Indiana Pacers – James Wiseman READY to start? Colts DeForest Buckner ranked 8th DT – JT #7 RB!

Indiana Pacers – James Wiseman READY to start? Colts DeForest Buckner ranked 8th DT – JT #7 RB!

It’s two bell Tuesday. Let’s go. We’re ringing bells because we’ve got answers. You got questions. I got answers. Pacers related, Colts related. Cannot wait. Pacers, a lot of centers. Who’s going to wind up starting? Could it be James Weisman? We’re going to talk about that. He signed yesterday a veterans minimum contract two years Pacers with an option in that second year. That’s interesting to me. Other stuff going on with the Pacers. Can they overcome the loss of Tyrese Hallebertton? A lot’s going to depend upon what Kevin Pritchard tries to do during the rest of this off season. We’ve only got I mean it’s it’s July 8th, right? And they’re going to start playing. That’s 78. October is 10, like 10:23, 10:25. That’s when the beginning of the season is. They got about three and a half months to rest, reconoider, figure out how they’re going to attack the challenge for the 2025 2026 season. We’ll talk about it. Colts camp only 15 days away at Grand Park and I can’t wait to see what this team looks like, especially in the joint practice between the Colts and the Packers. the joint practice between the Colts and the Ravens. That’s going to be up all the way in Baltimore. I ain’t going to make that. However, we will see the joint practice between the Colts and the Packers. We’ll see the three preseason games and we’ll see exactly how this team kind of lines up. Got some I guess it’s kind of good news from ESPN yesterday. They had a a poll with execs, scouts, coaches. DeForest Buckner ranked the eighth best defensive tackle, most underrated defensive player in the league, one executive said. And Jonathan Taylor ranked the number seven running back. That’s a good thing. I think that that’s probably that’s probably the end of the uh of the rankings. I I’m guessing that the Colts are going to be participants in. I know they’re not going to have a top 10 quarterback. Maybe somebody on a whim and a correct whim would name Tyler Warren a top 10 tight end because I think that by the end of the season that’s exactly what he’s going to be. You look at the other positions, edge, linebacker, safety, cornerback, h maybe Ward, but probably not. Uh wide receiver, no. But if you listed the top 30, I think that the the Colts might put two in the top 30. This is Breakfast with Kent for uh Tuesday, July 8th, 2025. Brought to you by the great people at Today’s Dentistry. Call Dr. Mike O’Neal at 3178492933. Make an appointment today. Best dentist in the world. My only dentist the last 30 years. I’ll never go to another dentist. Call. Ask for Julie. Tell her that Kent told you to call again. 3178492933. You got a chance to go to the best, you go to the best. It’s what you do. Got a chance to draft the best, you draft the best. Got a chance to sign the best, you sign the best. Let’s go. Uh, make sure and subscribe because when you subscribe, you got a chance to win prizes. Yo, uh, got this sweet Chicago Bears helmet autographed by safety Mike Brown who was awesome. got this sweet Jack Young Bloodood jersey autograph Rams jersey autographed by the uh great Jack Young Bloodood who was tough enough to play in a Super Bowl with a broken leg. And of course we do have the uh although I’m having trouble finding it, I got to make sure I have it. The autograph Pton Manning uh autograph Pton Manning photo 8 by10 for God’s sake. Can’t wait to give that away. We gave away the Mike Tomzac autograph mini helmet yesterday. Ohio State mini helmet autographed by Mike Tomzac who I reminded people yesterday. Mike Tomzac that the Chicago Bears defense was so good in 1986, the year after the Super Bowl win that he finished as a starter because Jim McMahon got hurt. He finished with a record as a starter 7 and 0 despite the fact that his touchdowns to interception ratio was 2 to 10. Two touchdowns in seven seven starts plus he played more and then uh 10 interceptions and still he went undefeated as a starter. That’s unbelievable. All right, questions. Uh, is this the chance James Weinman needs? Randy Smith, perfect contribution and the perfect question to kick things off. By the way, you got to hit the like button, right? Because that’s the polite thing to do. I hit the like button for every video I watch. Plus, if you want to make a donation, as Randy just did, go ahead. No big whoop, but include a question or a comment that elevates the level of discourse, which Randy did also. Yes, James Wiseman can start on this team. James Wiseman has a physical availab or ability as long as he has the availability to start in the NBA at center and I think he’s got a chance to be a uh he’s got the potential to be an improvement over Miles Turner. People going to think I’m crazy. Miles Turner I I don’t know where people in Indiana or elsewhere Milwaukee now got the idea that Miles Turner is that kind of guy, right? that he’s not a top 30, not a top 50, maybe just inside the top 100 of NBA players if you squint a little bit. But, uh, you know what, 15 12 and 6 and a half ain’t so hard to replace in the aggregate. And I think James Wiseman is going to be