Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Pacers Take 3-2 Lead – Game Five Report Card

by Kent Sterling

Beast mode is a tired and overused phrase, but David West in last night’s Game Five was in full beast mode.

Prior to Game Five, I posted the 10 things the Pacers needed to do to beat the Atlanta Hawks in that pivotal game. They won 103-86, so it’s easy to assume that a lot of what the Pacers did was right, and that they kept the Hawks from getting much done themselves. Two quick takeaways – the Pacers played very well, and I am very smart.

Here are the 10 areas the Pacers needed to address and how they did:

10 – Stay in front of Jeff Teague – A+ Teague was 3-of-16 from the field for seven points. He made zero shots in nine attempts from outside the paint, and was frustrated throughout. The technical Teague picked up for shoving Paul George in the back for shoving Paul George in the back with 5:50 left in the third quarter was the first time I’ve seen him lose his cool – all the way back to the fourth grade playing for Riverside.

9 – Paul George adjusts to different defenders – A George missed only one shot in his eight attempts, with 10 rebounds, five assists and one turnover. Whatever tricks Hawks coach Larry Drew tried to play with his defensive rotation – or didn’t – were ineffective. George was crazy efficient – 21 points in eight shots defines efficent.

8 – No silly fouls – A The Pacers played tough, physical defense that forced the Hawks to pay a price for getting to the rim, but the only player to amass five fouls (in nine minutes) was Ian Mahinmi, and that doesn’t qualify as a problem. Overall, the Pacers committed 30 total fouls, but virtually all on the defensive end were about taking away what the Hawks wanted to do. The officiating was screwy all night, so it’s hard to separate the bad calls from the silly fouls, so some benefit of the doubt is reflected in the grade

7 – Skinny up the rotation – B The minutes allocated to the bench were better used than in the first four games. With a brief exception, three or more starters remained on the floor throughout the first 45 minutes (until the starters, minus Lance Stephenson, were pulled). There is still a precipitous drop in play when the wrong combination of players are on the floor together. The Pacers turned to ball over 10 times in the first half, and three belonged to Tyler Hansbrough, who must take better care of the ball. D.J. Augustin played a productive 25 minutes on defense. Shooters can’t indulge a conscience, and Augustin has no worries there. He made his final two threes to finish 3-of-9 behind the arc.

6 – Hack-a-Hawk – B The Pacers committed 30 fouls that sent the Hawks to the line 37 times. The Hawks made 31 of those shots, showing that they can find the bucket. If you back out Josh Smith’s typically brutal 3-of-7, the Hawks only stayed in the game because of their excellent foul shooting. Maybe this should be amended to Hack-a-Josh, but the hard fouls caused a disruption in the Hawks offensive flow, and that was important in racheting up their level of frustration.

5 – Let Josh Smith be lazy – A+ Smith was 1-for-6 from outside the paint. His shots were reduced in every quarter from six to five to three to two. Part of that stemmed from his reluctance to defend with his feet as he picked up five fouls, but as the game went on, Smith seemed less and less interested in playing hard.

4 – Get to the line 30 times – A Got to the line 35 times, making 29 shots. Foul shots are important because they shows a dedication to playing aggressively on the offensive end. Settling for jump shots is death in the NBA. The Pacers got the ball down low often, and when David West scores 24, the Pacers are a tough out.

3 – Limit second chance points – A- The Hawks missed 50 field goal attempts last night, and were only able to rebound six of them. Only once did the Hawks convert after an offensive rebound – Kyle Korver’s only made three of the game. That’s the reason for the minus. You don’t leave Kyle Korver on the offensive end until the ball is possessed. Period. (See #1)

2 – Remove humanity from equation – I This is an overall mindset that can’t be accomplished in one game, or even one season, so the grade is an incomplete. The Pacers will either be heartless competitors, or they won’t be. That will be determined after this group disbands. David West is the closest to the type of win-at-all-costs guy we are looking for. His personal 10-point run in the second quarter was bad-ass (it would have been 12 if not interrupted by a D.J. Augustine make on a technical free throw for a Hawks defensive three seconds call). Those 12 points, plus the Augustine freebo turned a 31-28 deficit into 41-35 lead the Pacers would not relinquish.

1 – Stay with Kyle Korver – A- Sweet work by the defenders who matched up with Korver, who was limited to five shots, two makes, and 10 points. The lone mistake was not finding him after an offensive rebound. I’m a tough grader who requires perfection, so the A becomes an A-. If I get a call from George Hill’s parents, I’ll explain that there is no curve in grading playoff performances.

Now the question becomes how the Pacers can put together a solid 48-minutes like this in Atlanta. If they can’t, we do this all over again at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Sunday for a Game Seven.

I don’t spend a lot of time talking about Frank Vogel, but I thought the game plan and rotation for Game Five was just about perfect.

Let’s hope Game Six (Friday Night at 7:00 on ESPN2) offers 48 more minutes of the same.

Dan Dakich and Gregg Doyel Get After It on Jason Collins Story

by Kent Sterling

There are times during the Dan Dakich Show that it is the best in America. It happened today.

1070 the Fan host Dan Dakich and cbssports.com’s Gregg Doyel got passionate as they discussed the Jason Collins story during Dakich’s show today.

Both were reasonable and eventually met in the middle, deciding that the best possible response to the story itself is a shrug.

Neither thought Collins sexuality is relevant in a locker room, and that America will be a better place when a sports figure coming out is a non-story.

The disagreement was in casting anyone who doesn’t acknowledge the magnitude of the story as a bigot. Doyel’s logic was presumptive. He said that anyone who doesn’t care about the Collins announcement is not empathetic, and anyone mot empathetic toward the first gay active major league athlete must be a bigot.

Dan countered that empathy shouldn’t be restricted to gays, and that people who see things differently aren’t necessarily bad guys.

Doyel responded that anyone who evaluates people based on the writings of a 2,000 year old book are “knuckledraggers” too lazy to form their own opinions.

Dan said that keeping track of the good and bad guys in life is more difficult than that for him.

Gregg Doyel is smart, emotional, and humane. That makes him as good a guest as there is.

Gregg Doyel is smart, emotional, and humane. That makes him as good a radio guest as there is.

In the end, Doyel apologized, and acknowledged that he was hanged by his own logic in throwing a blanket over all people who read the Bible and follow its teachings.

It was excellent radio featuring two friends who were struggling a bit to understand where the other was coming from.

There are few hosts or guests who are able to enjoy a conversation that leads somewhere other than acrimony. Both Dakich and Doyel stated their perspective, listened to the other, and allowed the conversation to help shape their opinions.

If only we could do that in real life a little more often.

I wrote a couple of days ago that I didn’t care whether Collins is gay, and that I wished that the announcement was unnecessary. After hearing this conversation between smart guys, I’m thrilled that Collins opened up because it prompted really smart guys like Dan and Gregg to share their perspectives without the typical knee jerk and judgmental rancor that is so pervasive in media today.

Like any issue where loud ignorance invades reason, talking helps, and Collins talking has led to a lot more talking. That’s a starting place for people to shape an informed and reasonable philosophy.

NFL Fantasy – 2013 Draft – Running Backs to Watch

by Chip Balma

The Best Three Rookie Running Backs In 2013

The 2013 NFL Draft certainly won’t go down as an all-time classic, but there will still be some solid players who contribute right away. Here are the three top running backs right now as far as fantasy value goes for this upcoming season.

Montee Ball (Denver Broncos)

The workhorse from Wisconsin landed in a perfect spot, as he will most likely take over the starting spot in Denver. He won’t be asked to carry the ball as much as he did in college, but he should get enough carries to warrant being the first rookie running back taken in fantasy football 2013 drafts. Expect him to get the ball both on early downs and near the goal line, meaning he has a lot of touchdown potential.

Le’Veon Bell (Pittsburgh Steelers)

After failed auditions from Jonathan Dwyer and Isaac Redman, the Pittsburgh Steelers are hoping that Le’Veon Bell can be the featured back in their offense. Not only is Bell a big running back capable of picking up yards after contact, but his ability to catch the ball will give Ben Roethlisberger another options as well. Pittsburgh loves to pound the ball into the endzone when near the goal line, so expect Bell to rack up the numbers there.

Eddie Lacy (Green Bay Packers)

Like Ball, Lacy falls into a great passing offense with the chance to play right away. His toe injury is a bit of a durability concern, which is why Ball is the safer pick. There have been Green Bay running backs who are not as talented as Lacy still put together solid fantasy football seasons. Depending on how much a team tilts their defense towards stopping Aaron Rodgers, Lacy could put up some pretty crazy numbers. He will have to compete somewhat with fellow rookie Johnathan Franklin, but Lacy will get the bulk of the carries.

Chicago Cubs – Ridiculous Ownership Now Threatening to Move

by Kent Sterling

I wish Cubs owner Tom Ricketts played poker and I could get a seat at his table. Every time he plays a hand, he bluffs, and I would own the Cubs the next day.

Today, at a breakfast of business owners in Chicago, he threatened to move. Cubs fans and the City of Chicago should respond as a unified chorus, “Go ahead, dumbass. Move.”

The issue isn’t the need for the renovation of the Friendly Confines, it’s a matter of being insulted by clumsy tactics.

The Cubs as of May 1, 2013 have two assets that are meaningful for people shelling out the cash to buy tickets – a fun pre and post game area that can extend a ballgame into a daylong social event, and the nostalgia that Wrigley Field represents.

If the Cubs and Ricketts were forced to rely upon the guys with red Cs on their caps to draw fans, there would be plenty of parking around Wrigley Field on game days.

When I go to Wrigley, I make sure and walk up the same tunnel that my Dad helped me up when I went to my first Cubs game on April 16, 1968 – a 9-8 loss against the Reds that featured an Ernie Banks home run. I am not nearly as captivated by a Nate Schierholtz at bat as I am remembering my Dad catching a foul ball off the bat of Jesus Alou during a 9-2 win on July 29, 1970.

If Ricketts wants to play hard ball, do it in Schaumburg, where he will be able to shake the hands of every fan, personally thank them for coming, and hear a captivating story about their favorite Wrigley Field memory – all before the end of the fifth inning. If Edwin Jackson is pitching for the Cubs, – before the end of the fourth.

The playbook Ricketts is using can only work if he’s willing to do what he threatens or has the capability to deliver what he promises.

This morning, he told the City Club of Chicago where he was the guest speaker, “I’m not sure how anyone is going to stop the signs in the outfield, but if it comes to the point that we don’t have the ability to do what we need to do in our outfield then we’re going to have to consider moving. It’s a simple as that.”

His last trick was to guarantee a World Championship if he’s allowed to whore out the ballpark with video signage in left field, right field, and all about the town. Now, he threatens to move. His tactics are more vapid than Starlin Castro’s grasp of baseball fundamentals..

If this was Ricketts plan when he bought the Cubs in 2009, he strategized poorly. Wrigley Field is a dilapidated wreck of an iconic baseball palace. It’s inadequate in many ways. Beautiful for fans, but not a pleasant home for the Cubs or their opponents. It’s a relic that is closing in on its 100th birthday, and that’s exactly what Ricketts bought. He’s very proud of talking about how he and his brother spent afternoons in the bleachers when he lived across the street, so certainly he was aware that Wrigley is not comparable in any way to the newer ballparks.

Because Ricketts has been told his entire life how smart he is, he believes the fanbase and Chicago Board of Alderman can be bullied by laughably hollow threats and promises – simultaneously.

If Ricketts wants to make the point that Wrigley needs a serious amount of work to bring it up to the standards of the 29 other Major League ballparks, I’m all in. The water table sits a few feet under the clubhouse, so burrowing lower is out. The Cubs need to build out on the limited footprint bound by Clark, Addison, Waveland and Sheffield. I get it.

But to talk about the superstructure as the primary need is disingenuous. What Ricketts and chief henchman Crane Kenney want is a laundry list of monetizable assets including giant signs, zoning variances, vendor restrictions, and other concessions that will allow the Ricketts to bulk up their profit margin and offset the largest debt load in baseball.

Chicago has always worked in the same way – the right people get paid and construction starts. Threats fall on deaf ears without being accompanied by a satchel full of cash, and while it’s a romantic notion I embrace to think fans might rebel against this cabal of buffoons, the real insult is to the intelligence and bank accounts of politicians whose palms need to be greased for anything in Cook County to get done.

For Ricketts to think he can galvanize enough popular support to offset the greed among those with real power that has been the fuel for Chicago’s growth since before Big Bill Thompson was mayor is both arrogant and stupid – not a combination that allows for success.

I’m sure Ricketts was pleased with his performance this morning, but he has only engrained more indelibly his image as a naive laggard among the greedy swine.

Wrigley Field should be renovated, and I don’t care if the rooftop people are financially disemboweled by massive video boards that obstruct their patrons’ view of the action, but these are not the tactics that will get the job done, and if anyone thinks Ricketts is going to overpay for talent with the proceeds that come from the signage, well, that’s a whole different column.

Indiana Pacers – Ten Things the Pacers Need to Do Tonight to Win Pivotal Game Five

by Kent Sterling

Nice graphic from nba.com

Tonight’s Game Five matchup between the Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks is the biggest game for the Pacers since Reggie Miller’s retirement ushered in a era of fan malaise the franchise has been trying to climb from since.

With a win in this series, the Pacers would show progress. With a loss, the bubbling enthusiasm for this group would calm. A win, and the resulting series with the Knicks (up 3-1 on the Celtics) would spur season ticket sales, and give the Pacers some momentum in driving media coverage in central Indiana.

Games One and Two in Indy exposed the Hawks as an inexuberant group of free agents to be looking ahead to vacations. Games Three and Four were a vastly different story with the Hawks appearing ready to compete for big contracts, if not an NBA Championship. They are flawed, but facing indifferent defense, the Hawks have shown the ability to score at will.

With the series now a best of three with tonight’s Game Five in Indy, every possession counts, and the Pacers should know exactly what they need to do to be victorious. If they need reminders, here are ten:

10 – Stay in front of Jeff Teague. Watch Teague get by his man, and then keep him right behind him. Teague waits for the help to come, and dishes, or explodes to the rim if help doesn’t rotate. He’s not a great outside shooter. Stay in front of him.

9 – Paul George adjusts to different defenders. It seems Hawks coach Larry Drew has discovered what we all knew – that Kyle Korver can’t defend Paul George. So George had to deal with a variety of defense challengers, including Josh Smith. Every possession Smith is paired with George, he needs to create contact and draw fouls .

8 – No silly fouls. If Josh Smith is aggressive and tries to get to the rim, he is going to draw enough fouls. Using fouls judiciously when necessary works as long as the silly fouls don’t cause David West or Roy Hibbert to sit for extended minutes. Every minute lost by the starters makes the job tougher for the Pacers.

7 – Skinny up the rotation. Frank Vogel showed that he’s willing to let starters play extended minutes in the second half of Game Four, and the Pacers almost clawed their way back into the game. The +/- numbers for the bench were brutal in Atlanta (not a single bench player had a positive number), and trusting D.J. Augustine, Gerald Green, Tyler Hansbrough, and Ian Mahinmi to hold the game differential level during their shifts is not justifiable.

6 – Hack-a-Hawk – I’m borrowing this from 1070 the Fan’s Joe Staysniak, but many of the Hawks are terrible from the foul line. Josh Smith and Al Horford both stand a foot farther from the foul line than is necessary to shoot foul shots. That means they are so desperate to make free throws, they will resort to idiocy to try to clear their own mental block.

