Walsh to NY

Donnie Walsh has definitely had some success over the years with the Indiana Pacers, but the idea of recruiting him away from Indianapolis and to New York seems a bit odd. Walsh will be leaving Indy on a sour note, after several seasons worth of his team being in decline. The Knicks seem like they need a guy on his upside, someone who's been having some success and now is going to take on a bigger job.

Meanwhile, I wonder what Larry Bird's plan for turning the Pacers around is? Trading away the team's unpopular-with-the-fans "bad character" guys in exchange for overpaid white guys who don't play basketball very well hasn't turned out great and it's hard to undue mistakes like that.

Comments

it's hard to undue mistakes like that.

Yet it's relatively easy to undo these mistakes.

Posted by SoCalJustice | March 25, 2008 10:36 AM

The problem in Indiana isn't the set of players that they traded away, but the two that they kept: O'Neal and Tinsley.

Posted by SomeCallMeTim | March 25, 2008 10:37 AM

The sad thing is that they're just a couple games back from that last playoff spot

Posted by Mike | March 25, 2008 10:49 AM

if ownership required talent, intelligence, or a track record of success, dolan would never get the job, but since ownership only requires money (daddy's money, in this case), dolan gets to keep making unforced errors.

as for indiana's situation, i have no clue, but bird never struck anyone during his playing days as team president material....

Posted by howard | March 25, 2008 10:52 AM

So will Isiah finally be fired?

Posted by nattyb | March 25, 2008 10:59 AM

it's hard to undue mistakes like that

How much $$ did your folks drop on your education Matty? And yet you still can't spell/proofread (or is it possible even that you don't no the difference between undo & undue?)?

PS I thought I'd try writing/spelling to your level there. Did you catch it?

Posted by undue mistakes? | March 25, 2008 11:08 AM

Conseco Fieldhouse has a plan to expand revenues. The first 100 fans to home games get a shot of Courvoisier Cognac, discounts on a crack-whore BJ and dibs on Glocks confiscated from players. After hours victory parties (rare indeed!) will afford lucky fans the opportunity to tag-team local bar bouncers with the player of their choice, followed by a simulated drive-by shooting.

Posted by steve duncan | March 25, 2008 11:15 AM

Have to give the Indiana fans some blame for this....they ran Stephen Jackson out of town like a bunch of idiots. Jackson's problem is that he's TOO good a teammate and friend and gets into trouble backing them up sometimes, like he did when he was arrested for shooting a gun into the air. If they'd traded his lesser-talented punk teammates instead they might have gotten the solid citizen Golden State is now enjoying.

Posted by Dan | March 25, 2008 11:37 AM

The definition of a friend and teammate: Willingness to squeeze off a few warning shots at 3AM in the parking lot of a local strip club. The night before (no, actually the day of!) a scheduled training camp session for the coming season. Yeah, that Stephen Jackson is a real friend. In a pinch he'll light your crackpipe for you, too.

Posted by steve duncan | March 25, 2008 11:56 AM

discounts on a crack-whore BJ

So your mom finds herself with some free time, then?

Posted by SomeCallMeTim | March 25, 2008 12:01 PM

The definition of a friend and teammate: Willingness to squeeze off a few warning shots at 3AM in the parking lot of a local strip club.

Concepts of friendship and loyalty can be context-dependent. When a guy is operating from totally different priors than you, he may appear reasonable in some situations, unreasonable in others. In a similar way that Rasheed Wallace turned around his reputation in a better situation, so has Stephen Jackson. Trading away 'bad character' guys for overpaid white guys was the wrong solution. If you want to blow up the team, blow up the team. What are Tinsley and O'Neal offering currently? Trade them all for whatever draft picks you can get and young, developing talent. Trying to rescue lost seasons is the most typical NBA GM mistake.

Posted by mpowell | March 25, 2008 12:03 PM

Sorry, but dunleavy is actually having a pretty dam good year - he's just a couple of points behind S-Jax in ppg. Hollinger gives him a higher per than Jackson too.

But I hate the Pacers.

Posted by beger | March 25, 2008 12:25 PM

"Concepts of friendship and loyalty can be context-dependent."
Posted by mpowell | March 25, 2008 12:03 PM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I agree. Kinda like when a cellmate agrees to hold down Big Vito while you shank him for stealing your cigarettes. The guy has proven his true friendship to you. It all boils down to context.

