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Star: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

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  • #1

    Star: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

    http://www.indystar.com/article/2010...b-ahead-of-him

    IndyStar
    by Bob Kravitz (!)

    ----------------

    When Larry Bird played basketball, he was the king of clutch. One last possession, the ball in Larry Legend's hands, and you knew how it was going to end.Bird has one last possession as Pacers team president, one last year on his contract, one last chance to hit the winning shot that will turn this wayward franchise around.

    Beginning today, he has one year to finish the repair job he began the moment former personnel boss Donnie Walsh walked out the door. One year, 365 days, to show owner Herb Simon and anxious Pacers fans that his long-term vision will pay off in a team that has good, young assets and plenty of salary cap flexibility heading into the summer of 2011.

    Larry's To-Do List:

    Make a decision on his coach:

    You know my thoughts on Jim O'Brien. He's a good man who has been dealt a lousy hand. (And how smart was Orlando's Stan Van Gundy to turn down the Indiana job offer?) I'm not sure the combined talents of John Wooden, Phil Jackson and Red Auerbach would have turned these Pacers into playoff regulars.

    That said, I think Bird is ready to make a mistake by sticking with O'Brien for next season. What's happening in recent weeks is fool's gold -- as evidenced by the way the Magic toyed with the Pacers on Monday night. I go back to the listless way they played when the games mattered, and frankly, they looked like a group that went mentally south on their coach from the very start. Change for change's sake? Yeah, something like that.

    Trade T.J. Ford:

    Now. Tomorrow. Yesterday.

    He has a player option next year and he plans to use it. Heaven forbid he uses it here, making $8.5 million to sit on the bench.

    Everybody talks about how professionally Ford has handled his eternal demotion, but where was that professionalism when he was going through the motions earlier this season? Ford was given the starting job two seasons in a row, and both times, he handed it right back.

    When O'Brien was asked what he might do differently if given a coaching mulligan this season, he said, "I would have started Earl Watson from the very beginning.''

    Nothing against Tyler Hansbrough, but how good would point guards Eric Maynor, Ty Lawson or Jrue Holiday look right now in a Pacers uniform?

    As for A.J. Price, O'Brien views him as a nice backup down the road, but not as a starter.


    Hit a home run in the draft:

    It's time. It's past time. The Shawne Williams-James White draft was a complete washout. The Roy Hibbert-Brandon Rush draft has been decent, with a chance to be pretty good -- even if O'Brien has seen a lot more improvement in Rush than I have. The Hansbrough draft is a complete mystery; he'll be a rookie again next year. "It's going to be like having two lottery picks (this summer),'' O'Brien said.

    The Pacers have likely played their way out of a top-five pick -- they can't even win right -- but Bird has no margin of error. He must go deep on this one. He must get the steal of the draft, the way he did with Danny Granger.

    Sit tight and get maximum value in a deal for Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy:

    In theory, Bird could hasten the team's improvement and deal Murphy this summer for a young player and maybe a draft choice. Certainly, that would make O'Brien happy as he goes into the final year of his contract (assuming he's still coach). But Bird will have to weigh this summer's offers against what he thinks he can get if he waits until the February deadline.

    My thought is he'd do best to wait as various playoff teams compete for Murphy's services down the stretch -- even if that means another year without reaching the playoffs. He's going to be massively valuable, a double-double guy with an expiring contract. And if worse comes to worst, the Pacers can do nothing, let the contract expire and simply use that cash to chase free agents -- although there are no guarantees with free agency, and that's a risk Bird probably can't afford to take.

    Dunleavy? He has no value now after an injury-prone and inconsistent season. Bird has almost no chance to move him this summer, but come the trade deadline, he has another expiring contract he can use as an asset -- assuming Dunleavy has a good summer and returns to form.

    Same thing with Jeff Foster, who was foolishly given an extension through next year. If Foster is healthy, he has an expiring contract that can be moved.

    Bird has one year to get it right. The margin for error is gone. He has fired two coaches -- Isiah Thomas and Rick Carlisle -- and there are questions about his current coach. He has had less-than-ordinary success with free agents, including Sarunas Jasikevicius, Travis Diener and Dahntay Jones. He has made some questionable decisions, like re-signing Foster when his body was betraying him. He has been merely OK in the draft. He has been a mixed bag on trades, doing well to get rid of Jermaine O'Neal, but missing on the acquisition on Ford.
    The shot clock is ticking down on Larry Legend's presidency. The ball's in his hands.


