0 comments by Bart D on 7/25/2016
When you’re a kind on Halloween, you go out whenever dusk starts to set in and bang on doors using code words for free candy and go on your merry way with every house that has a porch light on. For the most part, you go around a neighborhood or a general area until at […]
Photo by Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Bart D on 7/13/2016
NBA free agency is sort of like Christmas for kids. They get up, tear open presents at a clip that suggests they barely know what they’re getting, and then within a fairly short period of time, it’s over and you have the rest of the day where they sit around wondering where all the excitement […]
0 comments by Bart D on 7/11/2016
Tim Duncan probably got up at 6 a.m. with no alarm. Then, he went outside to get the newspaper, the kind you hold in your hand to read (darn kids and their Interwebs), poured himself a cup of coffee from beans he ground by himself, looked at the rotary phone he knew he’d use to […]
0 comments by Bart D on 5/27/2016
Restricted free agency in the NBA is a chess game. It’s not all about signing a player you really want and crossing your fingers. If could be, “signing a player you want but can live without, understanding that at worst, a rival is going to hemorrhage their finances to keep him.” See: Roy Hibbert, Eric […]
0 comments by Bart D on 5/23/2016
Fun. That’s the most important part of all of this. Frank Vogel was introduced as the Orlando Magic’s 12th coach in franchise history Monday, and that’s what he talked about. “We’re going to win and we’re going to have fun winning,” he told the assembled media. “We’re going to win and we’re going to have […]
0 comments by Bart D on 5/17/2016
The NBA’s version of Socialism meets Luck took place again, the always entertaining-but-you-never-really-know-why Draft Lottery. The Philadelphia 76ers “won,” which, thanks to Dikembe Mutumbo, had all the drama of fence paint drying on a 90-degree day. This is a landmark date, though, on the NBA calendar. One player can shift the fortunes of a franchise […]
0 comments by Bart D
You probably could have drawn it up a little cleaner along the way, but as we drill down to four teams left in the NBA season, the ends are more likely to justify the means than they’ve ever been. The Eastern Conference Finals opens tonight in Cleveland, a tortured city only eight wins (and four […]
0 comments by Bart D on 5/16/2016
Dropping hints of breaking news that could be done anytime, but choosing a Saturday night to do so, is the equivalent of trying to climb the tree to your bedroom window hoping your parents sleeping on the couch don’t realize you’re sneaking in at 3 a.m. when they saw you last go to bed at […]
0 comments by Bart D on 5/6/2016
Much like any good horror movie, the first one of the group to die off is usually the one that has the least power in the group and is thus deemed the most easily replaceable. The NBA works much the same. The Pacers’ extinguishing of Frank Vogel from the franchise via the ole passive aggressive […]
Photo by Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Bart D on 5/3/2016
If the NBA was a senator, “game fixing” would be the equivalent of saying, “Remember that time he voted for THAT bill everyone hates.” It’s a charge the league cannot completely outrun, no matter what it tries. Tim Donaghy outing the league on shifty practices with officials merely confirmed what most people assumed went on […]
Frank Vogel — patient architect of the Pacers’ rise whose players couldn’t handle pressure last season, or young, in-over-his-head coach who should have been able to guide his roster through the past season with a steadier hand? That’s not an easy question to answer. How the Pacers perform in the coming season could very well prove to be decisive for Vogel’s coaching career, for better or worse. The roster Larry Bird gives him should factor into subsequent assessments of his coaching acumen, 12 months from now.
0 comments by Bart D
If the Indiana Pacers were a relationship conversation, it’d be the ole lukewarm, “I don’t really like you that much anymore, but I haven’t yet figured out quite how to tell you.” I have no knowledge of Larry Bird and Frank Vogel’s texting habits, but on the outside, it feels like Frank is in the zone […]
0 comments by Bart D on 4/25/2016
In today’s world, the immediate, visceral reaction to anything these days seems to be, “Where can I find the negative and harp on it?” When it comes to the NBA playoffs, there have been a few blowouts. So obviously, throw the whole thing out. Also, toss in some free college, while you’re at it. — Twitter […]
0 comments by Bart D on 4/22/2016
When they write the obituary on the 2015-2016 Indiana Pacers’ season (soon), it’ll read like an annual employee review under the “Employee Strengths” section where it says “shows up to work in uniform on time.” That’s about all the Pacers have going for them after a Game 3 evisceration by the Toronto Raptors on Thursday, […]
0 comments by Bart D on 4/17/2016
Folks don’t remember it much, because folks tend to forget quickly in this microwave world, but before Paul George snapped his leg in a Team USA exhibition, he was arguably one of the top five players in the NBA. The combination George had — length, athleticism, defense, and just a tinge of overconfidence — made […]
0 comments by Bart D on 4/14/2016
Author’s note: Check out my preview of the Eastern Conference playoffs at this link. * Relative to the East, the Western Conference is similarly cut and dry: As exciting as the NBA playoffs always are, there is rarely much that knocks you out of your knickers in terms of surprises. Translation: buckle up for fun, […]
