Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Christian Watford Claims to Have Answered Question About Shot to Beat Kentucky “Millions of Times!”

by Kent Sterling

Christian Watford gets ready to put up a shot at the Pacers Summer League Practice today.

Christian Watford gets ready to put up a shot at the Pacers Summer League Practice today.

On December 10, 2011, Indiana University forward Christian Watford knocked down a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat the top ranked University of Kentucky in a game that announced to the college basketball world that the Hoosiers were back.

Today at a practice for the Indiana Pacers Summer League team, in an interview recorded for “Ahead of the Curve” with Hagan and Sterling, Watford claimed to told the story of the shot “millions of times.”

“Million of times” seems to be an unreasonable claim, and the math bears that out.  To simplify the math and give Watford the benefit of the doubt, we will assume the lowest value of “millions” to be two million.

If Watford had not slept at all since making that shot 567 days ago, he would have to average 2.4495395 tellings per minute since the shot fell through the twine until the moment he was asked.  That’s an average of one telling every 24.6 seconds.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

Even worse, allowing for eight hours each day to sleep, eat, and get away from the people who ask to hear the story, Watford would need to up his performance to 3.656 stories per minute or once every 16.4113 seconds.

Logic would tell us that people would be unlikely to ask Watford to repeat the story.  Based upon the 2011 estimated population of 81,381 in Bloomington and 212,413 in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, if Watford told the story once to every man, woman, and child in both Bloomington and Birmingham, and would have to find an additional 1,706,206 people to tell the story of the shot – or roughly the entire population of Nashville, Tennessee.

If Watford was especially industrious, he could convene groups of 100 to tell his story of hitting the shot, but he would have needed to speak to gatherings of that size 35.2734 times each of the intervening 567 days.

It is significantly more likely that Watford used hyperbole in his answer to convey the repetitive nature of every interview or chance meetings with boisterous Hoosier fans since December 10, 2011.

That is unless he is counting the number of people who have heard the story rather than the number of time he’s told it.  Given that he won an ESPY for the shot, he is too humble in his estimation.  “Millions” would be technically accurate, but it’s more likely 25-30 million.

Listent to the raw tape of Watford’s claim below, and catch the entire interview this Saturday from 11a-1p on “Ahead of the Curve” with Hagan and Sterling.

[Chris Hagan contributed to the content of this story.]

Indiana Basketball – Will Sheehey and Yogi Ferrell in Kazan, Russia (of all places) for World U. Games

by Kent Sterling

UnknownOf all the places in all the world for the World University Games to be held, they chose an outpost 1,100 miles due east of Moscow.  Kazan is a weird town that offers few of the distractions that any of the hundreds of better known cities in Europe that might have been chosen instead.

That doesn’t diminish the honor of being selected to play for their country for Indiana University basketball players Will Sheehey and Yogi Ferrell, nor will it make the experience of playing alongside some of the rest of college basketball’s best any less special.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

There isn’t a hell of a lot to do in Kazan, but in the interest of helping Sheehey and Ferrell kill their idle time without relying on Russian TV, which is not English friendly, here’s a short primer on the eighth most populated city in Russia and  some of the high points tourists seem to enjoy:

  • Kazan is the “Sports Capital of Russia”, and will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.  It has a population of 1,143,535, and celebrated it’s 1,000th anniversary in 2005.  Add 800 years to Indianapolis’ history, and the two cities sound similar.
  • Very little has happened in Kazan over the years – occasional wanton destruction, formerly conquering Mongol hordes being conquered, and the Tatars live peacefully among the Russians.  I know nothing of tatars other than their being delicious when served as tots with a little ketchup – although they are usually spelled “Taters”.
  • There is a Kremlin in Kazan and they have tours, but are conducted only in Russian.

    It appears by the logo on the can, that plenty of Coke will be available for Yogi, Will, and the rest of Team USA. With the eight hour time difference, they will need it.

    It appears by the logo on the can, that plenty of Coke will be available for Yogi, Will, and the rest of Team USA. With the eight hour time difference, they will need it.

