Walsh used to controversy, not to mention Success.
From Conrad Brunner.

(Indianapolis, July 25, 2003) - This penchant for controversy began in 1987, when Donnie Walsh drafted the player he believed in, rather than the local legend the fans wanted.
Reggie Miller over Steve Alford turned out to be just the first of many such moments to come. The most recent arrived Thursday evening, when Walsh announced the trade sending Brad Miller to Sacramento for Scot Pollard. Once again, the newspaper columns and talk-radio airwaves were full of vitriol, questioning everything from Walsh’s judgment to his competence.

It is a familiar scenario for Walsh. He faced similar outcry when he drafted Rik Smits in 1988, then stuck with him through the early lean years as he evolved into one of the most productive scoring centers in the NBA. And when he traded Chuck Person to Minnesota for a package that included Sam Mitc , who turned out to be precisely the kind of no-nonsense leader the team needed. And when he traded Detlef Schrempf to Seattle for Derrick McKey in 1993, a move that turned out to be a prelude to the run of five trips to the Eastern Conference finals in seven years, including a berth in the NBA Finals in 2000. And when he traded Antonio Davis to Toronto for Jonathan Bender. And when he traded Dale Davis to Portland for a relatively unknown, completely unproven forward named Jermaine O’Neal.

Of all of those moves, only the Bender deal remains up for debate, though Walsh’s confidence in his future s om remains unshaken. In the course of his 17 seasons on the job, Walsh should’ve earned the benefit of the doubt by now.

“When we came in (to the summer), we wanted to sign our own players,” he said. “We signed Jermaine O’Neal, we signed Larry Bird, we went to sign Brad Miller and realized it was going to be a really difficult thing for our franchise to absorb, so we replaced him. We went out and got a veteran (guard, Anthony Johnson), and now we’ve got money to pursue it for the rest of the summer.

“If you want to do a day-to-day commentary on all this, you can do that. But the simple fact is it’s going to be what happens from the beginning of the summer until training camp; then we’ll know what kind of ballclub we have. This club is improved now, from what it could’ve been. When you walk into a summer where you’ve got your leading free agents sitting out there and each one of them in their own way is an important piece of what you do, you’re in a difficult position. I feel good about our talent.”

The moves Thursday went beyond Pollard. Ron Mercer was packaged with Hedo Turkoglu (who came with Pollard from the Kings) and sent to San Antonio in exchange for the non-guaranteed (and therefore eminently marketable) contract of forward Danny Ferry. In addition, Walsh announced the signing of Johnson, another veteran backup.

The day represented a substantial step in addressing the two major priorities named by new basketball President Larry Bird: team chemistry and the point guard position.

Chemistry was a problem last season due largely to a lack of role players; too many players wanted too many minutes and too many shots and, as a result, the team ultimately became fractured. There also was a lack of calming veteran leadership to smooth out the rough spots in the course of the season. Pollard and Johnson are both proven role-players who double as veteran leaders with a history of being extremely popular with their teammates. While Johnson may not be the long-term answer at the point, he doesn’t have to be. The franchise still has faith in Jamaal Tinsley, but Walsh and Bird also are convinced a more experienced player or two was needed to help hasten his learning curve.

“I think I told you when the season ended that we needed some veteran leadership,” Walsh said. “Both of these players have been on contending teams. Anthony Johnson has been to the Finals the last two years (with New Jersey). Obviously, Scot Pollard has been with Sacramento, a very successful and contending team. So we have two players, both veterans, coming in from winning situations, situations that have gone deep into the playoffs. Those were the kinds of players we’re looking for.

“While it’s hard to lose Brad, I think we got a terrific replacement and I think in Anthony Johnson we got the kind of stable, hard-working player with talent that can come in and help us with our backcourt, to begin with. In addition to that, we needed to pursue things in the future. And what this trade does is give us more room under the luxury tax number. It also provides us, if necessary, with a trade exception (reportedly $4 million), which could be valuable at some point. … So from a basketball standpoint and from the cap standpoint, this was a real successful trade for us.”

Johnson was not brought here to be the point guard. He was brought here to be a point guard. Jon Barry is still an option – more viable now, thanks to additional luxury tax room. Is Johnson a better player than Erick Strickland, last year’s backup who signed with Milwaukee? Probably not, but he is a better fit because, unlike Strickland, he is a true point guard.

“Bird said, ‘We need a point guard.’ He’s right. But he didn’t say, ‘We need Jason Kidd,’’’ Walsh said. “We need point guards who can play like veterans. That’s what he meant. We have a very young point guard in Jamaal Tinsley. He’s been in the league two years. When you talked to Larry, he didn’t mean we were going to give up on this guy. He meant we need guys who can come in here who’ve been in this league a while who can hold the fort and help this guy while he learns to play.

“Some of our best years were with guys like Haywoode Workman. We won a lot of games with those guys, got pretty far in the playoffs with those guys. And this guy already has been there.”

Walsh is not trying to present Pollard as a better player than Brad Miller. But he is a player whose profile seems to fit perfectly with the rest of the roster. He won’t need the ball but he will go get it. He gives up his body to do the dirty work necessary to make teammates look better. He can play as many, or as few, minutes as the coaching staff determines are necessary to get the job done – without complaint.

“He’s a different type player than Brad,” Walsh said. “He’s bigger, longer, probably a little more tenacious under the backboard. But he does a lot of things like Brad. He can run the floor like Brad did. I don’t think he’s as good an outside shooter, but he is a good shooter in his range. Both of them are good passers and this guy is a good defender and he’s got a great body.

“He brings a lot to us that I wouldn’t say is any better than Brad but it’s a little different than Brad. It gives us some elements we didn’t have last year with Brad, but we’ll lose some elements Brad gave us.”

Walsh also pointed out another similarity: the cir stances under which each player came to Indiana. Miller had been primarily a backup, and was certainly a journeyman, when the Pacers acquired him in the seven-player deal with Chicago. The Pacers wanted him to defend centers, allowing O’Neal to move full-time to power forward, get rebounds and make the occasional basket. Pollard is walking into precisely the same role. This is not to say he will blossom into an All-Star, but that is not the expectation – just as it wasn’t for Miller.

The Pacers don’t have all the pieces to the puzzle. But the pieces they do have fit better.

And here’s the thing: it’s July.

The 2003-04 schedule hasn’t even been released yet, and the knee-jerk critics would have us believe the season already is over.

As for Walsh and Bird? They’re just getting started.