Fieldhouse Files: Scott Agness on the Indiana Pacers

BOSTON — The Pacers dropped Game 1 in Boston, 84-74. The third quarter, in which they missed 17 of 19 shots and scored only eight points, was their worst single quarter in franchise playoff history. They managed just 29 points in the second half – a total of 24 minutes. Not good.

So that’s what a I wrote about after Game 1.

Jared Weiss covers the Celtics for The Athletic in Boston. He joined me to discuss Game 1 and to look ahead to the rest of the series.

Subscribe to The Athletic here — and to the Pacers Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

I welcome your questions and comments @ScottAgness on Twitter or via email.

Topics Discussed:

* Bojan Bogdanovic’s development and what the Pacers need from him

* What one Pacer must step up for them to be successful

* Evaluating the Pacers’ bigs

* Why Jared believes Al Horford is the best player in the series

* Cory Jospeh’s success against Boston

* Jaylen Brown’s trash-talking

* Wesley Matthews defending Kyrie

The Pacers Podcast is back, right in time for the 2019 NBA postseason. They finished the season with a record identical to last season, 48-34, and they did it despite two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo only appearing in 36 games.

So, the Pacers are the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference and are matched up against No. 4 Boston (49-33). It is their first time meeting in the playoffs since 2005.

To preview the series, my colleague at The Athletic, Bob Kravitz, joined me for this episode — which was recorded on Friday after practice.

I will be with the Pacers on the road in Boston (and throughout the playoffs) for coverage on TheAthletic.com.

Subscribe to The Athletic here — and to the Pacers Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

I welcome your questions and comments @ScottAgness on Twitter or via email.

Topics Discussed:

* The Celtics losing Marcus Smart for the series

* Who Bob believes are the two most important players in the series

* The significance (or not) of home-court advantage for Boston

* How Oladipo’s injury impacted what the front office did at the trade deadline

* Myles Turner’s season

* Brad Stevens having to mange egos for the first time

* Why Bob says it’s the Celtics’ series to lose

Before Victor Oladipo was traded during the 2017 offseason, he was already two months into his offseason program.

And for the first time, he completed it down in Miami at DBC Fitness with David Alexander. On the suggestion from Dwyane Wade, Oladipo worked out five days a week with the sports performance trainer who trains dozens of elite athletes, including Wade.

“Nothing we do is standard,” Alexander explained on the podcast. “We’ve done a great job of looking at what the industry is doing and kind of going the opposite way.

“You got to get comfortable being uncomfortable.”

Initially, sweeping changes were made to Oladipo’s nutrition — which led to this side-by-side photo after just three weeks.

“The number one thing was dialing into his nutrition,” Alexander says, “eliminating all flour, refined sugars, gluten – things that we knew would inflame his body. When he came in – I’ve probably said it a million times – he was very inflamed upon his first day entering our facility. So for us, it was to calm all that down, to try to flush out all the inflammation, get all the toxins out of his body, and to start to educate him on what real food is and what should be going into his temple and what shouldn’t.”

Beginning with the 2017-18 season, Oladipo began carrying a gallon jug of water around — throughout the practice facility, to media interviews and other obligations. It became a lifestyle of Oladipo, who turned 26 in May.

“The hydration plays a big factor,” Alexander emphasized. “The minimum we were starting him on was about three liters of water a day and we graduated him to a gallon of water a day, which he knocks back no problem now.”

After one summer of work with Alexander, who is 42 and has been in the industry for 21 years, Oladipo posted his best season yet on the basketball floor. His numbers were up across the board. So he followed it up with another summer in Miami.

“This guy is 100 percent comfortable and confident at who Victor Oladipo is and I think that gives him an edge,” Alexander said. “His confidence in knowing who he is I think is going to really translate onto the court this year and I think the public is going to be in for a treat watching that kid play.”

