Putting both the players and coach Jim O’Brien on notice, Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird said the team’s defense must improve.

The 106 points per game the Pacers allowed this season was fifth worst in the league and one of the reasons they missed the playoffs.

“I think all the problems are on the defensive end,” Bird said today in his annual postseason news conference. “We’re going to score points, but (the defense) is something we’ve got to address, and hopefully get better next year.”

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O’Brien, heading into the final year of his contract, has said he’d like more athletic defenders to play his style.

The Pacers were 36-46, missing the playoffs in an Eastern Conference so mediocre that three teams at or below .500 made the postseason.

While Bird didn’t dispute the idea of a more athletic team, he did say he wasn’t satisfied with how the current players performed defensively. Bird pointed to the three Pacers teams he coached from 1997-2000 that made the playoffs each year and reached the 2000 NBA Finals as evidence good defense can be played even if a team isn’t athletically superior.

“When I coached, we weren’t the quickest or most athletic team, and (assistant coach) Dick Harter did an excellent job getting those guys to play defense. I think they have more in them than they’re giving right now.

“Maybe it’s the way we do it. Maybe we’ll change some of our tactics on the defensive end. That’s up to the coach. I see things out there, and I’ll talk to Jimmy about it. Obviously we have to get better. If we’re better on the defensive end, we’ll win more games.”