Sports 4 Dorks

Look at him, over there in his pseudo-Bullets jersey,
keepin’ them thoughts to hisself.

Indianapolis
Star scribe Mike Wells caught up with Larry Bird at Pacer shootaround
before his team suffered its worst
loss of the season, a 22-point drubbing at the hands of the Utah Jazz on
Tuesday night. It’s the time in the NBA season where writers have to at least
introduce the idea of making a trade to every accessible GM, and the time in the
season where all 30 of the league’s GMs say something about it being early,
trades being hard to make, and how anything can happen between now and the
February 21^st trade deadline.

Bird was no different. From
the Star:

"Will we do
anything? I don’t know," Bird said. "Obviously teams are trying to
strengthen what they have. We’re not looking to get rid of any core players
right now, but you never know." 

You never know, but … yeah, you know.

Nobody’s banging down the door in hopes of prying anyone
away from the 16-20 Pacers, somebody might get lucky and score Ike Diogu for a
song, but the team’s roster is full of players who are working on their last
chance. Sure, guys like Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Troy Murphy are having solid
seasons, but if those two are starting for you, your team is in trouble, and
both are making high-end starter money.

Other teams realize this, and want precious little to do
with them, or Jamaal Tinsley (who we’ve given up on, without even taking into
consideration his off-court troubles). Jermaine O’Neal? An average of 21.3
million bucks a year for a 29-year old averaging 15.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, and
two blocks? While shooting 44 percent? No thanks. The Pacers will want to hang
onto Danny Granger, who everyone likes, but as a fourth option.

Larry goes on to point out his team’s inconsistency, and
he’s absolutely spot-on. No team in the NBA alternates 35-point and 18-point quarters like
the Indiana Pacers.

He also warns that the team’s slow start as a lot to do
with their ascension into the ranks of the running. And, while this is
partially true (everyone but Murphy and Dunleavy Jr. played on a team that was
10^th in possessions per game last year, 20^th the year
before, and 29^th the year before that; opposed to 2^nd in
the NBA this season), they were still running a bit last year, and up-tempo or
not, this is a team that will be lucky to approach .500.

Bird had his chance to rebuild over the summer of 2006, but
declined. O’Neal and Tinsley had better trade value back then, they had Peja
Stojakovic’s contract coming off the books, and nobody would have blamed them.
Instead, they’ve tried to sustain the mediocrity, and they haven’t been able to
even follow-through on that.