The Pacers surprised everyone who was following their coaching search by announcing that Jim O'Brien would be their next head coach. Much like the Golden State trade, this hire came out of nowhere since O'Brien's name was never mentioned as a candidate.
Hard to feel anything other than underwhelmed at this point. As far as retread coaches go, I'm a fan of O'Brien's and would rather have him than Stan Van. Personally, I'm a sucker for a Philly hoops pedigree. But, O'Brien certainly won't fire up the fan base to start buying tickets again. If indeed Jermaine O'Neal is shipped, then O'Brien makes more sense. The guy can teach baskteball and a younger team will benefit from his style. He may end up being a bridge coach to get the franchise over this rough stretch until the roster has more talent and experience to compete as an elite team. OK, I'm starting to ramble, but this hire was completely unexpected. I'm glad it is done so we can start looking at roster moves in earnest. Let's face it, they could've hired Phil Jackson with Pat Riley and Jerry Sloan as assistants and the current roster would struggle to make the playoffs. With that in mind, I'm more than willing to let the Jim O'Brien take a shot at moving the Pacers in a positive direction.
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Pacers Turn to Jim O'Brien
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