Larry Bird Is Trying to Get The Pacers Over The Hump

The Pacers were one of four American Basketball Association franchises to join the NBA in 1976 and they haven’t enjoyed the success that they had in the ABA as they won three titles there. In the NBA, the Pacers have come close on so many occasions only to be denied championship glory. During the 1990’s the Pacers made the Eastern Conference Finals four times only to be turned away on each trip. With Bird as their head coach, the Pacers finally broke through in 2000 to make the NBA Finals, but the Los Angeles Lakers stood in their way as Indiana lost in six games.

As a small market team, Bird and his predecessor as Pacers president Donnie Walsh who is now a consultant to the team have built this team through the NBA Draft as the city of Indianapolis isn’t high on the proposed destination list of big time free agents. The Pacers have built through the draft with the likes of forwards Danny Granger and Paul George. Center Roy Hibbert was drafted by the Toronto Raptors, but the Pacers acquired him before he ever suited up north of the border. In 2011, the Pacers were able to lure power forward David West away from the New Orleans Hornets and the nucleus of this team has now been built.

In the past two seasons, the Pacers have lost to the Heat in the playoffs, but they haven’t gone quietly. Putting up a fight against the Heat is one thing, but if the Pacers are ultimately going to win a title, they must be able to defeat the Heat in a playoff series and that is what Bird has returned to do. With his core in place Bird has been spending his summer improving the Pacers bench.

In the series loss to the Heat, the Pacers bench only averaged 11.3 points per game which is not going to get it done. It was good enough to hang with Miami, but you’re not going to beat them with that.

Bird is now making his presence known in a very short period of time. Power forward Tyler Hansbrough was tough, but he wasn’t scoring consistently enough off of the bench and for that Bird let him walk as he is now a member of the Raptors. In his place the Pacers signed former New York Knick forward Chris Copeland who is another athletic wing player. Bird used the 23rd overall pick of last month’s NBA Draft on University of Arizona small forward Solomon Hill who shot nearly 40 percent from beyond the three-point line for his collegiate career. Earlier this month, the Pacers signed former Brooklyn Nets backup guard C.J. Watson who gives them a veteran presence on the court with the second unit.

Aside from contending with the Heat, Bird knows that the Eastern Conference will be tough as the Knicks, Nets, and Chicago Bulls will all be title contenders. George is coming off of his best season as a pro where he averaged 17.4 points per game and earned his first selection to the NBA All-Star Game. George will have his hands full with forwards such as LeBron James of the Heat, Carmelo Anthony of the Knicks, and Paul Pierce of the Nets. Bird is ready to meet any offer that a team would throw at George as he will be a restricted free agent next summer and he wants to keep this core together for as long as possible. The Heat couldn’t stop Hibbert in The Eastern Conference Finals, but he’ll have his hands full against centers such as Brook Lopez and Kevin Garnett of the Nets and Joakim Noah of the Bulls.

This is where the Pacers bench will come in to play as they will take much needed pressure of the Pacers starting unit as it was a huge drop off in production this past season when Pacers head coach Frank Vogel went to his second unit. We are still several months away from the start of the NBA season, but the Pacers will be a team to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference.