Pooh
10-06-2003, 04:37 PM
Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle recently answered questions from fans about the up incoming season:
Q. What is it going to be like to open up the season in Detroit this year for you? (From Erick in Fort Collins, CO)
A. There’s some irony to it, obviously. But I’m very much looking forward to it for a couple of reasons. Number one, I’ve got a lot of great friends in Detroit and have a lot of warm feelings about my situation there for two years and what was accomplished, and the great opportunity I was given. The second thing is, it’s a great opportunity for us. Right now, Detroit is the division champion two years running and if we want to contend for the division, which is one of our goals, we’re going to have to go through Detroit. To have an opportunity to go into Detroit the first night of the season is great for our team.
Q. I am a great Pacers fan from Copenhagen. I was just wondering how you and your assistants plan on implementing your style of play on the Pacers players, of sharing the ball until you get to the open man? In my opinion it has been a source of worry the past season that some of the players have been seeking their own opportunity and "warming" a ball a bit too much. (From Jacob in Copenhagen, Denmark)
A. Our offensive system is based upon movement of the ball, movement of players, attacking the paint and being unselfish. The word “unselfish” is a word that we use a lot here. It’s part of our terminology. It’s part of our culture. Our guys share the ball or they don’t play.
Q. While players like Al Harrington and Jermaine O’Neal excelled last year, it seems that they found it difficult to understand this concept: Let your teammates help you. What do you do to help a prominent one-on-one player to understand the importance of passing and using his teammates? (From Eames in Loomis, CA)
A. If you have a great one-on-one player, there are going to be a lot of times when he’s going to face double-teams. What we work on a lot is how to play out of double-teams. When we do that, the ball has to move from that great player to another person and generally on to another person. The pass leads to the extra pass which usually leads to a shot. Again, it’s all part of the system, learning how to deal with those situations.
Q. A lot of analysts believe the Pacers are at their best with both (Ron) Artest and (Al) Harrington on the floor together. Do you see using Artest at the two spot and Al at the three throughout the year? (From Kirven in Sacramento, CA)
A. Without question. Those guys will be on the floor together a lot of the time. The great thing about Al and Ron is that when you get those two guys on the floor together, you get two of the best competitors in this league at both the offensive and defensive ends. That’s a great situation for our club.
Q. I know it's early, but who do you see as the Pacers sixth man? (From Randy in Evansville, IN)
A. It’s too early to tell right now who’s going to be the sixth man because we don’t know who’s going to start. So many of our positions are wide open. But I’m confident we’ll have a great bench and whoever our sixth man is, I believe he’ll be an impact player for this team.
Q. How are you going to handle Ron Artest when he really gets upset? (From Mary in Richmond, IN)
A. Ron hasn’t gotten upset yet. I haven’t seen any of those things to this point. If things happen, then we’ll deal with them. I can’t tell you exactly how we’ll deal with them because I don’t know what the issues may or may not be. It may happen that there won’t be any. I’ve got to be optimistic and think a lot of the things that happened last year may have run their course. If things do happen with Ronnie or any other player on this team, they’re going to get a lot of support and we’re going to help them work through whatever problems there might be.
Q. What has been the most difficult transition for you personally and as a coaching staff, coming into the Pacers camp at such late notice? (From Jim in Charlottesville, VA)
A. That’s a great question. It’s an obvious answer to me. Because this happened in September, we did not have a full summer to get to know these guys really well. And so it makes it a little tougher that way. Fortunately, I know a lot of these guys from being here three years ago. There are five players on the roster that were here before, so I know those guys a little bit. But we’re going too have to do a lot in a short period of time to really get to know these guys and for them to get to know us. Personally, in many ways it was an easy move for us. It’s only a four-hour drive from Detroit so, geographically, it wasn’t that big a deal. The tough issues are going to involve our basketball team but we’ll attack those hard and get through it and we’ll be fine.
Q. What role is Reggie going to play now that his ankle is healthy, but nearing the twilight of his career? (From Nick in Fairfield, OH)
A. Right now I see Reggie as a starter if he’s healthy. I just think a player of that magnitude has got to be on the floor to start a game. It’s important. But we’ll have to see how he feels after 10 days or two weeks of training camp and six or eight exhibition games. We’ll know the answer to that a lot better somewhere down the road.
Q. What do you see as being the starting lineup? (From Frank in McGrath, AK)
A. It’s too early to tell for sure. I have some thoughts in my head but I think it’s important for a coach to be objective and let the competition play out. The only two guys I really see as definite starters are Jermaine O’Neal and Reggie Miller, if he’s healthy. From that point, it’s going to be very competitive. But I think competition is going to help our team and help our players become better.
Q. What is it going to be like to open up the season in Detroit this year for you? (From Erick in Fort Collins, CO)
A. There’s some irony to it, obviously. But I’m very much looking forward to it for a couple of reasons. Number one, I’ve got a lot of great friends in Detroit and have a lot of warm feelings about my situation there for two years and what was accomplished, and the great opportunity I was given. The second thing is, it’s a great opportunity for us. Right now, Detroit is the division champion two years running and if we want to contend for the division, which is one of our goals, we’re going to have to go through Detroit. To have an opportunity to go into Detroit the first night of the season is great for our team.
Q. I am a great Pacers fan from Copenhagen. I was just wondering how you and your assistants plan on implementing your style of play on the Pacers players, of sharing the ball until you get to the open man? In my opinion it has been a source of worry the past season that some of the players have been seeking their own opportunity and "warming" a ball a bit too much. (From Jacob in Copenhagen, Denmark)
A. Our offensive system is based upon movement of the ball, movement of players, attacking the paint and being unselfish. The word “unselfish” is a word that we use a lot here. It’s part of our terminology. It’s part of our culture. Our guys share the ball or they don’t play.
Q. While players like Al Harrington and Jermaine O’Neal excelled last year, it seems that they found it difficult to understand this concept: Let your teammates help you. What do you do to help a prominent one-on-one player to understand the importance of passing and using his teammates? (From Eames in Loomis, CA)
A. If you have a great one-on-one player, there are going to be a lot of times when he’s going to face double-teams. What we work on a lot is how to play out of double-teams. When we do that, the ball has to move from that great player to another person and generally on to another person. The pass leads to the extra pass which usually leads to a shot. Again, it’s all part of the system, learning how to deal with those situations.
Q. A lot of analysts believe the Pacers are at their best with both (Ron) Artest and (Al) Harrington on the floor together. Do you see using Artest at the two spot and Al at the three throughout the year? (From Kirven in Sacramento, CA)
A. Without question. Those guys will be on the floor together a lot of the time. The great thing about Al and Ron is that when you get those two guys on the floor together, you get two of the best competitors in this league at both the offensive and defensive ends. That’s a great situation for our club.
Q. I know it's early, but who do you see as the Pacers sixth man? (From Randy in Evansville, IN)
A. It’s too early to tell right now who’s going to be the sixth man because we don’t know who’s going to start. So many of our positions are wide open. But I’m confident we’ll have a great bench and whoever our sixth man is, I believe he’ll be an impact player for this team.
Q. How are you going to handle Ron Artest when he really gets upset? (From Mary in Richmond, IN)
A. Ron hasn’t gotten upset yet. I haven’t seen any of those things to this point. If things happen, then we’ll deal with them. I can’t tell you exactly how we’ll deal with them because I don’t know what the issues may or may not be. It may happen that there won’t be any. I’ve got to be optimistic and think a lot of the things that happened last year may have run their course. If things do happen with Ronnie or any other player on this team, they’re going to get a lot of support and we’re going to help them work through whatever problems there might be.
Q. What has been the most difficult transition for you personally and as a coaching staff, coming into the Pacers camp at such late notice? (From Jim in Charlottesville, VA)
A. That’s a great question. It’s an obvious answer to me. Because this happened in September, we did not have a full summer to get to know these guys really well. And so it makes it a little tougher that way. Fortunately, I know a lot of these guys from being here three years ago. There are five players on the roster that were here before, so I know those guys a little bit. But we’re going too have to do a lot in a short period of time to really get to know these guys and for them to get to know us. Personally, in many ways it was an easy move for us. It’s only a four-hour drive from Detroit so, geographically, it wasn’t that big a deal. The tough issues are going to involve our basketball team but we’ll attack those hard and get through it and we’ll be fine.
Q. What role is Reggie going to play now that his ankle is healthy, but nearing the twilight of his career? (From Nick in Fairfield, OH)
A. Right now I see Reggie as a starter if he’s healthy. I just think a player of that magnitude has got to be on the floor to start a game. It’s important. But we’ll have to see how he feels after 10 days or two weeks of training camp and six or eight exhibition games. We’ll know the answer to that a lot better somewhere down the road.
Q. What do you see as being the starting lineup? (From Frank in McGrath, AK)
A. It’s too early to tell for sure. I have some thoughts in my head but I think it’s important for a coach to be objective and let the competition play out. The only two guys I really see as definite starters are Jermaine O’Neal and Reggie Miller, if he’s healthy. From that point, it’s going to be very competitive. But I think competition is going to help our team and help our players become better.