  • Ahh, the Leaning Suyumbike Tower is a must-see, evidently.  The story of the building is that Ivan the Terrible wanted to marry the beautiful Suyumbike, who refused.  Ivan took the refusal in ill-temper and ordered his army to invade Kazan.  Suyumbike hung an attitudinal u-turn and then agreed to wed before her city was overrun.  She had one condition – that a tower be built within one week that would be taller than all other buildings in Kazan.  Ivan’s boys got the job done in six days.  Before the ceremony, Suyumbike climbed to the top of the tower and jumped to her death.  Sounds a little like “The Princess Bride.”  Good story.  Evidently, the hurried construction provided a faulty foundation – as the structure leans – as you might have guessed.
  • For nightlife, the Manhattan Club and Joker Bar seems like the spots.  Good food, bowling, and fun for the whole family, but I’ve seen enough movies about trips to the interior of Russia that have gone horribly wrong that I would probably choose to stay in the hotel.  As much as we might want for the team to enjoy this experience, it won’t mean much if they are abducted and sold into slavery or the Russian Army – both seem to happen in all movies set in central Russia.  Ride a train, meet a pleasant stranger, get drugged, serve in the Russian Army.  Seems to happen a lot.
  • Lot of churches and mosques to see for people who don’t get enough of American churches.

The time difference in Kazan is eight hours.  Practices continue through Saturday, with games starting on Sunday and continuing through July 16.  The Americans have fared quite well historically in the tournament.  In the 20 tournaments in which Team USA has competed, the Americans have won 19 medals, including 13 golds, and have posted a 138-9 overall record.

The team was chosen by the 2013-16 USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team Committee. Chaired byJim Boeheim (Syracuse University), the committee includes NCAA appointees McKillop, Matt Painter (Purdue University) and Lorenzo Romar (University of Washington), as well as athlete representative Curtis Sumpter, a member of the 2011 USA Pan American Games Team and the 2004 USA U20 National Team.  Nice that Painter didn’t stomp his feet and campaign against two IU players who are going to do nothing but get better as a result of this experience.

The full roster is: Spencer Dinwiddie (Colorado/Woodland Hills, Calif.); Yogi Ferrell (Indiana/Indianapolis, Ind.); Treveon Graham (Virginia Commonwealth/Temple Hills, Md.); Luke Hancock (Louisville/ Roanoke, Va.); Tyler Haws (BYU/Alpine, Utah); Cory Jefferson (Baylor/ Killeen, Texas); Sean Kilpatrick (Cincinnati/Yonkers, N.Y.); Alex Kirk (New Mexico/Los Alamos, N.M.); Doug McDermott (Creighton/Ames, Iowa); Adreian Payne (Michigan State/Dayton, Ohio); Will Sheehey (Indiana/Stuart, Fla.); and Aaron White (Iowa/Strongsville, Ohio).

Indianapolis Colts – Joe Lefeged Should Not Be Suspended for His Arrest

by Kent Sterling

UnknownThe NFL would like people to believe its players are choirboys on Monday through Saturday, but become beast on Sundays when they are paid to maul the men playing across from them in a different colored shirt.  They wear helmets, pads, and tape their joints because they would be hospitalized without them.

Players have thoughts before they run on to the field each Sunday that not only might this be their last game, but that they might never walk again if they get hit in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

The NFL is filled with men who evaluate risk and reward in ways that normal people can’t imagine.  Football is a violent game played by men who know when they need to turn on and off the impulse to injured or maim that lies dormant in most of us.

When former players are committing suicide all around them because of irreparable brain damage caused by repeated head trauma, the consequences of getting arrested for being a dumbass don’t resonate as they might for the rest of society.

So when Indianapolis Colts special teams captain Joe Lefeged was pinched for carrying a gun unlicensed in Washington DC and having an open container of alcohol in the car in which he was a passenger, it’s unlikely he thought that was the worst thing that had happened in his life.

The Colts and the NFL should view this incident through a similar prism because they are not in the business of gathering well-mannered and virtuous chaps who are deacons in their churches.

The gun Lefeged carried was licensed, just not in Washington DC, and if people are going to be suspended from work for drinking in a car – as we might assume Lefeged was – there are going to be as many people in Indiana on furlough as reporting for work after the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

But the NFL and its teams don’t like noise.  They are a reactive bunch, as are all major leagues, that will act if prompted by fan outrage driven by media exposure.  The “No Fun League” does everything it can to perpetuate the ludicrous myth that NFL players are just like you and me.

