Pooh
08-27-2003, 11:22 PM
Bob Kravitz
Kravitz: It's better this end came sooner
August 27, 2003
This was a done deal the moment Donnie Walsh lured Larry Bird off the golf course. This was a fait accompli the day Bird and Isiah Thomas passed one another at Bird's introductory news conference, creating a chill that was palpable. Nobody knew whether the deed would be done immediately, or if Bird would wait for the first losing streak, but it was going to get done.
Toward that end, Bird and Walsh had it right Wednesday: It was better to pull the plug now rather than wait until things got ugly. It was better to clear the stench of uncertainty now, start over with a new coach -- have they called the Rick Carlisle news conference yet? -- and get the overhaul underway.
"I just had a gut feeling it wasn't going to work," Bird said Wednesday, employing his usual economy of words.
If anything, things were going to get worse, a grisly continuation of the sad spiral that turned last season into such an epic disappointment. Think it was bad last year? Imagine the scene with a lame-duck coach and Bird's old buddy in the wings.
It was suggested here at year's end that the Pacers had to change something -- either change the team or change the head coach. The moment Bird was introduced, it was clear which way the pendulum -- or is that an axe? -- would swing.
Those conciliatory quotes we read from Bird and Thomas in the weeks after the announcement were laughable fluff. The truth, according to Bird, is the two men talked only once in person and once on the phone between the end of the season and Wednesday.
"I really had no communication with the coach," Bird said.
The coach.
"We gave it a lot of time to try and feel good about it," Walsh said. "It just never happened."
You don't think Thomas read the Sanskrit on the wall? In a way, Walsh and Bird did him a favor. He walks away with $5 million and saves himself the indignity of life on a short leash.
"A coach going into the last year (of his contract) has no chance," Bird said.
So why do this now?
It's probably not as complicated as we think. Nor is it quite as cynical as the suggestion the Pacers wanted Jermaine O'Neal, a Thomas supporter, in the fold before they dropped his head coach.
It's really very simple.
Now, it's Bird's team.
It was still Walsh's team until the moment Reggie Miller was re-signed last week. With Walsh, you have a man whose history suggests he's not particularly comfortable about the prospect of having a coach's blood on his hands.
Once Miller signed, though, it became Bird's team. And Bird was not so squeamish. Put it this way: He didn't look Wednesday like a man who's going to sit quietly and do a one-year apprenticeship.
Asked about the message he wants to send fans, he said, "I hope they believe in the franchise and believe in Larry Bird. That's about it."
There was just one disingenuous note struck, and it was a beauty: Bird kept insisting he came into the job with an open mind about Thomas, but after watching more game films and having some communication problems with Thomas in recent weeks, it became clear it wasn't going to work.
Let's not come right out and say that's a bald-faced lie. Let's say, instead, that it strains credulity.
Ironic, isn't it? Carlisle was forced out in Detroit, in large part because Larry Brown became available. (The team president also came to despise Carlisle). Now, it looks like Carlisle will play the Brown role, replacing Thomas. Funny how life works.
Bird said he would have fired Thomas even if Carlisle wasn't available. That's probably true, but, let's be honest, having Carlisle around made it a whole lot easier.
As for the horror stories that came out of Detroit concerning Carlisle's temperament, Bird expressed absolutely no concern. He's worked with Carlisle. And there's this:
"Rick's intimidated by me," Bird said, smiling. "I don't think I'll have a problem."
So now the fallout comes, and it will be predictable. Thomas will be cast off as the worst coach ever to carry a whistle, and Bird, once again, will be regarded as the savior of the Pacer Nation.
Now, nobody is making Thomas out to be the guy who invented the game -- or even a new offense, The Quick, may it rest in peace. His rotations were nonsensical -- especially to his players. His failure to step on problems, Ron Artest in particular, was an enduring issue. Often, too often, his teams seemed plagued by poor conditioning, another factor in the late-season origami act.
He did do some good things, though. He did take a young team to the playoffs three times in three years. He did help develop O'Neal and Al Harrington. He did represent the city and organization with class and soft-spoken dignity, handling the bad times with uncommon elan.
Thomas' failure here is Walsh's failure, too, and Walsh would be the first to acknowledge that.
That said, the Pacers' decision only made sense. This kind of change was coming all along. It was just a matter of time.