View this post on Instagram @vicoladipo •PHASE 3 And we still got plenty of work to do. 3 planes of motion. I train my athletes to become the most efficient athlete possible. #Progression #NewSeason #NewGoals A post shared by David Alexander (@dzandertraining) on Jul 13, 2018 at 12:54pm PDT

Subscribe to the Pacers Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

I welcome your questions and comments @ScottAgness on Twitter or via email.

Topics Discussed:

* The focus on nutrition and what was eliminated immed...

Myles Turner spent the majority of the offseason down in Texas. It was home, away from distractions, and allowed for him to focus on himself. He was preparing for the final year of his rookie deal — and later reached agreement with the Pacers on a four-year extension that guaranteed him $72 million.

But before then, one of the things he gave his full attention to during those hot summer days in Texas was yoga. At least twice a week, Turner would drive to The Ranch for a private session with Bridget Gibbs, owner of Yoga Body Fort Worth.

This was all part of his plan to improve his mind, diet, and strength. Initially, he wasn’t feeling the yoga. However, he soon felt the benefits as they began with trapeze yoga.

“I focus on trying to get you out of your head, get you out of your own way and let you be in your mat and teach you how to breath and teach you how to press through the pain, and to take your mind somewhere else,” Gibbs said. “Yoga is not necessarily an exercise; it’s more of a discipline. So we’re disciplining our mind through our body.”

It was fascinating to hear Gibbs, who was introduced to Turner this past summer, share her observations of the 22-year-old center and the progress that he made.

Click here to read more about it.

View this post on Instagram Amazed by your progress in such a short time! Stronger mentally and physically in places you never touch in a gym! You are so much fun to work with @turner_myles you push yourself through the pain with a smile! #yogamen #namaste #selflove #yogiathlete #feeltheyogahigh #stongyogi #trapeze #yogaeverydamnday A post shared by Bridget Gibbs Yoga & YB1 (@bridgetgibbsyoga) on May 29, 2018 at 8:08pm PDT

Subscribe to the Pacers Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

I welcome your questions and comments @ScottAgness on Twitter or via email.

Topics Discussed:

* How they were introduced and her initial observations of Myles’ body

* Benefits of trapeze and ashtanga yoga

* What a typical 90-minute session was like

* Domantas Sabonis and assistant Bill Bayno joining for a week

Gordon Hayward’s last year has not been easy. Next Tuesday, Oct. 17, is the one-year anniversary of his unlucky fall in Cleveland that resulted in a broken left tibia and dislocated ankle.

Jason Smeathers is Hayward’s friend and skills trainer, and has been with him for most of the last year. In Boston. In Miami. In Indianapolis. In San Diego.

Smeathers picked Hayward up for workouts each day, put him through on-court workouts and served as part-time motivator and full-time friend.

As part of “The Return” documentary published on The Athletic, I sat down with Smeathers to take you inside their work over the last year, the days where they just weren’t feeling it to the little things that kept them motivated.

“Another one down. Great job. We’ll go back after it tomorrow,” Smeathers would often repeat to Hayward.

They chose to focus on daily improvement rather than working with the big picture in mind. Improve every day became a motto for Hayward, who is 28 and in the second year of his contract with the Boston Celtics.

Episode four of the five-part series focuses on his time spent back home again in Indiana.

Subscribe to the Pacers Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

I welcome your questions and comments @ScottAgness on Twitter or via email.

Topics Discussed:

* His daily role in working with Gordon and how they were all in it together

* How Hayward’s family was prioritized and helped keep him get through it

* Their daily routine in Boston and San Diego, which began very early

* Focusing on each session rather than a timeline to return

* Gordon’s passion for gaming

* Gordon’s Grand Gauntlet

Now that the first season of the NBA 2K League is complete, it’s a good time to take a look back at the year for Pacers Gaming. They went 5-9 and finish 13th in a 17-team league that will expand to 21 teams for Year 2.

I recently visited the headquarters of Pacers Gaming, the fourth franchise for Pacers Sports & Entertainment. Like the Pacers, they work out of the St. Vincent Center – just off Delaware Street in downtown Indianapolis. It is a gorgeous $50 million facility, entirely privately financed, that has been open for just over a year.

