MEDIA DAY NOTEBOOK
Good news for O’Brien, Dunleavy
By Conrad Brunner | Sept. 25, 2009
Any questions about Jim O'Brien's future beyond this season and its potential impact on the team were silenced Friday when the Pacers announced a one-year extension of the head coach's contract.
O'Brien is thus signed through the 2010-11 season.
"When I interviewed Jim for this job, he was committed to everything we want to do," said team president Larry Bird. "We both feel we’re moving in the right direction."
O'Brien has a career record of 254-250, 72-92 in two seasons with the Pacers.
"I appreciate (owner) Herb (Simon) and Larry’s confidence as we move toward getting this franchise back to where it belongs," said O’Brien. "I love Indianapolis and all of the fans in Indiana, and I remain committed to bringing a championship to the Indiana Pacers."
How much he'll be able to practice remains to be seen, but Mike Dunleavy is likely to participate in at least part of the first workout of training camp Saturday in Conseco Fieldhouse with an eye on being ready to play by the start of the season.
"I definitely feel good about where I'm at," Dunleavy said. "I don't think with all that's happened the last six-to-eight months, many people thought I'd be here this day being able to talk about participating in training camp and stuff like that so from that standpoint I'm pleased.
"I've been playing, competing against the guys. Now it's just going to be a matter of how much time I'm going to be allowed to do that and how it reacts each and every day. I think training camp will test that. We'll see what I can get through and how it feels and go from there."
O'Brien said the initial plan is to limit Dunleavy's full-court work.
"It's not because he's necessarily incapable," O'Brien said, "but right now he needs to learn the full-court game again offensively and defensively up and down and what that entails with the hopes that through a positive October he'll be ready to go at the beginning of the season."
O'Brien said he was extremely impressed by the work Dunleavy put in to hasten his comeback from major knee surgery. Originally, the most optimistic projections forecast a midseason return, if at all.
"I have never witnessed personally somebody that has dedicated themselves to rehabbing an injury harder than Mike," said the coach. "It was very, very impressive, his work ethic, his desire to get back on the court. He loves the game of basketball. When you're injured you miss it terribly and he's very committed to this franchise and those things have put him in a position to get back on the court at the beginning of the year versus what we initially thought when they decided surgery was the best option."
Though optimistic, Dunleavy tempered things a bit with a word of caution.
"The one thing I will say is I'm not out of the woods yet," he said. "I'm still in there and I still have a little bit of ways to go. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed everything goes smoothly."
Though the medical staff had hoped a two-month rest period would allow Tyler Hansbrough's shin injury to heal sufficiently for the start of camp, he will not practice tomorrow and O'Brien isn't sure when the first-round pick from North Carolina will be available.
"Certainly, we would hope to have him toward the beginning of the season," O'Brien said. "We think that would be best-case scenario but he has a situation that we monitor. We feel badly when a player is injured but at the same time there are different levels that he has to achieve on a weekly basis in order to take the next step. He has improved dramatically since it was diagnosed. If he continues to improve like that, he'll have a full season, we hope. But we don't know."
Hansbrough dealt with the injury during his senior season at North Carolina but played – and performed well – for the Pacers' summer-league team before being told to rest.
"Right now we're not really setting a timetable, just trying to get healthy, see what happens, listen to my trainers and see what they have to say," he said. "It is a little disappointing but at the same time I want to take care of my body and be there later on in the year instead of having something where I can't go.
"I feel confident I'll get healthy and be prepared to help but it's a setback just because you're a rookie and you're trying to prove yourself a little bit. But as soon as I get healthy I'll have that chance."
He has no lines and is not identified but plays a central role in helping a little girl find her lost dog using his cell phone and network of friends.
"All my friends are sending me pictures of their dogs, which is kind of funny," Hansbrough said. "I had fun doing it. We filmed it on (the North Carolina) campus, which was kind of cool. It was a neat deal.
"I definitely like the (comments) where they're like, 'Man, my wife got teary-eyed during the commercial.' "
Danny Granger Q&A
Both O'Brien and Danny Granger said they were looking forward to the team's upcoming trip to Taiwan and China for exhibition games against the Denver Nuggets.
"You just go and have a good time and take every opportunity over there to build the team whether it's off the court or on the court getting practice time," said O'Brien. "It's a wonderful opportunity."
The Pacers leave Oct. 5, play in Taipei on Oct. 8, play in Beijing on Oct. 11 and return to Indianapolis on Oct. 12.
"I think it's great that we're all going," said Granger. "A lot of the people in the organization are going, also, and we're bringing our wives and girlfriends. Put us on a trip together for a week, it really helps build the camaraderie, especially when we have a few new faces that don't know each other."
Nichols has 18 games of NBA experience the past two seasons with Cleveland, Chicago and New York, averaging 1.2 points. Roberts spent the 2005-06 and '06-07 seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 3.8 points and 3.6 rebounds in 87 games including 18 starts. Benson averaged 11.2 points and 7.1 rebounds in the D-League last season.
| Jim O'Brien Q&A |
O'Brien is thus signed through the 2010-11 season.