What the NFL actually does is take the largest, fastest, and most nimble men in our society, encourage them to unleash their inner beasts, and then spit them out into society until someone bigger, faster, and more nimble comes along.  Then, they are cast out into alumni associations to commiserate about how difficult their lives are without football.

The discipline to which NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has become inexorably linked is a canard that allows fans to watch the games with a clear conscience.  It has nothing to do with the players, and the hope they will live better lives.  It’s all about the fans – all about the people who buy tickets and watch on TV believing that they are not supporting decadence through their investment of passion and cash.

And it’s the only reason Lefeged would be suspended by the Colts.  The message sent to his peers through a suspension would be that the NFL is a hypocritical outfit that is about anything but the players’ welfare and benefit, not that carrying a gun or being mildly irresponsible should be avoided.

It’s likely that Lefeged will be allowed to play without suspension because the outrage in Indianapolis is minimal.  The media here doesn’t stand and scream for attention – taking inane and irresponsible views like it does in other cities.  The Colts will be allowed to act as their conscience dictates, which is to do everything possible to put the best 53 players on the field every Sunday, and that means Lefeged will pay a fine in Washington and that will be the end of it.

For anyone who wants to draw a cause and effect parallel between excellent citizens and winning in the NFL, let me share the story of the St. Louis Rams, who have had the fewest players arrested among NFL teams since 2000.  Only eight Rams have been charged with a crime during that time, and from 2007-2011, the Rams put together the worst five year record (15-65) in league history.

I hate to burst any bubbles, but there are some guys on the field each Sunday who are malicious psychopaths.  More than a few are downright scary people who make their tough as hell teammates shake in their shoes.  As long as they can run, hit, catch, and throw, that’s life in the NFL.

Indiana Pacers – Tyler Hansbrough’s Qualifying Offer Rescinded; Now a Free Agent

by Kent Sterling

UnknownThe qualifying offer to former Indiana Pacers back-up power forward Tyler Hansbrough was, as was suspected, an insurance policy in case someone pulled a Brink’s Truck up to David West’s front door with too much cash for the Pacers to match.

So the 2010 first round pick is now free to negotiate with any team he chooses, and the Pacers net an additional $4.1 million to spend elsewhere.  That makes this a good day for both the Pacers, who would rather invest elsewhere, and Hansbrough who would like to find a spot where he might be able to start – an impossibility with West on the Pacers roster.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

Hansbrough was a fan favorite because he works hard and because he looks a lot like most of the fans at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but his offensive game was limited to crashing into defenders and occasionally getting a good roll, a call from a kind referee, or both.

An easy to like guy, Hansbrough made me laugh at the Pacers golf outing prior to his rookie year.  Seated with eight guys in their 40s, Hansbrough set down his plate and joined us.  There was a little talk about the North Carloina/Duke rivalry, and then silence.  After a minute or so, Hansbrough looked at us for a second, and asked, “You guys play video games?”  It was a sweet and strange question, and someone explained that most of us had kids, jobs, wives, lawns, and chores that would keep us far too busy to indulge in video games.

He has always been the kind of wide-eyed kid who seemed oddly out of place in the man’s game played in the NBA, but was always game for a battle.  Hansbrough was a pest, who occasionally got things right enough to give his fans hope for more playing time.

In the end, it wasn’t enough.  Hansbrough will likely catch on somewhere, and the Pacers will sign someone who is more finish and less crash around the basket.

The Pacers now have approximately $43 million on the books for 2013-2014, and with an assumed $2 million for C.J. Watson and another $12 million for West in deals that can’t be announced until July 10th, they are at $57 million.  That’s $1.5 million from the salary cap, but $14 million from the salary cap threshold.  First round pick Solomon Hill will likely cost somewhere just shy of $1.3 million, so the Pacers are for all intents and purposes at the cap.

Last season, the Pacers carried $66 million, so that’s a pretty good guess as to the number they’ll want to hit for the coming season.

That gives Larry another $7.5 million of Herb Simon’s money to use to bolster that bench.

