Latest / The Central Indiana Sports Report / The Pacers Report with Mike Rich & Matt Powell (2.167.1)

Transcript

The Pacers Report with Mike Rich & Matt Powell (2.167.1) · The Central Indiana Sports Report

0:00
[SPEAKER_01]: You are listening to the Pacers Report with Microch.
0:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Every Monday on the Central Indiana Sports Report.
0:29
[SPEAKER_00]: He's in the lane, he nearly lost any backs up and I'm loads of three.
0:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, that did not happen.
0:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And hit the back of the rim.
0:40
[SPEAKER_01]: It popped high into the air.
0:49
[SPEAKER_01]: And it dropped gently through the net.
1:01
[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back, Pacer Stance, who's a central Indiana sports report for this week's Pacer's Report with Mike Rich.
1:07
[SPEAKER_01]: And we are joined today by a first timer.
1:10
[SPEAKER_01]: My college roommate Matt Powell, the joinist and Matt and I were friends in college because we shared a love for the Pacer's.
1:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Also love watching Purdue, the IU, with together with him.
1:21
[SPEAKER_01]: And he's also an IU fan.
1:22
[SPEAKER_01]: I think Purdue went eight now during our four years in college.
1:25
[SPEAKER_01]: He can study you, Matt, all of them.
1:26
[SPEAKER_01]: That was fun.
1:28
[SPEAKER_01]: and I think we watch all of them together.
1:30
[SPEAKER_01]: So grow watching Pacers with both Mike and Matt and here we are to talk about it.
1:34
[SPEAKER_01]: And we had a topic in mind, but I think it changed a little today.
1:38
[SPEAKER_01]: Mike, it didn't look good for Johnny Furve.
1:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I didn't let get it all.
1:44
[SPEAKER_00]: Just the way he went down and the way he grabbed that right knee, looks like probably pretty serious.
1:51
[SPEAKER_00]: Bye, season ending injury.
1:55
[SPEAKER_00]: You know.
1:57
[SPEAKER_00]: he heard something when he went down.
1:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Wait, you know, hit his fist against the floor.
2:02
[SPEAKER_00]: He knows something's wrong.
2:07
[SPEAKER_02]: It was a weird joke.
2:08
[SPEAKER_02]: It wasn't like anything really.
2:11
[SPEAKER_02]: Like it was just, you know, it just like a step down and it just kind of buckled.
2:16
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you tell.
2:19
[SPEAKER_01]: I wonder if it was just a bad spring, which would certainly have him out some time, but hopefully it's not something damage to the knee
2:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Mike, you and I've been talking about we need some guys to kind of go out with some injuries, but not serious ones, not serious ones.
2:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Definitely not firfy, firfy and walker need as many minutes as we can possibly get them.
2:39
[SPEAKER_00]: This season was really good for firfy and being starting line up and getting that experience.
2:45
[SPEAKER_00]: It's so valuable and if he's out for the season and has to rehab, it's going to be a long comeback for him.
2:55
[SPEAKER_01]: And Matt, I don't know where you are, but Mike and I are kind of in the, um, we're not really cheering for losses.
3:03
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't understand.
3:04
[SPEAKER_02]: Take to win.
3:04
[SPEAKER_02]: I guess.
3:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
3:07
[SPEAKER_02]: I understand.
3:09
[SPEAKER_02]: Part of me is like, even if we got the top, steer still is not, I don't think it's going to be as exciting as it was last year.
3:19
[SPEAKER_02]: Because if you add a rookie, it's going to take a while to bring them on, you know, I'm
3:24
[SPEAKER_02]: I was really sad to see Ben go because I really thought he was a piece that could develop and become the starting guy, but that was just me, I guess.
3:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I think he just didn't quite fit with the spacers, but he is definitely going to be a guy that we're playing down the road who's going to be a star for another team.
3:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Mike, when I've been talking about this all year, there are very few players in the NBA who can score like he does.
3:54
[SPEAKER_00]: He's exciting.
3:55
[SPEAKER_00]: He's going to do well in L.A.
3:58
[SPEAKER_01]: If that's where he winds up.
4:00
[SPEAKER_01]: I think he might be a half season in L.A.
4:02
[SPEAKER_01]: He's going to be a unrestricted free agent.
