CBS Sportsline Pacers Column

["Greg Odegaard" <grodeg@xxxxxxxxxx>]

      See how easy it is to actually paste and post the real article to the
list, without the continually insane and insensitive leaks?  You would think
if your ego was so fragile to need our collective input, that you would post
the ACTUAL article, instead of making good folks have to work, or worse not
even be able, to get the goods.

      Clearly it is not possible to teach an idiot a new trick.

      Take care all,
      Greg

      >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
      After 2002-03, and with Bird in hand, Thomas was a goner

           Aug. 27, 2003
            By Mike Kahn
            SportsLine.com Executive Editor





      Taking the high road, Indiana Pacers president and CEO Donnie Walsh at
least had to say that Isiah Thomas' sudden firing Wednesday afternoon was not
a reflection of the job he did.

      When pressed on the issue, Walsh finally conceded, "Well, it was a
little."



      Sure, there are plenty of other reasons, not the least of which is that
Larry Bird was hired as president of basketball operations on July 11, and
since that time, everybody has expected him to hire his former assistant, Rick
Carlisle.

      There's no cause to think differently now, particularly when you
consider Bird called Carlisle on Tuesday night to tell him they were firing
Thomas and asked him to come in as soon as possible. It would be surprising if
Carlisle wasn't named coach before the Labor Day Weekend comes to a close.

      When reached at his home in Detroit, he confirmed he is headed to
Indianapolis shortly and very interested in the job and politely refused to
comment on the record. But keep in mind Carlisle has said time and again that
any situation that includes Bird is a positive one.

      That said, let's take it from the top on why Thomas, 42, wasn't going to
make it through the summer.

      Bird had resigned after three years of coaching the Pacers to the
conference finals -- the final season ended with an Eastern Conference
championship and a six-game loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals.
Walsh then broke up the aging team. Carlisle was an assistant for Bird and the
heir apparent until some gray internal issues regarding his relationship with
some players muddied the waters.

      That sent Walsh in a different direction, and he went for the Hall of
Fame name in Thomas, who led Indiana to an NCAA title in 1981 and was captain
of the two-time NBA champion Detroit Pistons. Thomas had never coached before,
so with a young team, the 41-41 and 42-40 records in his first two seasons
were at least acceptable. Ditto for the first-round knockouts.

      But expectations were high entering the 2002-03 season. With the rapid
development of Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest at the forwards, plus Brad
Miller's emergence as an All-Star center, they began the season 37-15, the
best record in the weak East.

      Then things began to unravel quickly. Second-year point guard Jamaal
Tinsley's mother was dying of cancer. O'Neal's stepfather shot himself. Miller
developed a foot problem. Artest's temper blew out of control, and veteran
star Reggie Miller never recovered from the ankle injury he suffered in the
summer playing in the World Championship of Basketball.

      Consequently, they finished the season a horrid 11-19 and, to make
matters worse, blew a double-figure lead in the fourth quarter at home against
Boston in Game 1 as the playoffs got underway.

      To be dominated as they were after that by an undermanned Celtics team
spoke volumes of where they were. They had suffered a severe meltdown, and
Walsh knew it. He expressed concern during a conversation a couple of weeks
ago with SportsLine.com about the mindset of his young players.

      Once young players go south on a coach, it's tough to get them back on
course.

      "That was really the biggest issue Larry and I discussed," Walsh said.
"We thought rather than go into a season that could just blow up even worse,
why not do it now? This way, Isiah still has a month or so to get another job
if he wants to."

      Not that he'll leave empty-handed. He'll still get the $5 million owed
to him in the last year of his four-year deal. It's just that the move came
out of the blue. He had been invited by Team USA coach Larry Brown to observe
the team during the Olympic qualifications in Puerto Rico. Thomas was just
headed home to Indy on Wednesday, but he did not have a clue why.

      Which raises the obvious question, why now? Certainly Carlisle's
availability was an issue. He was surprisingly fired after the Pistons had won
their second consecutive Central Division title -- featuring identical 50-32
records -- but marred by a rocky relationship with upper management. Brown
replaced him within a couple of days, coincidentally resigning from the
Philadelphia 76ers. Carlisle was a candidate for a number of other positions.
Nothing materialized, and he appeared bound for a year as an analyst for ESPN.

      The incestuous relationship between the Pistons and Pacers since 1997
has been startling. Bird replaced Brown as coach of the Pacers, Thomas -- a
Pistons superstar -- replaced Bird, and Carlisle went to Detroit, then was
replaced by Brown. Now Bird will hire Carlisle to replace Thomas and close the
circle.

      "Rick will be the first guy we talk to," Walsh said. "I'll tell you
that. We have a lot of respect for him. He's an exceptional coach."

      The sense of inevitability was obvious, although Carlisle's discomfort
with the abruptness of Thomas' firing was also palpable Wednesday. He likes
things to be neat and tidy. That's a rare state in the coaching profession.
Nevertheless, Bird referred to Carlisle, 43, as his No. 1 choice in the
Wednesday press conference, and there is simply no way Carlisle would prefer
any sort of television job to the head coaching position he wanted three years
ago. Money could be tough considering the $5 million they are paying Thomas,
but owners Mel and Herb Simon have always come up with the cash when
necessary.

      This change just required Bird to come in and right the ship. He's the
one who wanted Carlisle on his staff when he took over the Pacers in 1997, and
Carlisle proved to be invaluable with his tireless approach and understanding
of the principles of basketball that won in Boston for so many years. But this
almost didn't happen for Bird, either. Remember, most people were convinced he
and his buddy from Boston, Steve Belkin, were going to be the owners of the
new Charlotte franchise that was ultimately given to Robert Johnson.

      What Bird did realize after three years out of the game was he wanted
back in. Where else but his home state of Indiana? Boston stopped being viable
when it wasn't Belkin who bought in there, either. So Walsh finally got his
wish -- to train Bird to take over his job running the basketball operations
and ultimately everything else. That happened seven weeks ago, and the clock
began to tick on Thomas. Bird studied the films. He talked to the players,
while incessantly bouncing everything off of Walsh's furrowed brow.

      Besides, Bird and Thomas never saw eye-to-eye as competitors on the
floor, and there seemed little basis for a sound working relationship under
these trying circumstances, either. Add to that Bird's theory that players
always tire of a coach after three years, and he saw nothing to make him
believe that hadn't happened to his old adversary Isiah. That had a lot to do
with why Bird never wanted to coach longer than that. As president of
basketball operations, it will be interesting to see if he uses the same
formula.

      "When I was hired, I told Donnie I wanted to take my time this summer to
see how things were with this team going into the season and the future," Bird
said. "After looking at the film, seeing how things were evaluating the
basketball operations, I detected the team's chemistry wasn't what it should
be."

      Enter Carlisle, the chemist extraordinaire for the overachieving
Pistons. He'll have more built-in talent with the Pacers and a front office
clearly in his corner. Expect three years. That's the Larry Bird rule.
Anything beyond that, well, we'll just have to wait and see.