able to do that. But, he’s got to stay healthy. He’s got to be uh available, but he does have all the measurables in town. He is longer than hell. He is really athletic. As long as that Achilles heals properly and that calf is strong, I think he’s got a good shot to be the starting center for the Pacers. Question, is the roster set? No, the roster is not set. Kevin Pritchard in his talk with the media yesterday, 31 minutes, and Pritchard did not sound like a guy who was going to rest on his laurels and and say, you know what, the these are our guys. I think he likes these guys, but Kevin Pritchard’s really good at this. Kevin Pritchard’s really good at being a human being who understands that he works with other human beings and and he’s kind of a warm guy, but he’s also a pragmatist and he understands that you’ve got to turn over the roster a little bit and if you’ve got a chance to upgrade the level of talent on your team, you do that. And I think that he will. I think he’s going to look at the roster. I think he’s going to say, “All right, you know what? We can get better here. And if that means moving somebody, that means moving somebody. If it means staying static and he’s starting Nimhard at the point and Matin at the two, I think that gives both guys a real opportunity to to set themselves up to have a hell of a career. I think Benedict Matin is potentially a a 25 point a game scorer and and him getting an opportunity this coming year. I think uh I think he’s in a position now at the age of 22 going to be 23 in I think May, right? I think Matherine’s got the the maturity necessary to take advantage now of that opportunity. Nemhard is kind of a different deal. Nemhard can kind of run hot cold, right? He can either be really good or not so really good. I think he’s got to shave off the peaks and the valleys of what he does as a player in order to be a starting point guard in the NBA because it’s about the mistakes you make, not the great plays you make. Let the other guys make the great plays. You make sure you don’t make mistakes. Uh, can the Pacers make the playoffs? Hell yeah, they can make the playoffs. Why wouldn’t they be able to make the playoffs? They won 50 last year. They lose Miles Turner, who I fully believe they’re going to be able to replace in year one. They lose Tyrese Hallebertton who they’re not going to be able to play replace even in the aggregate. Maybe they can replace the points, but the leadership, the assists, that uh ability to get the offense rolling quickly and make passes on time and on target, that’s a rare talent. And finding somebody who can replicate that is going to be really, really difficult. But I think that the Pacers are without Tyrese Hallebertton and with change at center, can they be the sixth place team in the East? Can they win 44 45 games? I think that they can. And in fact, I have very little doubt that they can. They should at the very least. Um, a return to the Eastern Conference Finals that gets that’s a little on the far-fetched side, isn’t it? a return to the NBA finals is absolutely out there. There there’s no chance of doing that. Question is kind of interesting and it was prompted by a comment that Kevin Pritchard made yesterday about the summer league that Johnny Fury is starting to look really good as a second rounder. Can Johnny Fury be a rotational player like Pritchard said yesterday? I’ll tell you what, somebody’s going to get an opportunity because Hallebertton’s down. And outside of a big trade being made that kind of jostles the roster around, somebody’s got to step up into that second unit and be sort of the Matherine type guy next year. Mathan coming off the bench. I think that might be Johnny Fury. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was. I like Johnny Fury coming out of college and I liked him as a rookie. When he got a chance to run, he looked like he was ready to go. Uh, but I think that he can and and uh but it feels like Pritchard might do something that will render a lot of these answers kind of moot. I don’t think that that roster is set. If they sign Isaiah Jackson, that kind of sets the roster at 14, if not 15. and and you know that would signal kind of that the Pacers are done except for some kind of a trade, but I think a trade’s coming for the Pacers. I think I think Pritchard I is not anxious, but I think he’s going to be aggressive. Questions about the Colts. Uh Randy Smith says, “Will Hi be available for the playoffs?” It it sounded like uh Kevin Pritchard wanted to take the air out of that balloon yesterday. Randy asks and and so he did. He said Tyrese Hallebertton will not be back next year. But you know what? We don’t know that. If Tyrese Hallebertton heals exceptionally well, they get him in the hyperaric. They they do all the work on the calf that’s necessary and all of a sudden the Pacers could use a lift in the pace in the playoffs and Hallebertton’s feeling good. Could he be back? Absolutely could be back. Um we’ll see. You know, we never know the future. Saying that he’s going to be back in 10 months would be irresponsible, but saying that he can’t be back is, you know, uh, probably inaccurate. Um, is this Chris Ballard’s last year as a Colts GM? That’s a really good