Musings of an Old Sportwriter

Is Haliburton's benching good for him? Why won't the Star free up Gregg Doyel to cover the Fever once again? What's Nick Cross thinking? (Trick question. He wasn't thinking.) Those questions and more.

I’m sure Tyrese Haliburton is frustrated or at least disappointed he’s no longer a part of the U.S. Olympic basketball team’s rotation, sitting on the bench and cheering on his teammates, but I’m also sure of this, too:

It’s going to be good for him.

And good for the Indiana Pacers.

It’s not like he didn’t know this earlier, but he clearly needs to get stronger this offseason and become a more solid defensive player. For all his offensive gifts, and they are numerous, the truth is, the Pacers have to hide him on defense. He’s fine off the ball, getting into passing lanes, but as an on-ball defender, he is lacking. Consider this a lesson learned for one of the youngest players on the Olympic squad. This won’t be Haliburton’s one and only Olympic opportunity, but heading into next season, he now understands he must be a better defensive player if he wants to become elite. A little humility isn’t a bad thing, necessarily. And now he has something more to prove.

• It amazes me how many Hoosiers are going to walk away from these Paris Olympics with so many medals. Heading into this weekend, athletes from Indiana had won 15 medals, which, if we were a country, would rank our state 12^th among countries in the medal count. We’re right there with Canada, for crying out loud. And it’s not like it’s some anomaly. Indiana routinely stands near the top of the U.S. leader board in Olympians per capita, quadrennial after quadrennial.