    .
    Last edited by Putnam; 04-13-2010, 09:40 AM.
    And I won't be here to see the day
    It all dries up and blows away
    I'd hang around just to see
    But they never had much use for me
    In Levelland. (James McMurtry)
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Wells: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

    honestly i think a new coach and new system would do wonders for this team.
    We have a coach who can't use players at what they are good at. I mean the very idea that Hibbert was allowed to take a 2 3pters last night says it all. Even if it were a joke.
    You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Wells: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

      Isn't this by Kravitz and not Wells?

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Wells: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

        Originally posted by Granville View Post
        Isn't this by Kravitz and not Wells?
        Yeah when I clicked the link I thought to myself that does not look like Wells at all. A mod needs to edit the title of this thread.

        The biggest thing Bird needs to do is decide what to do with JOB. If he is going to keep JOB he needs to get on the same page as JOB and draft guys who will fit in JOB's system. If he does not want to do that he needs to get rid of him and bring in a guy who can work with who we have and start drafting guys that will work with the new coach's system.

        If Bird brings back JOB which is pretty much a forgone conclusion given the financial state of the Pacers then we will have another year where guys toil on the bench because they do not fit the system. McRoberts will go straight to the bench unless he starts shoot up a bunch of three pointers. Jones will still ride the pine becuase he just plays that silly thing called defense.

        This next year is make or break year for Larry. If he can nail this draft, move Murphy, Dunleavy, TJ, and set up us cap wise to get a game changer before the 2011-2012 season then he will have succeeded. He has to nail this draft because a big swing and a miss will cripple this team once we move those guys mention above.

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Wells: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

          Originally posted by Granville View Post
          Isn't this by Kravitz and not Wells?
          HAH! I read this whole article thinking... no way Wells wrote this garbage, this looks like Kravitz! A quick click on the link confirmed my suspicions.

          Originally posted by Bob Kravitz
          In theory, Bird could hasten the team's improvement and deal Murphy this summer for a young player and maybe a draft choice. Certainly, that would make O'Brien happy as he goes into the final year of his contract (assuming he's still coach).
          HUH? Does he not know that Troy is Jim's all time favorite PF who can really stretch the floor?

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Star: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

            Originally posted by Granville View Post
            Isn't this by Kravitz and not Wells?
            Thanks for pointing that out.
            And I won't be here to see the day
            It all dries up and blows away
            I'd hang around just to see
            But they never had much use for me
            In Levelland. (James McMurtry)

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Wells: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

              I like this article by KRAVITZ. I think he shows some of his patience wearing thin just like all of us. I think he got the sentiment across Pacers fans pretty accurate in describing the circumstances. I think Larry has done a much better job than he does up to this point however. He always seems to be overly negative in his columns. The team has had little to no flexibility financially. They did a fantastic job getting rid of JO, even if that meant they got nothing out of Ford or Nesto. We got Hibbert out of the deal who is our franchise's center for the next several years, which no matter how little you think of TJ Ford, you have to admit that JO and his overwhelming salary needed to go. It was a good deal then and a good deal now.

              One thing I didn't know if Kravitz was kidding or not was when he said "that (getting rid of Troy Murphy) would make O'Brien happy as he goes into the final year of his contract". I would think he is being facetious. It would make many of us happy, but JOB loves Murphy's game.

              Also, I didn't think it was Larry who fired Isiaih and I am not sure if he was responsible for firing Carlisle, but he very well could have with Walsh still here.

              Either way, I think everybody knows Bird has got to make a move or two this next year. There needs to be a new direction without the older players and hopefully a new coach. But the coaching decision might also have more to do with the looming lockout than it does with basketball.
              Last edited by pacergod2; 04-13-2010, 09:50 AM.
              "Your course, your path, is not going to be like mine," West says. "Everybody is not called to be a multimillionaire. Everybody's not called to be the president. Whatever your best work is, you do it. Do it well. … You cease your own greatness when you aspire to be someone else."

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Star: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

                I want to comment on the following,
                I go back to the listless way they played when the games mattered, and frankly, they looked like a group that went mentally south on their coach from the very start.
                Ok, lets assume that is true. Then why did the team start playing unlistlessly. (not sure that is a word) How or why would a team unquit on a coach. I don't know if I have ever seen that, typically when a team quits on a coahc they stay quit on a coach until the coach is gone.

