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Tough love: it's time to bench Reggie

Sporting News, The, Sept 27, 2004 by Sean Deveney

The thought is almost unfathomable for NBA observers, or anyone living within a 300-mile radius of Indianapolis. Imagine the Pacers, winners of a league-high 61 games last season, taking the court at Conseco Fieldhouse to start this season with No. 31 still in his warmups. Imagine what a Pacers starting lineup would be with venerable shooting guard Reggie Miller--who is to Pacers basketball what beef is to Burger King--planted firmly on the bench. Back in Brooklyn, Spike Lee would shed a tear.

But if the Pacers are going to nudge past the Pistons this season, their best bet is to do the unthinkable, something that hasn't been done in 16 years. They'll have to bring Reggie off the bench.

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This summer was one of bridesmaidhood for the Pacers. If there was a big-time NBA player wrung through the league's rumor mill, that rumor passed through Indianapolis. At various times (and to varying degrees), Indiana pursued Shaquille O'Neal, Peja Stojakovic, Erick Dampier and Tracy McGrady. When you collect a gaggle of young players with reasonable contracts and decent potential as the Pacers have, you're going to be a continuous subject of such rumors.

Alas, none of those players will be a Pacer. Neither will lesser targets such as Mark Blount, Brian Cardinal and Derek Fisher. Nor will draft targets Ben Gordon and Luke Jackson. It's not a terrible fate to have missed out on those guys. This stir is an excellent young team, and heading into coach Rick Carlisle's second season, the Pacers are in good shape.

The one player Indiana did land is shooting guard Stephen Jackson, acquired from the Hawks for small forward Al Harrington. Jackson is an improvement over Harrington. He's 6-8, versatile and can defend. He's a better perimeter shooter than Harrington and proved to be a clutch player with the Spurs in the 2003 Finals. The Pacers could have used his shooting touch against the Pistons last postseason, when they shot a miserable 26.8 percent from the 3-point line. When Harrington came off the bench, the Pacers were forced to use Ron Artest, a natural small forward, at shooting guard. With Jackson, Artest can stay out of the backcourt.

Now comes the tricky part for the Pacers. They have to use Jackson, and the best way to do that is to do something that is unmentionable in Pacers circles--put Miller on the bench.

Miller still is a valuable player at 39, and he still should have a role. He shot 40.1 percent from the 3-point line last season and has accepted reduced billing, playing just 28.2 minutes per game. Carlisle routinely took Miller out of games with 5 minutes to go in the first quarter and let Harrington play for most of the second. In effect, Miller was a starter in name only.

But it's time to put Miller in the role that best suits him: a 3-point specialist off the bench. Miller gets credit for being a dazzling off-the-screen shooter, and that has been the calling card of his career. However, Miller is not the athlete he was 10 years ago, and his off-screen shooting has dipped. At his age, he is not a threat to drive to the basket, and his defense is average.

Jackson not only is a good spot-up shooter, he can drive to the hoop and pass. The Pacers need to put their best lineup on the floor to start games and use Miller as a weapon off the bench when the matchup is right, or when Pacers shooters are struggling. Jackson might chafe under Carlisle's restrictive offensive system--Jackson's free-lancing drove Spurs coach Gregg Popovich batty--but he has the potential to be as good an all-around player as Artest and the player who can make or break the team's attempt to dethrone the Pistons.

Carlisle has hedged on the issue of who will start at shooting guard, saying he will wait for camp to make the decision. After he was traded to Indiana, Jackson made it clear he was willing to be Miller's backup. Undoubtedly, the franchise will be sensitive to what Miller wants. But Indiana was willing to take chances in at least pursuing big-name players this summer to shake up the lineup. Well, the Pacers now have a chance to shake up the lineup: Bench Reggie.

SPEED READS

* Kudos to Malik Allen, Udonis Haslem and Dorell Wright of the Heat for their efforts to help Floridians dealing with a brutal hurricane season. After Hurricane Charley, they made the six-hour (round-trip) drive to Arcadia, Fla., to visit a shelter and entertain kids. Wright also joined Rasual Butler and Jerome Beasley in visiting victims of Hurricane Frances.

* Gary Payton will report for duty in Boston and finish out his current contract. Danny Ainge has ruffled some feathers in Boston with his style and his changes, but the Celtics have added some talent and at the least will be a far more entertaining team than they were when Ainge took over.

* Trade Jason Kidd? Sounds silly, but it might be the Nets' best hope at rebuilding. New Jersey is left with Kidd, Richard Jefferson and a team of benchwarmers. Kidd won't be happy with that, and an unhappy Kidd can drag down a team. If another team is willing to take a chance on Kidd's balky knee, the Nets should jump at the opportunity to deal him.

Tough love: it's time to bench Reggie

Sporting News, The, Sept 27, 2004 by Sean Deveney

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