Bird says drastic changes unlikely, expects O'neal to stay

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Pacers don't expect to make major changes this summer despite a disappointing season, team president Larry Bird said Wednesday.\nThe Pacers entered the season with championship aspirations, but they traded an unhappy Ron Artest and dealt with numerous injuries on their way to a 41-41 record and a first-round playoff exit.\n"Are there going to be wholesale changes? No," Bird said during a news conference. "We'll talk to people throughout the league and see if we can make our team \nbetter."\nBird said he expects forward Jermaine O'Neal to be back.\n"Jermaine O'Neal is our best player on this team. Everybody on this team knows Jermaine's our guy," Bird said. "I can't sit here today and say we're going to pursue to trade Jermaine O'Neal. There's not one time that we ever called anybody and said 'hey, are you interested in Jermaine O'Neal.'\n"I don't know who out there you could trade Jermaine for and get somebody better."\nThe Pacers also want to re-sign sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic, who came from Sacramento in the Ron Artest trade. He averaged 19.5 points in 40 regular-season games but missed four of Indiana's six playoff games.\n"When I talked to Peja, he said he really likes it here and tells me he'd like to be here," Bird said.\nThose who do return will need to help the team work cohesively.\n"I know that a lot of guys were frustrated," Bird said. "There's a lot of things that happened in the locker room. I don't think our chemistry is as good as it could have been."\nPlayers were critical of the team's performance after the Game 6 playoff loss to New Jersey.\nPoint guard Anthony Johnson said the culture needs to change, forward Austin Croshere said the team underachieved and O'Neal said the team needs help at center.\nBird didn't argue with Croshere's assessment and made observations similar to Johnson's Wednesday.\nAs for center play, he said David Harrison is a young, raw talent who is improving, and Jeff Foster and Scot Pollard are hard workers who missed a combined 55 regular-season and four playoff games.\n"That's frustration," Bird said. "I sort of felt bad when I heard that for Jeff and Scotty and David. You have those three guys healthy and playing, that's a pretty powerful unit there."\nStephen Jackson also has been considered possible trade bait, but his return could depend on his attitude. He played in all but one game and averaged 16.4 points this season, but Bird said Jackson spent too much time talking to officials and taking poor shots.\nJackson also blamed rookie teammate Danny Granger for allowing Vince Carter to score too easily on a key play late in Game 5.\n"It's up to Stephen to do the right thing," Bird said. "I don't like some of the things he did this year. If he's back here, which I expect him to be, there's going to be some changes. I don't like our fans booing our players, but some of the things Stephen was doing out on the court frustrated me. I was embarrassed at times."\nBird isn't just blaming Jackson.\n"Chemistry's got to be a little better, and the attitudes during games," he said. "Arguing with officials, not running back on defense, taking bad shots. All that stuff's got to stop."\nBird said Rick Carlisle deserves some of the blame for the team's lack of discipline.\n"I think with everything that happened last year, you could probably look and say yes, he did lose the team at times," Bird said. "But they're good guys and they know what to do to win ballgames. He's a great coach, there's no question."\nSarunas Jasikevicius was one of the few Pacers who played most games. The 30-year-old rookie from Lithuania got off to a good start but tailed off. He played in 75 regular-season games and was among the league's best in free-throw shooting.\n"I think he was a little shocked when he came over here and realized how many games we do play," Bird said. "He'll admit about halfway through the season, he hit the wall. If he gets out there and gets his minutes and gets his confidence, he's a very good player."\nThe surprise of the season was Anthony Johnson. The journeyman point guard averaged 20 points per game in the playoffs. Bird said he has proven to be capable of \nstarting.