Larry Bird Urges Patience With Pacers
When it comes to basketball, few know it better than Larry Bird.
So when Bird asks fans to have patience with a struggling, 18-win Pacers team, it’s probably worth listening to.
“We knew that we had to clean it out and rebuild it, and we knew we were going to go through some tough times,” Bird told The Associated Press this week. “Nobody likes to lose, and everybody wants to be a part of a winner. We think we’re on the right track to get there.”
With Danny Granger’s All-Star talent to build around, the Pacers do have at least one piece to a championship in place.
But beyond that, they have a bunch of guys being rumored in trades, a point guard dilemma, and a number of young players in the front court that need more time to be developed.
“Even if we were healthy all year, I thought we could win 36 to 41 games with this team,” he said. “In a rebuilding phase, which I think we’re on track with, we’ll just have to go forward with it.”
Bird did have one major critique of his Pacers squad:
“The one thing about this team is that we stand too much and we settle way too much for the outside shot,” he said. “If we get to the hole and put the pressure on the defense, we’re a lot better. When we stand and just take outside shots, we have a tendency to struggle.”