Rumors

  • Rumored target Chase Budinger is off the market after reportedly signing to return to the Minnesota Timberwolves for three years/$16 million – a lot of jack for a three-point specialist who has hit only 35.8% of his shots through a four-year career.
  • Chris Copeland has reportedly been offered a contract by the Lakers, but is waiting for others – Jared Zwerling, ESPN New York
  • The only media outlet reporting on the rumor of Carlos Delfino going to the Pacers is an Argentinian website – Ole’ (that’s the name of the website, not a flamboyant editorial comment.)
  • Two teams who seem to be at the center of the Carl Landry sweepstakes – a grotesque overstatement – are the Pacers and Clippers, but the Pacers talk sounded like wishful thing from Landry – Dan Wolken, USA Today on the Clippers interest
  • The Pacers are reportedly shopping Danny Granger and Gerald Green, but are finding no takers – CBSSports.com
  • The third year of David West’s reported deal is a player option – Andrew Perna

Indy Star’s Terry Hutchens Lands Softly at Fox/Scout

by Kent Sterling

The shake-up at the Indianapolis Star Sports Department has a happy ending for IU beat reporter Terry Hutchens, who was removed from that position last week, and now those who relied on him for IU news will find him writing for Fox News/Scout.com, Hutchens announced this afternoon via Twitter.

Terry’s next tweet makes him one of the classier former employees of the Star:

The Star has yet to announce the replacement for Hutch.

Fox, Yahoo, and ESPN continue to invest in unique product as the print media continues to shrink.  As a subscriber to the Star, I am appalled more often than I’m pleased by the paucity of unique perspective and information.

Monday, for instance, the sports section had three piece in the sports section that were generated locally.  Hutch wrote about the Pacers quest for free agents, there was a game wrap about the Fever victory, and finally a misplaced screed about roller derby.  In today’s Star, the very good Zak Keefer hit the Butler move to the Big East, Michael Pointer wrote three pieces related to the Pacers, and Jill Disis compiled some information on Joe Lefeged.

The rest?  Agate and wire service filler.

I get that Gannett honchos limit resources to the point where the reporters, columnists, and editors have to bust their humps to make the Star worth picking up for something other than the Sudoku.  I’ve been there myself with WIBC Radio in the mid-1990s.  We had zero chance to succeed as decisions were made at a corporate level and by a deranged general manager who made everyday a challenge.

It’s true with television and radio news too.  Unique content requires people, and federal law mandates that people get paid, so filling the space between the weather forecasts is done in a variety of ways – few of them interesting.

There are just very few reasons to pick up the paper, as most but the technologically illiterate are well-informed long before the paper is printed, much less delivered.

Even the pace of the online edition is often slower then on other portals, including this one.

I’m happy for Hutch.  He’s a good guy.  Sorry for the people working elsewhere in media whose workdays are being squeezed more and more tightly.

Cubs Trade Feldman, Clevenger, and Marmol for Guys and Bonus Pool Cash

by Kent Sterling

Cubs President Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer are the stars of the series of trades the Cubs made today, and there is no telling yet what players will be gotten with the gains.

Cubs President Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer are the stars of the series of trades the Cubs made today, and there is no telling yet what players will be gotten with the gains.

This is the kind of writing that makes my brain ache.  The Cubs traded some guys, including Scott Feldman, Steve Clevenger, and Carlos Marmol to a variety of team for a few other guys, plus some very important International Bonus Pool allotments that total in the neighborhood of $1 million.

You see, in order to curb unchecked spending on international prospects, and set the stage for an international draft as soon as next year, Major League Baseball instituted a bonus pool slotting system that decreases from slot to slot in inverse order of how teams finished during the previous year.

The Cubs had the second worst record in baseball, so they have the second most money.  To delve beyond that will make my head hurt worse than it already does, and the odd are you don’t care.  (If you do, here’s the link to an explanation that is detailed, complete, and as difficult to understand as Angel Hernandez’ strike zone.)

The simple answer is that there is a limited amount of money that can be spent on bonuses as teams bid against each other for the services of some of the best Latin players.  The Cubs had roughly $4.5 million before today’s deals, while the team with the best record last season – Washington – has roughly $1.8 million.

Today’s trade of spare parts for other spare parts yielded an extra million or so that they will use to be the big wheel in the Dominican Republic as they battle the rest of the teams for talent.