Posted by steve duncan | March 25, 2008 12:26 PM

Stephen Jackson/crack pipe = hilarious!!! Very rich material. Basically what I'm talking about, people seem to misunderstand him in a very shallow fashion.

Posted by Dan | March 25, 2008 12:31 PM

Hey Steve Duncan, care to enlighten us as to which Pacer player you are accusing of being a crackhead and frequenting whores?

I'm curious, do you feel bigger and more worthy when you vent out the racist bile that backs up into your mouth? Or does that only cum when you are able to suck someone in to call you a racist?

If the latter, enjoy your moment of pleasure you creep.

Moving on, I'd agree with Dan that Pacer fans ran Stephen Jackson out of town. Too many little stevie duncans here in town to be able to deal with someone so BLACK!

Posted by Curt M | March 25, 2008 1:00 PM

Dunleavy has been having an awesome year. Murphy is a good role player.

One of the key pieces of the Golden State trade was Ike Diogu (a black guy) who has been injured pretty much the entire time with Indiana.

Also, the Pacers did trade an overpaid white guy (Austin Croshere) for a bad character black guy (Marquis Daniels).

The Pacers' real problem is that O'Neal and Tinsley have only played 30 odd games apiece.

Posted by blah | March 25, 2008 1:17 PM

Actually, I think those "bad citizens" were actually pretty brilliant. I mean, you are a rich young man stuck in the hell-hole of central Indiana. (Innoculation: I'm a native Hoosier.) Want to find a better place to live without taking a substantial pay cut? Seems these young men have found the answer: get into a couple scuffles at a strip club and, hey, say hello to the Bay Area.

If the Pacers wanted to punish these guys for actingout, they should have signed them to a long-term, no-trade contract. Instead, they gave them exactly what they wanted. No wonder Walsh is considered a Dolan-calibre manager.

Posted by jlw | March 25, 2008 1:27 PM

I am truly chastened. Recent events in Pacerland led me to the conclusion the team seemingly had more than its fair share of players having trouble avoiding trouble. Now Curt M has enlightened me it's just a matter of players being black. No, correct that, BLACK!

Posted by steve duncan | March 25, 2008 1:31 PM

We here at Golden State are very happy with the much-maligned Stephen Jackson. He is the ultimate teammate and has flourished with Don Nelson. And Dunleavy as the 3rd pick was something from the bad Warrior past. He is overrated. A great trade for both sides.

But especially for us.

Posted by Mimikatz | March 25, 2008 1:39 PM

"Moreover, there is Jackson's unremitting generosity. In the 20 weeks since opening night, Jack has made 22 public appearances, far more than any other Warrior, conceivably more than any player in the league.......Teammate Baron Davis considers him 'the heart and soul' of the team. Former teammate Tim Duncan refers to Jack as 'the ultimate teammate."

And he shoots about 80% from 3 pt. land in the final 3 minutes of games.

Posted by Jax #1 fan | March 25, 2008 1:56 PM

I must concede several allusions to Indianapolis & its environs contributing to erratic Pacer behavior ring true. If nothing else a staggering preponderance of porcine ingénues most assuredly drive young bucks mad.

Posted by steve duncan | March 25, 2008 2:03 PM

You couldn't have just said pig ladies? Remember - the man was hit by a car!

Further, as the contra costa times reports: "He returns phone calls. He mends fences, lifts spirits, makes others feel special."

Posted by begrer | March 25, 2008 3:02 PM

Remember - the man was hit by a car!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So true. I capped the last guy bumped into me in the Wal-Mart without so much as an "Excuse me" proffered. Everyone agrees it was an upright way to handle the matter.........

Posted by steve duncan | March 25, 2008 3:13 PM

Any team with Troy Murphy on it will suck. That is the key fact that has yet to be mentioned.

Posted by Curtis | March 25, 2008 3:48 PM

As I recall, someone ran Jax over with a car, and Jax fired his pistol into the air to scare the guy off nonviolently.

and anyone who thinks that Dunleavy's better stats make him a better player than jax has never seen the two play. there's a reason indiana has the record they have and golden state has the record they have, and it ain't al harrington.

Posted by alan in sf | March 25, 2008 4:32 PM