5 – Let Josh Smith be lazy. He made 51.7% of his foul shots in the regular season and is 12-for-25 in this series. His is a career 28.3% shooter from beyond the arc. Let him shoot the basketball from outside, and he will.

4 – Get to the line 30 times – In the first half of Game Four, the Pacers got to the line only six times as the Hawks built a 57-40 lead. In the second half, the Pacers made 15-19 free throws, and they outscored the Hawks 51-45. Playing more energetic defense in the third quarter had a lot to do with that point differential, but aggressive defense leads to aggressive offense – and vice-versa.

3 – Limit second chance points – The Hawks grabbed 11 offensive rebounds in Game Four that led to 13 points, including a Korver three-poiner with 2:32 to play that ran the Hawks lead from a manageable six points to a much tough nine. Had the Pacers gathered it, they are down six with the ball. In addition to the points, the Pacers committed five fouls immediately following the offensive rebounds.

2 – Remove humanity from equation – There was a time that Michael Jordan was a decent human being who struggled to beat the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs. Then, he became a heartless assassin who couldn’t be beaten. He decided that doing whatever it takes to win was worth it. Paul George needs to flip that switch, and the rest of the Pacers need to follow. George isn’t Jordan, but he needs to bring more grit to the game.

1 – Stay with Kyle Korver. There should not be a moment tonight that a Pacer is not in Korver’s pocket. Korver is one of the most effective scorers from outside the arc in the NBA, and helping off of him is never an acceptable tactic. If he is allowed shoot uncontested shots, the Pacers will lose.

Tim Tebow Defenders Are as Inaccurate in Making Their Points as Tebow Is with Delivering the Football

by Kent Sterling

Tim Tebow – showing the reason he can’t play QB in the NFL.

When you stir a nest of easily agitated hornets, they attack without thought or logic.

Immediately following the Jets decision to release Tim Tebow, I wrote about how it was the correct decision and how it validated ESPN’s Merrl Hoge’s appraisal of Tebow’s ability to play quarterback in the NFL. What I found is that Tebow has passionate defenders.

But instead of extolling Tebow’s virtues, their only defense of their guy is to bludgeon his chief attacker. “Merril Hoge made it personal.” “Merril Hoge is an ass!” Merril Hoge said Tebow is as phony as a three-dollar bill, and that’s not nice!”

Finally, the more generic defense of Tebow, “Stats can say anything you want them to.”

Nowhere in any of the comments did anyone offer a defense of Tebow’s ability to deliver the football with accuracy, and answer why all 32 NFL GMs have taken a pass on the Heisman Trophy winner.

The truth is that Tebow does not throw the ball accurately enough to warrant a job as QB in the NFL. Assuming he is a wonderful, God loving human being, being one is not part of the equation in evaluating a quarterback.

Statistics don’t worship Jesus, Allah, Mohammad, Moses, Yahweh, Buddha, Confucius, or any other deity. Here are relevant numbers for Tebow:

Completed 47.9% of his passes – worst for a QB with 16 or more starts since 2010.
After winning eight of his first 11 starts, Tebow lost four of his last five once coordinators found a scheme to attack him.
In a league where turnovers kill, Tebow led the NFL with 14 fumbles in just 11 starts in 2011.
Minus TD% Index and Sack% Index, Tebow’s advanced stats are either below average, or far below average.
In 2011, Tebow engineered six game winning drives.
The team for whom Tebow led six game winning drives let Tebow go.
The Jets chose to start Greg McElroy over Tebow when Mark Sanchez was benched late in the 2012 season.
The 30 other teams have all rejected overtures to deal any draft choice for Tebow.

But people, including Tebow, continue to believe that Tebow can play QB in the NFL.

Chase Stuart of footballperspective.com posted a piece this morning showing all quarterbacks ranked by the adjusted yards per attempted in their final home start. Not surprisingly, Tebow is on top with an incredible 16.95. Glad Stuart used that seemingly randomly chosen game, rather than his last regular season game, where he would rank last with 0.68 AY/A.

