An opposing team's scout sizes up the Pacers
I don't see this team going anywhere soon ...
It all starts with their best player, Jermaine O'Neal, and he's in a place where they don't know if he's going to be there at the end of the year, because they would probably like to move him after shopping him during the summer. At 29, Jermaine is a guy who is on the downslope of his career. He isn't old but he's been playing in the league for a long time, and from a physical standpoint his body is breaking down more and more. So long as he lingers on that roster, their team will have no momentum with no upswing. What you see with veteran players like Jermaine is when they don't feel like they've got enough talent around them and the team doesn't have a real chance of winning, then they don't bring it every night. This year you'll probably see Allen Iverson playing harder in Denver than he did in Philadelphia, and you'll see Paul Pierce playing harder alongside Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen than he did when he was playing with Al Jefferson and Delonte West ...
Jermaine doesn't have a great reputation when it comes to being a determined leader who sets a good example for his young teammates. The problem is he's due to make $19.7 million this year with a total of $64 million remaining over the three years on his contract. That's a lot of money for someone whose productivity has been in decline. Garnett makes similar money, but at least he's a warrior; you wouldn't say the same thing about Jermaine O'Neal. The only team that's going to trade for him is a team that's on the verge of winning, a team that's desperate to win now. And even then, Indiana would probably have to take back a ton of junk in bad contracts ...
You could say O'Neal has extra mileage on his body because he came to the NBA straight out of high school, but then again he didn't play a lot during his initial four years in Portland. In any case, his body has deteriorated in recent years, though maybe part of it has to do with him losing his edge, his competitive spirit. That team was on a competitive run for a long time, but ever since Ron Artest's brawl in Detroit, they haven't been in the running. The other thing you see in O'Neal is that when guys get older, a lot of them learn they can take jumpers and score out on the perimeter and so they quit taking the ball to the rack. They all do it as a preservation tool, either because they don't want to get in great shape or they don't want to risk injury. It's like cheating a little bit in that they don't play with the same tenacity. O'Neal still has those good low-post, back-to-the-basket moves, especially on the left block coming over his left shoulder. But he's doing that less and taking the jumper more often. He's been getting hurt so much in recent years that it's like he's learned to play a different way ...
The Pacers tried to turn a corner last year by getting rid of their troublemaker Stephen Jackson in the trade with Golden State. The problem is that it didn't improve their team talent-wise. Ike Diogu, Troy Murphy or Mike Dunleavy has got to step up from a PR standpoint as much as anything, to show their fans that not only did we get rid of trouble but we actually got some talent out of the trade ...
So who can they rebuild around? It's not going to be Dunleavy, Murphy, Jamaal Tinsley or Jeff Foster. I don't see anybody to serve as a bridge to the future if they take Jermaine off the team. They have no identity, no presence. The only way I see them accomplishing anything this year is if somehow there's a cohesiveness on the team, and despite everything they just go out and play hard while guys like Tinsley and Danny Granger have breakout years. That's asking a lot ...
I see Granger as an underachiever. He's still waiting to have a breakout year. He disappears for long periods of time. He'll put together two nice plays and then it will be another quarter before he makes his next nice play. There's a lack of urgency with him, and you don't see him playing hard or aggressive all of the time ...
Now that Larry Bird is in charge of their basketball operations, you'll see him leaning on his scouts much as he did as coach of the Pacers when he leaned on Rick Carlisle and Dick Harter. That's no criticism whatsoever; he'll manage the situation and draw from the opinions of those he trusts. You would have to say he hasn't made any jaw-dropping or flamboyant moves yet ...
I'm not sure what to make of coach Jim O'Brien. In Boston he was a breath of fresh air compared to Rick Pitino, so you can see why his players responded there. But then he went to Philadelphia with a domineering personality. That was a group of people at that franchise who had been there for a long time, they were kind of like family, and he came in with an attitude -- and next thing you know they're all ready to run him out of there. I suspect he's learned heavily from that situation, and he'll use this job to prove he can learn from his mistakes ...
The first thing he'll do is try to establish Jermaine early, for two reasons -- first because his best chance of winning is to get the best player on his side, and second because if Jermaine is doing well, then more teams may call with trade offers for him. They'll want to make him look as enticing as possible for other teams in the league. He'll try to create big roles for Dunleavy and Murphy, and then it will come down to what kind of year Tinsley has ...
Tinsley is on the wild side and I don't see him as a Jim O'Brien-type player. They've been very patient with him, but that's probably because they couldn't get anything for him in a trade. It's not like they're getting a lot of calls for him, so they'll have to continue to be patient. He has a lot of issues. He isn't the example of a professional if you watch his off-court stuff, so that while people may respect his talent, they won't necessarily respect him as a leader or teammate. Rick Carlisle couldn't trust him because he was a turnover waiting to happen, but in fairness to Tinsley, Carlisle has always been a coach who needs to control his team -- and so too has been O'Brien. Tinsley likes to play up and down, and in some ways he's at his best that way, and opponents fear him getting into his rhythm because he plays like a street player. But it can also be detrimental to the team because he makes so many mistakes ...
