Smits Says He’ll Be Ready to Go in Game 4

For the Lakers, the big news is Glen Rice and his wife’s criticism of Coach Phil Jackson. For the Indiana Pacers, it’s Coach Larry Bird and center Rik Smits.

Three games into the NBA finals, Bird is still waiting for Smits to show himself. He has criticized the Pacers’ veteran big man for not being a factor, particularly in the fourth quarter.

To his credit, Smits has remained positive and is glad to have an extra day to prepare for tonight’s Game 4.

“It’s pretty good to get some rest, especially after coming from L.A. because of the time difference,” Smits said. “I plan to put the rest to good use and I think it will help all of us. . . .

“I’m not sure what caused me to miss so many open shots, but I am confident that I will be able to turn it around in Game 4. I’m hoping to get some open shots early and play better.”

*

Without a doubt, the spiritual leader of the Pacers is point guard Mark Jackson, who has not wavered in his belief that Indiana has a better team than the Lakers.

Jackson said the Pacers have struggled to reach the NBA finals for years and now can prove their critics wrong.

“We’ve dreamed about this for a long time now,” Jackson said. “This is just what we asked for. . . . We’re excited about this. Everybody counted us out and now all of the sudden there’s a series at hand.

“Just because the media and the rest of the country has built up a team to be invincible and not able to be beaten, and then there’s another team that doesn’t have a shot, it is incredible. But we don’t feed into that. We don’t get too hyped, just like being down two-zip, we didn’t get too low. We’re going to continue to take care of business and give us a shot to win this thing.”

*

If anyone wondered, veteran Chris Mullin is still on the Pacers’ active roster. He has just been lost in the mix as Bird has kept a tight rotation against the Lakers with Mullin becoming an emergency backup for Jalen Rose and Reggie Miller.

“It’s one of the toughest things I’ll ever have to do as a coach, to tell Chris Mullin he’s not going to be on a rotation and get the minutes he wants to play,” Bird said.

“You know, I played against Chris. I’ve known him since he first came to the league. I’ve always idolized him because he works hard, he is dedicated to the game. I think I told him back earlier in the season when Jalen started, the one thing that Chris didn’t understand was that it was going to be so drastic. I didn’t think it would be so drastic.”

Mullin, who played sparingly in the Pacers’ blowout loss in Game 1, is in his 14th season and, after being a major contributor last season, he has had “Did Not Play (coach’s decision)” listed next to his name in 13 of 20 playoff games.

“Last year I went to Chris a lot of times where I felt maybe Jalen should have been in there more,” Bird said. “I stuck with him because he has paid his dues and he has done things on the practice court that deserves playing time.

“It was a tough decision, but when I see Jalen Rose out there, he’s a kid that can play 46, 48 minutes a game. He needs to be on the court. He’s the one guy that we have that’s very athletic and he can create his own shots, you don’t have to call a lot of plays for him.”

*

One look at Miller and it’s difficult to imagine him being one of the toughest players in league. But don’t underestimate Miller’s strength because of his slender frame.

Thanks to a weight-lifting program he began in recent years, Miller is much stronger than he appears.

“It has helped me tremendously,” Miller said. “As much holding and tripping and hitting that goes on underneath the boards and especially in our motion play, I felt that I’ve been able to unhook myself a little bit and feel a little bit more freer.

“But I think the weight training . . . has helped me more so in the post. When I’m posting up other guards and so forth, I’m able to hold them off, get the ball, face them and then be able to take them more so off the dribble.”