question. I think this is a critical year for three reasons. Number one, Ballard’s either going to be extended or fired after this season. And I don’t think he’s done enough over the last four years to get extended. So I I think that um this year is going to determine a lot. Uh Carly Ursay Gordon is going to take the pragmatic approach uh about the uh about this franchise she now runs. I think she’s going to be very pragmatic and being a prag pragmatist, she’s going to wait until all the evidence is gathered and then she’s going to make the decision whether Ballard should be back. We’re going to learn a lot more about Carly Ursay Gordon this year than we are about Chris Ballard. Chris Ballard is Chris Ballard. Just like Miles Turner was Miles Turner after 10 years, you know what you got. This is going to be Chris Ballard after nine years. You’re going to know what you got. And right now it’s two trips to the playoffs, one playoff win, no AFC South championships. That doesn’t bode well. But this is a new year and it could be a different year. All right. Uh, can Anthony Richardson stay healthy? He can as a pocket passer. As a guy with designed runs, he hasn’t been able to. Every injury that guy suffered has been the result of a designed run. Randy Smith says, “I I read that as soon as Ballard left the Chiefs, they started winning.” Yeah, but that team was built. That’s a uh I I’ve done that myself. I looked at that and and I think that that’s unfair. He wasn’t running the thing for God’s sake. He wasn’t the GM. So, you know, equating the Chief’s victories with Ballard’s exit, I I think is spurious and and I think it’s just kind of piling on. There’s enough evidence with the Colts and Ballard to make you think either positive things or negative things about Ballard. I don’t think we need to dip back into the Chiefs or even the Bears to to figure out whether he can be the GM moving forward. Um Richardson has got to become more a pocket passer, but as a pocket passer, that’s not really who he is, is it? So, he would have to learn how to be something else. And that’s really difficult for a guy like Anthony Richardson. But he’s got to find a way to stay healthy. He’s got to find a way to give himself up. He cannot try to run over NFL linebackers or defensive backs because quarterbacks, no matter how, you know, sculpted physically they are. And weighing 255 lbs, he going to get the better better of those collisions. Can Daniel Jones win in a way he didn’t with the Giants? It’s hard to assess him as a quarterback without a real weapon. Before Malik Neighbors, who is a real a weapon for the Giants, they didn’t have one. and and so it it’s really hard to say with the offensive line that the Giants had and the weaponry that uh Jones had to work with prior to last year. You know, it it’s hard to evaluate him as a potential quarterback. I will say this, with my eyes, it is really hard to see a difference between the thrown balls of Daniel Jones and Riley Leonard. I don’t know whether that’s great news for Riley Leonard or terrible news for Daniel Jones, but I want to see more of Daniel Jones and I want to see Richardson and Daniel Jones play a gob in the preseason. Uh, will Lou anarumo make a big difference with the defense? I believe that he will. I think game specific schemes have been part of what’s missing for this defense and so I think Lou Anarumo coming to the defense is going to be absolutely huge. All right, let’s celebrate some birthdays, shall we? Uh, Simei Mhack celebrating a birthday. Happy birthday to Simmyi and his lovely wife. Nice of them to join us. Scott Wener celebrating a birthday, of course, of the uh the Hubard radio family in St. Louis. Jean Beglin. Jean Jean did me a genuine solid at a Bob Seager concert back in the mid 2000s and I’ll always be appreciative. Julie Schwarz, happy birthday. Julie Schwarz worked with her in uh at Intercom here in town. Julie Schwarz, uh Jerry Lee Ward, happy birthday. Cody James McKay, happy birthday. Bill Henry, Jason Presley, happy birthday. Albert Donado, happy birthday. Shannon Nichols and Lisa Williams, happy birthday. If today’s your birthday, you celebrate like hell. If it’s not your birthday, you celebrate somebody else. That’s best done with an honest and specific compliment. Lift each other up. Don’t pull each other down. Come on, let’s go. Uh, you want to win a prize like this sweet autograph Jack Young Bud Rams jersey? You can. All you have to do is subscribe to be eligible and use the phrase that pays. Wise men’s wise guys. Wise men’s wise guys. That is the phrase that pays. How about that? We’ll talk to you later today. I can’t wait.

James Wiseman has the talent and measurables to be an NBA starting center, but will that surgically repaired Achilles make him available.
Is Kevin Pritchard done evolving the Pacers roster – or does he have some moves up his sleeve?
Colts have a couple of top 10 players at specific positions, but will that be enough to win the AFC South – which should always be the goal!

Here is the link for the only autobiography ever published without praise for its author: https://www.amazon.com/Oops-Art-Learning-Mistakes-Adventures/dp/173420740X

https://kentsterling.com/2025/07/03/rule-for-kent-sterling-conest/