As an NBA coach, Scott Skiles has always had a definitive modus operandi. In his three previous jobs, Skiles has dramatically improved his team’s defense, in some cases taking it from near the bottom of the league to near the top. That improvement helps the team become an absolute pain in the neck to play and make a quantum leap from the lottery to the playoffs. Then at some point, Skiles and his hypercompetitive nature become a bit overbearing for some players,
It has been three seasons since the Orlando Magic have had to change their franchise’s future and goals by trading Dwight Howard. Three seasons since GM Rob Hennigan was installed and broke everything down, sold off everything that was not bolted down and committed to a long rebuilding process centered on the draft and sustainability. And so here the Magic sit, three years after that fateful decision. And with what? The Magic professed that 2015 would be the season the team showed
Indiana’s win in New York on Saturday night epitomized the current trajectory of the team’s season. It was a slow and ugly start, but the team persevered through strong defense and playoff-tested experience. The team’s slow and ugly start began actually began nearly eight months earlier, on a sultry Friday July evening in Las Vegas with Paul George’s horrendously gruesome leg injury. The bad luck and misery continued when rotation stalwarts David West, George Hill and C.J. Watson missed the beginning of the season with
I had originally had another photo picked out for the day, but when I saw this picture I had to use it. Indiana Pacers forward Damjan Rudez had a little extra curricular activity going on on the bench against the Utah Jazz. By that, I mean he was going searching for something. Not on the bench or anything basketball related. He went digging for something much more valuable than that. [Read more…]
An American legend died. No, we’re not talking about someone from the NBA or even the professional sports industry. However, her—yes HER, impact has crossed all sorts of socio-economic barriers—racial; gender; lower-, middle- and upper-class. Her works, as a poet and author did not just bring her critical acclaim and recognition. Her work helped inspire and mold minds. Dr. Maya Angelou, who was born April 4, 1928, died in her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina early Wednesday. She was 86 years old. Her
We waited all season for an Eastern Conference finals between the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers. Yet when the time came for the two talented teams to finally meet in late May, only Miami showed up. Indiana finds itself down three games to one, and more blame is being passed around than a Benghazi hearing on Capitol Hill. A lot of that blame is being placed on the referees, an easy target since Miami took twice as many free throws
Believe it or not, there’s someone out there who doesn’t think the Indiana Pacers are coming apart at the seams. “Everybody goes through this,” Spurs guard Tony Parker said last week after San Antonio manhandled Indiana, 103-77, on the Pacers’ home court. “I’m not worried about them. They’ll still make it to the Eastern Conference finals and they’ll still play Miami.” Parker is somewhat right. From time to time, every championship contender has a stretch during a season where they look ordinary.
Many amazing men have walked the earth having had a profound impact on the world with their lives. Men like Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr.. Their deaths were monumental and the cause of grief to many. Former South African President Nelson Mandela died Thursday at the age of 95. Mandela was instrumental in bringing about the end of Apartheid (racial segregation) and ushering in an era of ethnic equality in South African politics. His efforts earned him the Nobel