Pooh
09-17-2003, 06:29 PM
By John Clayton - Pacers.com
Sept. 15, 2003
Like every other NBA team, the Pacers would love to unearth the next Yao Ming. Like no other team, however, they now employ the scout who helped bring the original to the NBA.
Joe Ash, who in his years as the director of international scouting for Houston played a key role in the Rockets’ selection of the 7-5 Chinese center with the first pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, has joined the Pacers as Director of Scouting and special assistant to President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird.
Ash, who had been with the Rockets for the past 11 years, brings more than 20 years of experience to the job as well as a long-time friendship with Bird. Both maintain residences in Naples, FL. Ash also worked in the Pacers’ scouting department on a part-time basis in the 1980s and said he welcomes the return as well as the new challenges of running a scouting department.
“The situation with Houston was good. I had 11 solid years with them, winning a couple of championships and getting to the conference finals a couple of times, but then Larry asked me to come with him,” said Ash. “I was very familiar with (General Manager Donnie Walsh) and how respected the Indiana franchise is in the NBA. It was a pretty easy choice and I’m excited about it.”
While with Houston, Ash made several trips to China to scout Yao. He also found other international talent, including Malick Badiane of Senegal and Mirsad Turkcan of Turkey. A 19-year-old playing currently in Europe, Badiane was drafted in the second round this year and Turckan was one of three first-round picks made by Houston in 1998.
New additions to Ash’s scouting staff are former Cleveland State head coach Kevin Mackey and Ryan Carr, who worked on Bird’s staff as the team’s video coordinator during Bird’s three-year stint on the Pacers’ bench.
Al Menendez, Mel Daniels, George Felton and Nediljko “Misho” Ostarcevic also remain on the staff along with Joe Toumou, whose hiring earlier in the summer pre-dated Bird’s arrival.
As was the case with Mackey and Carr, Ash was contacted by Bird when Bird arrived as the head of basketball operations on July 11. A few days later, Ash was on the job. In early September, Bird and Ash were scouting players together in Stockholm, Sweden, at the European Basketball Championships.
“We knew we had to place a greater emphasis internationally and now with Joe Ash coming here, we think that’s the last piece of that puzzle. Joe has tremendous experience internationally and will be able to bring it all together,” said David Morway, Vice President of Basketball Administration.
“There’s no question that there are guys in the minor leagues who can play in this league. It’s not only that (finding players) has become so competitive, what it comes down to is the salary cap and the luxury tax are critical factors for every franchise. And to be successful in terms of developing a successful basketball model, it’s important that you be able to find guys in the minor leagues, as well as internationally, as well as develop your second-round picks and have success with your second-round picks. We’re trying to be as comprehensive as possible.”
Mackey, who coached Cleveland State to the Sweet 16 and to an upset of third-seeded Indiana University in the first round of the 1986 NCAA Tournament, knows the back roads of minor-league basketball very well. He'll help the Pacers sort through talent in the alphabet soup those leagues comprise.
“I was 15 years in the minor leagues. After I got in trouble at Cleveland State, the only door open to me was the minor leagues,” said Mackey. “I had a great experience in the minor leagues. Coming in, I didn’t have any understanding or appreciation of that level. It’s a real strength for me now, understanding how good these guys are in the minor leagues.”
Drug and alcohol abuse derailed Mackey’s coaching career at Cleveland State. After confronting those personal demons, he spent years waiting for big-time basketball to offer up a second chance, coaching in the CBA, USBL, IBA, IBL, GBA, USBL and “one league, I can’t remember the name, that played two games and folded.” He coached teams such as the Florida Sea Dragons, Trenton Shooting Stars, Atlantic City Seagulls and Albany Patroons. He won an IBA title and four USBL Championships, including three in a row from 1997-99. He was also named Coach of the Year in the USBL and IBA in 1999.
That long-awaited second chance finally came when Bird became president of the Pacers.
“This is the level where everyone wants to be. I dreamed of coming to the NBA,” Mackey said. “Larry Bird was Santa Claus and he made the call.”
Carr started his career with the Pacers on Bird’s staff, primarily as the team’s video coordinator. At Indiana University, Carr was the team manager for the Hoosiers under former coach Bob Knight. He spent the past two seasons on staff at Texas-El Paso, but relishes his return to the NBA in a new capacity.
“My attitude toward anything I’ve done is to learn and to do the best I can, no matter what it was. That was my attitude when I was here as video coordinator, working for Larry and Rick,” said Carr. “I’m really looking forward to it. Being a former college coach the past four years and getting a chance to go out on the road and recruit, (scouting) is a little bit like that – getting out and evaluating talent and finding out as much as you can about different players.”
Carr, who came to Indiana from Seattle out of high school because of his passion for basketball, looks at Bird as a mentor and at Indiana as the place he wants to be.
“I’d do anything to help (Bird) and help this franchise that gave me my first job out of college, anyway,” he said. “It’s like coming home.”
