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IC Cold Links: Brian Shaw Motivated To Help Pacers Win

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By Tom Lewis
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Well, it was a great day leading the British Open yesterday but I decided to blow up today in order to focus more on my IC duties. It was strange seeing 'Tom Lewis' atop the leaderboard at the Open considering my inept golf game, so I'll stick with covering hoops.

In addition to Pacers Crate, the Indiana Pacers newly minted associate head coach, Brian Shaw made the media rounds and one thing that kept jumping out at me through Shaw's mild mannered comments was his hunger to make a difference and help the Pacers improve.

He is a great fit for this team not just because he knows the game and can help develop players and game plan. He's also spent his career as a strong locker room presence, a glue guy if you will, on some very good teams as a play and then as a coach on some very good teams.

But in addition to being that steadying influence on a young roster, Shaw is motivated by his own self interests as a coach. He didn't directly say it, but certainly indicated his disappointment in being passed over for the Lakers jobs and other head coaching opportunities around the league. The consensus seems to be that despite his great reputation he had only done it at the right hand of Phil Jackson on a team loaded with talent.

Now with the Pacers, Shaw has a chance to enhance his resume with a bigger role and the chance to impact a young, developing team. If the Pacers improve on the court and more importantly, in the win column, Shaw will continue garnering attention as a top assistant for head coaching consideration. If the Pacers falter, Shaw will remain mired in a situation that requires a little luck and a big break.

So here's to hoping Shaw's stay with the Pacers isn't a long-term arrangement. If he is an NBA head coach elsewhere after a couple of seasons in Indy, those will be memorable seasons for Pacers fans.

After the jump, a few links of interest including more stories on Shaw's local intro and the latest lockout news.

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