours of the week. Tweet the show @kentsterling.

Indiana Pacers Add to Bench Strength with Chris Copeland, and Look for More

by Kent Sterling

With David West’s deal done earlier this week, the Indiana Pacers turned their attention to improving their bench, and the signing of former Knicks small forward Chris Copeland will do that. The Pacers got the 29-year-old rookie for two years and $6.1 million, according to multiple news reports.

The Knicks, who have been in almost perpetual salary cap hell since James Dolan bought the team with the exception of the time Donnie Walsh sorted things out, were unable to match the offer.

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If Copeland is the shooter that he was last season for the Knicks, the Pacers got themselves a nice piece to a potential championship winning puzzle.

Copeland is a scorer who operates within a system, and can score quickly off the bench, averaging 22.6 points per 40 minutes played, and sports a true shooting percentage of 58.3% As a comparison, Paul George has never averaged more that 55.5% during any of his four seasons. That’s not to say that Copeland is nearly the player George is, but shows that in short bursts, he can be an exceptionally effective second unit scorer.

Copeland shot it great last season – his first in the NBA as a 29 year-old rookie. In the series against the Pacers, Copeland was an aggregate +7 while the Knicks as a team were a -10. He made 11-of-20 three pointers during the series, and cashed on 42.1% of his triples during the regular season. In ten April games when Copeland saw his most extensive playing time, averaging 25.6 minutes per game, he scored 15.0 points per game.

By my math, the Pacers have spent to within $3 million of the 2012-2013 salary level, and have addressed their three biggest needs by signing David West, C.J. Watson, and Copeland. What remains on the wish list is a back-up power forward, but Carl Landry appears beyond the Pacers price range.

They still have the mid-level exception, but that doesn’t defray any of owner Herb Simon’s expense, only the allocation toward the cap.

The Pacers do have a serious glut of 6’8″ wings who can play. They have reportedly shopped Danny Granger and Gerald Green a little bit, but the interest was not high.

Copeland’s signing will not be the last piece of work done to make this roster championship worthy, but it Larry Bird might take a break to call Simon to see if he can free up another couple of million to fold Landry into that exception slot.

The Pacers are in a unique position and appear to be committed to taking full advantage.

Boston Celtics Fans Should Relax; Brad Stevens Was a Great Hire Who Will Succeed

by Kent Sterling

How do you know that Brad Stevens is doing what he believes to be the right thing for his team? His office light is on.

Brad Stevens is being underestimated by Celtics fans who are worried that the former Butler coach might not be ready to lead one of the most storied franchises in American sports.

Boston sports fans are a clever and demanding group, so they will learn along with the players and front office staff what team president Danny Ainge already knows – Stevens is a basketball savant and effective leader, regardless of the age or business of those he leads.

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If Brad Stevens was the team leader of a group of astronauts, that group would overachieve in space. If he coached a little league team, the kids would have a great time learning from him. If he managed an H&R Block, people would get the best refund possible very quickly.

Success is something that operations associated with Stevens will always experience because he earns respect through consistent behavior, and because he never puts his own priorities ahead of goals shared by his group. He doesn’t allow selfishness to invade his group either.

People who don’t understand leadership and the behavior of athletes believe that his intolerance of selfishness will be his undoing as the head coach in the NBA – where selfishness appears to be a way of life.

What they don’t understand is that while athletes can gravitate toward their own agenda during a leadership vacuum, as a rule, they enjoy structure where doing what is best for the unit is an expectation enforced with zeal.

That’s what great leaders do, and Stevens is a great leader. People have expressed doubt that Stevens can win over the mercurial Rajon Rondo, who has built a reputation as a talented but difficult player. Most often, difficulties spring from poor communication from a coach or manager, or a leader who can’t be trusted to operate in the best interest of the team.

Phil Jackson never put himself ahead of the team as coach for the Chicago Bulls, and managed very nicely in harnessing the behaviorally challenged Dennis Rodman. When the Bulls signed Rodman, there was a lot of squawking about how he and Jackson would butt heads and cause a calamity for the championship minded Bulls.

That didn’t happen. In Fact, the opposite happened. Rodman came to trust Jackson as a mentor, and was an integral part of a second set of three straight championships.

Rodman’s quirks make Rondo look like a buttoned down tax attorney.

Stevens has not trouble with wither. What Ainge sees in Stevens is a guy who will be all about reinforcing the positive collective behaviors of his team, will put them in the best position to succeed in possession after possession, and who will outwork everyone in the organization.

