Speaker 1: Indiana with a win last night of Oclallo in the
Speaker 1: city one sixteen one oh seven, forty nine points from
Speaker 1: their bench, twenty two coming in the second quarter. They
Speaker 1: have been so impressive throughout the playoffs yet to trail,
Speaker 1: and a team that just keeps proving people wrong. Nine
Speaker 1: times they have been the underdog in the playoffs and
Speaker 1: they have won it. No more people should be doubting
Speaker 1: the Indiana Pacers. I know my friend Chris Denari doesn't
Speaker 1: doubt him. He's been doing, you know, hall of fame
Speaker 1: work for the Pacers for the last nineteen years as
Speaker 1: their TV play by play voice. And he joins us
Speaker 1: here on this Thursday morning. How are you, my friend?
Speaker 1: How's your family?
Speaker 2: Hey? Doing great? Everybody's good. Three grandkids now, wow, three grandsons.
Speaker 2: One that lives here about ten minutes away. I seem
Speaker 2: in fact, he'll be over here in a few hours
Speaker 2: for the day. So yeah, a lot of fun right now.
Speaker 1: That's great. Good job, Chris. I'm happy for you. I'm
Speaker 1: happy than you for your basketball team too. I was
Speaker 1: kind of a descending voice here, at least in Detroit,
Speaker 1: in the state of Michigan. I picked Indiana before the
Speaker 1: playoffs began to get to the East. Of course, I
Speaker 1: also picked Denver, so I was on there, but I
Speaker 1: did pick your Pacers. Why do you think they've had
Speaker 1: so much success in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Well, I think what they learned about themselves last year
Speaker 2: going to the Eastern Conference finals brought back virtually the
Speaker 2: same team as back and I just think that they
Speaker 2: have a great belief in what they've built. Rick Carlisle
Speaker 2: a Hall of Fame coach, and this is a group
Speaker 2: that I think has selfless leaders. And I say that
Speaker 2: you've got a couple of guys who have been All
Speaker 2: Stars Siakam three times, Haliburton twice, but they understand that
Speaker 2: for this team to win, they've got to do it collectively,
Speaker 2: and I think that's been a great strength. I think
Speaker 2: the other thing, Matt, is they've been much better defensively
Speaker 2: this year than they were a year ago. Last year,
Speaker 2: it always felt like they had to outscore teams to win.
Speaker 2: This year, they can win in different ways. And then
Speaker 2: the other thing is they've been really good in the clutch.
Speaker 2: I mean in the playoffs. They're nine to one now
Speaker 2: in clutch time, and I think dating back to the
Speaker 2: end of the regular season, They're like, they've won eighteen
Speaker 2: of twenty games when it gets to clutch time, so
Speaker 2: they feel very confident in what they can do. If
Speaker 2: they are in a close game late, they feel like
Speaker 2: they can win it, and that's what they did last night.
Speaker 1: What's amazed you most about those clutch moments, especially for
Speaker 1: Tyre's helburn against Milwaukee, against Cleveland, against New York and
Speaker 1: so far he's done it against Okac as well. What's
Speaker 1: impressed you most and what do you think prepared him
Speaker 1: most for those moments?
Speaker 2: Well, I think he just has a great belief in
Speaker 2: his abilities and you know, he's he's got a little
Speaker 2: bit of Reggie Miller at him. There's no question in
Speaker 2: the way that he plays with a bravado on the floor,
Speaker 2: and I just think he has a lot of confidence.
Speaker 2: And you know, when the trade was made, you know,
Speaker 2: three years ago, basically the Pacers handed him the keys
Speaker 2: and said, hey, you're our guy. You're going to be
Speaker 2: our leader, and they've built the roster around him. So
Speaker 2: he's he's just he's a super young man. He's meant
Speaker 2: a lot to this franchise and it's great to see
Speaker 2: him have all the success he's having.
Speaker 1: It just blows my mind that he was voted. I
Speaker 1: know it's very minimal, and who really cares. It's fourteen
Speaker 1: votes for crying out loud, and I suppose somebody had
Speaker 1: to answer the question as most overrated. I don't know
Speaker 1: where that stems from. I've always liked him. I liked
Speaker 1: him a lot at Iowa Stata, But I've always liked him.
