My hard drive went out, just got it fixed!!!
Not sure why this is dated August 13, but here it is.
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Indiana not moving forward with Thomas
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Wednesday, August 13
You don't have to like Rick Carlisle. You don't have to hate Isiah Thomas. But if you're Jonathan Bender or Al Harrington or Ron Artest, we'd like to ask you a whole lot of questions in about 10 or 11 months.
"Rick's walking into a situation where the foundation has been laid," recently fired Pacer head coach Isiah Thomas said in the Indianapolis Star. "The hard work has been done. I just wish I was given the opportunity to complete what we had started."
Carlisle was fired by the Detroit Pistons during the off season because of ongoing tension between him and a front office that wanted him to develop the team's younger players like Mehmet Okur and Tayshaun Prince.
Forget about the 2002 Coach of the Year Award. Forget about winning more games than any other Eastern Conference team in 2003. Forget about the 100 victories in two seasons.
Carlisle didn't relate to his players, so Joe Dumars replaced him with Larry Brown, whose stay in Philadelphia was marked by his up-and-down relationship with Allen Iverson.
Now, Carlisle's about to become the head coach of a team that is both young, restless and unsure of itself after losing 12 of 13 games in the middle of last season and failing to advance beyond the first round for the third season in a row.
And to make matters even more complicated, here are a few of the facts.
Isiah Thomas, often chastised in the media for his work ethic though cherished by his players, didn't always help his team improve.
Ron Artest will be a much better player under Rick Carlisle.
In 2000, the Pacers reached the NBA Finals under head coach Larry Bird and assistant coach Rick Carlisle. Yes, that Rick Carlisle. They won 56 games that year.
On July 20, 2000, Thomas was named the team's new head coach after Bird's retirement and the team went on to win only 41 games the following season, 42 the next and 48 last year.
But it gets worse.
Despite being a Hall of Fame point guard, Thomas was unable to improve the game of Jamaal Tinsley. He went from averaging 9.4 points and 8.1 assists in 2002 to averaging 7.8 points and 7.5 assists per game in 2003.
Austin Croshere went from putting up 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds in 2000 to only 10.1 and 4.8 the next year, 6.8 and 3.9 the year after that and 5.1 and 3.2 the year after that.
Bender did improve incrementally in his second season under Thomas, but in his third, he went back down to averaging 6.6 points a game after averaging 7.4 the year before. Harrington went from scoring 13.1 in 2002 to scoring 12.2 in 2003.
And while you may have heard Artest's name a lot last season, that doesn't necessarily mean he had gotten any better as a player. In his last 27 games with the Chicago Bulls before being traded to the Pacers, he averaged 15.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.7 steals and 0.8 blocks on 43 percent shooting. Last year as a Pacers starter, he averaged 15.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.3 steals and 0.7 blocks on 42 percent shooting.
And let's not even get into the technical fouls, the fights with opposing players and coaches and the broken television camera at Madison Square Garden.
On May 23, 2001, Carlisle was hired as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons after being passed up for the Pacer job a year earlier. Before his arrival, the Pistons had won only 32 games. In his first year as head coach, they won 50. And then 50 again the next year.
But it gets even better.
Ben Wallace went from being a sign-and-trade throw in for Grant Hill to the two- time Defensive Player of the Year and two-time Rebounding King under Carlisle. Big Ben had never averaged more than 8.2 rebounds per game in his career. Last year, he averaged 15.4.
Corliss Williamson had played for three teams in two seasons when the Pistons acquired him midway through the 2001 season. The very next year, he was named the league's Sixthman of the Year.
Chauncey Billups went from averaging 12.5 points per game for the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2002 to averaging 16.2 points per game for the Pistons in 2003.
And we haven't even gotten to fourth-year shooting guard Rip Hamilton, who replaced eight-year veteran Jerry Stackhouse last season. All Hamilton did was average 20 points per game for the Wizards the year before and average 19.7 points per game for the Pistons.
