Indiana Pacers Blog – Page 75 – NBA Blog

Donnie Walsh takes over Knicks

James L. Dolan, chairman of Madison Square Garden and president and chief executive officer of Cablevision Systems Corporation, today announced that Donnie Walsh has been named president, basketball operations of the New York Knickerbockers, in charge of all basketball operations. Both Mr. Walsh and Steve Mills, president and chief operating officer of MSG Sports, will report directly to Mr. Dolan.

Full news announcement is here.

The big question here is if Knicks ownership will really let Walsh truly rebuild the squad from scratch, like they needed to do for years now. What Isiah Thomas kept trying to do is build upon something that wasn’t working, instead of tearing it down from scratch. Walsh needs to ship almost all the current players out as quickly as possible, and that could take quite a while — like, a full season or two, or more. And he needs to finally clear salary cap space and attempt to build a real team with legitimate championship hopes, instead of one that just hopes to reach the playoffs.

Mar. 31: Pacers 105, Heat 85

The AP reports: Jermaine O’Neal scored nine points after sitting out for more than two months with a knee injury, and the Indiana Pacers beat the Miami Heat 105-85 on Monday night. O’Neal shot 3-for-4 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line in 18 minutes. He had missed 33 straight games with a bone bruise, and the Pacers went 12-21 during that stretch. Danny Granger led Indiana with 23 points and Mike Dunleavy added 18 as the Pacers won their second straight and their sixth of eight to remain contenders for an Eastern Conference playoff spot. Indiana entered the game three games behind Atlanta for eighth place in the East. Daequan Cook led Miami with 16 points and Kasib Powell and Chris Quinn both scored 15.

Mar. 28: Pacers 123, Nets 115

The AP reports: Troy Murphy sat out Wednesday with strep throat, but he recovered and had 21 points and 17 rebounds in a 123-115 win over the Nets Friday. The Pacers halted a two-game losing skid to remain in the Eastern Conference playoff picture… “He’s just been great for us,” Danny Granger, who led the Pacers with 26 points against the Nets, said… Mike Dunleavy scored 19 points and Marquis Daniels added 14 for the Pacers, who have won five of seven. Vince Carter scored 33 points, Devin Harris scored a career-high 27 and Josh Boone had 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Nets, who left the game disappointed.

Mar. 26: Nets 124, Pacers 117

The AP reports: Devin Harris had 22 points and a career-best 15 assists and the Nets kept pace with Atlanta for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with a 124-117 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night… “We definitely do need to play better defense,” said Josh Boone, who added a career-high 26 points… Besides Harris and Boone, the Nets got big performances from Vince Carter (22 points, season-high 14 rebounds) and Richard Jefferson (20 points) in the game that featured 27 3-pointers and seemingly as many uncontested layups. Mike Dunleavy had 33 points, seven assists and six rebounds to lead the Pacers, while Danny Granger added 19 points before fouling out… Bostjan Nachbar, who added 18 points off the bench, hit two more 3-pointers in the run that ended with Marcus Williams banking in a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 98-88 lead.

Mar. 25: Hornets 114, Pacers 106

The AP reports: David West had 35 points and 16 rebounds, and the New Orleans Hornets beat Indiana 114-106 on Tuesday night in the Pacers’ first game since CEO Donnie Walsh announced he was leaving the team at the end of the season. Chris Paul had 31 points and 14 assists as the Hornets won their fourth straight to maintain the best record (48-21) in the Western Conference. Danny Granger led Indiana with 26 points and nine rebounds against his hometown team. The Pacers had been on a four-game winning streak, but the loss gave the Pacers back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1987-88 and 1988-89.

Donnie Walsh leaving the Pacers

Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh is leaving the team. The Knicks, and possibly the Bucks, reportedly have interest in his services.

The Indianapolis Star (Mike Wells) reports: Indiana Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh announced today he is leaving the franchise. Walsh’s departure means team president Larry Bird will be the sole decision maker in the Pacers’ front office. Walsh, who has been with the Pacers since 1984, has already had conversations with New York about being the Knicks next president if Isiah Thomas is fired. His name has also been linked to the Milwaukee Bucks about their newly vacated general manager position. Walsh voluntarily backed away from day-to-day involvement with the Pacers, leaving Bird in charge of all player personnel moves last summer.

Full info is here.

Pacers schedule afternoon press conference

The Indiana Pacers are having a major press conference today at 3:30 p.m. local time. Pacers Co-Owner Herb Simon, CEO/President Donnie Walsh and President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird will all be there.

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star filed a quick report stating that the conference is to announce Walsh is leaving the franchise.

Could this mean he’s being hired by the Knicks? The Bucks? Someone else?

Pacers suspend David Harrison

The Indiana Pacers announced Friday they have fined and suspended center David Harrison for one game for conduct detrimental to the team.

Harrison will serve the suspension on Saturday when the Pacers visit the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena.

The incident causing the suspension is described by the Indianapolis Star on the InsideHoops.com NBA Rumors page today. Basically, Matt Bonner fouled him, Harrison went nutty, and then after the game in the Pacers locker room went even more psycho and had some sort of emotional breakdown. Give the dude a hug.

Some positive-slanted Pacers notes

In the Pacers’ two wins last week, Mike Dunleavy scored a career-high tying 36 points in each game. That is the first time that a Pacers’ player has scored 30+ points in consecutive game since Jermaine O’Neal did so in four straight games during the 2004-05 season. In the game at Toronto, Feb. 29, Dunleavy tied a career-high with six 3-pt field goals–his most ever with the Pacers.

In the last three games of this past week the Pacers averaged 36.3 free throw attempts per game and outscored the opposition, 88-58, from the line. Through the first 57 games, the Pacers averaged just 24.0 free throw attempts per game and had been outscored, 1,347-1,053, at the line.

When the Pacers scored 122 points at Toronto last Friday and followed that up with a season-high 128 points vs. the Bucks Sunday, they scored 120+ points in consecutive games for the first time since 1993.

With just six more 3-pt field goals made this season, Kareem Rush will become the third Pacers’ player to have hit 100 or more this season. That will be the first time in franchise history that three players have ever hit 100 or more 3-pt field goals in the same season.

With 10 steals and just nine turnovers vs. the Bucks on Sunday, Mar. 2, the Pacers had more thefts than turnovers for the first time this season. Indiana has averaged 12.0 turnovers per game in the last 15 games, compared to an average of 16.69 topg in its first 45 games.

Pacers sign Flip Murray

The Indiana Pacers announced Saturday they have signed free agent guard Ronald “Flip” Murray to a contract for the remainder of the season. Per club policy, no terms of the contract were released.

Murray, 6-4, 200-pound guard, played with the Detroit Pistons this season before being waived Feb. 22. He played in 19 games with Detroit, averaging 7.5 points, 3.4 assists and 1.9 rebounds. In five seasons prior, Murray played with Milwaukee, Seattle, Cleveland and the Pistons.

“This late in the season, we’re fortunate to be able to pick up someone who can contribute to our run for a playoff spot,” said Pacers Coach Jim O’Brien. “He’s a welcome addition to the Indiana Pacers.”

Murray will wear number 22. He practiced with the Pacers Saturday and will be available when the Pacers host Milwaukee, Sunday, March 2.