Speaker 1: What do you think his strongest characteristic is that helps
Speaker 1: this team win well?
Speaker 2: I think, and sometimes it's too a fault is that
Speaker 2: he is a connector and he wants to get everybody involved.
Speaker 2: And there's sort of a give and take, you know,
Speaker 2: a little bit with him because you want to see
Speaker 2: him be a little bit more aggressive. And I think
Speaker 2: that's what we saw last night. Early I thought he
Speaker 2: was a lot more aggressive looking for his own but
Speaker 2: he's a guy that wants to get everybody involved. And again,
Speaker 2: the Pacers are better when they have everybody involved. But
Speaker 2: at the same point, he is such a talent. He
Speaker 2: can shoot the ball, he can drive, he can score.
Speaker 2: That's one of the things that when this team is successful,
Speaker 2: it's usually because Tyres is successful with the regular season.
Speaker 2: In the playoffs, Matt when he scores twenty or more points.
Speaker 2: The Pacers are thirty three and four, so it's essential
Speaker 2: that he also looks for his own while he's also
Speaker 2: finding his teammates.
Speaker 1: I'm standing play by play voice for the Indiana Pacers,
Speaker 1: Kristin Erry, joining us here on Exus and Bros. Throughout
Speaker 1: the Great State of Michigan Indiana started ten and fifteen.
Speaker 1: You were on the call for every one of those
Speaker 1: games ten and fifteen. Then they turned it around, and
Speaker 1: the only team with a better record after that, I
Speaker 1: believe was Oklahoma City. What was the difference do you think?
Speaker 2: Well, I think a couple of things. I do think
Speaker 2: they got better defensively, but they also got healthy. If
Speaker 2: you look back through those first twenty five games, Andrew
Speaker 2: Nemhard missed probably thirteen or fourteen. Aaron Nesmith got hurt
Speaker 2: very early in November and missed thirty plus games with
Speaker 2: a significant ankle injury, and a guy named Ben Shephard,
Speaker 2: who also is a key reserve and a wing player,
Speaker 2: he was out, and so you had three of your
Speaker 2: wing players out, probably your three best defenders, and that
Speaker 2: really hurt the Pacers. And once they got those guys back,
Speaker 2: then it all seemed to gel. Really, You're right. They
Speaker 2: were ten and fifteen. They had an awful loss to
Speaker 2: Charlotte here at home, where they scored like eighty three points,
Speaker 2: and they didn't play again until Friday, and they got
Speaker 2: back into the practice facility and Rick Carlile and has stabbed,
Speaker 2: did some tinkering and doing some things, and from that
Speaker 2: point on they were a different team. So there's no
Speaker 2: question question that they battled through the adversity early in
Speaker 2: the year, and I think they lean on that a
Speaker 2: little bit. You know, with the win last night, they've
Speaker 2: not lost back to back games in thirty eight games.
Speaker 2: I mean, you've got to go all the way back
Speaker 2: to mid March the last time they lost back to
Speaker 2: back games. So I think they used the adversity that
Speaker 2: they had early in the season really to fuel them
Speaker 2: as the season wore on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's amazing. I think it's a March tenth somewhere
Speaker 1: around there last time they've lost back to back games.
Speaker 1: You mentioned Rick Carlisle, and look, he's got a championship.
Speaker 1: He's a phenomenal coach, there's no question about it. I
Speaker 1: called a lot of Pistons games and have known you
Speaker 1: for a long time called Pistons games while he was
Speaker 1: the head coach here in Detroit. So you've called games
Speaker 1: with him as a coach, not just at Indiana but
Speaker 1: in the NBA for a long long time. With nineteen
Speaker 1: years under your belt, how do you think he has
Speaker 1: gotten better as a coach and how much of his
Speaker 1: experience in this moment has mattered to get give his
Speaker 1: teammate two to one lead over what many people thought
Speaker 1: to be the best team in basketball, atleast during the
Speaker 1: regular season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you know, all coaches change, and you
Speaker 2: look at how he's changed. I mean, think back to
Speaker 2: those Pistons days, those couple of years he was in Detroit,
Speaker 2: you know, with Billups and those guys. He called every
Speaker 2: play right. Every play was a set that Rick Carlisle called.
