Tag: Nate McMillan

Headline Sports podcast with Jessica Kwong: Prunty takes over as Hawks head coach; Will Miller be indicted for gun giveaway in Alabama murder?; plus much more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Joe Prunty takes over as the interim head coach for the Atlanta Hawks after firing former head coach Nate McMillan (SI file photo)

On Headline Sports podcast with Jessica:

#1 The Atlanta Hawks fired head coach Nate McMillan who was 99-80 in three seasons as head coach. The Hawks are 29-30 this season and eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Hawks general manager Landry Fields said the decision to fire McMillan was difficult but said it was in the best interest of the team to move forward. Joe Prunty was named as the Hawks interim head coach.

#2 The Alabama Crimson Tide’s number two basketball star player in the country Brandon Miller provided a gun that was used to kill Jamea Jonae Harris in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Harris was allegedly killed by former Miller teammate Darius Miles with another accomplice Michael Lynn Davis. Miller has not been charged but says

#3 Jessica, Rob Manfred MLB Commissioner says that MLB will rescue some 14 teams who invested in Bally Sports Network are on the verge of missing their payments as Bally was about to air those 14 teams play by play broadcasts. Manfred said that games will be shown on local cable and will find a streaming source for the games audio coverage as a back up plan.

#4 New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that pitcher Frankie Montas was not all that he was cracked up to be. Montas whose having shoulder surgery and could miss the rest of the season had Cashman saying the Montas acquisition didn’t work out and that “we didn’t get anything out of it.”

#5 The subject of opting out is catching on first the San Diego Padres Manny Machado said he would opt out at the end of this season now the New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer 38, says he considering opting out after this season. That’s when Mets owner Steve Cohen stepped in and assured Scherzer that the Mets are going to win the World Series no matter what it takes. Scherzer is getting $130 million on a three year contract that includes a no trade clause which he agreed to in the fall of 2021.

Join Jessica Kwong for Headline Sports podcasts every other Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NBA Basketball in Mumbai: Pacers beat Kings 132-132 in OT

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

Mumbai final
Photo/Graphic: NBC Sports California

The NBA goes to Bollywood!

By Charlie O @Charlieo1320

The first-ever NBA game was played in Mumbai, India on Friday night between the Indiana Pacers and the Sacramento Kings. Well, it was Friday night if you were in Mumbai. If you were in Sacramento, the game tipped off at 6:30 AM, so it was bagels and basketball.

The Game

Much to the chagrin of the coaches and to the delight of the crowd, the game required overtime. The Pacers prevailed in OT 132-131. The Kings’ Buddy Hield put up a long 3-point shot that had a realistic chance of going in, but bounced high off the rim and was put back in by Marvin Bagley for two points at the buzzer. Sacramento fell one point short of causing double overtime.

To say that the players were “gassed” would be a gross understatement. All five of the Indiana starters and three of the Sacramento starting five played 30-minutes or more. Rest assured that neither Nate McMillan nor Luke Walton planned to play any of their players for that long in the first preseason game.

Key Numbers

T.J. Warren — who was traded the Pacers by the Suns in the off-season — was the game’s leading scorer with 30 points. He hit 11-of-18 from the floor and was 5-of-6 from behind the 3-point line.

Domantas Sabonis recorded a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds. He made six rebounds on offense and six on defense.

Point Guard Malcolm Brogdon also had a double-double game with 15 points and 14 assists.

Buddy Hield led the Kings’ scoring attack with 28 points. He shot 11-for-20 from the field and converted 4-of-10 from downtown.

Harrison Barnes — fresh off his time with Team USA — put 21 points in the book. Barnes went a perfect 11-for-11 from the free-throw line.

De’Aaron Fox added 15 points and dished out eight assists.

Numbers for concern

Luke Walton cannot be happy that his team was outrebounded 47-30. The Pacers scored 21 second chance points to the Kings’ seven. That is not a winning formula in the NBA.

Nate McMillan will be talking to his team about turnovers. The Pacers turned the ball over 25 times in the contest, which resulted in 25 Sacramento points.

Why India?

The NBA really sees itself as being a worldwide game and marketing force. The league’s goal is to literally market itself around the globe. With a population of over 1.3 billion people, India is a market that cannot be ignored.

Here are a few other facts:

  • More than 3 million fans in India follow the NBA on Facebook.
  • Over 300 live NBA games are available to viewers in India each season. In fact, fans in Sacramento often welcome Indian viewers just before tipoff.
  • The NBA opened an office in Mumbai in 2012 — one of 12 NBA offices outside the USA.
  • The NBA Academy India was opened in 2017 in Delhi to help develop top male and female basketball prospects.

The other reason India is a key target for the association is Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive is originally from Mumbai. It has been his dream to bring the game to his country of origin.

“This is a historic day, but for me it’s a dream come true. I left Bombay (Mumbai) when I was 17 years old and literally I had $50 in my pocket, so to come back here with my NBA team and also bring my friend Herb Simon with his team and to play an actual NBA game is beyond my wildest, wildest imagination,” explained Ranadive.

Ranadive has a vision for the future, “What I see happening is that within the next 10 years, this game, it’ll never surpass cricket as the national pastime, but it’ll be right up there. And hopefully, Commissioner, we can launch a league right here in India. I hope in the next 10 years that we’ll have at least one player that comes out of the system that plays in the NBA. We already see players. And I fully expect that there will be arenas that spring up across the country where we can play these games.”

More from Mumbai tomorrow

The Kings and Pacers will play one more preseason game on Saturday night in Mumbai. The tipoff time in Indiana is 8:30 AM and in Sacramento it is 6:30 AM. If you call yourself a real NBA fan, it is breakfast and basketball tomorrow morning.