Pacers Gaming has an outstanding office featuring a great work environment with a dozen computers along with a play area that includes a ping pong table.

The league played a 14-week regular season from May through August, plus three tournament. Pacers Gaming just missed out on the playoffs so their season ended on August 11. Teams consist of six players and for this group, it was the first time that 67 percent of the players on the roster played with others in the same room. They’re used to being at their homes and on their own.

Cody Parrent is the head coach and the director of PS&E’s eSports operation. To stay up to date on the game and what skills are valuable, he plays NBA 2K at least several hours each day.

On this podcast, you’ll hear my conversation with Parrent about the opening season, the highs and the lows, and what they’re working towards for Year 2.

Subscribe to the Pacers Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

I welcome your questions and comments @ScottAgness on Twitter or via email.

Topics Discussed:

* Year 1 in the 17-team NBA 2K League

* Strategically changing players’ archetypes, including first-round pick WoLF

* Dealing with a work Visa (for vGooner) and another player leaving early into the year

* The challenge of traveling to New York every week for games

* Their state-of-the-art facility that made other teams envious

* League expansion, launch of 2K 19, and the upcoming draft combine

It’s time for another Pacers Podcast!

On this podcast, I’ll discuss my new job. Yeah … you read that correctly. You may know about it by now — and surely you have since I no longer write about the Pacers here on VigilantSports.com — but last month I officially joined The Athletic as their Pacers writer. The Athletic is the home of outstanding journalism where they prioritize the reader and the story — and don’t bother you with ads, pop-ups, meaningless video, and other things that upset readers.

I’m fired up to be part of a wonderful team.

The Pacers, meanwhile, have plenty of reasons to be excited for the new season. They open training camp in one week and then will tip-off the 2018-19 season at home in exactly one month against the Memphis Grizzlies. They have four preseason games but none at home (rejoice!), so you’re only chance to see this team before opening night will be at FanJam on Sept. 30 from 4:00 – 7:00 pm.

Players are returning to Indy this week. It’s their last week of freedom. By now, vacations are over, coaches are back in the office, and they are working away preparing for the new season.

Subscribe to the Pacers Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

I welcome your questions and comments @ScottAgness on Twitter or via email.

Topics Discussed:

* Moving over to The Athletic, still covering all things Pacers

* Schedule release, which includes 12 national TV appearances

* Victor Oladipo hosting his teammates to Miami

* Nate McMillan signing a contract extension

* Ben Moore signing a one-year, partially guaranteed deal

You might as well refer to the Pacers as the Indiana Bruins. Especially so in future years when former Bruins players Aaron Holiday, T.J. Leaf, and Ike Anigobgu take on larger roles on the team.

For now, they’re two 21-year-olds and a 19-year-old with goals to be in the NBA for the next decade.

Coach David Grace is one of the key individuals behind the scenes that helped land those three at UCLA, playing under head coach Steve Alford. (He also took the lead in the recruitment of 2017 Indiana Mr. Basketball North Central High School product Kris Wilkes playing at UCLA.)

Grace was at UCLA for five seasons and then took a job at Cal in mid-April.

Grace grew up in Maryland and the spent 20 years in the military. Since, he’s been out west coaching basketball – with stops at Sacramento State, San Francisco, Oregon, State, and UCLA before Cal.

On this podcast, I talk with Grace about those Bruins, from recruiting them to UCLA and what they need to do to take their games to another level.

Subscribe to the Pacers Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

I welcome your questions and comments @ScottAgness on Twitter or via email.

Topics Discussed:

* T.J. Leaf, his ties to Indiana, and what he needs to become

* His communication with NBA teams and scouts visiting practice

* Recruiting Aaron Holiday and what he’s like off the court

* How Holiday was a team player, backing up Lonzo Ball after starting his freshman season

* Ike Anigbogu as a teenager and what he could develop into — if healthy

Joe Young, the Pacers’ second-round pick in 2015, has found a new team. The 26-year-old guard has agreed to a one-year deal with the Nanjing Tongxi Monkey King of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), Young told VigilantSports.com.

