Re: Foster factors "tremendously" into next season's plans
Pretty much.
Did any of you catch Mike Wells' article/blog today?
http://www.indystar.com/article/2010...lding-on-track
Here's an excerpt:
O'Brien said he won't be so quick to cut Rush's minutes next season.
"When managing Brandon, if next November and December he plays poor, I'm going to stick with him because I have experience from a background standpoint with Brandon," O'Brien said. "Next season, I will have the
tendency to stick with the devil I know."
Hibbert's role could continue to fluctuate.
Hibbert was a situational starter at times early in the season because O'Brien let the opposing team's center dictate Hibbert's minutes.
O'Brien didn't rule out the same thing happening next season despite Hibbert developing into a go-to player in the post.
Hibbert was not in the game late against Washington despite scoring a career-high 29 points Wednesday.
"I'm not going to commit one way or another the same way I would commit to Brandon, even though Roy is definitely our starting center," O'Brien said. "We found out last year and this year that there are certain players Roy doesn't handle well.
"If Roy is getting really hurt defensively like any other player, I'm going to make a change in a game. I have to put us in the best position to win basketball games."
Okay lets break this down a bit. Yesterday you had GM Larry Bird go down the list and comment on every player. While pointing out how Roy still has a lot a work to do, Bird basically showered Roy with praise for his continuing improvement. Meanwhile he kind of took Brandon to task and basically implied if Brandon doesn’t work on his game this summer and show improvement worthy of his skills, he may not be a Pacer beyond his third season. If you read between the lines that is essentially what Bird is saying. But here comes Coach For Life O’Brien who states that even if Brandon starts off badly the first couple of months next season he won’t reduce his playing time. However he promises to **** with Roy’s minutes based upon what he sees fit. It’s the reverse of how Bird seems to view the two players’ progress and yet O’Brien still has a job. Amazing.
Look I have my biases but I’m no fool. There’s a whole lot that Roy needs to work on if he wants to help this team. A whole lot. Some of it he can easily correct if he sets his mind to it; some of it he will have to find a way to compensate for given his lack of explosive athleticism. But it’s a joke that O’Brien keeps blabbing on about how Roy will have to sit during those games when he could find himself in a mismatch on the defensive end. I haven’t put a whole lot of effort keeping up with the Pacers the past few months but I kept my nose around enough to know that in virtually every game Troy Murphy is at a disadvantage on defense too. And O’Brien would still play Troy 48 minutes per game if he could. One major difference between Roy and Troy on defense is that Troy won’t pick up silly fouls by reaching. Troy simply lets his defender blow by without giving a thought to making a defensive stop.
Truth is O’Brien has proven himself to be now a horrible coach. All the mind games, all the shifting of who starts, all the bad decisions made at the end of games, and of course his unmatched love for small ball. You know a good coach can see that while Roy may be in a tough spot when trying to guard a quick 6’9 big man on the perimeter, that 6’9 dude could be in trouble on the other end if the Pacers took advantage of Roy’s size by pounding the ball into him virtually every time down the court for the first six or so minutes of the game. A person responded to Well’s article by saying O’Brien allows the other team to dictate who he plays and. I think its worse than that. I think O’Brien is really only interested in putting small lineups on the floor. That’s why he’d take out Roy during the last few minutes of the Wizards game the other day and go with a small lineup to close out the contest. Which ended in a loss. What other coach in America (at any level) would take out the one guy that is KILLING the opponent down the stretch in a close game? The answer is O’Brien who isn't happy unless his team wins by hitting jumpshots from three-point territory.
Bird may be better off hoping Roy doesn’t get as good as he thinks Roy could eventually be because Roy's agent is the one and only David Falk. And Falk is infamously known for sometimes holding grudges, especially if he thinks his clients aren't being used properly.
(edited because I was too drowsy when I originally wrote this post last night )
Originally posted by Peck
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Did any of you catch Mike Wells' article/blog today?
http://www.indystar.com/article/2010...lding-on-track
Here's an excerpt:
O'Brien said he won't be so quick to cut Rush's minutes next season.
"When managing Brandon, if next November and December he plays poor, I'm going to stick with him because I have experience from a background standpoint with Brandon," O'Brien said. "Next season, I will have the
tendency to stick with the devil I know."
Hibbert's role could continue to fluctuate.
Hibbert was a situational starter at times early in the season because O'Brien let the opposing team's center dictate Hibbert's minutes.
O'Brien didn't rule out the same thing happening next season despite Hibbert developing into a go-to player in the post.
Hibbert was not in the game late against Washington despite scoring a career-high 29 points Wednesday.
"I'm not going to commit one way or another the same way I would commit to Brandon, even though Roy is definitely our starting center," O'Brien said. "We found out last year and this year that there are certain players Roy doesn't handle well.
"If Roy is getting really hurt defensively like any other player, I'm going to make a change in a game. I have to put us in the best position to win basketball games."
Okay lets break this down a bit. Yesterday you had GM Larry Bird go down the list and comment on every player. While pointing out how Roy still has a lot a work to do, Bird basically showered Roy with praise for his continuing improvement. Meanwhile he kind of took Brandon to task and basically implied if Brandon doesn’t work on his game this summer and show improvement worthy of his skills, he may not be a Pacer beyond his third season. If you read between the lines that is essentially what Bird is saying. But here comes Coach For Life O’Brien who states that even if Brandon starts off badly the first couple of months next season he won’t reduce his playing time. However he promises to **** with Roy’s minutes based upon what he sees fit. It’s the reverse of how Bird seems to view the two players’ progress and yet O’Brien still has a job. Amazing.
Look I have my biases but I’m no fool. There’s a whole lot that Roy needs to work on if he wants to help this team. A whole lot. Some of it he can easily correct if he sets his mind to it; some of it he will have to find a way to compensate for given his lack of explosive athleticism. But it’s a joke that O’Brien keeps blabbing on about how Roy will have to sit during those games when he could find himself in a mismatch on the defensive end. I haven’t put a whole lot of effort keeping up with the Pacers the past few months but I kept my nose around enough to know that in virtually every game Troy Murphy is at a disadvantage on defense too. And O’Brien would still play Troy 48 minutes per game if he could. One major difference between Roy and Troy on defense is that Troy won’t pick up silly fouls by reaching. Troy simply lets his defender blow by without giving a thought to making a defensive stop.
Truth is O’Brien has proven himself to be now a horrible coach. All the mind games, all the shifting of who starts, all the bad decisions made at the end of games, and of course his unmatched love for small ball. You know a good coach can see that while Roy may be in a tough spot when trying to guard a quick 6’9 big man on the perimeter, that 6’9 dude could be in trouble on the other end if the Pacers took advantage of Roy’s size by pounding the ball into him virtually every time down the court for the first six or so minutes of the game. A person responded to Well’s article by saying O’Brien allows the other team to dictate who he plays and. I think its worse than that. I think O’Brien is really only interested in putting small lineups on the floor. That’s why he’d take out Roy during the last few minutes of the Wizards game the other day and go with a small lineup to close out the contest. Which ended in a loss. What other coach in America (at any level) would take out the one guy that is KILLING the opponent down the stretch in a close game? The answer is O’Brien who isn't happy unless his team wins by hitting jumpshots from three-point territory.
Bird may be better off hoping Roy doesn’t get as good as he thinks Roy could eventually be because Roy's agent is the one and only David Falk. And Falk is infamously known for sometimes holding grudges, especially if he thinks his clients aren't being used properly.
(edited because I was too drowsy when I originally wrote this post last night )
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