The 16.95 AY/A is the highest of his career in a start. The numbers in the last five starts other than that one – 5.44, 8.82, 6.38, 0.68, and 5.23. The Broncos averaged 10 points scored in those games in which the Broncos went 1-4; six of those points per game of were accounted for by Tebow (two passing TDs/3 rushing TDs).

This is not a debate about the quality of Tebow’s character. He was a remarkable leader at Florida, and will be revered there forever, and who could blame Gator fans for loving the guy. He won a Heisman, and played for two national championship teams. The ways in which he was statistically superb can’t be listed.

Winning a Heisman does not correlate to enjoying a productive professional career. Other examples of pro busts with a Heisman on their mantle – Matt Leinart, Jason White, Chris Weinke, Danny Wuerffel, Gino Torretta, and Ty Detmer.

Saying that Tebow can’t play quarterback in the NFL isn’t an indictment of the human being. It’s about an arm ungifted with the ability to deliver the ball accurately.

Angry hornets buzz in circles without any notion of why they are furious, and without any regard for where they are going. Yep, that’s about right.

UW Green Bay Basketball Coach in Trouble as Walk-on Soils Himself

by Kent Sterling

UWGB head coach Brian Wardle

It’s time for the masses to rise up and smite the tyrants. College basketball players are not buck privates who need to be prepared for battle, and coaches are not drill sergeants. The time has come for a redefinition of roles in collegiate athletics.

If reports of an incident at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay are accurate, head basketball coach Brian Wardle is the latest coach who not only crossed the line, but demonstrated that he’s unaware of its existence.

This reported series of incidents closely follows America going crazy over the video of Rutgers coach Mike Rice hurling all sorts of things and words at his players. If there was ever a time to avoid treating players’ health and sense of well-being with indifference, it is now.

Wardle’s acts toward walk-on center Ryan Bross was reported today by Rob Dauster for nbcsports.com,

Among the allegations made by Bross against Wardle, according to Dauster:

He was denied permission to take classes that feed his chosen major because they might interfere with basketball down the road.
Bross is quite religious, according to the piece in collegebasketballtalk.com, and was told that “the best way for him to play better would be to sleep with a girl he was interested in.”
Finally, despite having diarrhea, Wardle was forced to run a hill until he soiled his pants. Wardle reportedly was made aware of the medical issue, but was unmoved.

On one hand, people outside of the college athletics world look at the stories leaked from practices about borderline criminal behavior perpetrated by coaches, and wonder just what the hell coaches are thinking. If managers in business did any of what we hear about, they would be fired instantly, and would be unlikely to be employed in a similar role ever again.

On the other, what the hell is going on with kids who allow themselves to be bullied into running until they poop their drawers? Bob Knight is a former coach that people often and accurately accuse of bullying. In his speeches to the students at Indiana University, Knight often extolled the virtues of using the word “No!”

I’m not sure he ever tolerated “No!” from his players, but I would recommend it highly to players with diarrhea being required to run up and down a hill. First, there is the virtual certainty of humiliation, and that certainly occurred in the case of Bross.

Number two (no pun intended), people with diarrhea often suffer from dehydration. Sprints + dehydration = trouble. Fortunately for Bross and Wardle, overall health was not compromised.

It’s time for players to allow themselves the luxury of evaluation when a coach speaks or acts. Without consequences, coaches are free to do whatever the hell they want to whomever they want for whatever reason they want. It’s time for there to be a consequence.

If I’m walking down the hall toward my office, and my manager hits me in the head with a basketball, I’m going to do everything I can to mete out a form of justice that is immediate and unmistakable. Players should do the same. A right cross to the jaw conveys a quick message. Before that, saying “No!” with certainty is a damn effective way to communicate dissent.

And if the result of that dissent is being kicked off the team, that is the price. Taking a stance based in justice and decency is sometimes punished. History books are filled reports of men and women being vilified for doing the right thing. There is nothing wrong with joining them in some small way.

