The Indiana Pacers Owe Their Fans a Personnel Change

For the past several years, my interest in the Indiana Pacers basketball team has been minuscule. Ever since the Pacers/Pistons brawl in 2004 and the retirement of Reggie Miller in 2005, the team has gone on a downward spiral.

They have endured numerous off-court issues, bad draft picks and transactions and shaky leadership on and off the court.

All of these factors have attributed to my lack of interest in Pacers basketball. However, I will come out from behind my facade of apathy to say that the Pacers need to make serious personnel changes.

When Donnie Walsh hired Larry Bird to replace him as team president in 2003, Bird had inherited a team that had made the playoffs for six consecutive years.

By hiring Bird, Walsh suggested a return to the dominant Pacers teams of the late 1990s when Bird had been the head coach. Walsh also hired Bird's former assistant, Rick Carlisle, to replace Isaiah Thomas as the head coach.

The Pacers seemed to be headed in the right direction. They had the best record in the NBA during the 2003-2004 season, winning a franchise record 61 games, but lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to Detroit. From then on, the Pacers struggles would start.

The famous Pacers/Pistons brawl occurred on Nov. 19, 2004. A total of 10 players were fined and suspended, six of them were Pacers players, including four starters. Five players were also charged with assault and were sentenced to community service.

Ron Artest was suspended for 73 games; Stephen Jackson, 30; and Jermaine O'Neal, 13. This destroyed the Pacers' chances of winning their division. Remarkably, they made the playoffs as a six seed with a 44-38 record, but lost in the conference semi-finals to their nemesis Detroit. This was Reggie Miller's final year, and the last year that the Pacers would seriously compete for a title.

Despite injuries to key players and more drama with Ron Artest, who was traded at the deadline for Peja Stojakovic, the Pacers made the playoffs the next year, but were defeated in the first round by the New Jersey Nets.

The next season, 2006-2007, culminated in the team's first losing season in 10 years. The Pacers fired coach Rick Carlisle after this season. Jim O'Brien was quickly hired to replace Carlisle as head coach.

The Pacers were in a rebuilding process, but Bird's transactions did not help the team. Top draft pick Shawne Williams was a bust, both on and off the court, as was the newly-acquired Marquis Daniels.

Since then, in three full seasons with the Pacers, Jim O'Brien has a record of 104-142. This season, he has coached the Pacers to a 16-26 record. Attendance is among the worst in the league, and the Pacers are on pace to miss their fifth straight postseason.

O'Brien has not delivered on his promise to restore the team to playoff contention. His style of coaching is fast paced and not suited for the type of basketball that has made the Pacers successful in previous seasons.

While Bird's transactions and draft picks have improved, the Pacers need a personnel change, and it must start at the top. Larry Bird must make a coaching change, or else he himself should be fired. This Pacers team is not fun to watch or cheer for.

Pacers fans have been deprived of good basketball for too long. The fans deserve much better, and team owner Herb Simon must recognize this fact.