Pacers Owner Suggests a Complete Reset

The Indiana Pacers have gone through a lot of PR issues since 2004... and the team hasn't been successful enough to mute concerns. If it feels like the dead and buried "Portland Jailblazers" all over again, it should. The problems are similar.

The Pacers have been blowin' it up since last January, when they took on two tough contracts just to rid the team of Stephen Jackson. Have they gone far enough? Judging by the blotter, no. And owner Herb Simon suggests to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star a clean slate might be the only way to fix things.

"We're talking about restructuring, re-thinking, all the things you do when your team is in crisis," he said. "We're going to be having a series of meetings and we're going to make changes, yes."
When asked what areas he plans on addressing, Simon said, "Everything but the owner right now."

(You hear that, Ballmer? He's not selling.) Donnie Walsh has been perceived as on his way out of Indiana regardless; Simon might not even have to ask for his resignation. Larry Bird? Might be trickier. Bird's so entwined with Indiana state basketball he might not consider any other available job an even trade. (Which is to say I doubt Danny Ainge is getting canned this summer.)

And considering the product on the floor, isn't Bird the franchise face right now? Exiling Jamaal Tinsley and David Harrison and Marquis Daniels and even Shawne Williams could only do so much if you leave a complete void in its place. Mike Dunleavy Jr. ain't sellin' tickets/jerseys, in other words.

Sadly, there won't even be an elite prospect likely to help, as Indy seems pegged to the mid-to-late lottery. Most thought this would be the year it got worse before it got better. But a lack of action last summer and this trade deadline seems to have pushed off the (now) inevitable scorched Earth rebuild one more year.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-08-2008 @ 4:29PM

Ryne Nelson said...

I'm glad Simon spoke to the media about this. The owner has a point. The Pacers, pre-brawl, never seemed to have these issues. I'm confident Bird will straighten things out in the years to come.

3-08-2008 @ 7:38PM

§ said...

WTF took so long? Shawne Williams' pal being arrested for a Memphis murder? Or David Harrison throwing a tantrum in the lockerroom? This news comes after a report that a woman was raped at Marquis Daniels' home last month, Harrison failing a 3rd drug test, Jamaal Tinsley the target of a drive-by, Williams arrested for having no license/expired plates/possession of gun & weed, JT and 'Quisy beating up a club owner, Stephen Jackson firing a pistol and kicking a 3-fingered small person... and all this after the infamous brawl in Detroit. We make the Bengals look like choir boys.

3-09-2008 @ 11:36AM

GARY L RIBBLE said...

HELLO,
I AM A PACERS FAN,BIG TIME BUT WHAT HAS REALLY HAPPENED TO THEM? THEY GET BIG MONEY TO PLAY THIS GAME AND THEY NEVER EVEN SHOWED THEIR POTENTIAL THIS YEAR WITH THE CALIBER OF PLAYERS THEY HAVE. I THINK IT IS TIME FOR A BIG SHAKE UP IN THE ORGANIZATION.
THEY SHOULD GET RID OF THEIR TROUBLED PLAYERS,THAT DO NOT PLAY TO THEIR POTENTIAL AND GET SOMEONE WHO WILL PLAY. THE UNDER DOG PLAYERS ALWAYS PLAY HARDER. IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE AND I THINK IT IS UP TO THE OWNER TO MAKE THESE CHANGES,WITH SOME PINK SLIPS.
SO I HOPE THEY DO SOMETHING BEFORE NEXT YEAR,SO
WE AS PACER FANS CAN BACK THIS TEAM MORE. I FOR ONE AM VERY DISAPOINTED IN THEIR PLAYING THIS YEAR
SO ALL I CAN DO IS HOPE CHANGES ARE MADE AND NEXT SEASON WILL SHOW. FOR NOW IT IS VERY BORING WATCHING THE PACERS LOOSE SO MANY GAMES,WITHOUT REALLY TRYING. COME ON PACERS,LET'S PLAY THE WAY I KNOW YOU CAN.