Dunleavy can't guard quick perimeter players. He's a skilled, talented guy, but the skills don't translate into production. He's a smart guy, he knows what to do. But he's like an expensive car that can't get out of first gear. What he really needs is to find a really good team and then serve as the No. 5 starter or -- even better -- the sixth man on a team that knows what it's doing. You would love to play him off the bench against second-tier players whose athleticism will be a notch lower, and that will enable Dunleavy to put his smarts and skills into play. He could be the leader and playmaker of that second unit because he is at heart a complementary player. We all have to get over the fact that he was the third pick in the draft and see him for what he really is ...
Murphy has tried it a lot of different ways. I've seen him bulk up and try to be a power player, then he's lost weight and tried to put the ball on the floor. What he is is a high-post elbow shooter with three-point range who I'm sure O'Brien will put to use. ...
Diogu was a fan favorite at Golden State, an undersized power player people have forgotten about. If he could establish himself in the low post with a Malik Rose-style game, he could be a surprise for them ...
Jeff Foster is very steady, the kind of floor-runner and rebounder everybody would love to have on their team ...
Question marks are Marquis Daniels, with his decision-making, and David Harrison, who I'm not a fan of at all. Not only does he have injury issues with his shoulders but he's a bomb waiting to explode, a highly, highly volatile guy. [Indiana player personnel director] Mel Daniels loved him and has been his biggest cheerleader, and there must be something promising about him because otherwise they wouldn't have kept him. But every time I see him, it seems like he's involved in a near-fight with an opponent or he's being agitated because fans are letting him have it. I can't tell you how many times I've seen him having to be held back by his teammates, and one night in particular he lost it so badly it was like he was in a different world. I just don't think what he brings is worth putting up with that kind of stuff ...
Who knows what Shawne Williams will turn into, but I'm sure they were disappointed by his recent legal trouble. The Pacers are probably thinking, Can we ever get away from these kinds of problems? It's hard to sell that kind of stuff to fans in Indiana ...
I would be surprised if they are able to overcome what I see as this mood on the team that this group of players is not going anywhere. I think it's embedded in their organization, and that they can't go anywhere until they decide to fully commit to rebuilding, which will mean getting rid of some people -- starting with Jermaine. It's like if you're dating a girl and you know you're going to break up with her. Why prolong it? The sooner you break it off, the sooner you can get over her and move on. There's no reason to be going to all of the trouble in this league unless you're trying to win.
I don't see this team going anywhere soon ...
It all starts with their best player, Jermaine O'Neal, and he's in a place where they don't know if he's going to be there at the end of the year, because they would probably like to move him after shopping him during the summer. At 29, Jermaine is a guy who is on the downslope of his career. He isn't old but he's been playing in the league for a long time, and from a physical standpoint his body is breaking down more and more. So long as he lingers on that roster, their team will have no momentum with no upswing. What you see with veteran players like Jermaine is when they don't feel like they've got enough talent around them and the team doesn't have a real chance of winning, then they don't bring it every night. This year you'll probably see Allen Iverson playing harder in Denver than he did in Philadelphia, and you'll see Paul Pierce playing harder alongside Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen than he did when he was playing with Al Jefferson and Delonte West ...
Jermaine doesn't have a great reputation when it comes to being a determined leader who sets a good example for his young teammates. The problem is he's due to make $19.7 million this year with a total of $64 million remaining over the three years on his contract. That's a lot of money for someone whose productivity has been in decline. Garnett makes similar money, but at least he's a warrior; you wouldn't say the same thing about Jermaine O'Neal. The only team that's going to trade for him is a team that's on the verge of winning, a team that's desperate to win now. And even then, Indiana would probably have to take back a ton of junk in bad contracts ...
You could say O'Neal has extra mileage on his body because he came to the NBA straight out of high school, but then again he didn't play a lot during his initial four years in Portland. In any case, his body has deteriorated in recent years, though maybe part of it has to do with him losing his edge, his competitive spirit. That team was on a competitive run for a long time, but ever since Ron Artest's brawl in Detroit, they haven't been in the running. The other thing you see in O'Neal is that when guys get older, a lot of them learn they can take jumpers and score out on the perimeter and so they quit taking the ball to the rack. They all do it as a preservation tool, either because they don't want to get in great shape or they don't want to risk injury. It's like cheating a little bit in that they don't play with the same tenacity. O'Neal still has those good low-post, back-to-the-basket moves, especially on the left block coming over his left shoulder. But he's doing that less and taking the jumper more often. He's been getting hurt so much in recent years that it's like he's learned to play a different way ...
The Pacers tried to turn a corner last year by getting rid of their troublemaker Stephen Jackson in the trade with Golden State. The problem is that it didn't improve their team talent-wise. Ike Diogu, Troy Murphy or Mike Dunleavy has got to step up from a PR standpoint as much as anything, to show their fans that not only did we get rid of trouble but we actually got some talent out of the trade ...
