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INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Pacers President Larry Bird spent most of his offseason trying to stitch together a championship contender.He made two trades to create versatility. He added bulk by signing free agent Al Jefferson. He watched the Pacers biggest star, Paul George, return from the Olympics with a gold medal around his neck and a new perspective about making the Pacers a better team. And Bird hired a coach who shares his vision of what it takes to win in todays NBA.Now Indiana is about to find out if this bold, new look will produce better results than last years awkward attempt to use a smaller lineup with more 3-point shooters and putting some players, such as George, out of position.George became a star at small forward but started the season playing power forward, an experiment that didnt last long.Last year, we tried to play that spread-four and we tried to turn Paul and C.J. Miles into that spread four. Now he (Bird) has brought those guys in, new coach Nate McMillan said Monday during the teams annual media day. Look, youre going to have to be able to play half-court basketball because you cant run for 48 minutes. I think the better teams will be able to slow you down, but I think we can play both ways now.How much and how quickly things change remains unclear.Unlike last season, when it seemed Bird and George werent always on the same page and former coach Frank Vogel often wound up playing middle man between his best player and his boss, the second year of this transition already is off to a smoother start. George acknowledged Monday hes willing to do whatever it takes to win this season -- even if that requires playing some minutes as a stretch-four. McMillan even called the three-time All-Star and all-league defender a versatile three.But the biggest difference will be Georges supporting cast.Bird began the latest overhaul by acquiring All-Star point guard Jeff Teague in a three-team deal that sent George Hill to Utah. The trade left the 26-year-old George, now entering his seventh year with the team, as the longest-tenured Pacers player and the only remaining starter left from the 2013 and 2014 Eastern Conference runner-ups.Then Bird sent Indianas first-round draft pick to Brooklyn for the nimble Thaddeus Young, who will play that stretch-four role, and plugged in second-year pro Myles Turner at center. He brought in the 60foot-10, 289-pound Jefferson to give the Pacers a bigger inside presence off the bench.Its completely different. Last year, you had true bigs in the paint and scorers who would post up, Young said. Now youve got guys who can step out, make plays, make moves. Were definitely going to try to push the tempo, push the pace.Everyone in this locker room seems to embrace the small-ball concept.When Teague was asked about the prospect of teaming up with George and bringing the trendy new style to his hometown team, he responded with a beaming style. Turner and Young had similar reactions Monday, and George sounds as eager as anybody to see how everything will work.Hopefully, well get a little faster, George said. I know that Jeff is a coast-to-coast guy, and I havent really played with a coast-to-coast guy before, so hopefully I can make it easier for him.Clearly, Bird believes he has the players to operate his preferred style, even if doesnt look quite right when the Pacers open the season Oct. 26 against Dallas.So McMillan will spend most of the next month trying to get all these new guys and the new lineups working together, in sync. And McMillan believes that if given time, the Pacers new style will be a good look.The game has changed, McMillan said. Youre seeing more pace teams that are trying to get between 90 and 100 possessions per game. How do you create that? You put together a roster that you can do that with, and I think the Pacers have done that. I think those (new) guys put us in position to pretty much paly any style we want to play.Note: George was asked whether he had any desire to re-do his contract, which can now be extended, and said: Right now, its all about the season. Im not even thinking about contract stuff. Everything is about going into the season. Last week, Bird said he was willing to give George a new max contract whenever hes ready. Georges current max deal runs through the 2018-19 season. Dejan Lovren Jersey .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras. Curtis Jones Jersey . 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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Jimbo Fisher lauded Florida State University President John Thrasher Tuesday for seeing the big picture the day after the school announced the coachs contract extension.Fisher, 77-17 in seven seasons at Florida State, signed a two-year extension that will keep him at the school through the 2024 season. It is the second time in two years Fisher has had his contract redone by Thrasher.Weve really built something really special and I want to continue it for a long time, Fisher said. I think President Thrasher has been awesome with that and seeing the big picture with everything that goes on. He loves it and understands what we do. We understand our importance to this university too and how we represent it and things that go on.Since Fisher took over the program in 2010 after the retirement of Bobby Bowden, Florida State has redone its practice fields, built an indoor facility, overhauled the locker room and added a players lounge.A bigger renovation of Doak Campbell Stadium is a long-term priority but something that is more immediate is adding new athlete dorms along with an athletics academic center. Thrasher said he is hopeful that he can begin adding private funding for that early next year and is hopefuul that more concrete plans can be finalized before the fall.ddddddddddddEven though he received plenty of questions from reporters about the opening at LSU after Les Miles was fired, Fisher said wasnt asked about it too many times from members of his coaching staff, players or potential recruits.The 10th-ranked Seminoles (9-3) wrapped up the first portion of practices for their Dec. 30 game against No. 6 Michigan in the Orange Bowl. The players are off until Saturday, when they will travel to South Florida and resume preparations.Fisher said he would have preferred spending Christmas in Tallahassee but that the timetable did not work out.Well practice a little bit on Christmas day then well have a dinner that night and everything together like a family and try to spend a lot of time with them, he said. We start school a little bit later than normal, (Jan. 9) so they get back a couple extra days for the holidays. Itll be good to be with them and everybody.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Joe Reedy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/joereedy ' ' '