4:04
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll see what happens with him.
4:05
[SPEAKER_00]: But he's going to love Southern California.
4:09
[SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be a hard hard walk away.
4:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
4:14
[SPEAKER_01]: You just never know what that Clippers franchise what they're doing.
4:17
[SPEAKER_01]: That's that's my point more than the right.
4:21
[SPEAKER_01]: You hope that he gets there and it seems like a kind of a perfect fit for him, but you just never know, looks like they're going to make the playoffs and he can be part of a playoff run out there and But that is what we're here to talk about is the trade Benedict Madarin for
4:40
[SPEAKER_01]: the Vita Zubats, and it isn't so much Mike, the mother and kids, we kind of figured, we've been talking about it all year, mother and the way they were talking and the way they never once even brought up a contract extension that he was not gonna be a Pacer.
4:56
[SPEAKER_01]: The thing is the draft picks.
4:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And with a few days to think about it, Mike did the Pacers do the right thing, giving up this year's first round draft,
5:13
[SPEAKER_00]: if it's five through nine, it's not good for the spacers.
5:20
[SPEAKER_00]: Since the trade, they've lost two games, so they're they're going in the right direction to stay and have wonderful.
5:27
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm going to be optimistic
5:30
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope it takes Zubot so a while to really acclimate to the Pacer scheme.
5:36
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope he's slow and he needs to, you know, get some cardio and to where you can run up and down the floor with NEM hard and McConnell and you.
5:47
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no.
5:47
[SPEAKER_00]: So I'm hopeful, but again, like we talked the other day.
5:52
[SPEAKER_00]: I just don't think that's going to happen.
5:54
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he's going to come in.
5:55
[SPEAKER_00]: He's going to have an immediate impact.
5:58
[SPEAKER_00]: We got a couple games this after the All Star Break that are definitely winable.
6:04
[SPEAKER_00]: We got to be big game against the next coming up at Madison Square Garden.
6:09
[SPEAKER_00]: He may Zubot's may even play in that game.
6:16
[SPEAKER_00]: But I hope he stays on paternity leave for the next three to four weeks.
6:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Didn't get accumated next year, right?
6:26
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
6:27
[SPEAKER_00]: Why not?
6:30
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm okay in the mood that C. Ackham needs to take a break.
6:34
[SPEAKER_02]: I hate the waste of this year.
6:37
[SPEAKER_02]: But that's what it seems like.
6:39
[SPEAKER_02]: All the work that he puts on he's a beast.
6:43
[SPEAKER_02]: It just seems like he's riding away this year.
6:46
[SPEAKER_02]: And I feel like there'd be something there would make me feel better about next year too and the future if he could take a break.
6:56
[SPEAKER_02]: Not wishing any ill on him either.
6:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.
7:01
[SPEAKER_01]: What's up with the minor nagging injury?
7:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes.
7:04
[SPEAKER_02]: Yes.
7:05
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of the needs load management, for sure.
7:08
[SPEAKER_00]: Self disclosed calf strain.
7:12
[SPEAKER_01]: But guys, the thing is even if they're in the bottom four picks it's still 50 50 whether they're not they keep that pick Because it's like 50% they're in the you get the top four pick if you're number one If you're the worst record in the league, and it's goes a little less than that if you're second-third or fourth, but I just have a feeling this is the year.
7:35
[SPEAKER_01]: I've been watching Caleb Wilson Oh, man how much would he fit in perfectly and
7:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Man, he's not going to be a five to nine thick.
7:46
[SPEAKER_01]: He's not going to be a five to nine thick.
7:49
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a 0% chance Caleb Wilson, especially after yesterday.
7:52
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if you guys watched the Duke Carolina game.
7:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
7:57
[SPEAKER_01]: He isn't saying like it.
7:58
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I did.
8:01
[SPEAKER_01]: And those are two.
8:02
[SPEAKER_01]: They're both and saying like good.
8:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I like those are a lot.
8:06
[SPEAKER_01]: There are four really elite guys.
8:08
[SPEAKER_01]: I see exactly what Prytrade's doing.
8:11
[SPEAKER_01]: He thinks that one through four guys are special.
8:16
[SPEAKER_01]: And then five through 20 are all about the same.
8:18
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's the way I've seen it.
8:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Fleming's is pretty good and a mint isn't bad.
8:23
[SPEAKER_01]: But there are no franchise players after the first four.
8:28
[SPEAKER_01]: And those first four, I think, are really special.
8:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Although, as Mike and I were talking about,
8:35
[SPEAKER_01]: He might just end up being not any good at all.
8:38
[SPEAKER_01]: He's got all the skills and just doesn't seem to care very much.
8:42
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's the problem, let's have.
8:44
[SPEAKER_01]: They keep comparing him to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
8:47
[SPEAKER_01]: But there's no way those guys would ever sit out of a game because they're more concerned about their MBA careers.
8:55
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, that's what was different about them.
8:59
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely, what was different about them.
9:03
[SPEAKER_01]: It's old Kobe Bryant that you were going to set him out of a game even when he was an injured.
9:07
[SPEAKER_01]: He would have told you what the hell are you talking about.
9:09
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
9:11
[SPEAKER_01]: And now they're in Peterson, sits himself out of games.
9:14
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sure that translates to the NBA.
9:16
[SPEAKER_00]: So he's missed about 50% of his games this year.
9:20
[SPEAKER_01]: And the couple other games he left half time because he had cramps or he had a twisted ankle or whatever.
9:25
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm just saying the great play through that stuff.
9:31
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you can't do that in college, that's why I'd have him at number four.
9:41
[SPEAKER_01]: All right Matt, let's tell everybody a little bit about yourself.
9:44
[SPEAKER_01]: We're where you're from and how you became a patient's fan.
9:49
[SPEAKER_02]: Group in Indiana.
9:50
[SPEAKER_02]: So it was easy to be a patient's fan, that's for sure.
9:53
[SPEAKER_02]: But to be honest, actually, I grew up being a big huge Larry Bird fan just watch a lot.
10:00
[SPEAKER_02]: I've lost a lot of basketball, but I really started off with Larry Bird.
10:05
[SPEAKER_02]: I, you guys, threw it through the league as well, but grew up in, really, just northern Indiana.
10:11
[SPEAKER_02]: So, kind of, in that area where you could be a pacer and a bull's fan, or you had to decide either between Chicago and Indy, stayed mostly towards any of that, most of the time.
10:23
[SPEAKER_02]: So, pacer's Reggie, big Reggie fan, which
10:27
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm still trying to find his house because supposedly he lives up next to me trying to find him.
10:32
[SPEAKER_01]: So you guys can become best friends?
10:34
[SPEAKER_02]: That's right.
10:35
[SPEAKER_02]: That's right.
10:37
[SPEAKER_02]: Yep.
10:38
[SPEAKER_02]: I've been in this area all my life and I could go anywhere for college by decided to go where you went.
10:45
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm trying.
10:46
[SPEAKER_02]: We bet.
10:46
[SPEAKER_02]: Because you were there.
10:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
10:51
[SPEAKER_01]: No, Matt and I were in college together during the great Pacers years, oh yeah, he finals year was I believe his senior year.
11:01
[SPEAKER_01]: So it was during that era and he and I watched the four point play together on a double date with our now wives, that's right, that's right.
11:11
[SPEAKER_01]: and it didn't ruin our relationships at all, despite how angry everyone was on the way home.
11:18
[SPEAKER_00]: That was like a forged your relationships for the rest of your life.
11:21
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the one good thing you could take from that play.
11:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Shared drum.
11:27
[SPEAKER_01]: That's right.
11:29
[SPEAKER_01]: And you should have seen out angry Hermalina and Susie were.
11:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, they could not believe it.
11:38
[SPEAKER_00]: that was a good test for for a wife to be.
11:42
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean to be that impacted by that play.
11:46
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean that we still talk about today and how much it impacted our fillings about the nicks and pace of rivalry.
11:56
[SPEAKER_01]: That's right about we had a podcast just a couple weeks ago called the hate episode.
12:08
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's up there the worst moment in Pacer's history That team was meant to win a championship and then that happened
12:24
[SPEAKER_01]: So guys, what are you seeing positive?
12:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Big loss today, Mike, did you see anything positive?
12:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Darius Walker continues to put the ball in the basket at least.