The San Antonio Spurs provide an excellent example of how a culture combined with selfless attitude can result in consistent winning, and I would expect a similar trek for Boston once Ainge fills the roster with those who are talented enough to win.

There is a reason that Stevens is revered in Indiana like no coach since Bob Knight, and that reason also explains why he will thrive in Boston; he can be trusted by players, fans, the media, the Celtics interns and cleaning staff to be forthright, respectful, and selfless.

Consistent behavior builds trust and trust yields love. Brad is loved in Indiana after only six years because he is a man of principle who walks the walk. That makes him an anomaly in sports, particularly in college basketball where users tend to congregate.

Leadership is about the little things that get done when no one watches. During good times and bad, (and there hasn’t been a lot of bad at Butler in the last six seasons with Stevens at the helm), Stevens makes decisions that help his team move forward.

Celtics fans will revere Stevens just as Hoosiers do, but like all relationships, it will take time.

Replacing Brad Stevens, Butler Will Stay in the Family

by Kent Sterling

LaVell Jordan is the leading candidate for the Butler head coaching job to replace the departed Brad Stevens.

Still stunned by Brad Stevcens’ decision to leave Butler in favor of one of the most prestigious jobs in coaching, Butler is going to stay inside the family to find Stevens successor.

After a run of spectacularly successful hires following current athletic director Barry Collier moving to Nebraska, including Thad Matta, Todd Lickliter, and Brad Stevens – all stepped in as unheralded replacements who took the program to increasingly higher levels, the head Bulldog will remain true to the Butler Way by hiring a Butler guy.

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Stevens was at the helm when the Bulldogs played in back-to-back NCAA Championship games, moved from the Horizon League to the A10 and finally to the Big East – although Stevens only made it through two full days while Butler was in the Big East.

He was a tireless recruiter, sure leader, and winner with honor. There are plenty of coaches who can claim two of those three traits, but very few with all three.

Collier knows what it takes to coach at Butler, having done so much of the heavy lifting to establish “The Butler Way” from 1989-2000 and what it has always taken is someone who already knows from the inside what the Butler Way is.

So Butler’s line of succession will continue to come from a pool of candidates who have spent a long time inside Hinkle Fieldhouse, and the leading candidate today, according to sources inside Butler athletics, is LaVall Jordan – a former player for Collier at Butler, and an assistant coach there from 2003-2007 before following Lickliter to Iowa, before landing at Michigan following Lickliter’s ouster in Iowa City.

Jordan is a very adept recruiter and as the coach who specializes in developing guards, helped both Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. land in the first round of the 2013 NBA Draft.

One area Jordan or whomever Collier decides is his man will want to address is the level of resources available for staff, which was an area of contention for Stevens, according to a a source in the athletic office.

Collier wants to get the job filled quickly and for good reason. July has three evaluation periods (July 10-14, 17-21 and 24-28) which are crucial for recruiting. Butler has done an excellent job of attracting players that fit their environment, and any disruption would stunt the momentum built over the last quarter century since Collier reported for duty in 1989.

Butler is an example of achieving success the right way, and this hire will define Collier’s tenure as athletic director.

ESPN is reporting that Collier will meet with Jordan in the next 24-48 hours. Anyone who knows anything about Collier can say two things with certainty. He prepared for Stevens to leave with a list of candidates, and he will act decisively – there will be no $90,000 expense to the university for a search firm to vet a laundry list of candidates.

This hire should be complete by Monday – at the latest.

Jordan is a great candidate for any gig, but a true fit for this one.

Brad Stevens Is a Credit to Coaching, Butler, and Indianapolis

by Kent Sterling

He’s the same age as Chauncey Billups, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Andre Miller, but he’s an old soul.

There was no doubt that Brad Stevens would eventually leave Butler University for a place that represented a bigger challenge, offered significantly more money, and puts his name on a much bigger marquee. Butler’s basketball program is a wonderful place for a coach to ply his trade, but what else was there to do at Butler?

Brad took Butler to consecutive berths in the NCAA Championship game, brought the Bulldogs to a level where Hinkle Fieldhouse is undergoing a significant upgrade, and marshaled it from the Horizon League to the Atlantic 10 to the Big East. All that happened since he took the job in 2007.

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To take Butler from feel-good little engine that could program to where its incredible success was expected, while remaining true to his moral compass makes this one of the greatest jobs done by a coach in the history of sport.

And he is one of the nicest guys ever.

When Brad was an assistant for Butler, he successfully recruited two kids who played for the same summer team as my son. He outworked every coach who targeted Zach Hahn and Matt Howard by being at every game we played during sanctioned tournaments.

