Tag: pacers

Caitlin Clark Returns, Pacers and Thunder in the NBA Finals and Asheville Recommendations

On this week’s episode, Caitlin Clark Return to Indiana Fever, it’s two games each for the Pacers and the Thunder in the NBA Finals and Anne gives quick recommendations for Switzerland and I do Asheville on the Torg Stories Podcast.

Click above for audio / Click below for video version of the podcast

Happy Father’s Day!

  1. Memory of playing golf on many Father’s Days with Dad at Moss Creek in Winamac, Indiana.
  2. Walk with Megan and Charlotte (don’t think Izzy was born yet) over the Brooklyn Bridge and back.
  3. My Father’s Day requests for today: lift weights and family tree clean up. Fried chicken sandwiches with sliced fried potatoes for dinner.

Caitlin Clark returns to Indiana Fever and they beat the previously undefeated Liberty.

  1. Clark had been out 19 days with a thigh contusion.
  2. Fever go to 5-5 and are in 7th place out of 13. Liberty fall to second place at 9-1 behind the first place Minnesota Lynx. Click here for WNBA standings.
  3. Clark went out with with 5:44 to go in the first and they were down 15-6.
  4. Clark set out for at least twice as many short stretches. Wonder if that’s something to stay with?
  5. Fever were down 21-15. Then these three in 33 seconds: 33 foot running pull up three pointer AND 27 foot three pointers and 31 foot three pointer. Tied up 24-24. Finished the half with 25.

Key Stats:

  1. Sabrina 38 mins and 34 points. Stewart shot 14 free throws
  2. Fever 17-35 from three. Liberty 6-29.

Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals:

Feeling Frustrated about the Calls SGA Getting:

  1. That he can push off hard with his forearm all the time.
  2. That he swings his arms to try and draw the foul and that a defender can do everything possible to get out of the way and then they barely touch him and that’s a foul too.

It hurt that Nesmith ended up on SGA a lot late in the game. I’m really enjoying watching Nembhard play. Some Nembhard things I’m enjoying…

  1. Playing with his chest and staying down on SGA.
  2. Chippy with SGA
  3. Lots of ball handling as Dort takes away from what Haliburton is able to do.

Reasons for loss:

  1. Turner went 0-6 from 3. Overall 30% from three not great.
  2. No big scoring game from anyone.
  3. Worried OKC went 3-16 from 3 and won. Got beat 24 on the three point line and won.
  4. Guess I’d say winning at the line by 9 was a major difference. OKC shot 89.5% to Pacers 75.8.
  5. Pacers up 4 with 3:20 to go when SGA hit a three to cut to 1. The Pacers didn’t make a basket after that. They fouled before the ball was inbounded twice. They missed free throws. SGA made shots and free throws. Ball game!

How are you feeling about the Pacers for Monday ?

Some Pacers vs. Thunder statistical trivia…

  1. Who leads Thunder and Pacers in minutes? SGA 158 and Haliburton at 146
  2. Both teams rebounding? Holmgren 37 and Siakam 31, Haliburton 23
  3. Steals? SGA and Caruso with 10. McConnell with 8
  4. Three pointers made: Dort 11 and Caruso 8. Haliburton and Nesmith 10.

Eight Pacers are averaging 9.5 points or more. Can you put them in order?

  1. Siakam 18.8
  2. Haliburton 17.8
  3. Mathurin 13.5
  4. Turner 13.0
  5. Toppin 11.3
  6. Nembhard 10.8
  7. Nesmith 9.8
  8. McConnell 9.5

Anne recommends @C2_Cooper on Pacers Basketball.

Asheville and Switzerland Recommendations:

Anne gives her Switzerland recommendations while I give mine for Asheville.

Lauterbrunnen Valley from Anne’s balcony in Wengen

My friend Klop is going to Asheville with his wife. My wife Megan and I are meeting them for a day:

Two of my favorite areas don’t seem to be open for business. Riverside Drive southwest of downtown. Wedge Brewery, a place where you could pull your kayak up to the riverbank and walk over to relax. Also the Salvage Station further up on Riverside and then Ledges Whitewater Park. We once rafted the entire length of the French Broad River and made a film about it:

We rafted the length of the French Broad River (in sections) as a Family

First, a word on the Biltmore Estate: click here for information. Tickets start at $80. $299 for a pass. (looks like they have the flex pricing) Have to pick a time slot.

