There’s a lot of renovating going on at Madison Square Garden. The building itself is being incrementally refurbished at a slightly slower pace than the roster is. In fact, these two transformations cross paths outside the Knicks locker room, where several player portraits have been absent for weeks as workers struggle to keep up with the overturn. Um, did we throw away that Earl Barron headshot?

But, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes, the most necessary changes aren’t taking place. There is still "an enabling culture of sycophants and bootlickers within the Knicks’ infrastructure," and Knicks president of basketball operations Donnie Walsh still hasn’t had a "substantive conversation about his future with [Knicks owner James] Dolan," according to Wojnarowski’s "Garden sources."

Woj even goes on to write that, should Larry Bird decide to leave Indiana, Walsh could return to the Pacers and bring Chris Mullin in some role. The Knicks can still exercise Walsh’s April 30th option, but that is beginning to seem less likely.

You can make any guess as to who would replace Walsh (could Isiah Thomas return or would Allan Houston be promoted from within?), but it would be a shame to push Walsh out over this season. The team’s 7-9 record since the Carmelo Anthony deal is hardly his fault. Whether he was pressured into making the trade, or if the entire deal was of his own fruition, this is what ownership wanted. The city demanded Anthony and now that they have him, they’re already suffering buyer’s remorse. A man shouldn’t lose his job for making a deal that everyone else wanted.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Power Forward Duo Propel Pacers

There are arguably seven solid playoff teams in the Eastern Conference mix, which means the eighth spot is going to go to a sub-.500 squad with a negative point differential.

As unflattering as that description may be, the Indiana Pacers are happy to fill that roll. They fit the aforementioned criteria and currently stand two games ahead of the Bucks and Bobcats for the chance to face the East’s top seed.

Back on March 11 it looked like the Pacers were sinking back into the NBA Draft Lottery, but a revitalized inside game sparked a 4-2 stretch and now they’re in the driver’s seat. Power forward Tyler Hansbrough dropped 88 points over a pair of victories over New York and an overtime upset of the Bulls. The team’s other power forward, Josh McRoberts, has also stepped up his game, shooting 63.3% and averaging 9.0 PPG and 5.8 RPG over his last five.

"When coach [Frank] Vogel took over, that’s something he did right away to take over that position because we had started to go a little bit small where I was inactive for awhile, Tyler was inactive," McRoberts told HOOPSWORLD. "They played [small forward] Danny [Granger] at that power forward spot some. So that’s something he instilled. He wanted us to own that position."

Previous coach Jim O’Brien didn’t have as much use for the pair. Hansbrough is a traditional power forward and the 59-year-old coach was still using a system that was built around departed sharpshooter Troy Murphy. But now, with Vogel at the helm, center Roy Hibbert is consistently getting paired with another big.

"Yeah, it wasn’t just a system that we were forced into playing," Hansbrough told HOOPWORLD. "We actually get our game, our style which is a lot of pick and rolls with [point guard Darren Collison] and me and Josh. We’re getting a lot better at the pick and rolls and things like that instead of just catching the ball at the elbow and looking for back doors, stuff like that."

Hansbrough averaged 5.8 PPG and 2.7 PPG in November and December respectively, but after O’Brien was let go at the end of January, the former North Carolina star averaged 11.4 PPG in February and 18.7 PPG in March.

"I think we’ve done a good job, mainly Tyler, he scores the ball really well, I do other things, make plays for other guys," McRoberts said. "But in the box score, Tyler is scoring.

"We’re posting up more," he continued. "For me, I’m not really a post-up guy, but for Tyler, it gives him an opportunity to do what he does, score the ball. I think that helps us. We’re running a lot more pick and rolls, and we’re more involved coming off the baseline, in a position to rebound and put it back in."

"I feel like we’re a bigger part of the offense," Hansbrough agreed. "There’s a lot of focus on power-post games, posting up, rebounding. The inside game has been a factor."

McRoberts averaged just 4.8 PPG in November, but has steadily improved, particularly behind the arc where he’s hit 23 of 59 attempts (39%). McRoberts will likely end the regular season with a Player Efficiency Rating above the league average—something he’s done just once in his previous three years. Hansbrough meanwhile has pushed his field goal accuracy from 36% as a rookie to 46.4% this season. During that time his free throw percentage went from 74.3% to 80.2% and his PER jumped from 14.62 to 16.92. And as long as both players seem to be getting better, there’s no reason they both can’t see plenty of PT.

"We’re both making improvements, and at the end of the day, we’re both trying to win," Hansbrough said. "Whatever it takes. And I think we’re two different types of players. I’m more inside, power game and he’s more of a finesse, kind of an outside guy."

The remaining Pacers schedule isn’t too troubling. Indiana has a big matchup with Charlotte on Wednesday and matchups with Sacramento, two games against Detroit, and one against Boston before they host the Bucks on April 1, which could ultimately decide who takes the final spot in the East.

Can Indiana keep their momentum going and possibly scare a top seed?

"Let’s hope so," McRoberts said. "I think we have 11 games, I think, left. So hopefully we can. It’s short, but at the same time, we still have two or three weeks left. That’s what coach Vogel has been talking, it’s about peaking heading into the playoffs."

And most importantly, can a Dukie (McRoberts) and a Tar Heel coexist in a power forward platoon?

"No (laughs)," McRoberts said. "We can, obviously. He’s a good guy to have on your team.

"Me and Josh are pretty cool," said Hansbrough, who plays with three Blue Devils on the Pacers. "Some of these other guys take it a little harder. UNC didn’t make a better run than Duke did last year, so I couldn’t really say much."

Lamar Odom Deal Changed the NBA?

Brian Kamentzky over at ESPNLosAngeles asked what would have happened if the Lakers didn’t re-sign Lamar Odom two years ago.  The article was spawned by Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who said the franchise was "convinced that without him, we wouldn’t win a championship again." Jackson and the Lakers were proven right, but Kamentzky rehashed a Wojnarowski article from July of 2009 that said Odom was leaning toward signing with the HEAT.

From there you can imagine all the twists and turns that entail. Check it out and see how different the NBA would have looked today had the Lakers not re-signed Odom.

Check Out HOOPSWORLD’s March Madness Coverage

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