Fieldhouse Files: Scott Agness on the Indiana Pacers

It's the final episode of 2020. To close it out, I touch on longtime Pacers executive stepping down from his role as Pacers consultant and the role he had in running the franchise and then Jared Weiss of The Athletic joins to discuss the Pacers' early success, new coach Nate Bjorkgren, no trade being completed for Gordon Hayward and Victor Oladipo's options in the offseason. Thanks for listening t...

It was a positive first week of the season for the Pacers: 3-0, Sabonis was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week and the roster is impressed with its coach. On this episode, I catch you up on a couple transactional moves, then discuss the first week of games, adjustments made and a couple role players who have excelled. Then, I share what it's like being at Bankers Life Fieldhouse for a gam...

Jason Buckner was a manager for IU basketball and coach Knight, he's coached and most recently worked for the Pacers in scouting. He started with the team in Apr. 2012 as the manager of basketball administration and later became one of three regional scouts. Over the summer, he departed and then accepted a job with the Pistons as their director of draft scouting. We'll talk about his career path,...

On this episode: I detail Gordon Hayward's desire to play at home for the Pacers and trade talks with the Celtics were doomed from the start, what the Pacers look like entering camp, Nate Bjorkgren filling out his coaching staff and renovations made to Bankers Life Fieldhouse. ----- FieldhouseFiles.com is the home for all of my stories. Log on, sign up and follow along for complete Pacers coverage...

The draft finally happened — five months later than usual and after the date was pushed back twice. I go solo on this podcast to share my thoughts on the night and the Pacers taking Cassius Stanley at 54. Then, I answer key questions on several Pacers and look ahead to free agency. There's mutual interest in Gordon Hayward playing for the Pacers, but what would it take? Take a listen... -----...

Dru Anthrop is a native of Lafayette, Indiana and he played basketball at Purdue from 2009-13. He then was a video intern with the Pacers, and after four other stops, he's now the head video coordinator for the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers — working under Frank Vogel. Anthrop discusses his two seasons with the Pacers, how hard work and a lot of luck are positively impacting his career, his...

The NBA officially completed the 2019-20 season and league staffers spent more than 100 days inside the bubble at Walt Disney World. To make it all work, the NBA recruited individuals across the league. Like Pacers PA announcer Tim Sinclair , and dozens of stats crew members. One of three from Indianapolis was Geoff Sherman , who sits at the scorer's table for Pacers games. He worked 38 games over...

After 55 days, the Pacers have a head coach. Kevin Pritchard led an extensive search with more than two dozen candidates. Ultimately, they decided 45-year-old Nate Bjorkgren was their man. He's coached under NBA Coach of the Year Nick Nurse the last several years and previously won a D League title. On this podcast, I share my thoughts on the hire and learn more about Bjorkgren from Raptors report...

On this episode, I give the NBA credit for its bubble and finishing the season, talk about the Pacers' coaching search, the names I continue to hear (and note the ones I'm not) and what stood out to me about Victor Oladipo's interview just before the NBA Finals started . Plus, notes about Bankers Life Fieldhouse renovations and the first event scheduled since the Big Ten men's basketball tournamen...

On Aug. 26, the Pacers officially parted ways with Nate McMillan as head coach after four seasons. It came less than 24 hours after the team returned from the NBA campus in Orlando. One day later, Nate joins the podcast to talk about the front office going in a different direction, his hope for last season, whether he has any regrets and more. (6:26) My story on his firing: https://fieldhousefiles...

Six weeks after they arrived in Florida and more than four months after the NBA's stoppage, the playoffs are here. The Pacers went 6-2 in the seeding round and face the Miami Heat in Round 1. AP writer Tim Reynolds joins the show to discuss his experience in the NBA bubble, then preview these franchise's fifth time meeting in the playoffs. (10:00) Then, I'm joined by PointsBet VP Ron Shell to talk...

Chris Denari is in his 14th season season as the TV play-by-play announcer for the Pacers. He's done it all in Indy — from working at FOX 59 to calling Butler and Fever games. And he remains on the IMS Radio Network. But his new reality, calling games for FOX Sports Indiana from a studio, is much different. On this podcast, we talk about the Pacers' play in the restart and all that goes into...

My guest on this episode is Kenny "The Jet" Smith. He played at UNC from 1983-87, was drafted by the Sacramento Kings, spent 10 seasons in the NBA and won two championships with the Houston Rockets (1994, 1995). And now he's seen weekly during the NBA season on "Inside the NBA" with EJ, Charles and Shaq. He's recently launched The Jet Academy to help train basketball players from anywhere — a...

NBA teams began arriving to Disney's campus — in Lake Buena Vista, Florida — on July 7th. The Pacers checked in on July 9th, so they've been in The Bubble for almost two weeks. Nate McMillan said it had a college feel; others, like T.J. Warren, said it felt more like AAU. Keith Smith, who worked there for nearly 20 years, came on the show to explain why it was the ideal location for the NBA's...

The Pacers arrived in Orlando for the NBA's restart on Thursday and over the weekend, another familiar name made his way down there. Tim Sinclair, the voice you hear inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse for home games, was selected by the NBA to be one of four public address announcers for games. Before the trip, we discussed his decision to go inside the bubble (and away from family), how long he’ll be...

C.J. Miles signed with the Pacers in 2014 and spent three seasons in Indy. While his time was relatively short, his impact and wisdom shared was sizable. This podcast was recorded on June 4th — exactly one month before the birth of his second daughter, Nadia Rhea Miles. We opened with a deep conversation about what's on his heart; what it will be like to explain this time to his daughters (9:...

Current Colts beat reporter for The Athletic Stephen Holder joins Scott to talk about his time covering the NFL and NBA, as well as the many interesting jobs he had on his path to becoming a sports journalist.

Scott Agness and Dave DuFour discuss the many scenarios that have been put forward for the structuring of the return of the NBA, and how the Pacers figure into them.

Scott is joined by former Pacers Team Performance Psychologist and current Director of Performance Psychology & Team Behavioral Health Clinician of the Green Bay Packers Dr. Chris Carr to talk about the work that he does with sports teams.

Scott Agness is joined by the Pacers fan, whose image has become the latest viral meme from episode nine of 'The Last Dance', to talk about what it is to become a meme in a sports-less world and what it was like to be a fan at those Pacers games of old.

Bob Kravitz joins Scott Agness to talk about the strategies for bringing the NBA back that have been floating around and to revisit the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals between the Bulls and Pacers.

Scott is joined by Indiana Pacers head coach Nate McMillan for an exclusive interview. Coach McMillan discusses how he as a coach is working and coaching during quarantine. Then coach dives into his background: how fear of failure nearly ended his basketball career before it began and playing against the Jordan era Bulls.

Scott is joined by The Athletic's Mike Smeltz to discuss what exactly basketball may look when/if it comes back this season, how the TV product could be drastically different and how the Pacers are spending their time off-the-court. Plus - what lessons the NBA may learn from the NFL Draft.

Scott first delivers major takeaways from a conference call with Indiana Pacers' GM Kevin Pritchard. Then (4:00) Scott is joined by former longtime Pacer Jeff Foster to update on Foster's life right now, a look back from his 13 seasons with the Pacers and some what-if scenarios over that time. At (30:18) we have the full Kevin Pritchard conference call with reporters today.

Scott is joined by The Athletic's Dave DuFour to look back at a month ago the crazy few days that shutdown the NBA. Plus a review of the Pacers this season: which Pacer exceeded expectations and which underperformed.