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2006 off-season evaluation part 7

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  • 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

    The management:

    Right now we have two people in charge of running the basketball operations of the Indiana Pacers. Donnie Walsh & Larry Bird. Although Bird has the title of being in charge of basketball operations he made it very clear in the post season interview, which many of us have known all along anyway, that Donnie Walsh was his boss & he had to report to him.

    Take that however you want but for some of us it still means the product on the floor is at the very least something the Walsh approves of.

    Let's look at each of them starting with Bird.

    The Good: He say's the right things & as we all know he has a kick butt take no crap attitude. At least he makes it appear that way (we'll talk more about this below). He seems to have an idea of what he wants on the floor & does not seem to be afraid to criticize his coach for not playing the players or the style he wants. He still has some pull with the players because of who he was on the floor & he seems to have the respect of the league office.

    The bad: The kick butt take no crap attitude may all be a facade. There is just no way to know this yet so that is why I listed it in both sections. He may very well have been willing to jettison the jackass off of our team last season but was stopped from above. Then again maybe he wasn't ready. All we are getting now is the afterthoughts of these guys so who knows. He has already proven to be to slow to take some definitive action with the team. I say that because it was apperant to almost anybody that by the end of February that Carlisle had lost the team & it was apperant that maybe some of the team were trying to get Rick fired. Bird should have either fired Carlisle (which he wasn't going to do) or he should have given the "your not going to get the coach fired" speech right there & then instead of waiting till there was just a couple of weeks left in the regular season.

    He has stated that he will take more of a hands on role next season. I ask why? Why does he think he needs to? Conversely why did he wait till next season to do it? This ship was falling apart early last season & Larry decided to tour Europe. We have scouts for that job so when the ship was rocking back & forth why was he not right back over here to try & stabilize it?

    The outlook: Who knows. I don't think we will ever truely know what Larry Bird will be like or want until Donnie Walsh is gone. It may be great or it may suck but there is just no way to know.

    Donnie Walsh:

    The Good: Stepped up (finally) & took care of Ron. I know he had no problem in doing it but in reality it should have been Bird over here taking the heat for Ron? Beyond that the list of good for Walsh is long so I will name a few & I'm sure others will add to this. Good manager of business, loyal to his players, liked by agents, respected by league office, decent eye for talent, etc., etc.

    The Bad: I will do my best here to be fair & non-biased. He is conservative to a fault (I don't even think his largest supporters can deny this), he sometimes over pays our players to much. The big one though is he stood by (well he actually participated in) while our franchise was being taken over by very talented yet very mentally unstable players. He rarel makes player moves unless it is forced upon him.

    I'll stop because I think that is enough coming from me, if anybody else wants to add feel free.

    The outlook: This supposedly his last season, I don't know if it is or if it is not. His legacy in Indiana is intact & in fact has been since about the 1989 season. There are still so many people around that remember not making the playoffs that making the playoffs has become the end all be all of the team. So therefor the WalshWarriors will always hold him in high regard. I think he will help guide Bird through this season & then maybe he will slip off into retirement. But as long as he is around he will still hold the trump cards.

    Overall:

    It's time for one or the other. We have to many people with to many ideas on how this team should be run. The owners may not want to pay Rick & another coach & it is obvious that Rick & Larry do not agree on how the team should play or who should be playing in what position.

    This creats conflict & it sets up for another unstable season to come, IMO. I think the Simons need to just bite the bullit (as they have so many other times during the Walsh years) & let them fire the coach. Having a coach who has a guranteed job yet no extension just makes it so that the players are in limbo again. This is the last thing we need.

    I know that Larry & Donnie supposedly have this symbiotic relationship & that is all well & good. But as Bob Marley used to say "one voice".

    I think it's finally time to make the full fledged change over to Bird. I may or may not like what he is going to do but I think one voice is what is going to be required to right this ship.


    Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

  • #2
    Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

    Originally posted by Peck
    I think it's finally time to make the full fledged change over to Bird.


    That is all.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

      I have to agree that it either has to be Larry or Donnie running the ship, not a combination of both of them.