“Got things finalized and just truly honored about this opportunity,” Young said.

“Great team, great coach. I heard a lot of great things about the organization. Me and my team came together and decided what was best for me at this particularly time. … I know it’s a different pace. At the end of the day, basketball is basketball and I just have to adjust to it.”

Another former Pacer, Al Jefferson, will be playing in the same league. After the Pacers waived the veteran center in early July, he weighed his options, including returning to the Pacers, but decided to sign with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers. Young said he spoke to his former locker neighbor before making his decision.

“I had a great conversation with Al. He basically gave me good advice. He told me you got to do what’s best for you and the family, and how the NBA works – if there’s no roster spots, you have to find you a job. Until then, that’s what I’m doing [in China].

“I really have to mature even more. And that’s not even a bad thing to even go over there; I know people might say it is. It’s a great deal and I’m truly honored about this opportunity. And I’m blessed, I just want to thank God for keeping me with a positive mindset to go out there every day and put my best step forward.”

Young, a Houston native, was drafted 43rd overall in the 2015 NBA Draft, joining fellow rookie Myles Turner in Indianapolis.

He appeared in 53 games last season with the Pacers, averaging 3.9 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. He shot 43 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from three-point land, and said it was made clear during his exit interview that he wasn’t part of the team’s future.

The Pacers declined to pick up their option on the fourth year of Young’s deal, making him a free agent.

“I really thank them for everything they did for me, drafting me. It’s truly an honor to get an opportunity that every kid dreams for. I will always thank the Pacers for drafting me,” he said.”

Young will spend the next few weeks at home. He’s expecting his second child, Joseph Jr., to arrive on Aug. 10. Soon after, he will go to Chicago for workouts with guard Patrick Beverley of the Los Angeles Clippers. The two share an agent (Kevin Bradbury of BDA Sports Management) and Beverley played overseas from 2008-2012 before securing a roster spot with the Houston Rockets in 2013.

Young will then fly to China on September 8th.

Subscribe to the Pacers Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

I welcome your questions and comments @ScottAgness on Twitter or via email.

Topics Discussed:

* Why going to China is best for him

* Free agency and how it was not a robust market

* Expecting his second child and first son, and passing down his name

* How Myles is the last remaining Pacer from when he was drafted in 2015

* Whether he considered a two-way contract or playing in the G League

* Working out at P3 Sports Science in Santa Barbara and how he’s determined to improve defensively

[Photo: Frank McGrath/PS&E]

What was the feeling in Croatia when they played in the FIFA World Cup Final over the weekend? I had to find out.

On this episode of the Pacers Podcast, I called up former Pacer forward Damjan Rudež, a native of Zagreb, Croatia. While he’s not a huge soccer fan, the monthlong run by Croatia, with a population just over 4.1 million people, was special and impactful for the professional basketball player.

France ultimately won, 4-2.

Rudež, who’s 32 years old, has represented his country several times in international competition, including the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a FIBA World Cup. But this was different. This was memorable — and he explains why.

“This is more than I’ve ever felt proud in my life. I swear. I can’t even tell you. It’s the state of catharsis and exhilaration.”

He was a little excited, can’t you tell?

FINALE!!!!!!!!!!! 🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉— Damjan Rudež (@Damjan_Rudez) July 11, 2018

This was part of the celebration.

Writing ✍️ history #comingbacktozagreb #wordcup pic.twitter.com/sU11SdTJVZ— Rok Stipcevic (@RStipcevic) July 16, 2018

Subscribe to the Pacers Podcast on Apple Podcasts.

I welcome your questions and comments @ScottAgness on Twitter or via email.

Topics Discussed:

* The emotions sweeping Croatia after their fun to the World Cup Final

* The homecoming celebration for the team, the streets filled with 300,000-plus fans

* Whether he communicated with any ex-teammates from France, like Ian Mahinmi

* Playing three years in the NBA

* The process of finding a team overseas and recently signing with UCAM Murcia