                I know many of you think that it changed when Jim starting playing different players. OK, it didn't change when AJ played in January, so why would he playing in March cause the whole team to start caring.

                The only other change was Josh started playing and if that is the reason well, I just find that hard to believe.

                There has been no other player changes, except Ford is injured.

                I mentioned the following theory a few weeks back. Maybe the players know Jim is gone after this season, so the players know he is gone and started playing for themselves instead of the coach. I don't really believe this theory either, but I suppose it is possible.

                Honestly, I don't think the team ever did quit on the coach.

                But I don't know why the effort was in general a lot better in March and April than it was November, December, Jan and Feb. I hope Bird knows why and depending on what the reason is that should tell Bird whether Jim should be brought back.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Wells: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

                  Originally posted by pacergod2 View Post
                  Either way, I think everybody knows Bird has got to make a move or two this next year.

                  We're at that point in the basketball calendar where "next year" is unclear.

                  Do you mean during the coming off-season (summer of 2010), or in 2011?



                  .
                  And I won't be here to see the day
                  It all dries up and blows away
                  I'd hang around just to see
                  But they never had much use for me
                  In Levelland. (James McMurtry)

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Wells: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

                    Originally posted by Granville View Post
                    Isn't this by Kravitz and not Wells?
                    Well, to be fair it probably is mostly "by Wells", if you know what I mean.


                    1) New coach is a must...and it won't happen, so everything that follows is a waste really.

                    2) I have interest in Bledsoe, but more interest in guys like Udoh or Patterson.

                    3) I don't disagree when it comes to some patience in trades, but you really must trade Ford and if that gets you a pick in this draft later on, around 20-35 then it's a homerun even if you bring back an extra contract year on the guy to match Ford's salary.

                    OTOH you do need patience with Dun and Troy's deals....unless you have something pretty nice. Again, say that you are moving Troy for a modest player with 2 years and a pick in the 15-25 range. That's not a horrible hit on your contract plans, and I'd bet you could get the other team to give up less salary per year, so it still gives you cap relief a little.

                    If you go back in then you can go after guys slipping like Stanley Robinson or Vasquez.




                    But if they think that just bringing Tyler back plus whatever they draft at 10th (and there will be a riot if that pick is Aldrich) with JOB coaching is going to give them anything other than another 35 win season, I think they are completely nuts.

                    I also don't think they will instantly turn around after they move Dun and Troy. I think they way JOB has handled the kids and his offensive system in general that they will just be starting a "3 year plan" when Dun and Troy are moved, not ending it.

                    It should have been that way, but how can we think that Price, Rush, McBob, Tyler and Roy are ready to help Danny + other push for a good playoff run? That "other" isn't going to be Lebron. Let's say it's a player on par with D Harris or R Gay, something far more realistic.

                    If that's your Dun/Troy addition then it's not enough, not until Rush, Roy, McBob and Price develop more to the point that they can carry their weight for 20-25 mpg.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Star: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

                      Originally posted by Buck
                      The only other change was Josh started playing and if that is the reason well, I just find that hard to believe.
                      Oh really, I'm shocked. You only said he has no basketball skills, so pardon me for having less faith in your evaluation of his impact on the team at this point.

                      However, I would agree that it's not that simple. I think the simple answer is that you had some easier teams, some teams overlooking Indy, some teams dragging on the road, and a couple of good moments by the Pacers (Utah game).

                      Beating a Cavs team by 3 in Indy with Lebron not playing is not impressive.

                      They also did change their style somewhat and started going to the post more, having Troy work to the wings and off the dribble more, TJ Ford not playing at all, Danny coming back into form.

                      Do all those things and soften the schedule a little and you get some wins at home.

                      But in terms of really playing better, which Orlando game went better, this one or the other home game earlier this year? So Bob's wrong, the team all that different. I thought they looked "listless" in that first quarter vs the Magic, far more "listless" than they did a few months ago when they played them.

                      Maybe when good teams put a hurting on them early they get more listless than when a bad team like the Knicks phones in the first quarter.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Wells: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

                        Originally posted by Naptown_Seth View Post

                        Well, to be fair it probably is mostly "by Wells", if you know what I mean.

