STEUBEN COUNTY, Ind. (WPTA) – Indiana Conservation Officers confirm with 21Alive News that a shooting investigation is underway at Pokagon State Park.

We’re told officers were called to the park at 10:45 Saturday night with reports of a shooting after a verbal argument between two men.

When they arrived, they found one man shot in the leg. They say he was taken to a Fort Wayne Hospital in an ambulance.

They also say they arrested one man in connection to the shooting.

Officers say several people were at the park to watch the fireworks at the time of the shooting. We’re told a nine-year-old child was grazed by a bullet fragment.

This shooting remains under investigation.

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INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers officially signed center James Wiseman on Friday, a move that was necessitated by the reported departure of Jalen Smith. The blue and gold needed a big man, and they got one in Wiseman.

It’s a fascinating signing, and one that is a no-risk, high reward deal for the Pacers. Wiseman was the second overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and was considered a high-upside big man at the time. So far, that hasn’t come to fruition. But if anyone can turn his fortunes, it’s Indiana.

The blue and gold have improved as a team in the last three years in large part because of their ability to develop players who weren’t panning out elsewhere. Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin, Jalen Smith, Tyrese Haliburton, and Jordan Nwora all came to Indiana from other places where they either didn’t fit perfectly, didn’t play, or weren’t in the long-term plans. They all got better with the Pacers.

“The most rewarding part of this job has been the player development aspect of it,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said in late May. “When you’re a small market team, there are certain things you’ve got to be great at. You’ve got to be great at player development.”

Another commonality among those players is they were all drafted in 2020. That’s more of a coincidence than anything, but that applies to Wiseman as well. The Pacers new center, along with Haliburton, Nesmith, Toppin, and Smith were all selected in the lottery of that draft.

Wiseman will hope that Indiana can help him find his footing in the NBA. With the Golden State Warriors, he was given chances to play but wasn’t effective or on the team’s timeline. He also missed an entire season due to injury, and he was traded to the Detroit Pistons at the 2023 trade deadline for several second-round draft picks.

With the Pistons, Wiseman struggled. He was out of the rotation early in the most recent campaign. Along the way, there were flashes — Wiseman’s size and speed gave him incredible highs. But his defense, turnovers, and lack of range are limiting.

Wiseman’s contract reflects a player has yet to put it all together. It’s a two-year deal, and the fact that it was signed before the moratorium was complete confirms it’s a minimum salary deal. It is partially guaranteed in the first season, and there’s a team option on year two. There’s almost no risk for the Pacers.

Yet there is upside, certainly, and the fact that Indiana signed Wiseman at all is reflective of their belief that he could turn into something over the life of the deal. The blue and gold are a contending team — they need their reserve players to produce when they are called upon. As the projected third center behind Myles Turner and Isaiah Jackson, Wiseman will play when injuries pop up. Indiana will need him to execute, and they wouldn’t have added him without some faith he can perform.

If he can’t help out, then he won’t play. Wiseman will have to get better as a pick-and-roll defender, a ball caretaker, and a jump shooter. His range is limited, and his defense needs work. The average distance of a Wiseman shot attempt last season was under five feet, and Detroit’s defense was about 3.7 points per 100 possessions worse with Wiseman on the court. He has room to improve around his impressive rebounding and play finishing.

Certain players have seen their skills grow at these traits with the Pacers in recent seasons. Isaiah Jackson has improved as a defender, particularly with his discipline. Smith became a much better shooter with the blue and gold, as did Toppin and Nemsith. Nwora grew as a passer. Any of those improvements happening with Wiseman would be a welcome sight.

It would be a win for both parties. Wiseman needed to find a team that could help him get better and increase his chances of having a long NBA career. The Pacers hope they can turn a young, unproven player into a cheap contributor. Both groups really want this partnership to work.

That’s why it makes sense as a signing, especially if Wiseman is able to get better over the life of the deal. Indiana needs him to produce, but if he does, this agreement will be a win-win as Wiseman bets on himself with a lightly guaranteed contract.

There have been some deep lows and incredible highs. The Fever were 1-8 to start this season, and many of their early losses were ugly blowouts. They have nine defeats by 10+ points so far, including five by 19+ points. But at the same time, they have won seven of their last 12 games. Their stars have gelled, and they just got a signature win on the road over the Phoenix Mercury last weekend. It’s hard to get a read on the team.

