Pacers Fire Versace in Last Year of 3-Year Contract; Hill Promoted

Bob Hill inherited his second NBA coaching job on Thursday when the Indiana Pacers fired Dick Versace after putting together a 9-16 record, 1-11 on the road.

Versace was in the final year of a three-year contract, and team president Donnie Walsh said it was time for a change.

Walsh said he decided to replace Versace after a 114-112 overtime loss to the Washington Bullets on Wednesday night.

“The reason for the change is we don’t feel the team is going in the right direction,” Walsh said. “We had some problems going back to last year. We felt these problems could be resolved but, based on the first month-and-a-half of the season, they weren’t getting resolved.”

Hill, a Pacers’ assistant, was an assistant coach with the New York Knicks who was named interim coach when Hubie Brown was fired during the 1986-87 season. Hill was passed over by the Knicks in favor of Rick Pitino the next season.

Versace is the second NBA coach fired this season. The Knicks replaced Stu Jackson with John MacLeod after 15 games.

Versace was not available for comment.

FO(A2) Coaching Casualty: Dick Versace, in the final year of a three-year contract, was fired as coach of the Indiana Pacers after the NBA team’s 9-16 start this season. C8