It has been four years now, and finally, finally all the remnants of The Brawl have been swept into the dustbin.
Ron Artest is gone. Stephen Jackson is gone. David Harrison is gone. Jermaine O'Neal is gone. And Jamaal Tinsley is virtually gone.
There is only one player left from that November night in 2004 -- Jeff Foster -- and he was a relative non-participant in The Brawl.
Everybody else? History.
Can I get a hallelujah?
"One of the things we talked about this past summer was getting beyond The Brawl, getting it out of here," Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird said Sunday after the team's well-attended Fan Jam. "We wanted to start fresh with guys who want to play here and guys who will do the necessary things in the community."
Conseco Fieldhouse finally has been swept clean, and while the new version of the Pacers doesn't figure to be a whole lot better than recent incarnations of the team -- I'm saying they will miss the playoffs for the third consecutive year -- they surely will be more watchable, more competitive and more likable.
The increase in Q ratings won't earn them many victories, but the team Bird and general manager David Morway have cobbled together will begin the rebuilding process that should have begun two years earlier.
This is, by conservative estimate, a .500 team in the best of circumstances. If their top players stay relatively healthy, if coach Jim O'Brien can coax another career season from Mike Dunleavy and sustain the progress of Danny Granger, this team could fight for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
But while making the playoffs might be important to the owners, the front office and the players, the postseason isn't imperative when you look at the bigger picture. This team is a star or two from being a true contender, and the only real way to get those kinds of players is through the draft lottery.
The best move Bird made was moving O'Neal's onerous contract, which would have handicapped the Pacers for two more years at more than $44 million. Now they're not only below the luxury tax threshold -- a very important number for owners who've lost money on the Pacers recently -- but figure to have some salary cap flexibility next summer.
Rasho Nesterovic is in the final season of an $8.4 million deal. Marquis Daniels has one year left at $6.8 million. Both Jarrett Jack and Granger will be restricted free agents, although it's likely the Pacers will sign Granger to a long-term deal.
"We'll be in a position to make some changes that fill certain needs," Bird said.
The biggest improvement will come in the backcourt, which has gone from an area of weakness to a strength in one summer. T.J. Ford was born for O'Brien's system. And Jack is as solid a backup as there is in the league.
The Pacers also figure to have a lot of flexibility at the swing positions. Dunleavy is coming off the best year of his career. Daniels, an intriguing talent whose health has betrayed him so far in Indianapolis, can be a nice player if he stays in one piece. Brandon Rush has shown glimpses of excellence, although it can never be forgotten that he's a rookie.
Then there's Granger, who has the freedom now to be a leader and has the contractual incentive to grow into an All-Star. This is his "show me" season, a chance to establish himself as the future centerpiece of this franchise.
It's in the frontcourt that there are questions.
Nesterovic is a solid big man with a nice shooting touch, but he's not going to strike fear in opponents on defense. Troy Murphy has myriad offensive skills, but again, he's limited defensively. Foster? We know his game; he will hustle and get rebounds, but he won't score in the post.
The real intrigue will be watching the development of Roy Hibbert, who, like Rush, has shown good signs in the preseason. It often takes big men longer to develop than it does smaller players, but if the young guy can contribute on defense without fouling out in 10 minutes, the Pacers will have a gem.
Give Bird and Morway credit: They've done the necessary dirty work to make the Pacers palatable again. They've made the hard decisions that former CEO Donnie Walsh had neither the stomach nor the desire to make. They've mopped the floors and scrubbed the walls and even did some latrine duty along the way, which isn't the kind of thing you might expect Larry Legend to be doing at this point in his life.
All of the Brawlers are gone, or, in the case of Tinsley, almost gone.
Even Shawne Williams, the perpetually misguided bust of a first-round draft choice, was dealt for the equivalent of a fish sandwich.
Bird has two years left on his contract, and I asked him if two years was enough to complete the rebuilding of this franchise.
He didn't wince.
"I'm not worried about that," he said. "Whether I'm here or not, whoever comes in is going to have a great start. I didn't worry about (the contract) my last year of coaching and I'm not worried now."
Four years after The Brawl, that terrible night outside Detroit is finally in the rear-view mirror.
Finally, the Pacers, the New Pacers, can move on.
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He alludes to it later in the article but I want to say it for him. I think it is appropriate to include Donnie Walsh in that list of people who are out the door in all of this as well.
I am not going to get into a Donnie debate here as we have covered this a million times. But I think the entire team needed a makeover and frankly it wasn't going to happen with Walsh at the helm.
As to the rest of the article, meh. It's Bob what can you say. He is just doing his job by trying to be the straw that stirs the drink.
Of course I happen to agree with him on this one though.
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