The MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference included plenty of interesting basketball talk centered around gaining an edge, keeping an edge and what to look for in the future with regard to applying data analysis to continue gaining that edge.

True Hoop has a nice recap of the hoops releated panel discussions. I spent some time listening to a few of the panels on Friday including a panel with Kevin Pritchard, the former Portland Trail Blazers GM who has spent time hanging around the Pacers this year. He discussed the mediocrity treadmill that middling teams can get stuck on. No doubt he feels Larry Bird is currently jogging on such a treadmill.

Pritchard also mentioned teams have one ultimate goal and that is to win a championship. To paraphrase what he said, the further away from a championship a team is the greater risk a front office is willing to take to make a run at the championship. If that risk doesn't work out and the team bottoms out, then they are better off building back up instead of playing it safe and staying in the middle.

Listening to Pritchard, I couldn't help but think of him leading the front office for the Pacers. I continue to feel that Larry Bird will happily step away at the end of the season having left the infrastructure of the team's roster and salary cap in good shape for a someone else to build upon. Having an aggressive voice like Pritchard utilize those assets may be risky but would also be exciting as the Pacers move forward. The team certainly need some bold leadership to push them out of the middle of the league.

But that is simply a day dream about the future. Back in reality, the current Pacers really need to rise up and beat Philadelphia tomorrow.

After the jump, a few links of interest including the Pacers needing some leadership on the bench or in uniform to turn things around.

• Pacers Frank Vogel must right the ship
  Mike Wells reports on Frank Vogel and the veteran players being forced to keep the team together in the midst of their current losing streak.
• Social media and the business of sports - TrueHoop Blog
  This post includes all of the links to the stories coming out of the Sloan Conference.
• Baseline to Baseline recaps: Andre Iguodala has got it going on. Again. | ProBasketballTalk
  What you missed while staring at the earth’s two suns.... The Bulls beating the Heat and the Lakers thumping the Spurs were our two games of the day Sunday.
• HT Without Borders " NBA.com | Hang Time Blog
  Sekou Smith took his Hang Time Blog to London to capture all of the action and reactions to the NBA's mid-season showcase by the Nets and Raptors. With a triple-OT game among the action, the teams put on quite a show.
• As Heat lose, James, Wade fall apart - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
  Woj takes stock of the late-game failure and turmoil churning in Miami.
• Bulls Vs. Heat: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade Crumble At The Close (Again) - SBNation.com
  The Miami Heat suffered another close loss, and LeBron James and Dwyane Wade each missed potential game-winning shots and the Chicago Bulls held on to win.