Can Larry Bird and Rick Carlisle turn the Pacers around?
They’d better. Then again, the Pacers don’t need much of a push. They’ve got a pretty good team that, inexplicably, morphed into a Division III school last spring against the Celtics. Carlisle may be prickly, but he can coach. And Indiana’s hapless performance against Boston — in fact much of its performance in the second half — begged for some kind of leadership. Indiana has to go into the season as one of the division favorites, along with Detroit, Carlisle’s old team. Provided O’Neal still isn’t carrying a torch for Isiah Thomas, the Pacers should be strong from top to bottom. But they have to get out of the first round of the playoffs. Otherwise, it’s more of the same. Midwest Division 1. Will Jeff Van Gundy get the Rockets to play the way they should have been playing last season? If you mean, will Van Gundy insist that the guards get the ball to Yao Ming, let’s hope so. And if you mean, will there be an attention to detail now that might have been missing, you can be sure of th
