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Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner underwent successful surgery Monday afternoon to repair a chip fracture in his left thumb, sustained during the first half of last Wednesday night’s game at Boston.
The surgery was performed at OrthoIndy Hospital by hand surgeon Dr. Tim Dicke. Turner is expected to miss six weeks.
The Indiana Pacers are 6-4, and through Friday have won three straight games. Here’s the Indianapolis Star reporting on one of the biggest reasons for the team’s current success:
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[Paul] George has become only the fourth player in franchise history to score 26 or more points in six straight games, tying Danny Granger’s feat from Jan. 3-12, 2009 according to STATS, LLC. Over the same six-game stretch, George has scored 176 points, the second-highest mark in his career — in six consecutive games from Jan. 14-24, 2014, he scored 177 points.
Also during the past six games, George has shot 47.5 percent from beyond the 3-point arc, and his rebounding has swelled to 9.5 per game, all while defending the best wing player on the opposing team.
On Friday night, George scored a game-high 29 points on efficient 8-of-17 shooting, another example of how the offense seems to suit him. He’s free to rise up in catch-and-shoot situations or be aggressive within the space and make plays in isolation. And that’s the whole point, as the 2015-16 Pacers are the vessel to launch George back into the NBA cosmos where the stars live.
The Indiana Pacers have assigned
6-11 forward/center Shayne Whittington and 6-9 forward Rakeem Christmas to their affiliate in the NBA’s Development League, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
The Indiana Pacers today are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former center Mel Daniels, a stalwart on the team’s three American Basketball Association championship teams and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Daniels died Friday in Sheridan, Ind. He was 71. He is survived by his wife, CeCe and family.
“I join our extended Pacers family in offering my sincerest condolences to CeCe and Mel’s family,” said Pacers Sports & Entertainment owner Herb Simon. “We will miss him greatly, but when we look at that Hall of Fame banner in Bankers Life Fieldhouse, we will be forever reminded of what he meant to this franchise.”
Daniels was twice named the ABA’s MVP (1969 and 1971). He played six seasons with the Pacers, averaging 19.4 points and 16.0 rebounds per game.
A four-time All-ABA selection, Daniels was named to the First Team in 1969, 1970 and 1971, and was a Second Team pick in 1973. He also was named the ABA All-Star Game MVP in 1971 and was the ABA’s first Rookie of the Year in 1968 while playing with Minnesota. He is the Pacers’ all-time leading rebounder in the ABA (7,643) and he holds the Pacers’ ABA record for rebounds in a single season (1,475 in 1970-71).
He is a graduate of the University of New Mexico.
Following the end of his playing career, he joined the basketball staff of the Pacers.
His jersey number was retired on November 2, 1985. In September 2012, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
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The Indiana Pacers announced Monday they have requested waivers on 6-2 guard Toney Douglas.
He played in five preseason games and averaged 6.6 points and 1.6 assists per game.
At this point in his career, Douglas may latch onto another team’s roster, but he also might fall out of the league. If we had to guess, the veteran has a fairly good shot at sticking around in the league for another season.
The Indiana Pacers announced Saturday they have requested waivers on 6-9 forward Kadeem Jack and 6-8 forward C.J. Fair.
Jack played in one preseason game and did not score. Fair played in five preseason games and averaged 1.6 points per game.
The Pacers’ roster now stands at 16.
The Indiana Pacers announced Wednesday they have signed free agent Kadeem Jack. Jack is a 6-9, 235 lb. forward that played collegiately at Rutgers.
We assume the contract is non-guaranteed.
The Pacers training camp roster now stands at 18.
Fort Wayne Mad Ants open tryouts
The Fort Wayne Mad Ants announced today that they will hold open tryouts on Saturday, October 17th and Sunday, October 18th in Fort Wayne for the 2015-16 NBA Development League season. The open tryout will be held at the McMillen Park Community Center located at 3901 Abbott Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46806.
The first day of this Fort Wayne tryout will be Saturday, October 17th at the McMillen Park Community Center with check-in beginning at 9:00 a.m. and the tryout beginning promptly at 10:00 a.m. lasting until around 3:00 p.m. Players will receive an official Mad Ants tryout jersey upon registration.
