Indiana Pacers Blog – Page 50 – NBA Blog

Celtics center Jermaine O’Neal will keep playing

Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald reports:

Few players deliberate more over the pros and cons of surgery than Jermaine O’Neal, who after undergoing knee surgery last January has decided to take a more holistic approach with the torn ligament in his left wrist.

O’Neal, who went through the playoffs with the wrist injury, has decided to forgo surgery in favor of rehabilitation, according to Danny Ainge. The Celtics president said yesterday that O’Neal, attempting to take advantage of the team’s resources before players are locked out on July 1, has been a regular at the workout facility in Waltham.

“He has every intention of coming back,” Ainge said of the only true center on his team’s roster. “He has every desire to play, and didn’t like the way it finished this year, and doesn’t want to end his career on that type of note. He wants to be a much greater contributor.

“He chose not to have surgery.”

NBA heads to 2011 offseason of uncertainty

The AP reports:

“It’s an odd position, when the game is the best it’s ever been, when the ratings are the highest they’ve ever been, when the excitement is the greatest it’s ever (been),” Players Association attorney Jeffrey Kessler said last week. “It’s sort of odd to see the owners say we’re going to destroy this game unless you change this whole system. Players just want to play.”

Nobody can predict when they’ll get that chance again. When the Dallas Mavericks finished off the Miami Heat on Sunday night in Game 6, it sent the NBA into a most uncertain offseason.

Owners and players are nowhere close on a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that expires June 30. Without a new deal, players say they have been told by the owners they will be locked out.

The NBA was reduced to a 50-game season by a work stoppage in 1998-99, and the loss of games is a threat now. Citing leaguewide losses of about $300 million this season, the league hasn’t budged on its desire for significant changes to the financial structure, ranging from reductions in the length of contracts and the amount of guarantees, to an overhaul of the salary cap system that would prevent teams from being able to exceed it, as they can now under certain exceptions.

And Stern said the record TV ratings and all the other positive attention the league has received doesn’t make him any more motivated to get this settled, since he’d want to do it anyway.

“I don’t need any external prod to want to be able to make a deal,” he said…

The sides are scheduled to meet twice this week and say they hope for frequent discussions before the end of the month. Should those fail, the NBA could follow the NFL’s labor situation right into the court system, which both sides say they want to avoid. So although a work stoppage in July wouldn’t seem to have much effect since games aren’t going on, Stern insists “we very much feel the weight of the deadline.”

Mark Jackson talks big as new Warriors coach

The AP reports:

Declaring that “the Bay Area will never be the same,” Jackson promised sweeping changes Friday to the perennially underachieving franchise. He was introduced by the Warriors at a swanky San Francisco hotel across the bay from where the team plays in Oakland that had all the flair of the area’s new coach.

The Brooklyn native and former New York Knicks point guard said the Warriors will make the area “New York City West” in NBA circles, attracting the coveted free agents the franchise has always struggled to sign. He even predicted championship banners would follow.

“When you look at the success of the teams in this area, the A’s have had theirs. The Niners have had theirs. The Giants have had theirs. The Raiders have had theirs. And now we’re looking forward to ours,” Jackson said. “So, therefore, it’s about time. Sorry it took so long, but now we’re at the party.”

Well, not quite.

The Warriors have made the playoffs just once since 1994 and haven’t won an NBA title since 1975. About the only success the franchise has enjoyed is that fans in the basketball-crazy Bay Area regularly sell out Oracle Arena and can be as vocal as any in a market saturated with sports teams…

“We’re not going to accept mediocrity,” Jackson said, slipping into his Brooklyn accent and friendly slang that made him a broadcasting favorite. “You might as well hitch onto the bandwagon because things gone be a changing.”

Larry Bird is a Dirk Nowitzki fan

While I am not a fan of comparisons between Dirk Nowitzki and Larry Bird (I’m cool with discussing their scoring and shooting ability, but I give Bird a huge advantage when it comes to passing and various other stuff), it’s certainly fun to hear Larry Legend share his thoughts on the big German.

Marc Stein of ESPN reports:

“He’s had a great run (in the playoffs), but I’ve always been very impressed with him,” Larry Bird said [about Dirk Nowitzki]. “His work ethic, his loyalty to his country. It’s really an honor for me to have people compare us.

“He rebounds. He plays at his own pace. He sort of controls the tempo on offense. It’d be nice to be 7 foot and when they run plays and switch (defenders) on him, it doesn’t bother him at all. He can see over everybody.

“He’s got the step-backs. He gets to the rim. The difficulty of some of the shots that he makes … one thing about him is that he’s always got great balance. His shot looks like he’s falling away, but he’s got a lot of balance when the shot goes up.

“I understand (the comparisons). I’ve always felt it’s an honor when they compare anyone to me, because I haven’t played ball for 20 years.”

Asked how much he would have enjoyed the opportunity to take Nowitzki on in one of his legendary post-practice shooting games, Bird said: “I would have loved to compete against all these young guys: LeBron (James), (Kevin) Durant, Dirk. When you play this game, you want to go up against the very best. But I can’t even beat Magic (Johnson) in a H-O-R-S-E game any more. That’s how far I’ve fallen.”

