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Someone asked this some time ago and it has since disappeared so I'm brining it back because with what all is going on it's starting to look like it again.

Roster from 10 years ago (the cross comparison)

Jackson (???)
Miller (Rush?)
Rose (Granger)
D. Davis (???)
Smits (Hibbert)

Best (Price?)
Croshere (Murphy?)
Mullin (Dunleavy)
McKey (D. Jones)
Perkins (McRoberts?)
Foster (Hansborough)

Harrington
Bender
Tabak

Seems like all we're missing is the PG, which yes the Pacers may have made a mistake when they drafted Hansborough, but the 2011 draft class could actually be way better then the 2009 class.

As far as the this year if we draft Udoh it could be interesting because he is almost a Dale Davis type, whereas Orton would be an Antonio Davis type.

Thoughts on this?

In a general sense, yeah, Bird is probably trying to build this team roughly the same way the old team was built--mainly through the draft, with a well-timed trade sprinkled in here and there. That's the time-honored way to put together a team if you are not a gaudy big-city franchise like the Lakers or Knicks. I'm sure Bird is shooting for a team with talent at every position, and one with good team chemistry, much like the 1990s Pacers.

It's harder to make more specific comparisons player to player, and if you do that, I think the current team is probably most comparable to about where the Pacers were in the late '80s, when they had a young Reggie Miller (analogous to Granger?), a developing Rik Smits (Hibbert?), and a few other decent pieces but who didn't quite fit together yet. (I think we had a thread a month or two ago about this.)

Another Dale Davis, along with another Mark Jackson, are maybe the most obvious missing pieces from the current Pacers. Problem for me is that I don't really see anyone like those guys in this draft. I don't think Udoh is a Dale Davis comparable, although he could turn out to be an all right player for the Pacers. To be honest, the guy in this draft who to me seems most like Dale Davis is probably Larry Sanders--maybe Sanders is only a poor man's DD, but I think he's going to be more intimidating under the boards than Udoh will be.

I have no idea what Orton is capable of becoming, so beats me if there's any reason or not to compare him to Antonio Davis. Maybe Orton, like AD, needs to go overseas for a few years first and learn how to play basketball?

I like Udoh from what I've seen but Orton should have sent back to School for another yearl

The difference between our lineup today and our lineup back then is Reggie Miller.

No comparison.

Yeah, I don't see it. The Pacers used to be sick. Not trolling, just thought this was interesting. I use to love the Pacers.

Interesting thread and some good points raised.
To me the only comparable players are
Reggie Miller - Danny Granger
Rik Smits - Roy Hibbert (although Roy not up to that standard yet)

The most notable MIAs for the current group are the equivalents of Mark Jackson, Jalen Rose and both Davis's

I sure hope not. That team was great and fun to watch but it's a new era now. He needs to build this team according to what he has now, not try to mold current talent to fit an old model. There isn't a point guard that we could get that is going to end up in top 3 all time assists, and we don't have anything resembling the bench we had then.

DWCP2, you may be subjected to your fellow posters for living in the past, embrace it.

The team from 10 yrs ago consisted of highly skilled seasoned vets. We are a decade away from realizing that. I'd be happy if Bird could duplicate how we went from contender, to a one-year rebuild, then back to contender.

Regardless, the Pacers always seemed to dominate in trades. We need to get back to it.

ie. #1 Trade LAC a low first and Pooh for Mark Jackson.

ie. #2 Trade Denv. Mark Jackson for JRose. Then reacquire Mark Jackson for pennies on the dollar.

ie. #3 Trade J Rose for a couple of all-stars.

ie. #4 Trade DDavis for a young stud PF.

Walsh was, and still is a genius. This is the only way to improve more rapidly, atleast that is supposedly the case for Indy's market.

Price doesn't dribble nearly enough to be Travis Best.