The key is the evaluatory process that Cubs President Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer.  If the boys are able to use this bounty to attract outstanding talent, these deals could be a huge part of the rebuilding process that so far has reaped only misery and an annual binging and purging of players.

Here is a breakdown of the fellas who were traded for other fellas, who may be traded yet themselves before the deadline at the end of the month:

  • Cubs send Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger to Baltimore for Jake Arrieta, Pedro Strop, and international bonus money totaling $388,900.
  • Cubs send Carlos Marmol along with $209,700 in international signing money to the Dodgers for reliever Matt Guerrier a some relief of the Marmol contract.
  • The Cubs send minor leaguer Ronald Torreyes to Houston for $784,700 in Astros international signing bonus cash.

Who are Arrieta, Strop, and Guerrier?  It doesn’t matter.  They are pitchers who have never done too much, and aren’t likely to do much more.  Torreyes is a 20-year-old middle infielder who moved up this year to the Cubs double-A affiliate, where he hit .260 with two home runs and four steals.

The Cubs signed the third ranked international player of this class, Venezuelan shortstop Gleyber Torres today for $1.7 million, and are front runners to get Dominican outfielder Eloy Jimenez.  The cash received today was acquired to help make that happen.

These trades were about the players who can be purchased with international bonus cash.  Anyone who has been to an auction knows that the great swag goes to the man with the deepest pockets.  Right now, that’s the Cubs thanks to their terrible 2012 record and these trades.

Indiana Pacers – David West Reportedly to Return for Three Years, $36 Million; Landry, Delfino, Copeland, Budinger – Who’s Next?

by Kent Sterling

UnknownDavid West returning to the Indiana Pacers is good news.  Paying him $12 million to do it isn’t necessarily bad news, but it walks right up to the edge.

How Pacers owner Herb Simon chooses to spend his vast reservoir of cash is his business.  If he wants to buy DVD boxed sets of the entire “Hogan’s Heroes” canon for every home in the Indianapolis metro, the only people who would have an issue with it would be his heirs.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

Spending $12 million for a power forward two years further into his 30s than he was two years ago when he was worth $20 million over two years would seem to be paying retail, but West did nothing during the past two seasons with the Pacers to make anyone think that his talents are beginning their inevitable erosion.

He is as valuable a piece of the puzzle for the Pacers as anyone on the roster.  A very young team last season with two starters at 22 and two others at 26 relied upon West’s leadership during the playoffs to overcome the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks in six games each before losing to the eventual champion Miami Heat in seven, and they could ill-afford to take the step back that would come with West heading elsewhere.

But still it would have been nice to see the Pacers with a little walking around cash for the shopping that will continue as the roster is assembled.  C.J. Watson is reportedly in the fold, and rumors persist that they are pursuing Knicks bomber Chris Copeland, Carl Landry, Chase Buddinger, and Carlos Delfino.  Am I nuts or does it seem the Pacers are only interested in players whose first name begins with ‘C’?

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.

Anyone who has watched Copeland defend the four knows that he isn’t great at it, but against specific match ups, where he doesn’t get exposed, he could come off the bench and hit shots in bunches.

Carl Landry can score down on the block, and is a capable rebounder/defender, but he is likely to cost north of the $4-million player option he waived for next season.  That’s a big bullet for the Pacers to bite.  Landry would like to play with the Pacers but not enough to give Indiana a discount.  He could be a guy who fits the mid-level exception of $5+ million though. He averages in the low double digits, and pulled down an average of six boards last season as a 29-year-old.

Budinger is a 35% three-point shooter who spent a significant portion of the 2012-2013 season on the shelf with a torn meniscus in his left knee.  He’s going to be a bargain basement guy, but unfortunately in the NBA, teams often get what they pay for.

Delfino is a good defender, who is beginning to show some wear and tear.  The burst is gone, but he has great hands and can still hit corner threes.  He’ll be a $3 million a year (max) 31-year-old as the 2013-2014 season begins, unless someone overpays him.  This rumor is courtesy of Ole, a sports publication and website in Delfino’s native Argentina, and is not shared anywhere else.