So who can they rebuild around? It's not going to be Dunleavy, Murphy, Jamaal Tinsley or Jeff Foster. I don't see anybody to serve as a bridge to the future if they take Jermaine off the team. They have no identity, no presence. The only way I see them accomplishing anything this year is if somehow there's a cohesiveness on the team, and despite everything they just go out and play hard while guys like Tinsley and Danny Granger have breakout years. That's asking a lot ...
I see Granger as an underachiever. He's still waiting to have a breakout year. He disappears for long periods of time. He'll put together two nice plays and then it will be another quarter before he makes his next nice play. There's a lack of urgency with him, and you don't see him playing hard or aggressive all of the time ...
Now that Larry Bird is in charge of their basketball operations, you'll see him leaning on his scouts much as he did as coach of the Pacers when he leaned on Rick Carlisle and Dick Harter. That's no criticism whatsoever; he'll manage the situation and draw from the opinions of those he trusts. You would have to say he hasn't made any jaw-dropping or flamboyant moves yet ...
I'm not sure what to make of coach Jim O'Brien. In Boston he was a breath of fresh air compared to Rick Pitino, so you can see why his players responded there. But then he went to Philadelphia with a domineering personality. That was a group of people at that franchise who had been there for a long time, they were kind of like family, and he came in with an attitude -- and next thing you know they're all ready to run him out of there. I suspect he's learned heavily from that situation, and he'll use this job to prove he can learn from his mistakes ...
The first thing he'll do is try to establish Jermaine early, for two reasons -- first because his best chance of winning is to get the best player on his side, and second because if Jermaine is doing well, then more teams may call with trade offers for him. They'll want to make him look as enticing as possible for other teams in the league. He'll try to create big roles for Dunleavy and Murphy, and then it will come down to what kind of year Tinsley has ...
Tinsley is on the wild side and I don't see him as a Jim O'Brien-type player. They've been very patient with him, but that's probably because they couldn't get anything for him in a trade. It's not like they're getting a lot of calls for him, so they'll have to continue to be patient. He has a lot of issues. He isn't the example of a professional if you watch his off-court stuff, so that while people may respect his talent, they won't necessarily respect him as a leader or teammate. Rick Carlisle couldn't trust him because he was a turnover waiting to happen, but in fairness to Tinsley, Carlisle has always been a coach who needs to control his team -- and so too has been O'Brien. Tinsley likes to play up and down, and in some ways he's at his best that way, and opponents fear him getting into his rhythm because he plays like a street player. But it can also be detrimental to the team because he makes so many mistakes ...
Dunleavy can't guard quick perimeter players. He's a skilled, talented guy, but the skills don't translate into production. He's a smart guy, he knows what to do. But he's like an expensive car that can't get out of first gear. What he really needs is to find a really good team and then serve as the No. 5 starter or -- even better -- the sixth man on a team that knows what it's doing. You would love to play him off the bench against second-tier players whose athleticism will be a notch lower, and that will enable Dunleavy to put his smarts and skills into play. He could be the leader and playmaker of that second unit because he is at heart a complementary player. We all have to get over the fact that he was the third pick in the draft and see him for what he really is ...
Murphy has tried it a lot of different ways. I've seen him bulk up and try to be a power player, then he's lost weight and tried to put the ball on the floor. What he is is a high-post elbow shooter with three-point range who I'm sure O'Brien will put to use. ...
Diogu was a fan favorite at Golden State, an undersized power player people have forgotten about. If he could establish himself in the low post with a Malik Rose-style game, he could be a surprise for them ...
Jeff Foster is very steady, the kind of floor-runner and rebounder everybody would love to have on their team ...
Question marks are Marquis Daniels, with his decision-making, and David Harrison, who I'm not a fan of at all. Not only does he have injury issues with his shoulders but he's a bomb waiting to explode, a highly, highly volatile guy. [Indiana player personnel director] Mel Daniels loved him and has been his biggest cheerleader, and there must be something promising about him because otherwise they wouldn't have kept him. But every time I see him, it seems like he's involved in a near-fight with an opponent or he's being agitated because fans are letting him have it. I can't tell you how many times I've seen him having to be held back by his teammates, and one night in particular he lost it so badly it was like he was in a different world. I just don't think what he brings is worth putting up with that kind of stuff ...
Who knows what Shawne Williams will turn into, but I'm sure they were disappointed by his recent legal trouble. The Pacers are probably thinking, Can we ever get away from these kinds of problems? It's hard to sell that kind of stuff to fans in Indiana ...
I would be surprised if they are able to overcome what I see as this mood on the team that this group of players is not going anywhere. I think it's embedded in their organization, and that they can't go anywhere until they decide to fully commit to rebuilding, which will mean getting rid of some people -- starting with Jermaine. It's like if you're dating a girl and you know you're going to break up with her. Why prolong it? The sooner you break it off, the sooner you can get over her and move on. There's no reason to be going to all of the trouble in this league unless you're trying to win.
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