It’s clear that most athletic directors could care less about doing the right thing – sponsoring leadership training for their coaches similar to the clinics and workshops often required by corporations, and making sure respect is paid as it is demanded.

Getting the most out of players should be the goal for any coach interested in winning and developing the character of student-athletes. Forcing an employee with diarrhea to run has never been used in a seminar I attended as a tool to unlock the inner genius of an employee or basketball player.

Wardle’s plight at UWGB won’t make headlines like Rice did for his multiple psychotic breaks at Rutgers because there is no video (as we know, without graphic video, mainstream sports media pays no attention). That will probably save him from being fired, but it shouldn’t prevent him from being held accountable.

It’s time for coaches to be held responsible for their management skills. Whether that’s done by the players, athletic directors, or the public doesn’t matter – but coaches need to consistently act like responsible adults. If the training comes during a seminar or a left hand to the liver, one way or another this behavior must end.

Indiana’s Assembly Hall Now Only Assembly Hall

by Kent Sterling

The one and only Assembly Hall. Not perfect, but definitely unique in design – and now in name.

After a 42 year battle of Assembly Halls, the basketball arena at Indiana University can now claim victory.

The Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois will be known for at least the next 30 years at the State Farm Center as a result of a $60-million deal announced yesterday.

Illinois’ building is 50 years old, so it predates the iconic building in Bloomington, Indiana, but tempers in Champaign would often flair as college basketball fans would hear that their arena was called Assembly Hall and respond, “Oh, you named your place Assembly Hall too? Just like Indiana, huh?”

That confusion will be mitigated by this deal, but there has never been any puzzlement over which Assembly Hall has enjoyed the most success. While Indiana has had three National Champions call their Assembly Hall home, the only NCAA Tourney winner in the State of Illinois was Loyola of Chicago 50 years ago.

Illinois has had difficulty since the departure of Lou Henson as both Lon Kruger and Bill Self used the head coach position there as stepping stones to better jobs. Bruce Weber enjoyed some success while coaching Self’s recruits, and now John Groce is trying to rebuild the once proud, but ultimately unsuccessful program.

Groce is an outstanding coach, and might be able to overcome the hurdles that have kept the Illini mired just outside the conversation of nationally relevant programs during those eras that they refused to succumb to the temptations of wandering outside the boundaries set by NCAA rules.

Now, that team will play in the State Farm Center, while Indiana plays in the one and only Assembly Hall.

Like a good neighbor, the Illini relents.

Pacers vs. Hawks – Will Someone Please Stay with Kyle Korver

by Kent Sterling

The Pacers frustration over the past two games in Atlanta can be vanquished quickly tomorrow night if they deny Kyle Korver.

Memo to the Indiana Pacers – Kyle Korver is a really good shooter. Left open, he is almost a lock to make shots from anywhere within 30 feet of the bucket.

Korver had 19 points last night in the Hawks 101-90 win that evened the series at two wins apiece. Because Korver was inexplicably left to wander alone the wing 24 feet away from the basket, he made five-of-eight three pointers which more than account for the 11 point difference in the game.

Defensive basketball rules of thumb go out the window when Korver is on the floor. One step off your man for every pass it would take to get him the ball? Forget it. No helping off Korver at all. Without a significant disincentive not to shoot, Korver will rain down threes like it’s his job because it is his job, and he’s damn good at it.

Basketball is a game of habits inculcated through tens of thousands of reps from the time kids start being coached at age nine, and breaking those habits requires the kind of attention to detail the Pacers showed during superb efforts in the first two games of the series. Treating Korver like any other wing results in the kind of performance that put the Hawks over the top last night.

Josh Smith was also pretty good last night as he attacked and got to the line 16 times. Indiana fans like the Josh that settles for jump shots a lot more than the bruising athlete who plays with a chip on his shoulder. The guy who slept through the first two games in Indy would be very welcome back here tomorrow night. Defending him requires effort and contact, and getting it done without fouling is a tough assignment.