Spectators are invited to attend tryouts for an entry fee of $2 for adults, with kids entering for free.
The Mad Ants local player tryouts offer athletes an opportunity to showcase their talents in front of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants’ coaching staff. Players will compete to earn an invitation to the team’s training camp, which will begin in early November.
Players who are interested in trying out for the Mad Ants on October 17th should submit the official registration and release forms, in addition to a $150 non-refundable fee to the Mad Ants office by Wednesday, October 14th. The registration fee is $200 for all forms received after Wednesday, October 14th (pre-registration is not required and athletes may register on the morning of the tryout). Payments must be made by money order or cashier’s check. Application forms are available on the Mad Ants’ website at www.fortwaynehoops.com.
Pacers Sports & Entertainment, the parent organization of the Indiana Pacers, has acquired the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the National Basketball Association’s Development League, it was announced today.
With the acquisition, the Mad Ants become the 10th D-League team to be wholly owned by an NBA franchise and now all 19 D-League teams are singly-affiliated with NBA franchises.
“We are proud to extend the Pacers brand into Northeast Indiana and excited about continuing the tradition of professional basketball in Fort Wayne,” said Pacers Sports & Entertainment owner Herb Simon. “We will work closely with the Mad Ants staff to provide support and expertise on both the business and basketball sides and we hope to build on their enthusiastic fan base.”
The Mad Ants were previously owned by the Fort Wayne Basketball Group, LLC, which was led by majority investors John Zeglis, Julie Potter, and Jeff Potter. Jeff Potter, former president of the Mad Ants, will continue with the team as its president of business operations.
“The last eight years with the Mad Ants have brought our investors tremendous joy and a whole lot of fun,” said Jeff Potter. “Our goal in starting the Ants was to bring Fort Wayne something fun and exciting for families and basketball fans to enjoy, and we are so thankful to the city and our fans for how they received us and supported us. Although our run with the team is ending, we are so pleased to see our team placed in such great hands, and we wish the Pacers nothing but the best as they move forward with the Mad Ants.
The Pacers also announced that Brian Levy will become the Mad Ants General Manager. Levy had previously been the assistant general manager of the Phoenix Suns’ D-League team in Bakersfield, Calif.
The coaching staff of the Mad Ants has yet to be named.
The Mad Ants, champions of the D-League in 2014 and runners-up this past spring, will continue to play their 24 home games in Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. This will be their ninth season in the D-League.
“Indiana’s purchase of the Mad Ants signals an important milestone for the NBA D-League, as all 19 of the league’s teams are now owned by, or in hybrid partnerships with, their NBA parent clubs,” said Malcolm Turner, NBA D-League President. “I’m excited to welcome Herb Simon and the Pacers front office into the NBA D-League family, and extend my thanks to outgoing Mad Ants owners John Zeglis and Jeff Potter, whose commitment to excellence on and off the court helped shape the NBA D-League.”
The Pacers have assigned players to the Mad Ants since their inaugural season. This past year, center-forward Shayne Whittington had two separate stints with the Mad Ants.
“Owning the Mad Ants will be an integral part to the development of our young talent and we’ll have the ability to institute the same offensive and defensive systems and create a winning basketball culture across the state of Indiana,” said Pacers Basketball President Larry Bird. “We are excited to build on the team’s success in Fort Wayne while using it as a training ground for players, coaches and front office personnel.”
“We continue to see momentum and investments in Fort Wayne as we work together to move our community forward in a positive direction,” said Mayor Tom Henry. “We’re honored to have a new partnership with the Indiana Pacers, and we welcome them to our City. We’re a leader in providing tremendous minor league sports opportunities for residents and visitors to enjoy. Thank you to the Mad Ants for being an important part of the success we’re experiencing in Fort Wayne. I’m encouraged by what this new relationship will mean to our community, state, and region as we build on being a nationally recognized city for job and business growth and quality of life amenities.”
Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller turns 50 years old today. Enjoy these video highlights of some of the awesome things he did during his lengthy, awesome NBA career: