Old Ricky Carlisle was released today by the Indiana Pacers.

Larry Bird is somewhere crying his eyes out.

Seattle, here we come! The primary rumours coming out of there that he's their guy if Indiana cuts him. Seattle is nice.

Also, I wonder if Larry's next if they don't turn it around.

They really expected him to be able to manage Artest, Jackson, and crew? The Pacers collapse is now complete.

I agree.

I know there is no chance Davidson wants him back, so I won't even go there.

I wonder if Rick is going to get up at the firing Press Conference with Larry Bird like he did with Joe Dumars. That would be a nice awkward moment.

Here is Carlisle trying to manage all the egos he's coached.

So, does RC stand for Released Coach, now?

It makes me happy hearing he got canned. Yet Larry Bird is really the biggest part of the problem. The trade concocted with Golden State was about the worst possible. Dunleavy can't defend his own shadow, and Murphy only once was a good player, and is not anymore. On the other side, although volatile, Jackson has serious talent, and Al Harrington, faults and all, is still a very tough inside player. (No, I don't want to get into discussing it, but this trade has all the earmarks of being a race based one.)

Carlisle can still do someone a good job as a coach, but it will have to be paired with a GM who is both strong handed (as Bird was), and has some common sense. (Which Bird lacks.) You can't let Carlisle play who he wants to play. If he is doing something stupid, you got to step in and remind him who is the boss. After being told who he must play, Carlisle is pretty darn good at getting the most out of the players. He gets their best defensive effort, plus he is good at figuring out how to maximize each player by using sensible units where each player compliments the others. And while not that great at in-game adjustments, he is very good at game to game adjustments, a good skill for a playoff series.

Indiana will regret this decision.