Downtown Asheville: 

Parking is tight. I used to park for free on N French Broad near Bee Thai Kitchen (which was really good!) and walk north into town. The Wall Street Garage by the Grove Arcade is a good pay to park spot. The Grove Arcade is a building with a bunch of shops in it and the Wall Street Garage is across from it. 

Interesting to think about how to tell Klop where to go. Do I order things by restaurants and breweries or by what part of town?

Some places downtown that if you walk to these you’ll see some good stuff on the way: 

  1. Battery Park Avenue / Grove Arcade. Malaprop’s bookstore on Walnut then walk down the hill on walnut. Lexington St. both ways lots of stuff. 
  2. College Street intersects with Lexington and lots of stuff. It does not go to UNC Asheville and UNCA is not worth seeing. Maybe more on that later. 
  3. I don’t recommend Tupelo Honey (crowded, expensive) but everyone tries to go there. It’s near Patton and College and they have regular drum circles there and there is often wild stuff going on there. That square is interesting. 
  4. Walking South on Biltmore (it would eventually go to Biltmore) is Wicked Weed which is a great place to sit outside and people watch and then further south Green Man Brewery. Between those two places is the “Orange Peel” which often has good music. 
  5. Asheville Brewing on Coxe (there are two and the other one has a movie theater by college) is close to downtown but not walkable. Lots of cool stuff around there. 
  6. There are the Asheville Tourists. I would not use my time in AVL to go to baseball but you might! LOL. Megan worked there, I think in her 20’s, and spilled a tray of beers on quarter beer night. She just walked out and never went back.  

My favorite hikes somewhat close to Asheville…

  1. Craggy Gardens is the best view we can think of. It is only 1 mile hike. A bit of a drive on Parkway. I have seen bears driving there. 
  2. Graveyard Fields. Off the Parkway. Waterfall down in the valley along the stream. 
  3. Dupont State Forest. The hike isn’t that great but you get to Bridal Veil Falls. The Last of the Mohicans was filmed there. You can walk behind the waterfall. If you go there, check out the small town of Brevard. 
  4. Other cool towns close: Black Mountain. Hendersonville.

Rafting:  Blue Heron Rafting is very good. It’s north of town. Do section 9. 

Grove Park Inn:  Click on the link and look at the view from the restaurant.Best view in Asheville. Presidents including Obama have stayed there. I can’t remember but you might have to pay to park. At least walk around, read the plaques, and have a drink at the bar. Less casual than other places I’ve mentioned. Polo shirt and khaki shorts probably right Klop attire. 

New Belgium Brewery: On the French Broad River. Not too far from downtown. High up on the bank of the river. I really like it and I really liked all the little breweries on the other side of the river that are no longer open. Click here.

West Asheville: Hipster area at Haywood Road and 240. The Admiral is there and that area around there. I made a documentary about Christopher’s Garden in West Asheville but it isn’t there anymore.  

South Asheville: Sierra Nevada Taproom. Click here. My family loves it. It’s huge. Kind of “polished” for me but a really nice outdoor space in back. Live music sometimes. The Baby Bull on the other side of the river looks cool. 

Two places I like to eat not sure where to put them: Rocky’s Hot Chicken. Several locations. White Duck Taco several locations.

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Knicks Pacers, Indiana Fever, Mission Impossible, and Ted Lasso Season Three, Episode 11

We talk Knicks-Pacers series, give report on the Indiana Fever, Mission Impossible Final Reckoning, and talk second chances from Ted Lasso Season 3, Episode 11 on this edition of the Torg Stories Podcast.

You can click on the audio player above to listen to the episode, or you can watch it on YouTube at the link below:

The Pacers have a 2-0 lead at the time of the recording. Anne, what has been the keys?

  1. Balanced attack, more scorers than the Knicks that can lead to Nesmith going 8-9 from 3 and Siakam scoring 39 in game 2.
  2. Haliburton has some Harden in him in that he’s a hub that can spray the ball around everywhere and put pressure on the defense with his pace and vision.
  3. Timely shooting: Brunson and Kat were great but big misses late while Haliburton and Nesmith hit huge shots.

