Bird on Pacers rebuilding process

[Grang33r]

Noticed this on NBA.com today, shortly prior to the game, but i didn't wanna post it to distract the conversation from the GDT. Steve Aschburner recently interviewed Larry Bird prior to a game and asked him about our rebuilding, among other things.

Y'know, we don't have sellouts every night. But we think we've got a good nucleus. After this year, we'll be down to $34 million. And still have all the Draft choices. We hope we can build it the right way. We said it was gonna take us three years, and this is the third year. Hopefully we can get it done.

We can't go out there and get [Amar'e] Stoudemire and guys like that. We've just got to hope our Draft choices get better and if we go out on the free-agent market, which we're going to, we want to get players to fit in and fill our needs. We got lucky with Collison this summer. We just have to be patient with him.

Link- http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/s ... index.html

This is what I hate. It's not that we have to HOPE they improve, we need to be better evaluators of talent. I feel like, each draft under Bird has been wasted pretty badly.

2006- Shawne Williams. Nuff' said.
2008- Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert. Hibbert is a potential all-star, Rush, was picked over Anthony Randolph, who, supposedly now we may even offer a 1st round pick to get. Rush? Got to be a role model, turns out to be a bad seed and could be had for peanuts.
2009- Tyler Hansbrough. Picked him over Darren Collison, later, realized the mistake, and traded Troy Murphy to get Collison. Imagine if we had Collison and Murphy on this team, and either keep Murphy for long term or use him as trade bait now?
2010- Paul George. I still love this pick, but, where exactly will he play? Seems like there they don't even know.

Seems to me, they are hoping for too much, but their talents are lacking. Theres no such thing as hoping in sports. You can either identify good talent or you can't. Simple as that.

[chube]

That's a good point about picking Hansbrough over Collison. Of course, at the time I think Ford and Jarrett Jack were still the PG combo and they were solid. But yeah, imagine a starting 5 of Big Roy, Danny, Collison, Murphy, and another SG. That's a playoff team.

Let's also not forget that in order to get Rush, Bird traded the rights to Jarred Bayless. Not quite sure exactly what he'll be yet, but he's shown some flashes of good play.

But yeah, Hansbrough was a guy who many said wouldn't be a good pro, but leave it to us to pick that guy. I haven't given up on him by any means, but still...what could've been.

[Grang33r]

That's a good point about picking Hansbrough over Collison. Of course, at the time I think Ford and Jarrett Jack were still the PG combo and they were solid. But yeah, imagine a starting 5 of Big Roy, Danny, Collison, Murphy, and another SG. That's a playoff team.

Let's also not forget that in order to get Rush, Bird traded the rights to Jarred Bayless. Not quite sure exactly what he'll be yet, but he's shown some flashes of good play.

But yeah, Hansbrough was a guy who many said wouldn't be a good pro, but leave it to us to pick that guy. I haven't given up on him by any means, but still...what could've been.

I havn't given up on Tyler either, i'm just saying i don't trust our scouting what so ever. We could have gotten a playoff team as you say by now but we keep picking the wrong guys and then it costs us extra to get that player in here.

[jowglenn]

2006- Shawne Williams. Nuff' said.
2008- Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert. Hibbert is a potential all-star, Rush, was picked over Anthony Randolph, who, supposedly now we may even offer a 1st round pick to get. Rush? Got to be a role model, turns out to be a bad seed and could be had for peanuts.
2009- Tyler Hansbrough. Picked him over Darren Collison, later, realized the mistake, and traded Troy Murphy to get Collison. Imagine if we had Collison and Murphy on this team, and either keep Murphy for long term or use him as trade bait now?
2010- Paul George. I still love this pick, but, where exactly will he play? Seems like there they don't even know.

The sick part is that I remember in that draft, I wanted Rondo so badly. People were dogging him about his jumpshot, but I watched the guy play enough at kentucky that I knew he was special - every game he would do something on a level of basketball 3 steps higher than anybody on the court. Insane rebound put backs. Being in the right place at the right time when nobody else would have been.

And we took Shawne Williams. Did Bird even talk to anybody about the guy? Or just watch a few games and say, 'yeah he could be good, let's take him'.

The rest of them...... No horrible choices. In retrospect, Collison would have been the choice (or Holiday...... or Lawson........) over hansbrough, but we have yet to really see what Hans will bring.

[Wizop]

Bayless has been good enough for Portland to keep him. no great loss there. do you really want to knock that trade now that the young throw in we received is our starting power forward and still only 23? at this point McRoberts is looking better than Bayless and we got Rush and a year of Jack for Diogu who has totally busted.

Bill Polian who knows a thing or two about drafting says if you can bat 560 you're doing great. sure picks that don't work out when you have 12 players stand out more than when you have 53 but it is still a guessing game. there will always be Ryan Leafs and Shawne Williams.

[8305]

I don't have a remarkable problem with the drafts since 2006. HIbbert today looks like the steal of the 2008 draft. I still think Hansbrough will be a solid player and its reasonable to think George will turn out to be the best we could have gotten at 10 in this past draft.

The Collison trade bailed Bird out from alot of second guessing that might attach to the 2009 draft and not taking a pg. Losing Murphy isn't a big deal in my mind. We don't have a pressing need for another bad defender.