These are important days for the Pacers.  The deals done over the next two weeks will determine whether they close the gap on the NBA champion Heat.  Fans tend to look at the Heat as though they were only one game better than the Pacers because of the 4-3 Eastern Conference Finals, but they were 16 1/2 games behind LeBron and Company during the regular season, and that is a truer measure of the difference between the teams.

With better players, the chance to be a better team improves.  This isn’t brain surgery, which is good because Bird isn’t a brain surgeon, but he knows basketball and how to assemble a team.

Indianapolis Sports Teams Switch Roles – Are the Colts the Bad Boys of Indy Now?

by Kent Sterling

Joe Lefeged is scheduled to appear in court this morning. He was the 23rd Colts to be arrested since 2000.

Joe Lefeged is scheduled to appear in court this morning. He was the 23rd Colts to be arrested since 2000, and the 10th in the last five years.

Colts co-captain Joe Lefeged will be in court today answering gun charges.  Yesterday, the Pacers introduced its newest player, who appears to have his screwed on about as well as any 22-year-old possibly could.  And there are reports that the Pacers have come to terms with another good guy in back-up point guard C.J. Watson.

Watson has used his fame and fortune to start the Quiet Storm Foundation, whose mission statement reads, “To have a positive impact on underserved youth by providing educational and recreational opportunities to advance their academic and life goals.  The Foundation advances its mission through three key program area focus. EDUCATION, HEALTH AND LEADERSHIP.”

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

So a Colts captain is in jail this morning while the Pacers are behaving like model citizens.

This swap of position among major league Indianapolis sports teams would have been unthinkable five years ago, as the Pacers were the team with players shooting up the night at Eight Seconds Saloon and outside the Conrad Hotel, while Colts linebacker Gary Brackett served the community with his Impact Foundation and quarterback Peyton Manning earning goodwill through his name being attached to a children’s hospital.

Beginning with the Brawl in November, 2004, and gradually ending with the trades of Stephen Jackson (January, 2007) and Ron Artest (January, 2006), as well as the bizarre but appropriate limbo Jamaal Tinsley was assigned to by the Pacers in 2008 – when was the last time you heard of an NBA team continuing to pay a player to sit on his ass in Atlanta? – the Pacers were a renegade outfit who lived life by the code of the streets rather than the letter of the law.

More importantly, the Pacers refused to behave to the standards of the fans, whose interest is only recently returning to the team.

Conversely, the Colts with good citizens like Manning, Brackett, Jeff Saturday, Robert Mathis, Reggie Wayne, Ken Dilger, Edgerrin James, and others appeared to be great guys just like the fans.  There were outliers who were arrested for domestic abuse, DUI, and marijuana possession, but the bad was always overshadowed by the good.  The opposite was true for the Pacers.

Now, with Lefeged in court, and the NFL reeling from a spate a arrests this offseason (29 since the Super Bowl), the Pacers are the good guys getting better, while the Colts have grabbed the mantle of those living the thug life.

The Colts rank tied for 11th among NFL teams with 23 arrests since 2000 (Minnesota tops the charts with 40, while the St. Louis Rams are 32nd with only eight, showing that there is no correlation between lack of arrests and wins).  The total for the NFL is 640.

Let’s not kid ourselves about the potential results for the Colts and the NFL.  While the Aaron Hernandez murder charge and the trial to come is not the kind of publicity the NFL likes, it won’t affect attendance or ratings, and the Joe Lefeged gun charge won’t hurt ticket sales in Indianapolis either,

As long as the Colts have a marquee player like quarterback Andrew Luck, they can weather these public relations challenges without the same exodus of season ticket holders that victimized the Pacers for the better part of the last decade.

Here is the list of recent arrests of Colts players during the past five years:

  • Joe Lefeged  6/25/13 – Arrested for carrying an unregistered pistol after a traffic stop in Washington, D.C.
  • Samson Satele  3/17/12 – Arrested around 4 a.m., charged with disorderly conduct in Hawaii.
  • Jerry Hughes  7/17/11 – Arrested on suspicion of public intoxication near club in Dallas.
  • Javarris James  6/9/11 – Arrested, charged with marijuana possession in Fort Myers, Fla.
  • Pat McAfee  10/20/10 – Arrested on suspicion of public intoxication. He apparently was swimming in a canal in Indianapolis night club district.
  • Fili Moala  9/3/10 – Arrested, charged with drunken driving, speeding, after being stopped at 2:30 a.m. Blood-alcohol content measured 0.15.
  • John Gill  8/8/10 – Arrested, charged with public intoxication. Police said he was found passed out on side of road.
  • Taj Smith  1/1/10 – Arrested on suspicion of DUI after being pulled over at 3:24 a.m.
  • Darrell Reid  2/8/09 – Arrested, accused of disorderly conduct and trespassing outside of nightclub.  Charges dropped.
  • Ed Johnson  9/10/2008 – Arrested, charged with marijuana possession after being stopped for speeding.  Cut by Colts with 24 hours.

