Pacers’ Tisdale Now a More Complete Player

Wayman Tisdale hasn’t turned the Indiana Pacers into an NBA power, but the team has turned its rookie All-American into more of a player.

“I’m mighty proud of myself with the progress I’ve made. I didn’t think I’d be this far. I am able to shoot the outside shot now,” the former Oklahoma star said.

“At the start of the year I was just out there waiting for it to be blocked. I also had a lot of learning to do about what you could do in the NBA without drawing a foul.”

Tisdale became Indiana’s consolation prize when it drew the No. 2 pick behind the New York Knicks in last year’s seven-team “Patrick Ewing” lottery. Through the Pacers’ first 70 games, he averaged 14.5 points and was shooting just over 51 percent (434-844) from the field. He was the team’s third leading rebounder, averaging 7.2 per game.

Those figures have come despite early season foul troubles that limited him to less than 30 minutes of playing time per game.

Indiana Coach George Irvine thinks Tisdale’s numbers would have been more impressive if stalled contract talks hadn’t kept Tisdale away from rookie camp.

‘He just didn’t understand what it takes to be in the NBA,” said Irvine, whose team is battling Chicago and Cleveland for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Last year, the Pacers won only 22 games.

“When he reported he said he was in shape to play in the NBA, but after two days he came in and said, ‘Coach, I’m really sore. I’ve never run this much. I’ve never been through anything like this.’ That’s because rookies don’t know what this league’s about.”

“I think it’s very difficult for a rookie coming into the league and you compound that when you have to go from playing one position in college to another in the pros.

“And when you miss training camp it is very difficult to reach your potential,” Irvine said. “First of all when he came to training camp he was pretty much out of shape. He’s lost about 25 pounds. He’s improved, but he still has a long way to go before becoming a legitimate forward in this league.”

Tisdale agrees.

“I wasn’t at all in shape because I just didn’t realize what was necessary,” he said during a recent interview. “I had never seen a pro practice and I didn’t know what it takes. It was a big adjustment for me to just learn the (pro) style.”

At Oklahoma, where he was a three-time All-American, the 6-foot-8 Tisdale was used in the post and usually was able to overpower his opposition. He was the Big Eight’s all-time leading scorer (2,661 points) and its third leading rebounder (1,048) despite passing up his senior year to join the NBA.

A schoolboy star at Washington High in Tulsa, Tisdale arrived at football-happy Oklahoma and led the Sooners into the NCAA tournament three consecutive years. He was the only freshman ever to make All-American and he played for the gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic basketball team at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Then came the Pacers, who have been more accustomed to losing than winning.

“It’s tough to adjust, very hard,” Tisdale of the losses. “Once you’ve played as many games as I have now, you realize the important thing is just to keep playing hard. A few months ago I was very down. We had some bad losing streaks.

“But now we’ve been doing better. You can see it in our faces, in the locker room, as we travel and on the court. We’re relaxed, smiling and we know we can make the playoffs.”

Herb Williams, meanwhile, has become Tisdale’s role model.

“He’s the type of forward I want to become,” the rookie said. “He knows the inside game and can shoot from the outside. We talk about playing against other forwards and when I’m on the bench I concentrate on watching Herb at both ends of the court.”

Says his mentor: “Tis has developed in many ways. He’s not fouling as much. He had to make the big transition in his playing style. He’s a willing student.”

“But he’s got to catch on to the way the NBA is played. It’s something every rookie goes through. You’re all-this and all-that in college and then suddenly, you find out you’re just another player.”