He was always friendly within the rules, and I think every parent of a kid on that team wished that Butler was on them because of Brad. There was something strange about the guy. No matter how many games our kids played Brad always watched with interest – never bored, always engaged.

Brad and Dane Fife, who at that point was the head coach at IPFW, outworked everyone in recruiting our team.

The story I like best about Brad is one that he denies, but when my son was a freshman at Loyola he didn’t play much. When Loyola came home to Indianapolis to play Butler at Hinkle – a place Ryan had gone to camp and played at throughout his youth, Loyola’s coach called for Ryan to report to the scorer’s table with 1:30 to play in a 14-point game.

The possessions went back and forth, and it was clear that the game wouldn’t be stopped. Ryan was going to have to sit there like a lump until the buzzer and then be in a great position at the head of the line to shake hands with the victorious Bulldogs.

Brad called timeout with :42 seconds left. Ryan went into the game, ran around for a minute, and while it wasn’t what he hoped for in that game, it beat sitting. What was excellent is that Brad had no reason to call the timeout other than to get Ryan into the game.

I talked to him about it after Hinkle had cleared, and he claimed that he yelled something that sounded a little like timeout, and the referee misunderstood. I didn’t buy it then, and I still think he is just that nice a guy.

Brad Stevens is, above all else, a good man. Find a player who spent time playing for Brad, and they are effusive with praise for him – and not in the clumsy way some kids bring false praise, but genuinely and emotionally proud to have learned from him.

How much did Stevens care about the well-rounded experience his student-athletes received? Practice everyday started at 6:00 a.m., so players never missed class no matter what their majors were. There are plenty of programs who steer kids away from majors because of the timing of classes.

You want to know about the Butler Way and how it evolved under Stevens, spend 15 minutes with Matt Howard. There are a lot of programs that passed on Matt Howard, but Brad endured game after game of summer ball to evaluate him and understand that what others perceived as awkward physicality was actually a huge asset, and that his affability masked the heart of a tenacious competitor.

Without Matt, Butler doesn’t go to championship games, but Brad earned his loyalty by displaying his own at 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. during games only he and Fife watched.

Zach Hahn is going to be a great basketball coach because he is a bulldog in every sense of the word, and because he learned under Brad for four years. Same with Ronald Nored and anyone else paying attention as Brad both learned and taught at Butler.

Boston made a great move – a leap of faith – and Brad is going to reward them with patience, decency, a willingness to learn, and a passion to teach.

During a time when the Boston media is riveted by an accused murderous tight end with a hole in his soul, it’s great that a truly good guy is going to get their attention during a press conference on Friday.

It sad that there is a generation of kids whose spirits won’t be shaped by one of the best mentors in college basketball, but it’s wonderful that a dream of Brad’s has come true.

Holy Moses! Brad Stevens Going to Boston to Coach the Celtics

by Kent Sterling

Impossible. Unbelievable. I was about to pick up the phone to call Butler to see if Brad Stevens could come on “Ahead of the Cuve” Saturday, and suddenly reports are everywhere on Twitter that he will be the next head coach of the Boston Celtics.

There are many moments when I can remember seeing a media report so extraordinary that I have to refocus my eyes before finally yelling, “Holy S**t!”, but this was one of them.

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Blaming Stevens for leaving Butler is crazy. Talking about the kids he leaves behind is asinine. This is the Boston Celtics, and you don’t turn down the Boston Celtics.

Celtics president Danny Ainge explained the shocking move on espy.com, “Brad and I share a lot of the same values. Though he is young, I see Brad as a great leader who leads with impeccable character and a strong work ethic. His teams always play hard and execute on both ends of the court. Brad is a coach who has already enjoyed lots of success, and I look forward to working with him towards Banner 18.”

Stevens told ESPN, “Our family is thrilled for the opportunity given to us by the leadership of the Boston Celtics, but it is emotional to leave a place that we have called home for the past 13 years,”

Stunning.

Butler will more forward as they have after the loss of Barry Collier, Thad Matta, and Todd Lickliter. Leaving worked out well for Matta but terribly for Lickliter, whose tenure at Iowa was short. He is now the head coach at Marion University in Indianapolis while Matta is making big bucks at Ohio State.

The rumors always persisted that the only two jobs Stevens would leave for are in Bloomington and Durham, NC.

All that talk is now moot.

Stevens walks into a job with reasonably low expectations, as the Celtics have unraveled their core and are building for three years down the road.

He’s one of the nicest guys in the history of coaching, but he not a pushover for knuckleheads like point guard Rajon Rondo.