The only arrest on record regarding an arrest of a Pacers player over the past five years was of Lance Stephenson for assault, harrassment, menacing, and possession of a deadly weapon on August 15, 2010.  That was post-draft, but prior to Stephenson joining the Pacers for his rookie season.

If the Pacers have tired of being cast as the thugs of Indy, they have a right to be, although the Colts indiscretions have been mostly harmless – the product of stupidity rather than antisocial or violent behavior.

Indiana University Basketball in 2012-2013 Was Historic Underachiever, According to WSJ

by Kent Sterling

OB-YA562_COUNT0_G_20130630215705“Len” is a friend of mine who emails anti-Tom Crean messages to me with regularity.  Having worked with Crean twice per year while toiling for a competing Big East basketball program, he was not – and is not – a fan.

Click here to follow Kent on Twitter

So when he sent a link to a piece posted today on the Wall Street Journal’s “The Count” column. I opened it knowing that “Len” would be trying to continue the ongoing work of making his case against Crean’s continued employment.  The subject line removed all guesswork, “Fire Crean Before It’s Too Late.”

I wasn’t surprised by what was in the column, but was a little shocked that it would appear in the Wall Street Journal.  Either the author has a similarly skewed view of Crean, or the Journal believes that their is a bounty of Kelley School of Business grads around the country who will lap up any and all IU Basketball perspective, including an arcane occurrence that makes the 2012-2013 Indiana team the biggest underachiever in college basketball history, according to the WSJ.

The graphic from the WSJ above shows all 13 teams in the history of college basketball to have two top five players drafted in the NBA Draft and how they finished in that year’s NCAA Tourney.  Only five won the tournament, one was the runner-up, three more lost in the Final Four, one lost in the Elite Eight, and the other three (IU in 2013 among them) lost in the Sweet Sixteen.

The two players who were drafted in the top five for the other two teams to lose in the Sweet Sixteen won a different tournament at some point during their careers.

I like a man willing to take a passionate stand against a successful coach for purely personal reasons as much as the next guy – more probably.  And I have liked this person very much since meeting him as a freshman after being told that his name was Larry.  I greeted him on the way to the Briscoe Quad’s cafeteria, “Hey, Larry!”  He said clearly and loudly, “That’s – not – my – name!”  It was friendship at first sight.

But in this limited instance, “Len” is wrong.  Here are five great reasons off the top of my head as to why (if I gave it much thought, I could come up with a screed rivaling the length of Martin Luther’s grievances against the Catholic Church):

  • Since arriving in Bloomington, Crean’s Hoosiers have won 6, 10, 12, 27, and 29 games.
  • Despite losing in the Sweet Sixteen in two consecutive years, the improvement of Victor Oladipo from the 144th ranked high school player in 2010 to the #2 NBA draft pick makes Indiana a destination for recruits serious about improving their games.
  • The NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate score for Indiana Basketball has been a perfect 1,000.
  • Indiana won the 2013 regular season Big Ten Championship – it’s first unshared title in 20 years.
  • The 2013 recruiting class is ranked fourth nationally by ESPN, and the only Big Ten program in the top ten.

There is no doubt a disconnect exists between the IU grads who matriculated (I haven’t matriculated in years!) during the Bob Knight era.  The offense Indiana runs looks nothing like the rhythmic and effective motion offense of Knight’s.  The relentless ball screens make some of the older IU fans wince.

A personal disconnect is there on some level too, but the work IU basketball players do in the classroom and on the court is exemplary, and that’s the criteria by which Crean should be judged.