12:33
[SPEAKER_00]: Darius Walker is on a pretty good streak of double figure games.
12:38
[SPEAKER_00]: Starting to see a lot of positive from him.
12:40
[SPEAKER_00]: Nem hard had a pretty good start allowed up by a pretty good fourth quarter against the bucks.
12:48
[SPEAKER_00]: They made a pretty good comeback the other night against the bucks.
12:52
[SPEAKER_00]: But I was just really kind of shocked with the Murphy injury and really, really sad for him.
13:00
[SPEAKER_01]: That's the big story come out of this one for sure.
13:02
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I mean, it went downhill from there.
13:06
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they just, I mean, Toronto just put it on him.
13:10
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think they could recover mentally maybe I don't know what it was, but they were in the game the first half, that third quarter was awful, and the fourth was not much better, so Man, I'm looking at this schedule guys, Matt, there are way too many winnable games, dumbest treasure Well, one thing I have to say, you know, this year
13:40
[SPEAKER_02]: their defense not that they aren't trying necessarily I just don't feel like the f like the cohesion is there at all so like you're giving up a ton of points I mean everyone's kind of scoring a little bit here and there like it's just kind of very if you look at a box score just looks everyone's got like eight to ten points yeah but we're giving up
14:06
[SPEAKER_02]: like we get the raptors.
14:08
[SPEAKER_02]: What was the final score?
14:09
[SPEAKER_02]: They had a hundred and what?
14:10
[SPEAKER_02]: 20.
14:10
[SPEAKER_02]: 20.
14:11
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I'm just giving up.
14:15
[SPEAKER_02]: So even those winnable gains, we have to outscore them.
14:17
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's where I don't see it.
14:19
[SPEAKER_02]: Even though they look winnable.
14:22
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if I really feel like they're winnable because we got to outscore them.
14:25
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know, Zubox is one of the best defensive players in the NBA was in the top five.
14:31
[SPEAKER_01]: You put a great defensive center in there with Nim hard and Neesmith.
14:35
[SPEAKER_01]: It might be a turn up to be a pretty good defense.
14:38
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's the one.
14:41
[SPEAKER_01]: But one of the questions that people started to ask is now does this become a defensive team rather than an offensive team, because Zubox is that good defensively, and I tell you what, Neesmith
14:55
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
14:56
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely.
14:58
[SPEAKER_00]: And I, and I, pairing him with zoo bots is going to definitely make out a much better defense.
15:06
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'd love to see games under a hundred and because we're playing better defense.
15:12
[SPEAKER_00]: And, and that was one of the highlights I thought of the first quarter.
15:15
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought they, they played pretty good defense in the first quarter, but they really didn't score very much either.
15:22
[SPEAKER_00]: But it was, it was a good defensive starter
15:25
[SPEAKER_01]: Because the referees decided they were not going to blow their whistles at all.
15:28
[SPEAKER_01]: I was wondering if the referees whistle worked for a while.
15:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Seriously, they, I don't think the whistle blew for the first six minutes of the game.
15:37
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I don't think it did.
15:38
[SPEAKER_00]: That first quarter went quick and, uh, a 20, 21 quarter was, you know, that was it.
15:47
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, some referees need to make a play.
15:52
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, you know, and Toronto comes out in the third quarter and puts up 44.
15:56
[SPEAKER_00]: That's just ridiculous.
15:58
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, 76 in the second half.
16:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
16:01
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
16:03
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's score 40, what, 46 in the first half and 44 in the third quarter.
16:09
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
16:10
[SPEAKER_01]: I think they lost some focus at half time.
16:11
[SPEAKER_01]: By the way, that's Toronto team's good.
16:14
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
16:15
[SPEAKER_01]: They can beat you with a lot of different guys.
16:17
[SPEAKER_00]: And they beat us what four times this year.
16:20
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's a really bad matchup for the baseball.
16:23
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's a horrible matchup for the Pacers.
16:25
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's why there's just not a lot to take away from the game, I mean, again, you see an up-and-coming player like Furphy get injured, you know, highlight was, you know, probably walker.
16:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, okay, I'm Joe, I guess I'm going to.
16:47
[SPEAKER_01]: All right, real fast before we go.
16:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Four straight games on the road.
