By CHRIS GOFF ISL Assistant Editor INDIANAPOLIS – Donald Sloan is trying, at least, to make friends on the Indiana Pacers. It’s the challenge of joining a group with established social patterns. Sloan has been there before. In fact, he’s been everywhere. He’s played for three different teams – Atlanta, New Orleans and Cleveland – […]
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Tag: George Hill
By CHRIS GOFF ISL Assistant Editor INDIANAPOLIS — Here are five quick impressions following the Pacers’ annual media day Friday afternoon at Bankers Life Fieldhouse: Granger: Starting doesn’t matter: Pacers forward Danny Granger, somewhat evasively but surely, indicated that whether he re-assumes a starting role does not matter when he returns this season, setting a […]
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By CHRIS GOFF ISL Correspondent Sixty-one. Fifty-nine. Fifty-eight, twice. Those are the Pacers’ top win totals in franchise history. Lofty, without question. But heights reachable again now that they’ve assembled perhaps more talent than ever before. During the offseason, president Larry Bird spent around $58 million – not counting an impending extension for Paul George […]
Continue ReadingBy CHRIS GOFF ISL Correspondent Whether it’s George Hill passing out backpacks or Paul George visiting Riley, the Pacers are to be commended for their work with young people. The Pacers, of course, rated first in regular-season defensive efficiency. But they slipped a little bit in the playoffs, finishing eighth in playoff defensive efficiency. That […]
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By ROSS WEBER ISL Correspondent Note: The author will be a senior at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis this fall. He has been a big sports fan his entire life and is the sports editor of his school’s newspaper. He has grown up in Indiana and was part of the Diversity Sports Media Institute at IUPUI […]
Continue ReadingBy CHRIS GOFF ISL Correspondent The quintessential dog days of summer run from about July 15 to August 15. On the NBA calendar, the lazy period is pretty much mid-August to late-September. So get ready. The lull is approaching. The Pacers limited their opponents to 52.4 percent shooting within five feet of the basket last […]
Continue ReadingBy CHRIS GOFF ISL Correspondent Larry Bird’s being honored with a 15-foot-tall statue at Indiana State. Turns out all his years of honing a stone-faced expression made it easy on the sculptor. I loved Saturday’s trade for multiple reasons. Not only was it a metaphoric house-cleaning of last season’s biggest mistake (Gerald Green), but they’ve […]
Continue ReadingBy CHRIS GOFF ISL Correspondent Larry Bird’s dry sense of humor is quite amusing at times. George Hill withdrew from this week’s USA Basketball mini-camp in Las Vegas due to a scheduling conflict. Should the Pacers’ front office be disappointed? Arguably not, since it only means fewer miles on the tires and just one less […]
Continue ReadingBy CHRIS GOFF ISL Correspondent The Pacers don’t have much left to spend in free agency to round out their roster. They have $2.15 million of their mid-level exception remaining and the option to sign guys for the veteran’s minimum. Based on the team’s internal budget, they are only about $2.7 million away from hitting […]
Continue ReadingBy CHRIS GOFF ISL Correspondent The word ‘gregarious’ was invented to describe Roy Hibbert, whose social media initiatives are never-ending. A wild card next season is the Pacers’ ability to field a lineup of four above-average 3-point shooters surrounding Hibbert. Use Chris Copeland at power forward, Danny Granger at the 3 and C.J. Watson as […]
Continue ReadingBy CHRIS GOFF ISL Correspondent Roy Hibbert asked the question we all wanted to during the NBA Finals: “Who’s Jesse Williams?” After the annoying drama surrounding the Clippers, many are suggesting Pacers associate head coach Brian Shaw is an unfortunate victim of another quirky NBA offseason. Yet he is still by all accounts a top […]
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