Report on the Fever:

  1. Off to a 2-2 start. Hammered the Sky and Clark and Reese got into it. Lost by 1 and had a chance to win it on the final play vs. Atlanta. Came back and beat the Dream in Atlanta. Lost by 2 after blowing a 12 point lead in the second half to the Liberty. Clark had the ball with a chance to tie or win at the buzzer.
  2. Noticeably harder for Clark to get a good three point look. She’s Curry from a standpoint of how defenses are playing her. No three vs. Atlanta in win. She missed 12 threes in a row before hitting one and getting fouled in the 3rd quarter vs. Liberty. Then hit one at the buzzer to end the third.
  3. Clark draws so much attention. People are open. Elite vision and ability to deliver, especially in setting pace. Kelsey Mitchell really benefitting. Still getting a lot done finishing and in mid range.
  4. Fever are more active on defense. Vision and hands on balls.
  5. Outscored Liberty 30-13 in third quarter.
  6. Looks like a group that roots for each other.
  7. The rotation of Howard, Boston, and Bonner among the post looks really good. Cunningham coming through the two and three spots good as well.
  8. The offense ends of games. Need actions, 1v1 can be tough vs players like Jones.

Three of the new Fever players and what they bring:

  1. Sophie Cunningham: mix it up defensive mentality, shooting, enthusiasm talking leader
  2. Natasha Howard – upgraded inside scoring punch, wanting her own shot for a Fever player more than I’m used to. I’m hopeful.
  3. Dewanna Bonner – length on defensive, championship experience, I’m assuming a good relationship with the coach

We both went to see Mission Impossible Final Reckoning:

  1. Let’s talk about what the theaters were like. I went to the AMC in Johnson City, TN.
  2. $20 for a ticket. Tom Cruise hangs off two planes. Really can I ask for more than that?
  3. We hear from Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise before the movie starts.
  4. Too much talking. Too much tech talking.
  5. Best part from Cruise escaping the underwater sub to the end.
  6. Dislikes: exposition for us as viewers. The action along with more natural dialogue should show us. 25 minutes of previews plus 2hrs and 50 mins of movie is a long time to be in the theater.
  7. Likes: music, Tom in shape, familiar characters, guy in charge of Navy sub, listening station couple and their dogs, the underwater scene, the lady who sticks the pen in Benji’s chest, Cruise and the planes

Ted Lasso: There’s only 1 more episode! Season 3, Episode 11 Discussion Questions:

  1. Why does Nate’s girlfriend Jade act like she does, for example disappearing. Let’s assess what Nate did. Let’s talk about if we bring him back.
  2. What’s Ted’s deal with Ted and his mom? Ted doesn’t seem to want his mom around. Then let’s walk through our mom showing up. She tells him his son misses him. Ted is scared to get close to him because he knows he’s going to leave.
  3. What’s wrong with Jamie? Where are my wings, Roy? Return game. Roy and Keeley follow Jamie to his childhood home. Now that he doesn’t hate his dad, he is lacking for motivation.
  4. What’s with the Wizard of Oz? We get Ted playing a Wizard of Oz pinball machine. We get “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in a Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks movie. Is it, You’ve Got Mail?
  5. There is a town called Tooting. Some weird town names you can think of? French Lick, Chili which is right by Denver, Mexico, and Peru. Santa Claus. You like Seven Devils, North Carolina. We went to Duck. There’s a Bat Cave. Meat Camp is in the same Watauga County I live in.

Memorable Quotes from this Episode of Ted Lasso. We’ll see if Anne can tell us who said it about what:

  1. Shouting is Roy’s love language. -Trent Crimm when Roy calls Jaimie into the boot room
  2. Your mom and dad F you up. They don’t mean to, but they do. They fill you up with the faults they had and they add some extra just for you. -Mae to Ted in the pub about his mom coming for a visit.
  3. I’ve literally never thought about work after work. It’s weird how good of a waiter you are. -Jade to Nate about how he is always trying to be good at what he is doing.
  4. Hurt people hurt people. -Ted to Jamie talking about his dad and Freddy Krueger
  5. I hope that either all of us or none of us are judged by our weakest moments, but rather by the strength we show whether and if we are given a second chance.-Ted to Beard about judging Nate for ripping up the sign.
  6. Your son misses you. -Ted’s mom to him
  7. All we can do is keep playing. -Ted’s mom again, about being a parent
  8. No truth bomb this year. – Rebecca to Ted

Thanks for checking out this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!