Without a doubt, the Pistons' players became better under Carlisle despite his reputation as a hard-nosed, stubborn, often distant head coach.. And, arguably, a young pacer squad entrusted to Thomas was squandered despite his reputation of being a so-called player's coach who could rely on his Hall of Fame career as a player, himself.
Jermaine O'Neal, the best Pacer of them all, is openly angered by the move. Darko Milicic, the future of the Pistons, has, perhaps, never been happier.
But beginning about a month from now, we'll learn if it's better to hate a good coach or love a bad one when the Pacers take the floor for the first time under Carlisle and the Pistons are taken over by Brown as Thomas, former coach for the Pacers and former player for the Pistons, watches from afar.
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Peep Show
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Tuesday, September 2
Updated: September 2
10:07 AM ET
Curry
Detroit Pistons: If the last thing Michael Curry could do for the Pistons was be trade bait, then so be it. "I understand," Curry said in the Detroit News. "Cliff Robinson, Jon Barry and myself sort of figured we would not be around next season. He (Joe Dumars) is going with his nucleus of younger players and the rookies. And I'm fine with that." Curry was traded during the offseason for Lindsey Hunter, leaving only Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups as veterans on the team.
Houston Rockets: The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the Rockets are on the verge of moving into their new $235 million arena called the Toyota Center with an open house slated for Sept. 13. "When we were trying to do this, it was hard to imagine the payoff at the end," Rockets president George Postolos said. "Some people couldn't see the benefits. But we're at the end of this building period. We don't have to imagine it anymore. It's here, and it's real." The new arena comes complete with the highest resolution video screen, 18,500 bigger, more comfortable seats and plenty of escalators. "You want to put your stamp on it, and I think we have," Postolos said. "You ought to know your customers better than anybody else, and that's what we want to do. You want control over things so you can make sure things are right. That's the way we wanted it, and that's the way it is. The buck stops with the Rockets."
Not sure why this is dated August 13, but here it is.
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Indiana not moving forward with Thomas
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Wednesday, August 13
You don't have to like Rick Carlisle. You don't have to hate Isiah Thomas. But if you're Jonathan Bender or Al Harrington or Ron Artest, we'd like to ask you a whole lot of questions in about 10 or 11 months.
"Rick's walking into a situation where the foundation has been laid," recently fired Pacer head coach Isiah Thomas said in the Indianapolis Star. "The hard work has been done. I just wish I was given the opportunity to complete what we had started."
Carlisle was fired by the Detroit Pistons during the off season because of ongoing tension between him and a front office that wanted him to develop the team's younger players like Mehmet Okur and Tayshaun Prince.
Forget about the 2002 Coach of the Year Award. Forget about winning more games than any other Eastern Conference team in 2003. Forget about the 100 victories in two seasons.
Carlisle didn't relate to his players, so Joe Dumars replaced him with Larry Brown, whose stay in Philadelphia was marked by his up-and-down relationship with Allen Iverson.
Now, Carlisle's about to become the head coach of a team that is both young, restless and unsure of itself after losing 12 of 13 games in the middle of last season and failing to advance beyond the first round for the third season in a row.
And to make matters even more complicated, here are a few of the facts.
Isiah Thomas, often chastised in the media for his work ethic though cherished by his players, didn't always help his team improve.
Ron Artest will be a much better player under Rick Carlisle.
In 2000, the Pacers reached the NBA Finals under head coach Larry Bird and assistant coach Rick Carlisle. Yes, that Rick Carlisle. They won 56 games that year.
On July 20, 2000, Thomas was named the team's new head coach after Bird's retirement and the team went on to win only 41 games the following season, 42 the next and 48 last year.
But it gets worse.
Despite being a Hall of Fame point guard, Thomas was unable to improve the game of Jamaal Tinsley. He went from averaging 9.4 points and 8.1 assists in 2002 to averaging 7.8 points and 7.5 assists per game in 2003.