One more comment on passing ability: Bird is my favorite passing forward of all time, but it has to be said that he had teammates who cut to the basket far more often than Dirk’s stand-in-three-point-range teammates do. Still, Bird passed the rock as well as almost anyone who ever played the game. I can’t come close to saying anything like that about Dirk.

Pacers increase season ticket prices

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reports:

The Indiana Pacers are increasing their ticket prices for the first time in five years.

The Pacers are offering full- and half-season packages and taking deposits on 11-game packages for the 2011-12 season at rates that are about 9 percent higher than this season.

Single-game ticket prices have yet to be determined.

“The ticket packages we’re selling today are higher than last year’s packages, but they’re still less than what they were five years ago,” said Rick Fuson, Pacers Sports & Entertainment chief operations officer.

Larry Bird and David Morway stay in Pacers front office

Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon and President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird met Tuesday in Los Angeles and have announced that Bird will remain in his position.

“I’m quite pleased with the success we experienced this past season and pleased with the direction our team is going,” said Simon. “I’m glad Larry is staying to help us continue in the positive direction we are going.”

“The past few months have been the most enjoyable since I took over as President of Basketball Operations,” said Bird. “To see our young players develop, to see us make the playoffs and then to see us compete in a hard-fought series with Chicago are indications we are headed in the right direction and it has made me even more determined to help this team improve further and go to the next level.

“I hope we can keep our core basketball group together and one of my first priorities will be to address the coaching situation.”

Simon and Bird also announced that David Morway will stay as general manager.

Danny Granger supports Pacers coach Frank Vogel

Lacy J. Banks of the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Here’s some potentially sobering news for the refreshingly revived Bulls.

If the Indiana Pacers players have their way, we’ve seen the last of “interim” head coach Frank Vogel.

Danny Granger supports Pacers coach Frank Vogel

“We want that ‘interim’ taken off his title,” said forward Danny Granger, the team’s leading scorer.

“Management usually asks for the players’ input on important decisions like this,” Granger said. “I expect [team president Larry Bird] to do so again. If he gives us who we want, he’ll make Vogel the full-time head coach — not interim. Vogel really improved our play overall. Of course, that’s a decision that management makes. And they don’t always make it the way the players want.”

Pacers coach Frank Vogel wants interim tag removed

The AP reports:

Displaying the positive attitude that energized the Indiana players and fans, interim coach Frank Vogel explained why he believes he should be the next head coach.

Vogel took over for Jim O’Brien at midseason, went 20-18 and led the team to its first playoff berth since 2006. The Pacers were competitive in losing their first-round series to the Chicago Bulls.

“One thing I learned the last three months is that I can do this,” he said. “I’m confident in my leadership abilities, my management abilities, my coaching abilities. It’s been an honor to coach the last few months, it would be an honor to coach in the future.”

Team president Larry Bird was impressed with Vogel’s performance. He said the 37-year-old would get the first interview for the head coaching position.

“I think Frank did an excellent job, stepping in without the experience of a head coaching job,” Bird said. “The way he conducted himself, he brought positive energy to this team. We won more games than we lost. We did it with a young team, a team that’s trying to grow.”

Danny Granger says Joakim Noah played dirty

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reports:

Danny Granger had to be restrained from going after Bulls center Joakim Noah as the teams exchanged handshakes on the court at the end of the Bulls’ series-ending 116-89 win.

Granger accused Noah of playing dirty throughout the game, taking cheap shots at Pacers, including forward Josh McRoberts, who was ejected in the third quarter.

Granger was in the hallway outside the locker room using expletives to describe Noah’s play.

“Everybody saw what Josh did and he got ejected,” Granger said. “Nobody caught what happened first. It’s always the second man. (Noah) was playing dirty the whole game. My teammates got caught with it and nothing happened.”

McRoberts was ejected in the final seconds of the third quarter for throwing an elbow at Noah. The former Carmel High School standout said he was retaliating for an “elbow to his throat” from the Bulls center.

Rose, Bulls eliminate Pacers, 116-89 in Game 5

The AP reports:

Derrick Rose scored 25 points, Luol Deng added 24 and Chicago finally played like a top seed, knocking off the Indiana Pacers 116-89 in Game 5 to wrap up their first-round playoff series Tuesday night…

Rose seemed just fine after spraining his left ankle in Game 4. He had it taped and acknowledged he was a bit apprehensive at first, but he wound up hitting 8 of 17 shots. He dominated in the early going and came up big in the third after the Pacers pulled within four. He scored 10 points over the final six minutes after returning with four fouls, and Chicago ended the quarter on a 23-8 run to blow the game open.

The Bulls hit 14 of 31 3-pointers, including five by Keith Bogans (15 points) and three each by Deng and Rose. Deng also had seven assists and six rebounds.

Joakim Noah added 14 points and eight rebounds, and the Bulls won a playoff series for the first time since they swept Miami in the first round in 2007 and only the second time since the championship era. It was clearly their most impressive performance of the postseason even though Carlos Boozer scored just two points…

Danny Granger scored 20 for the Pacers and had some strong words afterward for Noah. He accused Noah of throwing elbows that ultimately led to a technical foul for A.J. Price after an altercation with Tyler Hansbrough and an ejection by Josh McRoberts later in the game.