Pooh
09-03-2003, 04:00 AM
New coach for Pacers, but player running team on court stays the same
By Sekou Smith
[email protected]
September 3, 2003
During their march to the Eastern Conference finals last season, Rick Carlisle's Detroit Pistons swayed to the rhythm of Chauncey Billups.
A sixth-year point guard with an unwavering will and a gambler's nerve, Billups was the difference for a team that was bounced from the first round of the 2002 playoffs partly because it was outplayed at point guard.
Carlisle relied on Billups when the Pistons needed shots, defensive stops and the leadership a coach can't provide once the ball's in play.
When Carlisle likely today is named coach of the Indiana Pacers (he and his wife, Donna, are in the process of purchasing a 7,200-square-foot house on North Pennsylvania Street), he won't have the luxury of a veteran leader like Billups.
He'll place the ball in the hands of much-maligned point guard Jamaal Tinsley. It's not that Tinsley isn't capable of attaining the level of play of Billups. He just hasn't done it yet consistently.
But any thoughts of a change at point guard coinciding with Carlisle's arrival have been dashed by Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird.
"I think (Jamaal) is a great talent," said Bird, who identified point guard as a deficiency during his introductory news conference July 11.
"He was thrown in there (his first two years) and asked to do some things that he probably wasn't ready to do, but that happens sometimes. Once he gets in the structure of the new system, I think you'll see a whole new Jamaal Tinsley."
That was the plan last summer, when Tinsley spent most of his time in Bradenton, Fla., fine-tuning his game and body to prevent a repeat of the breakdown he suffered during his rookie season.
The results of his boot-camp summer at the IMG Basketball Academy were obvious from the moment the Pacers reported to training camp. The fit and trim Tinsley was comfortable and in charge as the Pacers started the season 14-2 and cruised to the All-Star break with the best record in the Eastern Conference.
But soon after playing in the Feb. 8 Rookie Challenge, Tinsley's world started to unravel. His mother, Letris Smith, died March 20 after a long bout with cancer. Tinsley missed six games, and numerous practices, tending to his mother and business.
His time away from the team affected team chemistry during a crucial stretch of the season and played a significant role in the 11-19 finish that led to the team's first-round playoff failure against the Boston Celtics.
Tinsley managed to finish among the NBA's top 10 in assists (7.5) and steals (1.71). His 11.8 assists per 48 minutes was fourth-best in the league.
Instead of returning to IMG this off-season, Tinsley's summer has been spent shuttling between New York and Atlanta, where he's been working on his conditioning.
Tinsley didn't return phone messages from The Star, and his agent, Raymond Brothers, said his client "didn't want to talk and was concentrating on his workouts."
Bird, however, got a good look at Tinsley two weeks ago, while the point guard worked out for three days at Conseco Fieldhouse. Bird had no complaints about his summer regimen.
"He's working," Bird said. "Oh yeah, he's working. Listen, I'll never give up on that young man. The point I was trying to make when I was hired is that Jamaal has work to do. There's no shame in that. He's shown a little bit of what he can do, but now we have to complete his package."
Other changes?
With Tinsley apparently secure as the starting point guard, speculation increases about what changes might occur under Bird and Carlisle.
Carlisle developed a reputation in Detroit, where he coached the past two seasons before being fired May 31, for favoring veterans. He'll have plenty to choose from with the Pacers.
But talents from a glut of forwards -- such as Ron Artest and Al Harrington -- could be dangled as trade bait to fill in other areas such as shooting guard.
Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said the goal, as always, is to continue to look at ways to improve the team. But he was quick to add that there's no compulsion to make moves simply because a new coach will be in place.
"If you're asking me if I would feel secure going into (the season) the way it is now, I would," Walsh said. "I think we have a lot of good players in place. We have a new coach coming in, so we'll have some fresh ideas. And I've talked to Larry and Rick about this and their attitude is, 'Let's see what we can do.' "
Walsh dismissed Internet reports regarding trades involving Artest and Harrington as the musings of people with too much time on their hands.
"That's the thing about this," he said. "You can sit in a room somewhere and say 'trade this guy for that guy,' but you don't know the inner workings of a team. They don't know which one of these guys they're talking about is going to emerge into a star. And frankly, neither do we.
"In my mind, you don't trade them unless you feel you know exactly where they are, and right now we just don't know."
By Sekou Smith
[email protected]
September 3, 2003
During their march to the Eastern Conference finals last season, Rick Carlisle's Detroit Pistons swayed to the rhythm of Chauncey Billups.
A sixth-year point guard with an unwavering will and a gambler's nerve, Billups was the difference for a team that was bounced from the first round of the 2002 playoffs partly because it was outplayed at point guard.
Carlisle relied on Billups when the Pistons needed shots, defensive stops and the leadership a coach can't provide once the ball's in play.
When Carlisle likely today is named coach of the Indiana Pacers (he and his wife, Donna, are in the process of purchasing a 7,200-square-foot house on North Pennsylvania Street), he won't have the luxury of a veteran leader like Billups.
He'll place the ball in the hands of much-maligned point guard Jamaal Tinsley. It's not that Tinsley isn't capable of attaining the level of play of Billups. He just hasn't done it yet consistently.
But any thoughts of a change at point guard coinciding with Carlisle's arrival have been dashed by Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird.
"I think (Jamaal) is a great talent," said Bird, who identified point guard as a deficiency during his introductory news conference July 11.
"He was thrown in there (his first two years) and asked to do some things that he probably wasn't ready to do, but that happens sometimes. Once he gets in the structure of the new system, I think you'll see a whole new Jamaal Tinsley."
That was the plan last summer, when Tinsley spent most of his time in Bradenton, Fla., fine-tuning his game and body to prevent a repeat of the breakdown he suffered during his rookie season.
The results of his boot-camp summer at the IMG Basketball Academy were obvious from the moment the Pacers reported to training camp. The fit and trim Tinsley was comfortable and in charge as the Pacers started the season 14-2 and cruised to the All-Star break with the best record in the Eastern Conference.
But soon after playing in the Feb. 8 Rookie Challenge, Tinsley's world started to unravel. His mother, Letris Smith, died March 20 after a long bout with cancer. Tinsley missed six games, and numerous practices, tending to his mother and business.
His time away from the team affected team chemistry during a crucial stretch of the season and played a significant role in the 11-19 finish that led to the team's first-round playoff failure against the Boston Celtics.
Tinsley managed to finish among the NBA's top 10 in assists (7.5) and steals (1.71). His 11.8 assists per 48 minutes was fourth-best in the league.
Instead of returning to IMG this off-season, Tinsley's summer has been spent shuttling between New York and Atlanta, where he's been working on his conditioning.
Tinsley didn't return phone messages from The Star, and his agent, Raymond Brothers, said his client "didn't want to talk and was concentrating on his workouts."
Bird, however, got a good look at Tinsley two weeks ago, while the point guard worked out for three days at Conseco Fieldhouse. Bird had no complaints about his summer regimen.
"He's working," Bird said. "Oh yeah, he's working. Listen, I'll never give up on that young man. The point I was trying to make when I was hired is that Jamaal has work to do. There's no shame in that. He's shown a little bit of what he can do, but now we have to complete his package."
Other changes?
With Tinsley apparently secure as the starting point guard, speculation increases about what changes might occur under Bird and Carlisle.
Carlisle developed a reputation in Detroit, where he coached the past two seasons before being fired May 31, for favoring veterans. He'll have plenty to choose from with the Pacers.
But talents from a glut of forwards -- such as Ron Artest and Al Harrington -- could be dangled as trade bait to fill in other areas such as shooting guard.
Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said the goal, as always, is to continue to look at ways to improve the team. But he was quick to add that there's no compulsion to make moves simply because a new coach will be in place.
"If you're asking me if I would feel secure going into (the season) the way it is now, I would," Walsh said. "I think we have a lot of good players in place. We have a new coach coming in, so we'll have some fresh ideas. And I've talked to Larry and Rick about this and their attitude is, 'Let's see what we can do.' "
Walsh dismissed Internet reports regarding trades involving Artest and Harrington as the musings of people with too much time on their hands.
"That's the thing about this," he said. "You can sit in a room somewhere and say 'trade this guy for that guy,' but you don't know the inner workings of a team. They don't know which one of these guys they're talking about is going to emerge into a star. And frankly, neither do we.
"In my mind, you don't trade them unless you feel you know exactly where they are, and right now we just don't know."