Alex Golden

June 16, 2022, 8:03 p.m. by Christian Needler President

Alex Golden should be your go-to guy if you are a Pacers fan. Between his writing for PacersTalk.net and his hosting duties on the Setting the Pace podcast, he has every angle covered on Indiana's NBA squad.
Alex was nice enough to talk Pacers and, of course, pizza with us. Check out our Q&A below and make sure you keep up with Alex for all things Pacers!

1. Due to some injuries, rookie Goga Bitazde has gotten more playing time than expected early this season. He's raw, but (having played professionally overseas since he was 16 years old) he's raw in a different way than most NBA 20-year-old rookies. We know it is VERY early in his career, but what do you like about Goga so far and, if forced to guess, what do you think his ceiling might look like as an NBA player?
I am highly intrigued by the potential of Bitadze. Offensively, he is ahead of the curve, but defensively he has struggled. I personally think Goga's ceiling is high, and after a few years in the league - he will be the Pacers' best bench player. He needs to work on a lot of the minor things and I think he will improve in those areas.

2. Most of the Pacers fans in our club are split 50-50 on whether or not they like Nate McMillan as head coach of the Pacers. We won't ask you to take a side, but what do you consider to be McMillan's strengths and weaknesses as a head coach?
Nate plays a slower pace than the rest of the league. It can be dreadful to watch at times, but overall - I think he runs an offense that is efficient. He tries to run sets that get his players in the right spot, but sometimes the offense gets clunky. Defensively, the Pacers coaching staff is really strong. This is Dan Burke's baby, but McMillan still has a say in it. They are usually disciplined on that area of the court, and I think it's McMillan's best strength. Overall, I think there are flaws in his style of coaching, but he has won a lot of regular season games with a team that wasn't predicted to win as many as they did. I don't believe he is the coach to get this team deep into the playoffs - so I guess we will see.

3. We're gonna assume you like pizza and ask what are some of your favorite places to get pizza in Indiana? Also, what kinds of toppings do you like to get on your pizzas?
Absolutely love pizza! My favorite local pizza is Jockamo's Pizza! Every time my wife and I go there, we get the delicious Cheese Louise...if you haven't had it, you must try it. I also love The Quatro at Bazbeaux's, it's my second favorite pizza. If I am going for a quick pizza, I love Hot Box. The national Papa John's, Pizza Hut and Domino's are just kind of blah to me. I am a meat lovers kind of guy as far as toppings go. I like Bacon more than sausage on my pizza, but pepperoni is always a must for me. Ricotta cheese is so good on pizza too. Some people don't care for it, but I absolutely love it.

4. Stick with us on this one - If the Pacers starting lineup listed below was a pizza, name what topping each player would be.
- Oladipo - Pepperoni (Personally, Pepperoni is my favorite topping and the star of the pizza. Oladipo is our star and my favorite Pacer to watch) - Turner - Pineapple (Ponytail Myles and the shape of a pineapple share a unique resemblance) - Sabonis - Bacon (It's not the go-to pizza topping for the majority of people, but you are always happy when you see a pizza with bacon on it. Similar to when the Pacers play. Sabonis isn't the star, but he is a GREAT sidekick) - Brogdon - Sausage (Sausage is a solid second option to pepperoni. Some prefer it over pepperoni, but this is my list) - Warren - Onion (onions are a solid sidekick topping that adds flavor. But if all you get is onion in your bite, you're highly disappointed.)
5. If you could have a pizza dinner with any three professional basketball players (past or present), who would you choose to eat a pizza dinner with and why?
- Larry Bird - Bird for obvious reasons. One of the greatest players to ever play the game and his role with the Pacers as a coach and in the front office would be intriguing to me. - Reggie Miller - If you're a lifelong Pacers fan, it would be a dream come true to have dinner with the greatest player in franchise history. I would love to just hear stories and reminisce on the glory days. - Kawhi Leonard - So this might throw some people for a curve here, but I just find Kawhi to be so fascinating. He is the quietest superstar I have ever seen, and I feel like he would be so much fun to talk to. I feel like if I get to see the personal side of him I might like him even more. He is my favorite non-Pacer player currently, but I know Pacers fans don't like to talk about Kawhi Leonard.