Finals run began last
summer
Pacers players credit off-season work
for improved play and increased strength.
By PHIL RICHARDS, STAFF WRITER
(Article from Indianapolis Star/News, May 21, 1999)
In retrospect, the Indiana Pacers' run to their first NBA Finals didn't begin when training camp opened in October or when the season opened in November.
It began four months earlier, in bitterness, in New York, in the sixth game of the Eastern Conference finals, when the Knicks closed the door on the Pacers' championship dream 90-82.
"The way the season ended last year, guys took that to heart," said point guard Travis Best. "We wanted to come out and prove something this year, so we worked hard. Larry (Bird) was saying he might leave after this season. We knew this might be our last shot.
"Guys just wanted to get better. We knew we were one of the best teams the last two years, but we just couldn't get over the hump."
The Pacers went home. They went to work. They went to gyms and weight rooms. They spent the off-season striving, straining, stretching, sweating.
While the Pacers were arranging to trade forward/center Antonio Davis for a rookie, Jonathan Bender, Best, guard Reggie Miller and forwards Jalen Rose, Austin Croshere and Dale Davis were significantly altering and intensifying their off-season programs.
"Any time you're losing a presence like Antonio Davis and you're not filling the void immediately, the only way you become a better team is for the other guys on the roster to pick up their productivity," said Rose. "Those guys have definitely done that. I think that's what propelled us to this point."
Croshere was coming off a season in which he averaged 9.2 minutes and 3.4 points. He was moving into the third and final year of his contract. It was time to break into the rotation or prepare for a trip to the CBA.
Croshere went home to Santa Monica, Calif. He worked with Kiki Vandeweghe, a 13-year NBA veteran now employed as a special instructor by the Dallas Mavericks. He retained the services of a Grand Master in the martial art of aikido. He worked on his footwork, balance and timing. He worked on his body. He developed a quicker first step, a repertoire of moves and 20 pounds of upper-body muscle. He enhanced his small-forward skills while acquiring power-forward strength.
"It was a long summer of working harder than I've ever worked and not really knowing whether it was going to pay off," said Croshere.
After several years of spending off-seasons in Los Angeles, Rose went home to Detroit. He regularly played two-a-day pick-up games with NBA players such as Derrick Coleman, Steve Smith, Chris Webber, Maurice Taylor and Robert Traylor. He worked out with coach Perry Watson's University of Detroit team. He worked with Watson, who knows his game. Watson was Rose's coach at Detroit Southwestern High School and he served as a Michigan assistant coach while Rose was a Wolverine.
Rose came back to lead the Pacers in scoring at 18.2 points a game and win the NBA's Most Improved Player Award. Croshere finished fourth in the voting after he broke into the rotation and averaged 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds.
Miller shot 36 percent and averaged 16 points in the disappointing 1999 conference finals. Best was hobbled by a groin injury, as he had been late the previous season.
Both hired personal trainers last summer and went to work.
Miller concentrated on improving his off-the-dribble skills and his strength and stamina. He worked with personal trainer Amy Fearrin. He became a regular in the gym and weight room at Lawrence Central High School, on the track at Carmel High. He added about 10 pounds of muscle.
Miller stepped back to give Rose room to emerge during the regular season, but he still averaged 18.1 points and he was Reggie, his own self, during the playoffs, averaging 24 points. He credited his added strength.
"I think it has helped me tremendously," said Miller. "As much holding and tripping and hitting as goes on underneath the boards and especially in our motion play, I feel that I've been able to unhook myself a little bit and feel a little bit more free.
"But I think the weight training and the weight actually has helped me more so in the post. When I'm posting up other guards and so forth, I'm able to hold them off, get the ball, face them and then take them off the dribble."
Best is a Georgia Tech alumnus who spent last summer in Atlanta, where he ran into another former Yellowjacket, Green Bay Packers running back Dorsey Levens. Impressed by Levens lean, hard appearance, Best inquired about his workouts. Levens connected Best with Kathy Freeman, his personal trainer.
Best eased off in the weight room and lost upper-body mass. He turned his attention to running, stretching and agility work. He came back to enjoy his best professional season.
"I was tired of the groin injuries late in the season," said Best. "I haven't had any this year and I definitely credit it to the workouts over the summer. I feel more like I did in college. The bulk is gone, so I feel leaner, quicker and my footwork has been better. I feel a lot lighter on my feet. I think it made all the difference in the world."
Davis hired two shooting instructors, Chubby Wells and Tom Nordland. He adjusted and experimented and practiced. He returned to shoot a career-high .685 from the foul line and make the All-Star team for the first time in his nine NBA seasons.
"I did a lot more shooting and a lot more free-throw shooting and form work and drills," said Davis. "It definitely helped. I think it's really got me comfortable shooting the ball out on the floor."
The Pacers were supposed to be too old, beyond their prime. Something happened to boost them beyond expectations, all the way to the Finals. Much of that something happened last summer.
When the game plan succeeds, you stick with it.
"Got my martial arts instructor and my track coach already lined up," said Croshere. "I'm ready to work."
Published: Friday, May 21, 1999 in THE INDIANAPOLIS
STAR/THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS
Page: C04
(c) Copyright 1999 Indianapolis Newspapers, Inc.