16:52
[SPEAKER_01]: The Nick's, the net's who we need to lose that one for sure.
16:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Two games against Washington need to lose those two.
16:59
[SPEAKER_01]: It looks like Washington's gonna try to start winning now.
17:02
[SPEAKER_01]: So it'll be interesting.
17:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Before they come home for four straight, Mike, they're record at New York, at Brooklyn, at Washington, at Washington, what's it gonna be?
17:14
[SPEAKER_00]: One in three.
17:19
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that sounds just about accurate, I think one and three sounds good.
17:24
[SPEAKER_01]: I believe guys, I'm a believer, I think they can go O and 4.
17:27
[SPEAKER_01]: I really do, I don't watch it right at start playing well now and I think they can go O and 4 on this trip.
17:34
[SPEAKER_01]: They stopped playing deep at the half time, yeah.
17:36
[SPEAKER_02]: For sure.
17:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
17:38
[SPEAKER_01]: I really thought we were done with this mic like three years ago when the tanking, I thought it was done.
17:43
[SPEAKER_01]: And here we are, we're back and yeah.
17:46
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and again, you just don't want to see something like today happen to somebody else.
17:52
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think they said that the Pacers were the in the top four of most injured players in the league this year.
18:04
[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, again, I, the importance of that.
18:10
[SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, hold on.
18:11
[SPEAKER_01]: And when you talk about the importance of those players, they've probably been affected the most.
18:15
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, absolutely and you see all these injuries and it's kind of like you need to start pointing fingers why this is happening
18:25
[SPEAKER_01]: I think so, I know people think that's unfair, but eventually the medical staff has to take the blame when it just keeps happening, especially when they're soft tissue injuries and, yes, we're gonna fluke injuries.
18:39
[SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, one point fingers at my team, but kind of got to Matt, don't you think when the injuries just keep happening?
18:46
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you know, yeah, training staff definitely, yeah, it's hard to say that, but man, you know,
18:53
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, as a train, I'm sure they're by like, whether I do and what I am asking is do, but That's who gets the, at the end of the day, though, whoever is their job, that's who gets to be accountable for it.
19:07
[SPEAKER_00]: Stretching and training, those are important.
19:11
[SPEAKER_00]: They vary.
19:13
[SPEAKER_01]: We need to get a stretching expert in there with the Pacers because and get Caitlin Clark on that too because they're clearly not stretching enough with all these injuries.
19:23
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey Matt, I'm gonna be up and a fighting Irish fan living up there.
19:28
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, we get paid so I do go, I do root for them sometimes.
19:34
[SPEAKER_01]: I hear you.
19:35
[SPEAKER_01]: They do.
19:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
19:36
[SPEAKER_02]: The bread is butter.
19:38
[SPEAKER_01]: That's right.
19:38
[SPEAKER_01]: They put money in your bank account.
19:40
[SPEAKER_01]: You gotta be careful.
19:41
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
19:41
[SPEAKER_01]: Exactly.
19:42
[SPEAKER_02]: Exactly.
19:43
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, you know, growing up, uh, you know, everyone going being a who's or my side of the family, I didn't really know there was football until about a couple years ago.
19:53
[SPEAKER_02]: So.
19:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Right.
19:54
[SPEAKER_02]: So I kind of had to root for Notre Dame at the time.
19:56
[SPEAKER_02]: But I mean, I sort of remember the old days with the, you know,
20:01
[SPEAKER_02]: Some of some of the good running backs that came out of there did do too much in the NFL, but in Randall on end of what L was a good watch there for a while, but more than that, yeah.
20:15
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I had to be at Notre Dame fan unfortunately up here.
20:19
[SPEAKER_02]: Otherwise, you have to be a Michigan fan, which is, that's not going to happen.
20:24
[SPEAKER_01]: untenable.
20:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Mike, thanks so much as always.
20:27
[SPEAKER_01]: I look forward to talking pastures with you every week.
20:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Michael, join us on Greg and his friends talk sports on Monday.
20:34
[SPEAKER_01]: Make sure you check that out.
20:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Matt, thank you so much for joining us.
20:37
[SPEAKER_01]: And we hope you join us all the time.
20:51
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a training and a sports report is a product of ITG Media.