Kravitz: It's better this end came sooner
August 27, 2003
This was a done deal the moment Donnie Walsh lured Larry Bird off the golf course. This was a fait accompli the day Bird and Isiah Thomas passed one another at Bird's introductory news conference, creating a chill that was palpable. Nobody knew whether the deed would be done immediately, or if Bird would wait for the first losing streak, but it was going to get done.
Toward that end, Bird and Walsh had it right Wednesday: It was better to pull the plug now rather than wait until things got ugly. It was better to clear the stench of uncertainty now, start over with a new coach -- have they called the Rick Carlisle news conference yet? -- and get the overhaul underway.
"I just had a gut feeling it wasn't going to work," Bird said Wednesday, employing his usual economy of words.
If anything, things were going to get worse, a grisly continuation of the sad spiral that turned last season into such an epic disappointment. Think it was bad last year? Imagine the scene with a lame-duck coach and Bird's old buddy in the wings.
It was suggested here at year's end that the Pacers had to change something -- either change the team or change the head coach. The moment Bird was introduced, it was clear which way the pendulum -- or is that an axe? -- would swing.
Those conciliatory quotes we read from Bird and Thomas in the weeks after the announcement were laughable fluff. The truth, according to Bird, is the two men talked only once in person and once on the phone between the end of the season and Wednesday.
"I really had no communication with the coach," Bird said.
The coach.
"We gave it a lot of time to try and feel good about it," Walsh said. "It just never happened."
You don't think Thomas read the Sanskrit on the wall? In a way, Walsh and Bird did him a favor. He walks away with $5 million and saves himself the indignity of life on a short leash.
"A coach going into the last year (of his contract) has no chance," Bird said.
So why do this now?
It's probably not as complicated as we think. Nor is it quite as cynical as the suggestion the Pacers wanted Jermaine O'Neal, a Thomas supporter, in the fold before they dropped his head coach.
It's really very simple.
Now, it's Bird's team.
It was still Walsh's team until the moment Reggie Miller was re-signed last week. With Walsh, you have a man whose history suggests he's not particularly comfortable about the prospect of having a coach's blood on his hands.
Once Miller signed, though, it became Bird's team. And Bird was not so squeamish. Put it this way: He didn't look Wednesday like a man who's going to sit quietly and do a one-year apprenticeship.
Asked about the message he wants to send fans, he said, "I hope they believe in the franchise and believe in Larry Bird. That's about it."
There was just one disingenuous note struck, and it was a beauty: Bird kept insisting he came into the job with an open mind about Thomas, but after watching more game films and having some communication problems with Thomas in recent weeks, it became clear it wasn't going to work.
Let's not come right out and say that's a bald-faced lie. Let's say, instead, that it strains credulity.
Ironic, isn't it? Carlisle was forced out in Detroit, in large part because Larry Brown became available. (The team president also came to despise Carlisle). Now, it looks like Carlisle will play the Brown role, replacing Thomas. Funny how life works.
Bird said he would have fired Thomas even if Carlisle wasn't available. That's probably true, but, let's be honest, having Carlisle around made it a whole lot easier.
As for the horror stories that came out of Detroit concerning Carlisle's temperament, Bird expressed absolutely no concern. He's worked with Carlisle. And there's this:
"Rick's intimidated by me," Bird said, smiling. "I don't think I'll have a problem."
So now the fallout comes, and it will be predictable. Thomas will be cast off as the worst coach ever to carry a whistle, and Bird, once again, will be regarded as the savior of the Pacer Nation.
Now, nobody is making Thomas out to be the guy who invented the game -- or even a new offense, The Quick, may it rest in peace. His rotations were nonsensical -- especially to his players. His failure to step on problems, Ron Artest in particular, was an enduring issue. Often, too often, his teams seemed plagued by poor conditioning, another factor in the late-season origami act.
He did do some good things, though. He did take a young team to the playoffs three times in three years. He did help develop O'Neal and Al Harrington. He did represent the city and organization with class and soft-spoken dignity, handling the bad times with uncommon elan.
Thomas' failure here is Walsh's failure, too, and Walsh would be the first to acknowledge that.
That said, the Pacers' decision only made sense. This kind of change was coming all along. It was just a matter of time.