Getting to Know Donnie Walsh
by Seth
on Mar 20, 2008 11:25 AM EDT
in Miscellaneous
If you're like me, you couldn't pick Donnie Walsh out of a lineup of old white men before this week. He's always been around, but isn't as visible a GM as guys like Cuban, Dumars...or Isiah Thomas. First of all, here he his:
Nice. Slicked-back hair, a short-sleeved plaid shirt, and a shiny wristwatch. He's a man of the people with a touch of class and New York sensibility. And how about that facial expression? It's like the Mona Lisa of candid GM photos. Is he warm? Calm? Firm? Sinister? If there's one thing this photo says it's that Mr. Walsh is ready for the pressure of New York, thank you very fucking much.
What else can we learn? Well, Walsh is from the Bronx, played ball at UNC, and has coached in college and in the pros. He's the man who drafted Reggie Miller, dug up Jermaine O'Neal, and drove Jamaal Tinsley's getaway car. Larry Bird has stolen some of his responsibility over the last few years, but Walsh made the last two decades of Pacer basketball, an era we New Yorkers know far too well. For more expert insight, I went to Tom from Indy Cornrows:
Walsh is a guy who faced down venomous local reaction to draft Reggie Miller over Hoosier hero Steve Alford. Over the years he continually tweaked the Pacers and improved the team for their sustained success through the end of the 90s. The '98 team was the Pacers best team that lost to the Bulls in 7 and Walsh seemed to do a great job of keeping a title contending team together while setting it up for the future. A key gamble was to move Antonio Davis to take Jonathan Bender out of high school. As it turned out, AD would've really helped in the Finals against the Lakers, of course, how much we'll never know. But, Bender retirining at 25 without ever playing significant minutes due to injury was a big blow to the franchise and something many overlook thanks to The Brawl. The next big move Donnie made was with Isiah as coach. About two days after Zeke said he was frustrated with the team's defensive mind set and that they needed "some dogs" to get out there and scrap, Jalen Rose and parts were dealt for Ron Artest, Brad Miller and others. Short term gain was great, long term not so much. When the Pacers decided not to re-sign Miller, they were left with Artest and the rest is history. Then we head into the Bird/Walsh era where neither lets the other take the blame for things that went wrong. By all accounts, Walsh worked the deal with Golden State which I contend is a decent deal for both. All the parts are overhyped.
Whoa, didn't realize I had that all tucked away in my head. Bottom line, if Donnie Walsh ends up at the Garden, you can nod your head in affirmation.
It's good news, all around. Walsh is a guy with an eye for talent and a respected name in NBA circles. The guy is good news. In fact, the only bad news I can think of is that he's got previous connections to Isiah, and this guy as well. But let's cut the man slack. The rumors are nothing more than rumors at this point, and there's gonna be some competition, but I'm hopeful that a guy like Walsh might be leading this team come next season. Leave your thoughts in the comments.
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Had a conversation yesterday...
I've always blamed Bird. Bird goes in the upper echoleon of bad GMs, along with Isiah, McHale, Ainge - no, that gift of KG from McHale doesn't get him off the hook - and the Billys (Knight and King). So if Walsh created the great Pacers teams, and Bird destroyed them, I'm cool with Donnie Walnuts.
But if he is responsible for the terrible situation the Pacers are in right now, I don't see how he's any better than Billy King (another name Isola has thrown out there, twice). How soon before he mentions Kevin McHale as a candidate?
by stopmikelupica on Mar 20, 2008 5:40 PM EDT 0 recs
walsh
the reason why the pacers are in trouble is their laundry list of off-the-court problems. the Brawl derailed what easily could've been an NBA Championship in the 2004-05 season and i think that team would've run away with the east. the Brawl coupled with reggie miller's retirement and more off-the-court issues drove their conservative fanbase away. this forced bird to take 40 cents on the dollar for the oft-troubled stephen jackson and al harrington and take on long-term/expensive contracts like troy murphy to do so.
what has also hurt the pacers is the overwhelming success of the colts in the past few years. indianapolis is a fair-weather city and this was once a town where the colts were the ugly duckling - that's no longer the case.
donnie walsh is WORLDS better than billy king. in fact, there's no comparison. remember that until last season, the pacers had made the playoffs every year but once since the 1987-88 season. he extended the pacers run from the early 90's all the way into the first half of the 2000's by making great trades (Dale Davis for J.O., Jalen Rose and Travis Best for Brad Miller and Artest). and besides giving a long-term deal to austin croshere after the 2000 playoffs, i can't remember a bad signing that he made (unlike isiah).
i'd welcome him here.
by Anthony Masons Haircut on Mar 20, 2008 7:16 PM EDT 0 recs
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