A response to Bird willing to trade unruly Pacers:
Larry  Bird  shouldn't   be  looking   to  adding   by  subtraction  for his  his team's  woes.  Because  if  anything,  their  failings  were  of  his  own  manifestation and  making. By  trading  Ron  Artest   to  The  Kings  for  Peja  Stojakovic  they  didn't  get  a  trade  that  was  equal  in value,  in terms  of  talent.    Furthermore   Rick  Carlisle   as  a coach  was  less  of a leader  off court   and  did  not   demand  of  his  players  what  was  necessary    in  order  for them  to  be successful.  Too  often he  left  it  for  the  players  to  make  decisions that  should  have been  coming  from him.  The  team  lacked  heart  and  it  showed  throughout  the season.   Nowhere  was  this  greater  than in  the attitude  of  Jermaine  O'Neill.  When first confronted  by  Artest  situation   and the  outbursts  therein  it  should've  down to  O'Neill    to  have  negate  the  problem. As the supposed leader of this team  O'Neill was  silent  on the issue , only when confronted  did he have something  to say. At the crux of the matter wasn't whether  or not  Artest wanted to play for  The Pacers , but his defined role within  Carlisle's scheme.  Ponder this  also, whilst  O'Neill  was injured the team actually  seemed  to  improve it's play  with  solid contributions  from  Danny  Granger and Sarunas Jasekivicius.  Stephen Jackson  would  sometimes  take  on the offensive mantle  along with Anthony Johnson.   O'Neill  is  being  paid like a superstar  but  is  contributing  like that of  a first  year rookie , whose  finding his  baby  steps  within the  NBA.  If  the  team is to improve   then  it'll   be  up  to Bird to  instill   into  the  team  the  toughness  that  he  so often   displayed  on the  court.   Until   then,  all we're   seeing  from  The  Pacers  is  how   soft  they  really are.  Bird's  assessment   of the  squad  is   that  he's prepared  to  get  rid  of  unruly  or  players,  will not   repair  the damage  that  has  already  been done.     Carlisle  whilst  being  astute  coach  also  has to  pick  up his  demeanour and  presence ,  and  show  what  kind  of  coach he really is. Now  I   can   understand  why   his  tenureship in  Detroit  was  so  painful   for   Joe  Dumars   to  persevere   with, he  was never  serious  about  coaching  with  a passion.