Mel Daniel's FIRED ... what is the real story?

by Man of Pace on Oct 26, 2009 4:09 PM EDT Comment 5 comments

As I approach 30 years of age I can clearly remember back to when I was about 10 years and old the Pacers were struggling but on the verge of something. All I heard from my family was that the no team could ever touch the ABA Pacer's they were talked about like Greek Gods and Mel Daniels was Zeus.

So when out local Newspaperman Bob Kravitz broke this story last week I was surprised that there was not more (at least local) backlash on the Pacers for this despicable act.

Mel Daniels for those of us who have paid attention to this legend is the heart beat of the Pacer's franchise. He built this thing, along with Slick and Roger (3 championships, all time franchise rebounder and leader of the old guard) and Mel would have given his life and time to see the franchise succeed and undoubtedly would give his opinion no matter who's feather's were ruffled, Mr Bird and Mr O’Brian be damned he would say what was best for the team.

So I knew almost instantly this was not a cost cutting measure as advertised, but internal strife.

Mr Kravitz stated in his column that Mel Daniels as well some unnamed players were not at all pleased with the announcement of Obie's contract being extended through next year. (Myself included, Obie has done a very little in terms of winning in is his coaching career)

Another issues rose in this column that I continue to reference and have attached a link is that there have been several drafts that the team's BRASS went against Daniels opinions and on those several occasions Mel was proven right, Oh god how I wish there were some examples of this but the comment alone is intriguing none the less

Is Larry trying to build a front office team of "yes" men? Legend has it that although he was one of the best basketball players of all-time he is very difficult to deal with & all of the ABA will tell you that Mel Daniels was very difficult to deal with as well.

My take is that the Pacers are worse off without Daniels. 2 of the best minds working together is better than 1 mind calling all shots w/o being questioned. I hate to say it but this Larry Bird experiment is slowly falling apart the only thing that will save his ass is PROOF he knows what he is doing and that proof will be in the form of WINS.

No winners in Pacers' divorce with Daniels

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Hard to have outrage when the story isn’t fully known. I will say that you need to separate the legendary Pacers player from whatever role he was currently playing with the organization. I know JMV tried to figure that out but couldn’t.

Also, Peter Vecsey broke the story and it doesn’t take much to deduce that Daniels or someone close to him was Vecsey’s inside source dishing dirt for Vecsey’s column last Sunday. The part about the players being upset with JOB came from Vecsey not Kravitz. Kravitz did some great digging to try to piece the story together and really advanced the story but was still left without the full story (at least on the record).

Also, Kravitz said that on “many occasions that Daniels loudly expressed his contrary opinions on potential draftees — and on some occasions, Daniels was proven correct.” This is different than having opposition on several drafts and being proven right on those several drafts.

I state these corrections not to take sides but to keep the facts straight because like I said, this is a sad situation regardless of all of the details. It is understandable why both sides would be upset with the other and in the end that’s about what it comes down to, agreeing to disagree and moving on.

My thoughts are here and remain the same.

Indy Cornrows

by Tom Lewis on Oct 26, 2009 7:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

more to come?

Do you think more info is going to come out in the future from either Mel or The Pacers?

Do you think there is harmony at Conseco now that Mel is gone?
Because the thing that scares me the most is that “some players shared his feelings for Obie’s extension”

by Man of Pace on Oct 26, 2009 7:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’d say if there’s more to come it will come from Mel. It seems like more of a pissing match between Mel and Morway, but again there are no verified details to back that up. Also of note, as of late this past summer, Joe Ash who Mel butted heads with over player evaluations is no longer the director of scouting and is just focusing on scouting Europe.

As I mentioned when the article came out, some players may be down about JOB’s extension but it certainly doesn’t show and it’s hard to believe players like Granger, Murph, Dunleavy would complain since they’ve had career years under JOB, so I take any disgruntled players with a grain of salt.

Indy Cornrows

by Tom Lewis on Oct 26, 2009 8:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cooler heads prevail? Where does that leave the pacers?

I have worked with some really good organizations and some really hosed up organizations (especially the one I’m with now in Iraq). You can’t have people with egos fighting other people with egos and no one to keep them in check. I’m assuming that Donnie Walsh was the cool head amongst many egos with attitudes. When he left, Larry inherited a lot of power. My biggest fear is that Larry is now abusing that power by cutting out any pains in the neck who challenge his way. The Bush administration (W) had a very similar approach in the early years, and look where that got them. You need to have checks. You need to have that yin to your yang. You need to have balance. I’m afraid things are going to get worse with the Pacers organization, and the scares the living crap out of me. We need a cool head that will listen to subordinates, but have the final say. Man of Pace could not have put it better than those first two sentences of the last paragraph. Bravo.

by hoosier3060 on Nov 1, 2009 9:55 AM EST reply actions 0 recs