                        To really be FAIR, most likely PD! I must admit I agree with much of his article, since I've been voicing the samething for what seems forever. Lets be honest Kravitz "gleans" forums for his articles. It would be nice if Bobby would like to share his paycheck with those he "gleans" their ideas from. Hey, Bobby what bank do you bank with, and I'll meet you there when you cash your check.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Star: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

                          Originally posted by Naptown_Seth View Post
                          Oh really, I'm shocked. You only said he has no basketball skills, so pardon me for having less faith in your evaluation of his impact on the team at this point.
                          OK, so I see if anyone has an opinion that turns out to be wrong you are discounting any future opinion that that person might have. Wow, I hope you are consistant with that approach



                          However, I would agree that it's not that simple. I think the simple answer is that you had some easier teams, some teams overlooking Indy, some teams dragging on the road, and a couple of good moments by the Pacers (Utah game).

                          Sure the schedule was easier and as Dunleavy said after the game last night that a team can pick up some easy wins at the end of the season against teams that rest guys or teams that have packed it in. I have always said the first 10-15 games of the season and the last 10-15 games of the season are the times when you can get some cheap wins.

                          However, I see much better effort, chemistry, and confidence in the past 15 games. So I do see a difference

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Star: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

                            Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
                            I want to comment on the following,


                            Ok, lets assume that is true. Then why did the team start playing unlistlessly. (not sure that is a word) How or why would a team unquit on a coach. I don't know if I have ever seen that, typically when a team quits on a coahc they stay quit on a coach until the coach is gone.

                            I know many of you think that it changed when Jim starting playing different players. OK, it didn't change when AJ played in January, so why would he playing in March cause the whole team to start caring.

                            The only other change was Josh started playing and if that is the reason well, I just find that hard to believe.

                            There has been no other player changes, except Ford is injured.

                            I mentioned the following theory a few weeks back. Maybe the players know Jim is gone after this season, so the players know he is gone and started playing for themselves instead of the coach. I don't really believe this theory either, but I suppose it is possible.

                            Honestly, I don't think the team ever did quit on the coach.

                            But I don't know why the effort was in general a lot better in March and April than it was November, December, Jan and Feb. I hope Bird knows why and depending on what the reason is that should tell Bird whether Jim should be brought back.

                            Actually, record wise, it did start in January.

                            They were not winning this much, but they were almost .500 in January..when you played Price and not Ford. And I'd say "almost .500" is probably what this team could have been at. During January they beat better teams than they beat now. Teams were competitive, in fact, you could probably argue that January was a more impressive month. And all we did was switch Price for Ford.

                            It did have to do with the rotation.

                            AJ and Josh offer a "breath of fresh air" to the team. It's pretty obvious that the older teammates like playing with those two. That should say enough.
                            Playing a PG rotation of Watson/Price allows Watson to completely take a hold of the team, and be that veteran leader.

                            As much as I like playing Dahntay..he's a black hole on offense, so not playing him probably helped the offense.

                            And the Subtraction of TJ probably helped too.

                            Also, I know I'm a fan of Price, but this is completely a logic breakdown. Larry Bird thinks he's the Pacer's future starter. We can agree or disagree whether he should be but I think that's pretty obvious what Larry thinks.
                            Larry's said "at worse Price will be a fantastic backup" He's also stated several times that Hibbert, Granger, and Price are the only players he won't trade...now you'd be willing to trade someone who you thought was going to be your future backup. And he wanted to trade TJ and Rush...getting DJ and someone else in the process. With Watson not coming back, that would have pretty much guaranteed AJ the starting spot, NEXT season.
                            Last edited by Sookie; 04-13-2010, 11:24 AM.

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                            • #15
                              Re: Star: Larry Bird's "To Do" List

                              Originally posted by Sookie View Post
                              Actually, record wise, it did start in January.

                              They were not winning this much, but they were almost .500 in January..when you played Price and not Ford. And I'd say "almost .500" is probably what this team could have been at. During January they beat better teams than they beat now.

                              It did have to do with the rotation.
                              The pacers were 7-10 in January and they did beat The magic and the Suns (both at home) along with the Raptors, T-Wolves, Nets, Pistons, and Sixers.

                              Starting actually in mid March, they have since gone 10-3 and have beaten, Bobcats, Pistons, OKC, Pistons, Wiz, Jazz, Kings, Rockets, Knicks, Cavs (w/o James) Nets.

                              So is beating the Magic and suns better than beating the Bobcats, Thunder, Jazz, and i would still suggest that cavs on the road is a decent win.

                              Bottonline I think the Pacers are playing better now than they were in January. They have not lost to a non-playoff team in a long time while in january they lost tto the raptors, Knicks (by 52 points) T-Wolves, Hornets, Sixers.

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