<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Canoe.ca - Larry Bird likes the talent the Pacers already have and said on Wednesday that the players on the club will either have to shape up or be shipped out. "They're the ones that have to make the changes," he said. "If they can't make the changes, yes, we have to look to move them." Despite trade rumours, Bird said he expects to build around Jermaine O'Neal. "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?' "I don't know who out there you could trade Jermaine for and get somebody better." </div> So JO is staying in indiana.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Indiana Pacers officials expect their phones to ring throughout the summer with teams calling about forward Jermaine O'Neal. Call all you want, team president Larry Bird said Wednesday, but O'Neal isn't going anywhere. "Jermaine's name is going to come up all summer," Bird said during his season-ending news conference at Conseco Fieldhouse. "There's not one time we ever called anybody and said, 'Hey, are you interested in Jermaine O'Neal?' Jermaine O'Neal is the best player on this team. Everybody on this team knows Jermaine is our guy. Are we looking to trade Jermaine? No." There's been speculation since February that O'Neal's run here could be ending. O'Neal said before Game 6 against New Jersey that he wasn't worried about getting traded, a sentiment he repeated Wednesday. "I haven't thought about it once," O'Neal said during a phone interview. "I love being here. As far as being traded, I'm only 27 and I'm one of the top 10 players in the league. I'm one of the premier back-to-the-basket players in this league. I'm not concerned because if it ever comes to a point where they want to trade me, I'm 27 and longevity is everything and I haven't reached my peak yet. This trade talk came up since we struggled last season. People want to take shots at you when things aren't going well. But that's fine; my skin is thick." A year ago, in a similar season-ending forum, Bird put the onus on O'Neal to step up and lead the team to title contention. O'Neal missed 31 games with groin and ankle injuries and pneumonia, but Bird said he's sticking by O'Neal and plans to build the team around him. "He's getting better. There's no question about it," Bird said. "He knows the little things he has to do now. (The players) look up to Jermaine. It's two years in a row -- he had the shoulder and then the groin. He's coming. He's getting better. You can't just do it overnight. Trying to lead a team and do all the little things, at times, it gets frustrating. I think that he'll continue to get better."</div> Source
