INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ If history repeats itself for Jim O'Brien,
the Indiana Pacers will return to post-season play next season.
In Boston and Philadelphia, O'Brien took over teams that had
losing records the previous season and earned a playoff berth in his
first year.
``This is all about winning,'' O'Brien said Thursday after being
named the Pacers' new coach. ``We would all be disappointed if we're
not in the playoffs next year.''
O'Brien, 182-158 in five seasons as a head coach, was hired by
Indiana after a five-week search to replace the fired Rick Carlisle.
The Pacers finished 35-47 this season and missed the playoffs for
the first time in 10 years. Indiana has struggled the past three
seasons after reaching the Eastern Conference finals six times since
1994. They made the NBA finals in 2000 when they lost to the Los
Angeles Lakers, and had the league's best record in 2003-04.
That long-term success gives O'Brien confidence that the Pacers'
losing season was a fluke.
``I know what the Indiana Pacers are all about from the
standpoint of their history, their tradition, the way they've gone
about things in the past,'' O'Brien said.
Team president Larry Bird said O'Brien will help shape the roster
this summer. Bird has said he is willing to trade anyone on the
team, including all-star forward Jermaine O'Neal.
``He'll have a lot of input in that,'' Bird said. ``We like to
give a coach the type of players he likes to have. It's important
for him to have a big part in it.''
Indiana was the only team O'Brien spoke with about a head
coaching position. During their lengthy coaching search, the Pacers
interviewed former Miami coach Stan Van Gundy twice and later talked
to Chicago assistant Jim Boylan twice. They also interviewed current
assistants Johnny Davis and Chuck Person.
O'Brien had been out of coaching since he was fired by
Philadelphia following the 2004-05 season and wrote for ESPN.com the
past two years. He coached the Celtics from 2001-04.
``It came down to we needed a guy with experience in here,'' Bird
said. ``A guy who I think I'm going to be on the same page with to
do the things necessary to take us to the next level.''
O'Brien said the Pacers need to add shooters because he likes the
3-point shot. He said he wants the team to get the ball past
half-court in 3 seconds or fewer, a departure from Carlisle's
slower, structured style.
Carlisle had a 181-147 record with the Pacers, but his time was
overshadowed by player troubles. The Pacers dealt with long
suspensions of Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson after the 2004 brawl
between Pacers players and Detroit Pistons fans, and Indiana ended
up trading both.
Jackson and point guard Jamaal Tinsley both face felony charges
in separate nightclub fights during the past year _ behaviour which
Bird has called an embarrassment to the team.
Pacers fans have grown weary of the problems on and off the
court, and at times have booed the team. O'Brien said his team will
play the brand of basketball the fans expect.
``We will practice hard,'' he said. ``Discipline and organization
is a cornerstone of any basketball team at any level, and certainly,
our guys will know what we want of them.''
