| | |  | | Reggie lit it up in Indy, but he and his teammates didn't do the job in New York. |
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Pacers may yet make it to the NBA Finals for the first time in their history. But don't expect much if they get there.
In losing twice at New York to a depleted Knicks team, the Pacers have distressed their coach and badly tarnished their own image.
That's because the Pacers have no fire, no sense of urgency. With superior numbers they simply elect to do less. They have homecourt advantage and they hold on to it like a senior citizen who's put everything he has into passbook savings. This always amounts to small returns.
"I don't understand my guys," Larry Bird complained Sunday in New York. They came in here wanting to win one. That's how they talk. I told them 'win two' but that's not how they think."
The Pacers won none. They were pushed aside in the key minutes of Game 3. They did compete in the first half of Game 4.
Pacers president Donnie Walsh has no choice but to bring back Reggie Miller and Mark Jackson and he will sign Jalen Rose to a maximum deal because that's what Rose can get in the marketplace. Walsh will be fine with a new coach, and he had better get a commitment from either Rick Carlisle or Isiah Thomas to play youngsters Al Harrington and Jonathan Bender, because the retread Pacers aren't going to improve.
Consider how poorly they've played against the wounded Knicks, who also should have won Game 2. That would have put them in position close this thing out.
The Knicks have played almost three full games without Patrick Ewing but that's not been a problem against the Pacers in the playoffs. Sans Ewing they are 5-1 and riding a four-game winning streak into Game 5 with Ewing threatening to suit up and clog the lane once again.
That was only part of it. The Knicks had Latrell Sprewell limping around with a fracture in his right foot and Marcus Camby unable to go big minutes because of a knee injury suffered in Game 3. They resorted to Chris Dudley, who gave them five fouls in eight minutes. Then Kurt Thomas came in and made Rik Smits look silly.
After seeing him against the Knicks, the prospect of Smits going head up with Shaquille O'Neal is scary. Smits is a guy who cannot shoot over Charlie Ward. Shaq could break him in half.
Smits opened Game 3 with 21 points through 19 minutes of the first half. He finished with 25, took only five shots after intermission with both Ewing and Camby out of the game. His guards didn't get him the ball and he's not a guy who will go after it. "They wanted to get other guys involved," he said. Puhl-eeze. He got three rebounds!
In Game 4 Smits got 10 shots total, 13 points, one rebound. One. Oh, by the way, the man is 7-4, possesses this Dutch windmill dunk, a nice face-up jumper, a good hook, but he lacks fire in his belly. His body has been complaining for years. He doesn't know if he wants to play next season. He doesn't appear to be crazy about playing this week. Bird was so desperate he even ran 40ish Sam Perkins in there, hoping for some small gain.
The Pacers are aptly named. "We're not exactly a speed demon team," Travis Best noted. But for Miller and Rose the Pacers aren't a quick-reacting team, either. Bird said the other day he has de-emphasized double teams with this bunch. The point is the Pacers are so slow to double, what difference would it make?
They're slow to get going but for an opening flurry in game. Rose is a combined 1-for-11 in the first quarter of the series and he was the team's leading scorer in the regular season. Rose talks about not being selfish, but that's a poor excuse for playing passively in a white hot spotlight.
If the Pacers are able to knock out the wounded Knicks, don't expect much of a Final. The Lakers have the same slashing style as the Knicks. The Pacers won't stop Kobe Bryant. They don't have the dominant power forward you need to help on Shaq. It will go five games maximum and we may be looking at a rout.
The Knicks would have a chance if they had a magic bullet that would make them healthy. Ultimately, they may not fare any better against the Lakers than the Pacers will. But at least they will compete. Even if its another 4-1 triumph for the West, at least the Knicks will compete.
Around The League
A guy in Toronto who is usually right pegs Tracy McGrady for the Bulls. "If such is possible at the end of May he is signed, sealed and virtually delivered to the Bulls," the source says. "The Raptors are trying to put a best face on it, but right now the best they can hope for is McGrady wants a maximum deal and so the Bulls would have to give up something." As Jerry Krause rebuilds his empire, Eddie Jones is also mentioned for Chicago, but that's a bit iffy.
Don't count Miami out of the Eddie Jones sweepstakes. If the Heat are willing to part with Jamal Mashburn, Jones could save Pat Riley. The difficulty here is that the Heat are capped so they can't work a maximum deal on a sign-and-trade. But if Jones would accept 10 percent annual raises instead of 12, then something could happen.
There were six coaching spots open when the season ended and only Atlanta has filled its vacancy. Although Sidney Lowe is ticketed for Vancouver and George Irvine is talking money with the Pistons, the Clippers, Wizards and Pacers are still shopping. Donnie Walsh can't do anything until his team stops playing. No one else has an excuse.
Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
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