It's early April and with rumours of controversy and divisiveness swirling around the team, the Raptors head coach is up late in his Cleveland hotel room, wide awake, preparing for the Raptors' game the following night against the Cavaliers.

Even though at this stage of the season - with only six games remaining - the injury-plagued Raptors are all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, O'Neill still wants to win. So he watches hours of videos, searching for an edge that will help his team take their last few games. "I watch a lot of videotape - at least three to four tapes on each opponent we are getting ready to play," he says.

Flash forward 24 hours and all of O'Neill's preparation pays off as Toronto beats Cleveland in a close contest 87- 86 to snap the team's seven-game losing streak. But just over a week later, the Raptors' season ends and the rumours are confirmed - O'Neill is fired.

Despite this setback, the consummate competitor feels he's got a lot of coaching left in him. "I found out at 47, you've got a lot left to learn, and I plan on coaching until I'm 75," he told the Canadian Press. "I'm not even halfway through what I'm doing. The way I look at it, it was probably as big a learning curve year for me as I've ever had. That's a good thing to have at 47 years old in this business.

"I'm not a guy that has a lot of regrets. The bottom line is, if you can coach in tough times, you're always going to be able to coach in other times," O'Neill concludes.

Those other times may be here. After just a couple of months of unemployment, O'Neill was hired as an assistant coach by the Indiana Pacers. His boss there will be Rick Carlisle, an old friend from the days when both were star players for rival high school teams. Each was the best man at the other's wedding. Their friendship is a bonus and not the reason O'Neill was hired, says Carlisle. The two have worked together in the NBA - before joining Toronto, O'Neill was Carlisle's assistant for two years with the Detroit Pistons.

"I just know that Kevin O'Neill is one of the unique coaching talents in our game," Carlisle said in a recent interview. "He has such a great knowledge of the game overall, he has a great work ethic and intellectual curiosity about the game, and he's able to help players get the absolute most out of their abilities."

The Pacers finished in top spot in their conference last year with the best won-lost record in the NBA. But whether the team stays hot or not, one thing is sure - O'Neill will give it his all. It's that one-speed, straightahead thing. Says Mad Dog, "If you are going to do something, do it the right way. Go at it 100 per cent."

Despite a rough year with the Raptors, O'Neill is delighted to be back in the NBA.