Austin Croshere went from putting up 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds in 2000 to only 10.1 and 4.8 the next year, 6.8 and 3.9 the year after that and 5.1 and 3.2 the year after that.
Bender did improve incrementally in his second season under Thomas, but in his third, he went back down to averaging 6.6 points a game after averaging 7.4 the year before. Harrington went from scoring 13.1 in 2002 to scoring 12.2 in 2003.
And while you may have heard Artest's name a lot last season, that doesn't necessarily mean he had gotten any better as a player. In his last 27 games with the Chicago Bulls before being traded to the Pacers, he averaged 15.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.7 steals and 0.8 blocks on 43 percent shooting. Last year as a Pacers starter, he averaged 15.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.3 steals and 0.7 blocks on 42 percent shooting.
And let's not even get into the technical fouls, the fights with opposing players and coaches and the broken television camera at Madison Square Garden.
On May 23, 2001, Carlisle was hired as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons after being passed up for the Pacer job a year earlier. Before his arrival, the Pistons had won only 32 games. In his first year as head coach, they won 50. And then 50 again the next year.
But it gets even better.
Ben Wallace went from being a sign-and-trade throw in for Grant Hill to the two- time Defensive Player of the Year and two-time Rebounding King under Carlisle. Big Ben had never averaged more than 8.2 rebounds per game in his career. Last year, he averaged 15.4.
Corliss Williamson had played for three teams in two seasons when the Pistons acquired him midway through the 2001 season. The very next year, he was named the league's Sixthman of the Year.
Chauncey Billups went from averaging 12.5 points per game for the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2002 to averaging 16.2 points per game for the Pistons in 2003.
And we haven't even gotten to fourth-year shooting guard Rip Hamilton, who replaced eight-year veteran Jerry Stackhouse last season. All Hamilton did was average 20 points per game for the Wizards the year before and average 19.7 points per game for the Pistons.
Without a doubt, the Pistons' players became better under Carlisle despite his reputation as a hard-nosed, stubborn, often distant head coach.. And, arguably, a young pacer squad entrusted to Thomas was squandered despite his reputation of being a so-called player's coach who could rely on his Hall of Fame career as a player, himself.
Jermaine O'Neal, the best Pacer of them all, is openly angered by the move. Darko Milicic, the future of the Pistons, has, perhaps, never been happier.
But beginning about a month from now, we'll learn if it's better to hate a good coach or love a bad one when the Pacers take the floor for the first time under Carlisle and the Pistons are taken over by Brown as Thomas, former coach for the Pacers and former player for the Pistons, watches from afar.
---------------------------------
Peep Show
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Tuesday, September 2
Updated: September 2
10:07 AM ET
Curry
Detroit Pistons: If the last thing Michael Curry could do for the Pistons was be trade bait, then so be it. "I understand," Curry said in the Detroit News. "Cliff Robinson, Jon Barry and myself sort of figured we would not be around next season. He (Joe Dumars) is going with his nucleus of younger players and the rookies. And I'm fine with that." Curry was traded during the offseason for Lindsey Hunter, leaving only Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups as veterans on the team.
Houston Rockets: The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the Rockets are on the verge of moving into their new $235 million arena called the Toyota Center with an open house slated for Sept. 13. "When we were trying to do this, it was hard to imagine the payoff at the end," Rockets president George Postolos said. "Some people couldn't see the benefits. But we're at the end of this building period. We don't have to imagine it anymore. It's here, and it's real." The new arena comes complete with the highest resolution video screen, 18,500 bigger, more comfortable seats and plenty of escalators. "You want to put your stamp on it, and I think we have," Postolos said. "You ought to know your customers better than anybody else, and that's what we want to do. You want control over things so you can make sure things are right. That's the way we wanted it, and that's the way it is. The buck stops with the Rockets."