"When I interviewed Jim for this job, he was committed to everything we want to do," said team president Larry Bird. "We both feel we’re moving in the right direction."
O'Brien has a career record of 254-250, 72-92 in two seasons with the Pacers.
"I appreciate (owner) Herb (Simon) and Larry’s confidence as we move toward getting this franchise back to where it belongs," said O’Brien. "I love Indianapolis and all of the fans in Indiana, and I remain committed to bringing a championship to the Indiana Pacers."
Dunleavy ahead of schedule
How much he'll be able to practice remains to be seen, but Mike Dunleavy is likely to participate in at least part of the first workout of training camp Saturday in Conseco Fieldhouse with an eye on being ready to play by the start of the season.
"I definitely feel good about where I'm at," Dunleavy said. "I don't think with all that's happened the last six-to-eight months, many people thought I'd be here this day being able to talk about participating in training camp and stuff like that so from that standpoint I'm pleased.
"I've been playing, competing against the guys. Now it's just going to be a matter of how much time I'm going to be allowed to do that and how it reacts each and every day. I think training camp will test that. We'll see what I can get through and how it feels and go from there."
O'Brien said the initial plan is to limit Dunleavy's full-court work.
"It's not because he's necessarily incapable," O'Brien said, "but right now he needs to learn the full-court game again offensively and defensively up and down and what that entails with the hopes that through a positive October he'll be ready to go at the beginning of the season."
O'Brien said he was extremely impressed by the work Dunleavy put in to hasten his comeback from major knee surgery. Originally, the most optimistic projections forecast a midseason return, if at all.
"I have never witnessed personally somebody that has dedicated themselves to rehabbing an injury harder than Mike," said the coach. "It was very, very impressive, his work ethic, his desire to get back on the court. He loves the game of basketball. When you're injured you miss it terribly and he's very committed to this franchise and those things have put him in a position to get back on the court at the beginning of the year versus what we initially thought when they decided surgery was the best option."
Though optimistic, Dunleavy tempered things a bit with a word of caution.
"The one thing I will say is I'm not out of the woods yet," he said. "I'm still in there and I still have a little bit of ways to go. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed everything goes smoothly."
No timeline for Hansbrough's return
Though the medical staff had hoped a two-month rest period would allow Tyler Hansbrough's shin injury to heal sufficiently for the start of camp, he will not practice tomorrow and O'Brien isn't sure when the first-round pick from North Carolina will be available.
"Certainly, we would hope to have him toward the beginning of the season," O'Brien said. "We think that would be best-case scenario but he has a situation that we monitor. We feel badly when a player is injured but at the same time there are different levels that he has to achieve on a weekly basis in order to take the next step. He has improved dramatically since it was diagnosed. If he continues to improve like that, he'll have a full season, we hope. But we don't know."
Hansbrough dealt with the injury during his senior season at North Carolina but played – and performed well – for the Pacers' summer-league team before being told to rest.
"Right now we're not really setting a timetable, just trying to get healthy, see what happens, listen to my trainers and see what they have to say," he said. "It is a little disappointing but at the same time I want to take care of my body and be there later on in the year instead of having something where I can't go.
"I feel confident I'll get healthy and be prepared to help but it's a setback just because you're a rookie and you're trying to prove yourself a little bit. But as soon as I get healthy I'll have that chance."
Hansbrough shows softer side in commercial
Hansbrough used some of his downtime to film an emotional commercial for AT&T that shows the softer side of the rugged power forward.He has no lines and is not identified but plays a central role in helping a little girl find her lost dog using his cell phone and network of friends.
"All my friends are sending me pictures of their dogs, which is kind of funny," Hansbrough said. "I had fun doing it. We filmed it on (the North Carolina) campus, which was kind of cool. It was a neat deal.
"I definitely like the (comments) where they're like, 'Man, my wife got teary-eyed during the commercial.' "
Looking forward to overseas adventure
Both O'Brien and Danny Granger said they were looking forward to the team's upcoming trip to Taiwan and China for exhibition games against the Denver Nuggets.
"You just go and have a good time and take every opportunity over there to build the team whether it's off the court or on the court getting practice time," said O'Brien. "It's a wonderful opportunity."
The Pacers leave Oct. 5, play in Taipei on Oct. 8, play in Beijing on Oct. 11 and return to Indianapolis on Oct. 12.
"I think it's great that we're all going," said Granger. "A lot of the people in the organization are going, also, and we're bringing our wives and girlfriends. Put us on a trip together for a week, it really helps build the camaraderie, especially when we have a few new faces that don't know each other."
Pacers add three to camp roster
Three free agents were added to the camp roster Friday: 6-10 forward Rod Benson (Syracuse), 6-9 forward Lawrence Roberts (Mississippi State) and 6-8 wing Demetris Nichols (Syracuse). Their additions bring the roster to 18.Nichols has 18 games of NBA experience the past two seasons with Cleveland, Chicago and New York, averaging 1.2 points. Roberts spent the 2005-06 and '06-07 seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 3.8 points and 3.6 rebounds in 87 games including 18 starts. Benson averaged 11.2 points and 7.1 rebounds in the D-League last season.