It’s impossible for a coach to win NCAA Tournaments without some luck, and Indiana (with a bad early pairing against eventual champ Kentucky in 2012, and one poor performance against Syracuse) haven’t had much.

There is certainly room to be critical of Crean as it appears he tries to coach Indiana players into peaking physically and mentally through the entire season.  The Hoosiers appeared to run out of gas late last season – notably in the second half against Ohio State on March 5th and beyond.  Slowing feet late in the season makes winning tough.  I would love to see Crean back off the minutes of his starters during the pre-Big Ten season, and clear the bench a little earlier during blowouts, but that’s Monday morning quarterbacking after seeing the result of the extended minutes.

Crean has gotten to the pinnacle of his profession through relentless hard work.  To expect a coach with that professional background to back off the throttle at any point is not reasonable.

No coach is without warts, but Crean’s IU program is clean, graduates all players, wins at a high level, and recruits with Duke, Kentucky, and Kansas.  That makes a great and correct answer to the question – who should coach basketball at Indiana University?

I love the emails, but Crean has succeeded where few others might have.

Reports: Nets PG C.J. Watson Agrees to Two-Year Deal with Pacers

by Kent Sterling

UnknownReports are popping up everywhere that C.J. Watson has agreed to sign with the Indiana Pacers to enhance their roster as a backup point guard.

Click Here to follow Kent on Twitter

Watson, 29, is one of the very rare characters in the league to literally work his way up from nothing to find prosperity in the NBA.  He was not drafted, but found a way into two 10-day contracts with the Golden State Warriors in 2007-2008 and made the most of those opportunities to earn more than $9-million to this point in his career after three seasons with the Warriors, two with the Bulls, and last year with the Brooklyn Nets.

There are eight excellent reasons why the Pacers did the right thing in signing Watson:

  1. He’s cheap.  The deal is reportedly just above the league minimum.
  2. He knows who he is.  At no point during his career has Watson acted like a petulant star in waiting.  He’s a backup point guard, and he knows it.  Of his 385 games played, only 67 have come as a starter – 25 of those when Bulls star Derrick Rose was injured in 2011-2012.
  3. UnknownWatson contributed more win shares last year than during any other season in his career with 3.8.
  4. Not only does Watson know who he is, he knows who he will be.  There will be no moping about because he wants starter’s minutes in the future.
  5. Last season was Watson’s first to hit better than 40% of his threes (41.1%).
  6. Watson’s 2012-2013 campaign was the first in four years where his two-point percentage exceeded his percentage from deep.  That’s a positive step as his percentage inside ten feet in the previous year with the Bulls was 39.4% – YIKES!
  7. Watson is partially responsible for the only defeat in Floyd Mayweather’s career.  Watson, according to a police report obtained by TMZ was sleeping with Mayweather’s wife, which prompted the domestic battery that resulted in Mayweather’s conviction and incarceration.
  8. There are few players in the NBA that are know by there initials.  The Pacers are replacing D.J. with C.J. (whose actual initials, C.A., stand for Charles Akeem, but he is a junior, so I assume Charles Junior led to C.J.).  The Pacers are due for an initial guy to exceed expectations.

Watson tweeted at 1:06p today, “Keep up with the pace!!!!” followed by several emoticons that I can’t decipher.  That might be some kind of code that he’s coming to Indy, or an admonishment to slow drivers.

It seems Watson understands social media, having accumulated 346,137 followers, but he had a huge advantage by playing in three of the top five media markets in America (SF, Chicago, NYC).  He also appears to be another focused player who spent four years in college (Tennessee).

The deal won’t become official until July 10th because of a silly rule requiring a ten day moratorium on signings.

In other Pacers news, the team announced this afternoon that Nate McMillan has agreed to become the associate head coach, filling the role of departed assistant Brian Shaw, who left to become the head coach of the Denver Nuggets.

The roster for the Pacers summer league entry was also released this afternoon, and two names were interesting.  IU’s Christian Watford will be on the squad as he tries to earn a spot in training camp.  Also, former Minnesota Timberwolves first round selection (6th overall) Jonny Flynn will be with the Blue and Gold.  Flynn is only 24, and has a lot of basketball ahead of him somewhere.

Here’s a short video clip of Watson talking about his toughest moments in basketball:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbRKjsz5REI