Sept. 15, 2003
Like every other NBA team, the Pacers would love to unearth the next Yao Ming. Like no other team, however, they now employ the scout who helped bring the original to the NBA.
Joe Ash, who in his years as the director of international scouting for Houston played a key role in the Rockets’ selection of the 7-5 Chinese center with the first pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, has joined the Pacers as Director of Scouting and special assistant to President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird.
Ash, who had been with the Rockets for the past 11 years, brings more than 20 years of experience to the job as well as a long-time friendship with Bird. Both maintain residences in Naples, FL. Ash also worked in the Pacers’ scouting department on a part-time basis in the 1980s and said he welcomes the return as well as the new challenges of running a scouting department.
“The situation with Houston was good. I had 11 solid years with them, winning a couple of championships and getting to the conference finals a couple of times, but then Larry asked me to come with him,” said Ash. “I was very familiar with (General Manager Donnie Walsh) and how respected the Indiana franchise is in the NBA. It was a pretty easy choice and I’m excited about it.”
While with Houston, Ash made several trips to China to scout Yao. He also found other international talent, including Malick Badiane of Senegal and Mirsad Turkcan of Turkey. A 19-year-old playing currently in Europe, Badiane was drafted in the second round this year and Turckan was one of three first-round picks made by Houston in 1998.
New additions to Ash’s scouting staff are former Cleveland State head coach Kevin Mackey and Ryan Carr, who worked on Bird’s staff as the team’s video coordinator during Bird’s three-year stint on the Pacers’ bench.
Al Menendez, Mel Daniels, George Felton and Nediljko “Misho” Ostarcevic also remain on the staff along with Joe Toumou, whose hiring earlier in the summer pre-dated Bird’s arrival.
As was the case with Mackey and Carr, Ash was contacted by Bird when Bird arrived as the head of basketball operations on July 11. A few days later, Ash was on the job. In early September, Bird and Ash were scouting players together in Stockholm, Sweden, at the European Basketball Championships.
“We knew we had to place a greater emphasis internationally and now with Joe Ash coming here, we think that’s the last piece of that puzzle. Joe has tremendous experience internationally and will be able to bring it all together,” said David Morway, Vice President of Basketball Administration.
“There’s no question that there are guys in the minor leagues who can play in this league. It’s not only that (finding players) has become so competitive, what it comes down to is the salary cap and the luxury tax are critical factors for every franchise. And to be successful in terms of developing a successful basketball model, it’s important that you be able to find guys in the minor leagues, as well as internationally, as well as develop your second-round picks and have success with your second-round picks. We’re trying to be as comprehensive as possible.”
Mackey, who coached Cleveland State to the Sweet 16 and to an upset of third-seeded Indiana University in the first round of the 1986 NCAA Tournament, knows the back roads of minor-league basketball very well. He'll help the Pacers sort through talent in the alphabet soup those leagues comprise.
“I was 15 years in the minor leagues. After I got in trouble at Cleveland State, the only door open to me was the minor leagues,” said Mackey. “I had a great experience in the minor leagues. Coming in, I didn’t have any understanding or appreciation of that level. It’s a real strength for me now, understanding how good these guys are in the minor leagues.”
Drug and alcohol abuse derailed Mackey’s coaching career at Cleveland State. After confronting those personal demons, he spent years waiting for big-time basketball to offer up a second chance, coaching in the CBA, USBL, IBA, IBL, GBA, USBL and “one league, I can’t remember the name, that played two games and folded.” He coached teams such as the Florida Sea Dragons, Trenton Shooting Stars, Atlantic City Seagulls and Albany Patroons. He won an IBA title and four USBL Championships, including three in a row from 1997-99. He was also named Coach of the Year in the USBL and IBA in 1999.
That long-awaited second chance finally came when Bird became president of the Pacers.
“This is the level where everyone wants to be. I dreamed of coming to the NBA,” Mackey said. “Larry Bird was Santa Claus and he made the call.”
Carr started his career with the Pacers on Bird’s staff, primarily as the team’s video coordinator. At Indiana University, Carr was the team manager for the Hoosiers under former coach Bob Knight. He spent the past two seasons on staff at Texas-El Paso, but relishes his return to the NBA in a new capacity.
“My attitude toward anything I’ve done is to learn and to do the best I can, no matter what it was. That was my attitude when I was here as video coordinator, working for Larry and Rick,” said Carr. “I’m really looking forward to it. Being a former college coach the past four years and getting a chance to go out on the road and recruit, (scouting) is a little bit like that – getting out and evaluating talent and finding out as much as you can about different players.”
Carr, who came to Indiana from Seattle out of high school because of his passion for basketball, looks at Bird as a mentor and at Indiana as the place he wants to be.
“I’d do anything to help (Bird) and help this franchise that gave me my first job out of college, anyway,” he said. “It’s like coming home.”