      I think we are seeing that the combination isn't working. It really isn't all there fault that this team has played the way it has the past 2 years, but I think if both of these guys are making basketball decisions this thing won't get any better. I say this because everyone has their own vision of how a team should play, I think we need to let one or the other make this team into their own vision.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

        Change is going to hurt I fear.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

          Originally posted by Gamble
          Change is going to hurt I fear.

          Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
          Turn and face the strange ch-ch-changes...

          When you are through changing, you are through.
          ~Bruce Barton

          It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. ~Author unknown

          There's as much risk in doing nothing as in doing something.
          - Trammell Crow

          We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
          - Albert Einstein


          The point regarding one or the other is a valid one, though. I can only imagine the times certain decisions could not be made or were postponed one way or another due to opposing views.



          GM by committee is never a good long term solution.

          Why Not Us ?

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

            I fear commenting here because I know who is lurking.

            But alas - here I am - making this mistake.

            Maybe we could change from One Goal to One Voice. And I do think that as much as I despise Bird - I think the fact that DW is a short timer means it is time to bow out. BUT I can also see the argument in that he deserves one more year to right the ship before he sails off.

            I am not a DW fan - never have been. But I will take it to my grave that he was on the right side of the Artest trade situation and he would have chosen Maggette. Too many things point to this - the most being that he is younger and locked up. DW does not like to take chances - the rent-a-player route is not his thing.

            I also agree with Peck - it sure seemed like Bird ran away from the Artest issue and perhaps could have even made it more tolerable (could he have smoothed it over enough so he could have played while we shopped him - we will never know). Basically - I lost a lot of respect for him in the weeks he was backpacking through Europe.

            The Carlisle situation is at best messy, at worst a mess. I think you need to turn the page and get a fresh voice in there. Until you do - you are just extending the failed run of the current group. What baffles my mind is - a) who wants to keep him between Bird and DW and b) are the Simons so cheap that they can't pay the guy for a year to go away? The seats they sell would more than make up for it. No one comes top watch a coach coach - but I do believe people are staying away because they do not like Rick's system.

            I am left not knowing where the franchise is or where it is going. I sure hope that feeling isn't the same one in the Conseco offices... but I wonder.
            Heywoode says... work hard man.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

              It is imperative that this franchise gets back to "One voice" - I like that...

              And right now I think that voice should be Kiki Vandeweghe's.

              I'll be the first to stand up and salute DW for saving us from perennial lottery appearances. I also think he's underestimated Pacers' fans patience - there were only 4,000 fans per game in the 1980s because the team had no direction at all, and his cautious nature has resulted in a team that is consistently good, and occasionally great, but never really all that close to being a champion.

              A trip to the lottery and then back up (with a plan, of course) might've been painful short term but would have reaped more dividends long term than the current "fall in love with mismatched talent" strategy.

              Like Doug, my dislike of Mr. Bird is no secret. If he actually takes over the leadership of this team I'll probably be on suicide watch. (I'll still believe it when I see it - how much longer does everyone think Ainge will last in Boston? You know they're eventually going to make Bird an offer he can't refuse and then we'll read heartfelt, touching stories of that reunion and how much he's missed being a part of the Celtics... and remember I don't like the Green Guys.)
              Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
              Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
              Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
              Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
              And life itself, rushing over me
              Life itself, the wind in black elms,
              Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

                Originally posted by grace


                That is all.


                Before anybody actually thinks I want Bird to be the man in charge I wanted to clerify this.

                I have no particular interest in him being here. Like many of you I was at those 80's Pacers/Celtics games in the 80's so I know how you feel.

                However, just like I had to do when he was the coach, I have learned to live with it.

                I make no seceret about the fact that I have never been a big Walsh fan so I'm willing to go a differant direction, if for no other reason than to prove me wrong.

                But I think Bird on his own will be vastly differant than Bird under Walsh. My only real concern is what will Birds relationship be with the Simons?


                Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

                  Originally posted by Peck

                  I know that Larry & Donnie supposedly have this symbiotic relationship & that is all well & good. But as Bob Marley used to say "one voice".

