Props to Indiana for rebuilding the way you are supposed to

[Bigsmoke]

They boring as **** tho

[ihatetimthomas]

The only REAL right way is what I touched on earlier, have an owner that's willing to hire a GM with a long term plan and let him execute it, however shaky it looks in the first couple years.

That's the real problem with NBA franchises, impatient ownership, but that's a whole other rant. Again, it probably sounds douchey and I really don't mean it that way, but a GM would be lucky to have an owner like Herb and Mel (RIP Mel) Simon. No, they don't spend a fortune on a roster (though they paid the lux tax 3 times under the last CBA), that'd obviously be nice, but they let you build your team and trust that they made a sound decision hiring you. It's that family vibe stuff I was talking about, we bring you here it's because we want YOU, not your jump shooting or entry passes or whatever. Those obviously help, but if you have those and you're a dickhead then **** off.

Anyway, told you I'd rant on it, I'd write 50 pages on how I think the culture of the franchise is what's made them elite far before any of these current players were here, how when we altered that culture trying to sell our soul it lead to That Dark Day In Detroit.

What I'm saying is building a contender out of a couple late lotto and mid 1st picks is in NO way ideal. Paul George was our highest (own) pick since George McCloud. George McCloud! And the own qualifier is because of Jonathan Bender, you know how that went after all that early promise. I'm not gonna say this roster isn't drastically different than what Jim O'Brien had, it obviously is, but that dude was routinely DNPCD'ing Paul George his rookie year until Bird mercifully fired him.

It's culture man. One of the rare instances of nurture over nature. Again, if you read it as arrogant then whatever, maybe it is, but what Indiana's got going is incredibly hard for just any franchise to recreate.

Good post. This is the type of response I was looking for. Being patient is something that most teams are not able to do. So bad deals are made, hasty trades are made and they pay for it for years to come. I think part of the reason for this happening is because of pressure of winning. It could be GM's getting pressure from ownership to hurry up and create a winning team. It could also be GM's knowing that if they don't put together a winning squad, they may get fired. Owners also start feeling the heat when their team is losing money due to no attendance and a losing atmosphere.

The team culture is something I didnt think about, but makes a ton of sense. When you look at the Pacers, they have quality guys who have bought into the system and are real team players. It is def tough to create that culture the way Pacers have. But its something other teams should def look at. It starts at the top, and it will take growing pains. Its kind of how the Detroit pistons were during the Billups/Hamilton/Wallaces era.