He drafted Reggie Miller. He traded for Jermaine O'Neal. He brought Larry Bird back to Indiana. And he helped oversee the conception and construction of Conseco Fieldhouse. Pacers CEO/President Donnie Walsh may not have roots that hearken back to the franchise's days in the ABA, but since joining Indiana as an assistant coach in 1984 (Walsh became GM in '86), Walsh has transformed the Pacers into a team that would make any inhabitant of basketball-mad Indiana proud. NBA.com talked to Walsh about everything from Tinsley's minutes to coaching carousels. Here's what the 62-year-old Walsh had to say:

You hired coach Rick Carlisle after he left your Central Division rivals, the Pistons. Are you happy with the job he's done so far?

"I'm very happy and also surprised, because we made the decision (to bring him in) late and I didn't know if he would have enough time to put his system in this quickly. So I thought we'd start much slower than this. He runs a complex system offensively and his scheme is also a change for us defensively. In both cases it was very good for our team, but it was somewhat of a departure from what we did last year. So I thought it would take the team longer to catch on."

What has Ron Artest meant to the team this year, especially coming off of all of the well-publicized problems he had with his temper last season?

"I think that Ronnie's focused on just playing basketball and not allowing himself to lose his focus and get involved in extraneous situations. He's shifted everyone's attention from his temper to his game. I think now people realize what a terrific all-around player he is. He's been filling the offensive stat sheet up as far as points, rebounds, assists, et cetera, and of course he's one of the better defensive -- if not the best defensive -- players in the league. That combination has had a dramatic effect on our team."

When you traded for Jermaine O'Neal back in 2000, did you think he'd be this good? Or has his development surprised even you?

"I think if anyone said they knew he'd be this good ... Well, I don't think there was any way you could tell that. Right now, he's playing as well as anyone in the East, particulary big people, and yet he's still got a tremendous amount of upside. I think he can be a tremendous player, and he's getting close to that at just 25 years of age. This season, he's been there every single night for us, and he has, you know, more or less been the focal point of the offense, becuse teams are going to have to double-team him on most occasions. So he helps eveyone on floor get better shots."

I think many fans are surprised with Jamaal Tinsley's "disappearance" from your team's rotation. What needs to happen for him to make his way back into the rotation?

"I felt Jamaal had himself ready to play coming in to this year, but Rick chose to go with two veterans to run his system, and I'm somewhat surprised that Jamaal hasn't played. But I'm sure that he will play. If you look at his stats in the last two years, he's a pretty good player for a two-year player. There's no doubt that there were areas he had to improve in, but he had stats that were comparable to the best point guards in the league over their first two years, so my hope is that this (time on the bench) helps him by getting him to focus on what he has to do to play."

So Tinsley obviously fits into your team's long-term plans?

"Yes."

And the thinking is that the point guards you have now (Kenny Anderson and Anthony Johnson) are enough to allow you to make a deep run in the East?

"Well, yeah, I think the idea is that they're veteran players who know what to do right now, and in both cases I think they've played well and I think they've done what the coach wants at that position. Kenny is a good all-around point guard who can score. Anthony is a very good shooter and defender and compe or. So I think the combination of the two has worked for us. In every game this year at least one of them has had a big impact on the game, if not both of them."

Moving on to the rest of the league, what has been the biggest surprise to you this season in the NBA?

"The level of play that the Lakers have right now. I think they're looking nearly unbeatable, especially if they continue to improve, and I suspect they will. I thought they'd be good, but this is Chicago-during-the-Jordan-years-type good. So that surprises me a little bit. It probably shouldn't have, because (Karl) Malone and (Gary) Payton are great players . The second thing that surprised me is I thought that LeBron (James) and Carmelo (Anthony) would play well as rookies, but not this good. From day one, these guys have been leading their teams against the best players in the world. They look like veterans. And then, third, I'd say that I was surprised that Orlando struggled as much as they did early on. With T-Mac and the collection of players they have, I thought they would do pretty well."

What do you think of the recent moves made by some of your rivals in the East, namely the Celtics trading for Ricky Davis and the Raptors trading for Donyell Marshall and Jalen Rose?

"I think they were great trades for those teams. Jalen and Donyell are both high-quality players and when you put them with Vince Carter, you definitely improve that team. So I think that that was a positive move for Toronto. I think it also went along with what Chicago wants for their franchise. They get two veterans who can help their younger players in different ways than scoring. And it will give their younger players a chance to develop. I think a lot of those (Bulls) players have a great chance to be terrific NBA players. Jamal Crawford, Kirk Hinrich, Eddy Curry; they have a great future. And I think Tony and Williams will help them.

"As far as the Celtics, my feeling is it was somewhat the same, except the Celtics now get a 20-point scorer to go along with (Paul) Pierce. And they get a big man (Chris Mihm) with a great upside. That changes their team a bit and probably puts them in line with what Danny Ainge wants from the Celtics.

"From Cleveland's standpoint, I think they get two great veteran leaders -- and players -- in Tony Battie and Eric Williams. Both players had a big impact on Boston. I think in the trades with the four teams, they'll all improve the four teams, but maybe at different times. Because some of these teams are young and looking towards the future."

What do you think of all of the early coaching changes in the league? Disturbing trend or bad timing?

"Well, I think it's a disturbing trend in that you don't like to see that happen. But it's an understandable trend, because many times you're in a situation where it's not working. You can't always make the amount of trades that you'd like to make, and yet sometimes change is needed. So the easiest change to make is at coach. Whether that change will help or not, you're not sure. But it's a big change. From the standpoint of a GM or a President of Basketball Operations, (getting rid of the coach) is as big of a change as you can make. But many times the coach is the sacrificial lamb, because you can't change the 12 players you have."

On the flip side, what do you think about Tim Floyd's turnaround in New Orleans?

"Tim came into coaching in the NBA with a team that was rebuilding (Chicago) and they were doing it from scratch, and I don't care who you are, you're not going to win in that situation. And now he came into a team that's built as well as any team in the East, and has as much talent as any team in the East. Tim's a good coach. His success doesn't surprise me."

Most importantly, what do you want from Santa this year?
"Good health. (Laughter.)"