Pooh
10-14-2003, 02:46 PM
Rejuvenated forward says he will accept any role the Pacers give him when season starts.
By Mark Montieth
[email protected]
October 14, 2003
Some people in the Indiana Pacers' front office believe Al Harrington will contend for NBA Sixth Man of the Year honors.
It's a nice compliment, but Harrington would rather hear his name called when the starting lineup is introduced Oct. 29 at Detroit.
Harrington's unbridled enthusiasm, ambition and optimism have inspired far greater goals for himself than becoming one of the NBA's top reserves. Sixth man? He thinks more along the lines of being the man.
"He wanted to be an All-Star the first week he was here," recalled Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird, who coached Harrington as a rookie.
The 6-9 forward will again have patience thrust upon him -- in the course of games, when he'll be expected to avoid forcing the issue so often, and in the context of his career, where the 23-year-old veteran of five seasons will have to continue making progress.
"I really want to start, but if it takes me being a sixth man for another year I'll do it -- and be happy with it," said Harrington, whose Pacers will play a preseason game at Chicago tonight. "As long as I can play and be productive, I'll be happy with it.
"It's funny how things happen, so I'll wait it out. I'll be starting soon enough."
Coach Rick Carlisle has not ruled out Harrington's chances of starting this season, but the most likely scenario is a repeat of the past two seasons and the first two preseason games. That would mean coming off the bench but playing extensive minutes.
Harrington has played more minutes than everyone but forward Ron Artest in the first two exhibition games and ranks second to Jermaine O'Neal in scoring with a 13.5 average.
In a sense, the versatility and enthusiasm that are Harrington's greatest assets work against him in his quest to become a starter. Carlisle, like Isiah Thomas before him, values the jolt and scoring he can provide off the bench.
"The whole issue of who will and won't start is based upon different things," Carlisle said. "Al's one of the top three or four players on this team. Based upon that, he probably should start. But the chemistry of a team doesn't always dictate that's the way to go."
Harrington's complicated status is appropriate for someone who is a contradiction at this stage of his career. He's a veteran, but young. He's shown flashes of brilliance, such as in a 40-point game against Atlanta last season, but also signs of immaturity. He's already suffered and recovered from a major injury to his right knee, but has so much life left in his legs.
What's clear so far is that he should at least be improved from last season. He averaged 12.2 points during the regular season in an impressive comeback from the knee injury he suffered in January 2002. But he faded down the stretch and flamed out in the first-round playoff loss to Boston, when he averaged just 3.0 points on 21 percent shooting.
Harrington says now his knee was only 60 to 70 percent of full strength last season, but is completely recovered this fall.
"It affected me, definitely," he said. "I always knew I was never in top shape. On defense, it didn't seem like I could stop anybody. It always seemed like I was too slow. I was never at a point I felt like I could dominate a game."
Following another summer's worth of serious workouts, Harrington came to training camp lighter, stronger and proud owner of a healthy knee.
He's more confident as a result, but the first two exhibition games and Sunday's public scrimmage have only emphasized the contradictions of his game. He scored a team-high 18 points in 25 minutes in the first game with Chicago, but came back to hit 2-of-10 shots in 30 minutes against Boston.
The lingering deficiency, and the key to becoming the player he wants to be, is to overcome the tendency to look for his shot more aggressively than he looks for open teammates, and to be less reckless in his desire to make something happen.
Harrington has accumulated more turnovers than assists in each of his five NBA seasons, as opposed to Reggie Miller, who has had more assists than turnovers in each of his 16 seasons.
"He's got everything that he needs," Bird said. "He just needs to be patient and things will come for him. The older he gets the more he'll realize that."
Harrington had five turnovers and one assist in the first two preseason games, but Carlisle hopes to reverse the trend by changing his job description. Carlisle isn't forbidding Harrington from firing up a jumper now and then, but he wants to use him much like he uses O'Neal: by posting him up and running the offense through him.
"It's important for our team to play to its strengths, and the real strength of Al's game is in the post," Carlisle said. "When he's playing (power forward) or he has a smaller guy on him on the perimeter, I'd like to see him use his quickness and his creativity more.
"We want to keep this game simple and as often as possible we want to put guys in position to do things well."