                  I think it's finally time to make the full fledged change over to Bird. I may or may not like what he is going to do but I think one voice is what is going to be required to right this ship.

                  The below is from the Star's Q & A with Donnie Walsh. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl.../1088/SPORTS04

                  Q: Larry said he feels he needs to take a greater role in the organization. Will there be a change this summer in how you two handle personnel decisions?

                  A: Walsh} I'm looking to him to go out and identify what we need to do with the team. Identify the players he thinks would be good for our team. I'm here to help him in any way I can. That's how we've been doing things.

                  But I don't think he was talking about that. I think he was saying he needs to go down and be closer to the players and put his imprint on it. He's been there (as a player and coach). As a general manager or president, you're very hesitant to go down and start talking to the players too much, because then they stop listening to the coach. But he and Rick (Carlisle) have a history together, so it could work for those two.
                  -----

                  Who started this one voice stuff? I've read it before.

                  I can see where Bird and Carlisle are at odds, Bird has bluntly said so. Other than that I don't see a 'one voice' problem. As Walsh has said, Bird identifies the players he thinks would help the team, and he, Walsh, helps him any way he can. What's more Walsh says, "That's how we've been doing things."

                  This by the way is what I've been saying all along about their relationship.

                  As for who is quoted in the news, who cares? I've seen Walsh, Bird, Carlisle, and the Vice president speak for the Pacers.

                  EDIT; I do have some reservations about the type players Bird falls in love with, so I'm not sold on him, but that's a different topic.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

                    I think the fact that Bird was in Europe and took no leadership during the Artest situation gave the appearance of hiding
                    Heywoode says... work hard man.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

                      Originally posted by Frank Slade

                      Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
                      Turn and face the strange ch-ch-changes...

                      When you are through changing, you are through.
                      ~Bruce Barton

                      It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. ~Author unknown

                      There's as much risk in doing nothing as in doing something.
                      - Trammell Crow

                      We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
                      - Albert Einstein

                      "Bob Dylan once wrote, 'The times, they are a-changin.' Ron Burgundy had never heard that song."
                      Read my Pacers blog:
                      8points9seconds.com

                      Follow my twitter:

                      @8pts9secs

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

                        Next up, 2006 off-season evaluation part 8: conseco concession workers and janitorial staff.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

                          Originally posted by Leisure Suit Larry
                          Next up, 2006 off-season evaluation part 8: conseco concession workers and janitorial staff.
                          If Peck writes it I'll read it.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

                            Originally posted by Peck
                            But as Bob Marley used to say "one voice".
                            Wasn't that "1 love"? lol

                            anyway... I am scared of what Larry Bird will do without his mentor there to guide him. I seriously doubt that Larry will be able to fill Donnie's shoes and do what he has done here. Almost 20 years of running a very good basketball team. That is hard to top. I am thinking more along the lines of how long it will take before Larry Bird quits/gets fired after Donnie leaves. I say 4 years.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: 2006 off-season evaluation part 7

                              IMHO Donnie Walsh has been out of his comfort zone for a while now. We're ending up exactly where he tried to avoid by 'rebuilding on the fly'. Too many miscalculations.

                              I've wondered about a disconnect between coaches, Bird, and DW (and maybe the Simons) for some time. This team has a leadership void that runs straight thru the team and all the way to the top. There just doesn't seem to be a true 'The buck stops here' position.

                              The lunatics took over the asylum a long while ago. The comfort level that a player must feel as an Indiana Pacer must surely be amazing. The odds of a midseason trade are tiny unless a player WANTS traded and goes out of his way to demand it or show his displeasure. Even summer trades are rare without that set of circumstances.

                              One Goal... Hmmpf...

                              If Larry Bird wants to lay down the law and begin to demand certain things from these players, then GREAT. I say it's about time. But it can't be all talk.

                              Until DW moves on we're not going to know how Bird would run this organization. And teams aren't going to know who they should put on the speed dial to talk trades with the Pacers. One person needs the ultmate power and ultimate call. A vision must be dictated from the top... not spread out, watered down, and compromised.

                              -Bball
                              Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                              ------

                              "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                              -John Wooden

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