Speaker 2: Then he goes to Dallas and he realized with Jason Kidd,
Speaker 2: look I probably don't need to do that. And when
Speaker 2: they made the trade for Tyrese Halliburton, he realized, this
Speaker 2: is a guy we got to let have the ball
Speaker 2: and I've got to trust that he'll make decisions. And
Speaker 2: they've gone really to a read and react offense. I
Speaker 2: sort of says it's like the motion offense because there
Speaker 2: are rules, you know, you know, cutting and screening and
Speaker 2: those types of things, and there are nuances that they
Speaker 2: put in. And I think they did a good job
Speaker 2: last night because Tyree's had really been shut down in
Speaker 2: the first two games by this excellent Oklahoma City offense
Speaker 2: or defense. And we saw the Pacers on offense do
Speaker 2: some different things last night that created opportunities for Halliburton.
Speaker 2: And so I just think, you know, Rick, as every
Speaker 2: coach does, you have to evolve. The game is much
Speaker 2: different today. It's a way more athletic game. It's a
Speaker 2: way more wide open game than it was back in
Speaker 2: the early two thousands. And you know, Rick has experienced
Speaker 2: both as a player and as a coach. In the
Speaker 2: NBA Finals, he said this was his this is his
Speaker 2: sixth NBA Finals. He was an assistant to Larry Bird
Speaker 2: with the Pacers back in two thousand, won a title
Speaker 2: of course in Dallas, and then was a part of
Speaker 2: Boston championship teams when he played for the Celtics. So
Speaker 2: I think that resonates even though you know he's my age,
Speaker 2: he's sixty five years old, that still resonates with players
Speaker 2: because he has the experience of having been there.
Speaker 1: Didn't know you're sixty five. You don't look sixty five.
Speaker 2: Well I'm sixty four. I'm sixty four, but soon to
Speaker 2: be sixty five.
Speaker 1: It is a different atmosphere in the NBA Finals, But
Speaker 1: it's also different for Indiana. Can you put into context
Speaker 1: and look, you've done it all, You've done, the Colts,
Speaker 1: you've done, Butler, you're doing Pacers for nineteen years. You
Speaker 1: can appreciate as much as anybody what it's like for
Speaker 1: basketball in that state. OKC is loud, there are buildings
Speaker 1: that are always going to be allowed. It's something special
Speaker 1: in Indiana. Why is that?
Speaker 2: Well, I think there's a great level of basketball. I
Speaker 2: learned that when I moved here. My dad grew up
Speaker 2: in Indianapolis and was a longtime high school coach in
Speaker 2: southwestern Ohio, and he really wanted our family to experience
Speaker 2: high school basketball in Indiana, and so he was fortunate
Speaker 2: enough to get a job all those years ago, and
Speaker 2: I had a great chance to play for him at Westfield,
Speaker 2: which is a suburb just north of Indianapolis. And so
Speaker 2: I learned at a very early age just how important
Speaker 2: basketball was to the state. And Matt I can't tell
Speaker 2: you what it's like around here right now. I mean,
Speaker 2: it is incredible. Everywhere you go, people are talking Pacers.
Speaker 2: They have their hats on their jerseys, on their T shirts.
Speaker 2: I go to the hardware store to pick up something,
Speaker 2: and all they want to do is talk to me
Speaker 2: about the Pacers. It is a really, really cool time.
Speaker 2: And you understand, as we all do in sports, is
Speaker 2: just how powerful and impactful sports can be in a community.
Speaker 2: And we're definitely feeling that right now.
Speaker 1: How vital is game four? Knowing that it's okay, se
Speaker 1: wins it to tie the series, it's best two out
Speaker 1: of three, and you still got to go to Oklahoma
Speaker 1: City for at least two of those games. Even though
Speaker 1: you won game one, it was a thrilling way to
Speaker 1: win it, but you'd still have to win two out
Speaker 1: of three there. And Okay, see how vital is is
Speaker 1: this weekend for you?
Speaker 2: Well, I think it is no question tomorrow and night
Speaker 2: in its situation, it's the only time in the series
Speaker 2: that there's just a day off between games, and so
Speaker 2: we'll see how that impacts, you know, both teams tomorrow.