Even if that position starts with sitting on the bench.
By Mark Montieth
[email protected]
October 14, 2003
Some people in the Indiana Pacers' front office believe Al Harrington will contend for NBA Sixth Man of the Year honors.
It's a nice compliment, but Harrington would rather hear his name called when the starting lineup is introduced Oct. 29 at Detroit.
Harrington's unbridled enthusiasm, ambition and optimism have inspired far greater goals for himself than becoming one of the NBA's top reserves. Sixth man? He thinks more along the lines of being the man.
"He wanted to be an All-Star the first week he was here," recalled Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird, who coached Harrington as a rookie.
The 6-9 forward will again have patience thrust upon him -- in the course of games, when he'll be expected to avoid forcing the issue so often, and in the context of his career, where the 23-year-old veteran of five seasons will have to continue making progress.
"I really want to start, but if it takes me being a sixth man for another year I'll do it -- and be happy with it," said Harrington, whose Pacers will play a preseason game at Chicago tonight. "As long as I can play and be productive, I'll be happy with it.
"It's funny how things happen, so I'll wait it out. I'll be starting soon enough."
Coach Rick Carlisle has not ruled out Harrington's chances of starting this season, but the most likely scenario is a repeat of the past two seasons and the first two preseason games. That would mean coming off the bench but playing extensive minutes.
Harrington has played more minutes than everyone but forward Ron Artest in the first two exhibition games and ranks second to Jermaine O'Neal in scoring with a 13.5 average.
In a sense, the versatility and enthusiasm that are Harrington's greatest assets work against him in his quest to become a starter. Carlisle, like Isiah Thomas before him, values the jolt and scoring he can provide off the bench.
"The whole issue of who will and won't start is based upon different things," Carlisle said. "Al's one of the top three or four players on this team. Based upon that, he probably should start. But the chemistry of a team doesn't always dictate that's the way to go."
Harrington's complicated status is appropriate for someone who is a contradiction at this stage of his career. He's a veteran, but young. He's shown flashes of brilliance, such as in a 40-point game against Atlanta last season, but also signs of immaturity. He's already suffered and recovered from a major injury to his right knee, but has so much life left in his legs.
What's clear so far is that he should at least be improved from last season. He averaged 12.2 points during the regular season in an impressive comeback from the knee injury he suffered in January 2002. But he faded down the stretch and flamed out in the first-round playoff loss to Boston, when he averaged just 3.0 points on 21 percent shooting.
Harrington says now his knee was only 60 to 70 percent of full strength last season, but is completely recovered this fall.
"It affected me, definitely," he said. "I always knew I was never in top shape. On defense, it didn't seem like I could stop anybody. It always seemed like I was too slow. I was never at a point I felt like I could dominate a game."
Following another summer's worth of serious workouts, Harrington came to training camp lighter, stronger and proud owner of a healthy knee.
He's more confident as a result, but the first two exhibition games and Sunday's public scrimmage have only emphasized the contradictions of his game. He scored a team-high 18 points in 25 minutes in the first game with Chicago, but came back to hit 2-of-10 shots in 30 minutes against Boston.
The lingering deficiency, and the key to becoming the player he wants to be, is to overcome the tendency to look for his shot more aggressively than he looks for open teammates, and to be less reckless in his desire to make something happen.
Harrington has accumulated more turnovers than assists in each of his five NBA seasons, as opposed to Reggie Miller, who has had more assists than turnovers in each of his 16 seasons.
"He's got everything that he needs," Bird said. "He just needs to be patient and things will come for him. The older he gets the more he'll realize that."
Harrington had five turnovers and one assist in the first two preseason games, but Carlisle hopes to reverse the trend by changing his job description. Carlisle isn't forbidding Harrington from firing up a jumper now and then, but he wants to use him much like he uses O'Neal: by posting him up and running the offense through him.
"It's important for our team to play to its strengths, and the real strength of Al's game is in the post," Carlisle said. "When he's playing (power forward) or he has a smaller guy on him on the perimeter, I'd like to see him use his quickness and his creativity more.
"We want to keep this game simple and as often as possible we want to put guys in position to do things well."
Even if that position starts with sitting on the bench.