Break up the Pacers

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Franchise needs to explode, start over

Steve Hammer

Jermaine O'Neal

In a season where their biggest victory came over the New York Knicks, and in which its best players have either left or are going to leave, the Indiana Pacers have gone from title contenders to the laughingstock of the NBA. It’s not fully the fault of head coach Rick Carlisle and team executives Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh. But they must now be held accountable for a season in which all of their accumulated credibility, built over a lifetime around the game, is as depleted as the president’s. Can anyone truly believe Bird or Walsh or Carlisle when they say the team’s best days are ahead of it, or that only minor changes are needed? No, what’s needed in this case is a metaphoric case of dynamite, with which to explode the team, dump almost all its players and fire the management team that ruined the team in the course of less than two years. Not all of it is their fault. Bird took a gamble in the preseason when he stood behind Ron Artest. It’s not his fault that Artest went all Artest on the team and forced a showdown between himself and Jermaine O’Neal. The many injuries which have kept key players off the court for long stretches aren’t Bird and Carlisle’s fault, either. Jamaal Tinsley can’t walk to his car without injuring himself. All it takes to knock O’Neal out of the lineup is a heavy wind. And Austin Croshere apparently gets hurt on a daily basis. But someone needs to be held accountable for this team’s woeful record and it starts at the top. Bird, Walsh and Carlisle have tried to build a contender but have failed miserably, leaving the franchise in its worst crisis since the mid-1980s, when the team was a synonym for “loser.” The NBA is a brutal place where the strong punish the weak and even brave warriors can perish. In the 17 months since Artest took to the stands in Detroit, the Pistons have become a stronger team. They don’t even need a coach. The Pacers, who were more or less the equals of the Pistons then, have fallen so far behind them now that their 25-point loss to Detroit on Sunday seemed mercifully small. The way the game was going, a 50-point defeat might have been possible. Instead, the Pistons recruited fans and cheerleaders to play the fourth quarter for them, while they took a much-needed break.

Rick Carlisle

Even when the Pacers made good moves, they couldn’t capitalize on them. They scored a major coup by signing Sarunas Jasikevicius in the offseason. But Carlisle hasn’t seen fit to give the Lithuanian point guard very many minutes, leading Jasikevicius to seek employment elsewhere. Peja Stojakovic, one of the league’s greatest pure shooters ever, was about as good a player as the Pacers were likely to get for Artest. But Stojakovic’s contract is expiring, and the Pacers won’t likely be able to resign him. That means the Pacers traded Artest for the opportunity to see Peja in the blue and gold for a few months. And, to be sure, the management team has made plenty of mistakes. They failed to retain James Jones, who’s playing a key role for Phoenix. They let Dale Davis sign with the Pistons after the Pacers offered him an insultingly low salary. Reggie Miller is retired, his leadership only a memory now. There is no reason to keep very many of the current Pacers squad, filled as it is with rejects, misfits and failed potential. A franchise could be built around Jasikevicius, Danny Granger and Jeff Foster. If Peja could be convinced to stay in Indiana, a power forward could be found to replace O’Neal and the team may have a shot. O’Neal is the team’s biggest asset and its biggest liability. When healthy and productive, he’s among the league’s best. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been healthy and productive in several years. He still commands respect around the league and has trade value. He should be sent packing as well. To his credit, he’s the only Pacer player who’s stood up and taken responsibility for the debacle that is this season. But sometimes apologies aren’t enough. If the Pacers ever want to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs in this decade, they need to start over. And the best way to do that is by getting rid of the people who created this mess: Carlisle, Bird and Walsh. After a painful period of readjustment, the new management team might be able to patch up the franchise and make it a contender again. But not the current team. They’ve had their chances and they’ve failed. It’s time for a change.

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