Speaker 2: I think I thought Oklahoma City last night looked a
Speaker 2: little gassed.
Speaker 1: In the fourth quarter.
Speaker 2: I thought Rick did a really good job in utilizing
Speaker 2: the bench. The bench was really good last night, McConnell
Speaker 2: and Topping and Benedict Matherin. So no, I think it's
Speaker 2: very important. I mean, Oklahoma City's really good, as we
Speaker 2: all know, and you want to maintain home court advantage.
Speaker 2: So yeah, tomorrow night's huge.
Speaker 1: I think I read somewhere that Oklahoma City, when going
Speaker 1: into the fourth quarter, is now sixty one and two.
Speaker 1: The two losses are to the Pacers in the playoffs. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and they were up five going into the fourth last
Speaker 1: night and you guys dominated that fourth quarter thirty two
Speaker 1: to eighteen. I want your opinion on this in general,
Speaker 1: not not Pacers, but the league in general. Where do
Speaker 1: you think it's at, how healthy do you think it is,
Speaker 1: and what might be a concern or two about the
Speaker 1: NBA in general for you, I'm where it's headed.
Speaker 2: Well, well, I'm a big fan of the way the
Speaker 2: game is played. I mean, some people will argue there's
Speaker 2: too many threes, you know, I think these two teams,
Speaker 2: I think these two teams are teams that people really
Speaker 2: want to watch because do they shoot the three? Yes,
Speaker 2: But It's not an overabundance of them. I just think
Speaker 2: that that you're going to have a changing of the
Speaker 2: guard of new players coming to the forefront, because we
Speaker 2: know Steph Curry and Lebron and those guys who are
Speaker 2: still good but they're aging out. I love the athleticism,
Speaker 2: I love the open nature of it. I think it's
Speaker 2: a really good game. You know, I think people have
Speaker 2: to learn about some of these new players. I mean,
Speaker 2: Jalen Williams is an outstanding young talent at Oklahoma City.
Speaker 2: He played at Santa Clara. You know, many people weren't
Speaker 2: watching Santa Clara in college basketball, So I think it's
Speaker 2: going to be an interesting time. I do think NBC
Speaker 2: coming in next year with so many more games that
Speaker 2: are on network television, will be good. But I like it.
Speaker 2: I mean, I love the wide open style of play
Speaker 2: and enjoy the athleticism that the game brings.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree with you, and trying to learn some
Speaker 1: of these new we were talking about earlier in our
Speaker 1: show before you came on, Benedict Mathrin. And here's a
Speaker 1: guy who was I mean, he played at Arizona, Okay,
Speaker 1: he was a sixth overall pick. He's a first round
Speaker 1: choice and coming off the bench. I mean, maybe people
Speaker 1: are just not paying as close attention as they need
Speaker 1: to with the bench players as they should be. But
Speaker 1: we're hoping that they're getting more educated as they watch.
Speaker 1: Last question for him, Miles Turner. I think has been
Speaker 1: really good. I like him. I think he kind of
Speaker 1: almost epitomizes what the NBA is becoming. He's three point
Speaker 1: shooting has steadily gotten better. He's going to be a
Speaker 1: free agent. Do you think he fits in the long
Speaker 1: term plans of Indiana?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? I mean ten years here, I've said this, Matt.
Speaker 2: I think with all this said and done, and I
Speaker 2: hope he's a pacer for his entire career. I think
Speaker 2: he will be one of the most beloved pacers in
Speaker 2: the history of this franchise. He's meant that much to
Speaker 2: this team. He's great off the floor, He's a wonderful
Speaker 2: young man. I think ownership knows what they have right
Speaker 2: now and they're going to do whatever it takes to
Speaker 2: bring him back.
Speaker 1: We're glad you're able to join us.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: We appreciate the insight. You are a fantastic play by
Speaker 1: play man and you're a really good friend. Congratulations on
Speaker 1: the family growing, the career continuing, and good luck to
Speaker 1: the pacers the rest of the way. Thanks Kristin, I
Speaker 1: appreciate your time.
Speaker 2: Buddy, Hey, thanks so much. Man, great to visit with you.