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The most recent stretch for Indiana was much better than their opening portion of the season, and their schedule played a part. Now, the team is 8-13 through the first half (and one game) of the 2024 campaign, giving us a natural moment to check in on the bigger picture.

The Indiana Fever currently have a 38.1% win percentage, which would become a 15 or 16-win team over the course of the 40-game season. The first half of their schedule, in terms of opponent quality, was more difficult than their second half. But they have been fairly healthy this season. For reference, last year’s Fever group went 13-27, and the final playoff seed finished 18-22.

Advanced stats show a team that has obvious strengths and weaknesses. Indiana is seventh in offensive rating this season, including third in the month of June. They can score as well as anyone and have many players capable of stepping up offensively any night. Defensively, they have been atrocious. They currently hold the worst defensive rating in the league — a clear area of focus entering the season. In June, they were a bit better on the less glamorous end of the floor. But they still finished 10th in defense and only surpassed the lowly Dallas Wings and Los Angeles Sparks.

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It’s clear what the team has been so far — they hope to outscore their opponent. Head coach Christie Sides shared as much when asked to assess her team at the halfway point of the 2024 campaign.

“Probably the thing that I’ve been the most proud of is just how we’ve improved on the offensive end. I mean, we’ve crept up, and we’re sitting in a pretty good spot, about halfway in most of the offensive categories,” the head coach said earlier this week. “And I think that will continue to get better.”

But Sides thinks the focus for the second half of the season has to be defense. She isn’t alone in that thinking — it’s clear for any observer of the team. The results show it perfectly: Indiana is 8-0 when they allow under 84 points and 0-13 when they concede 85+.

“I feel like after the break, during the All-Star break, we’ll have time to really focus more on the defensive end. You know, not forget about [offense] — we’re going to work on that offensive end — But just that defensive end where we can work on [adding] some things to our tool box that we can do during games that we haven’t had time to really work on,” Sides said.

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The team hoped to be better on defense this season. It was their biggest need for growth entering the campaign after finishing 11th in defensive rating in 2023. Young teams typically aren’t good on defense, but the Indiana Fever hoped to break that trend somewhat.

“I think that’s going to be our thing. Coach has emphasized that a lot. Just being able to be in the gaps, being able to contest,” All-Star center Aliyah Boston said before the season of getting stops.

Instead, that hasn’t happened. The Fever’s ability to reach the postseason may come down to their ability to slow down strong opponents. They know that points come easy. Even against talented opposition, Indiana can put a big number on the scoreboard. But it hasn’t mattered with their inability to guard.

Yet they’ve stayed afloat despite some challenging obstacles in the first half of the season. They are just half a game out of seventh place. And the reasons the team has gotten better are why the group believes the second half of the season will be better than the first.

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Chemistry has mattered, and the Fever roster has grown close through their many challenges. “I think that we’ve made strides in a lot of different areas that not a lot of people can appreciate. I think us as a group, everybody had expectations of this group. Everybody had their do’s and don’ts,” All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell said of the team and their first half of the season. She has been a veteran leader for the younger squad.

“‘What can we do? What can’t we do?’. I think that us 12 did a really good job from game to game, learning each other as best as we possibly could and respecting each other as much as we possibly could and built a good culture,” Mitchell continued. “At game 21, we’ve made really big strides in that area, and it contributes to us winning.”

The second half of Indiana’s season will be defined by their ability to keep sticking together and getting better, as Mitchell highlighted. With how tight the playoff race is, they can hardly afford any poor stretches in the final 19 games.

Can Indiana improve on defense without stepping back on the offensive end? Or will getting stops come in spite of their talented attack? That balance will be key. It’s natural to think a young team that is learning how to win will be better going forward. But that type of roster can be inconsistent, and the Circle City’s team doesn’t have room for that.

What will that amount to? The results will be telling. The Fever have five more games before the Olympic break — which means practice time. How they fare in that stretch will be important, as will their level in mid-August. If they can defend better, they should be among the eight best teams in the WNBA. But will it be enough to earn a playoff berth? That’s what the last stretch of the season will be about for the Indiana Fever, who haven’t reached the postseason since 2016.

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