Foul problems hurt the Pacers last night. David West had to come off the court after picking up two fouls in the first 5:45 of the game. By the time he returned, the Pacers were down eight. When Smith got aggressive in the second half, he did it at the expense of Roy Hibbert, who fouled him five times.

The Pacers won both games one and two at home without any drama. The Hawks looked apathetic, and the smart guys thought that the Hawks – all but three of whom will be free agents when the Pacers finally vanquish them – were looking ahead to a vacation instead of doing the dirty work needed to beat a talented team.

There is hope as the Pacers look ahead to game five in Indy Wednesday and a return trip to Atlanta Friday in the way they played in the second half of last night’s 11-point loss. After getting to the line only six times in the first half, the Pacers managed to be aggressive enough offensively to shoot 19 foul shots in the second.

Free throws are a good bellwether for basketball teams because they show a desire to drive the basketball rather than settle for jumpers. The Pacers are built to drive the basketball, and when they choose not to, offensively they just aren’t very efficient.

The Pacers paid for foul trouble and getting starters some rest with ineffective performances by the second unit. Tyler Hansbrough (-10), Gerald Green (-14), D.J. Augustin (-7), and Ian Mahinmi (-15) were a combined -46 in point differential during their minutes, while the Hawks bench was a +15.

So the apparently insurmountable challenge for the Hawks that was winning four-of-five after the Pacers got off to a 2-0 lead is not quite so daunting. Both the Pacers and Hawks need to win two-of-three to move on to the second round against either the Knicks or Celtics. The Pacers hold the advantage with two of those games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but that can vanish very quickly tomorrow night.

In the unpredictable NBA, it’s impossible to predict which Josh Smith will show up – the future 300 lbs. jump shooter who defends with passionless slow feet, or the worker who draws fouls. And will the Pacers defense recognize that Kyle Korver is a pretty good shooter? Leaving him is a ridiculous oversight.

The series that was all but over seems to have just started.

Indiana Pacers Face a Must Win Tonight

by Kent Sterling

If the Indiana Pacers want to be taken seriously as a threat against the Miami Heat, they need to rise up and win this pivotal game four tonight against the Hawks in Atlanta.

To blow both opportunities to put this series on ice against a team that is going to scatter in the wind as soon as free agency opens would be a significant barrier between the Pacers and the redemption they seek as they battle for a more significant percentage of the sports ticket dollars being spent in central Indiana.

The Hawks are a disparate collection of ill-fitting parts who looked like they were itching to spend some of their cash on an early vacation when they laid down in front of the Pacers in games one and two.

A loss tonight wouldn’t doom the Pacers in this series, but it would breathe life into a Hawks team that deserves none. The Pacers would still be favored to with the two remaining games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but to be taken to six or seven games by Josh Smith and Jeff Teague would force Pacers fans to recalibrate their mood and confidence.

Atlanta fans don’t deserve to see that team win. Atlanta is the polar opposite of St. Louis, where everyone is originally from there. If people from St. Louis asked their famous question, “Where’d you go to high school?” the answers would be from everywhere but Atlanta. No one is from there, and no one gives a damn about the Hawks.

It’s an indifferent sports town to begin with, but the response from Georgians to this rag-tag (and not in the romantic way) bunch who are already packed to leave town is cool bordering on frigid. I called three sports fanatics who live in Atlanta to ask about their interest in the Hawks vs. Pacers series. All three responded exactly the same way. First, there was silence. Second, laughter. Third, admonishment for wasting their time. They wanted to know whether I had lost my mind.

If Indy natives think there is indifference surrounding the Pacers franchise, they should talk to my friends from Atlanta.

They do care about the Bulls, Pacers, and Knicks, who rep their three hometowns, but have no love at all for the Hawks. They have no hate for them either.

To prove themselves worthy of the new found love Hoosiers feel for the Pacers, they need to show up tonight – and finish the deal.