Noblesville Boom have new arena but same fun basketball

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. – There were hundreds, possibly a thousand, fans at The Arena at Innovation Mile on Tuesday for the Noblesville Boom's first scrimmage in their new home. The Boom, the G League affiliate franchise for the Indiana Pacers, have relocated to the arena after spending 16 years in Fort Wayne (2007-2023) then the last two years playing in Gainbridge Fieldhouse downtown.

The number of fans for a scrimmage that lasted for all of 43 minutes was impressive. To those who attended some of the games in downtown Indy, it was a sight to see. Because of scheduling conflicts and general G League challenges, many then-Mad Ants games were played at odd times, including often in the middle of the day. The crowd was small – a decent percentage of the onlookers were Pacers Sports & Entertainment staffers.

On Tuesday, that was far from true. There were tons of fans for a scrimmage that doesn't even count for the standings. The arena, debuting, was fresh and vibrant. It was a fitting environment for G League basketball.

"This right here is amazing," Boom head coach Tom Hankins said to the crowd prior to tipoff. "It's going to be an amazing year. If you haven't seen a G League game before, it is wild and crazy. Exciting."

The new home base for the Boom, just a few minutes off of I-69 in Noblesville, is modern and has a ton of open space. The colors of the court pop when contrasted with the rest of the arena. It's a clean look.

The new mascot, Bobby the Bobcat, will take some getting used to but has excellent Indiana meanings: Ryan Grant, president of business operations for the Noblesville Boom, explained that Bobcats are one of the few wildcats native to the Hoosier state. The name Bobby is a nod to the great Bobby "Slick" Leonard, and his iconic "Boom, Baby!" call is what inspired the team name. It all fits.

In the press release explaining Bobby's details, there exists a note that says the new Boom mascot is actually a cousin of the Pacers mascot, Boomer.

Anyway, let's talk about the basketball. The team was introduced to the crowd one-by-one for the scrimmage, with local legend Kyle Guy getting a slightly-bigger roar than the rest of the squad. Notably absent from the intrasquad battle was all of the Pacers two-way players (the NBA club needs them right now due to injuries) and Ray Spalding. Spalding was acquired by Noblesville in a trade in October but isn't with the team at this time.

While the two-way players didn't participate, both Taelon Peter and RayJ Dennis did attend the game. Dennis, of course, played for the Mad Ants last season and would have been the only returning player in the action. Quenton Jackson suffered a hamstring injury the night before and was not in attendance.

The two squads could not have felt more opposite. The blue squad, which featured Pacers training camp and preseason participant Gabe McGlothan, had more size and power – they dominated the glass. But their scoring efforts were more spread out, and they had better point guard play.

They lost the game, though, because the firepower on the white team was simply too much. Even with fewer natural setup men and size, the trio of Kyle Guy, Cameron Hildreth, and Pacers training camp plus preseason participant Jalen Slawson were too much. Those three combined for 42 points, which would have been enough to win without any other scoring contributions.

I had some impression of McGlothan and Slawson from Pacers action – McGlothan continues to be decent at everything but putting the ball in the basket – but basically knew nothing of the other players. I do have some notes from the scrimmage:

1. Cameron Hildreth has my attention. He had 17 points on 5/7 shooting and looked comfortable getting off basically any shot. His control of the game simply as a scorer was impressive. He's a rookie who spent three seasons playing for Wake Forest, and he scored nearly 14 points per game last season in college. I'm intrigued, but he missed the Boom's season opener with an injury.
2. Sterling Manley is a big, powerful dude. He pulled in a few rebounds that were "Yeah, nobody else has a chance," rebounds and got hacked a few times. His size stood out, but he was one of the team's cuts to finalize their roster.
3. Kyle Guy is still good. He's played in 50 NBA games this decade, so it shouldn't be all that surprising. Guy received an Exhibit 10 deal from the Pacers and hung 34 points on Barcelona in 2024 – he should be one of the best players on the team. The scrimmage proved it.
4. MJ Iraldi made many interesting plays on both ends of the court. His defense and ball handling are both crafty, and he ended up making the team after a tryout (as did Hildreth).

The Boom waived Manley, along with Ahmaad Rorie, Issac McBride, Ithiel Horton, and Ben Coupet, Jr. to finalize their roster ahead of the season. Coupet Jr. was their first-round pick in the recent G League draft while Rorie was a second-route selection. The team added Horton that night, too. But it's a tough business.

Coupet Jr. was re-acquired from the available player pool two days later, though, as the Boom needed an emergency player for their opening game in Grand Rapids against the Gold. Hildreth suffered a back injury during morning shootaround the day of the game and wasn't available – Noblesville needed another player to have eight active for the action.

Of the Boom's 13 announced players from their opening night roster, the three two-way players were unavailable because they are with the NBA group. Manley and Hildreth were down, too, and Samson Johnson is also injured. They needed Coupet Jr. back to have eight players.

Despite the limited personnel, the Boom erased a 19-point halftime deficit to take a fourth-quarter lead. That's the G League for you. They ultimately fell 130-124 against the Gold, the team they'll host for their home opener tonight.

In their first game, Slawson was terrific with 31 points and several important threes. Guy finished with 24 points and DaJuan Gordon filled up the stat sheet, contributing 16 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists.

Many missed threes and layups buried the Boom late. Grand Rapids converted a dagger dunk in the final seconds – it came from Denver Nuggets 2024 first-round pick DaRon Holmes II.

The Boom home opener, and their debut in Noblesville, is tonight. My opinion: you should go to a Boom game if you can. G League games are much cheaper than NBA action, but the basketball is still played at a high level. It's a family-friendly experience, and you still very often get to see good NBA talent (like Holmes II, and the Pacers will assign players when they can). The new arena makes it worth a trip.

More photos from The Arena at Innovation Mile

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