Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird met with the media on Tuesday. Bird addressed a variety of topics from the team's play in the first half of the 2014-15 season to the health of injured All-Star Paul George to his vision for the future.
Watch videos of Bird speaking to the media in the above playlist. Below are some selected comments from Bird's availability:
On Paul George potentially playing this season:
"I always say if the player is ready to play, they've got to play. We're not going to hold him back if he's able to go out there and play. I think it's important because when you're out like that, you lose something. He's going to get beat up, he's going to get knocked around, he's not going to look good. But I still think it's important (that) if he's able to play, he should be out there."
More on George's potential return:
"They tell me in seven months, that bone will be completely healed and it's just how much further he comes along after that. So that will be in March and we'll go from there. I have no clue whether he's going to play or not. But if he gets healthy and they say he can play and he wants to play, we'll put him out there."
On the goals for this season:
"I'm always in a win now mode. I want to win and I want to make the playoffs. That's been my goal, to try to get into the playoffs."
On the season-to-date:
"Personally, I'm a little disappointed in how we've been playing. I thought we would come together as a group a lot sooner than we have. With the injuries, guys are in and out, but still there's a lot of opportunity out there for others players to step up and get an opportunity to play and play well. And some have at different times, but it just hasn't been consistent."
On the team:
"The guys are great. They get along, they pull for one another, they care. It's just that we haven't been consistent. And if you're not consistent in this league, you're going to get beat."
On the trade deadline:
"You really never know what's going to happen until the time comes. We're just now getting into that period. We're always looking to improve the team. Obviously, there's a lot of improvement that needs to be done. So we'll look around the league and talk to a lot of different people and see what's out there. Hopefully we can do something that makes us better. If not, we'll stay pat and then this summer do the rest of the work."
On the Pacers' young players:
"We're very high on (rookie Shayne) Whittington. We think he's going to be able to play some next year for us. Solomon Hill, we think he'll continue to improve. When you play guys that are backups (for) a lot of minutes, they're not going to be as consistent as you'd like. So that's just something he's got to learn."