Pooh
04-01-2004, 05:25 AM
Still bathing in the great victory by AMERICA'S Team...the Indiana Pacers as they destroyed the Bucks this evening 111-78 to win the Central Division title and clinching homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference. But they want more and will get it...
No Summary Tonight...sorry but the Pacers are the BEST! Here is an article by John Clayton from pacers.com. Enjoy and GO PACERS GO!
After Clinching East, Pacers Look Ahead
By John Clayton
Indianapolis, March 31, 2004
The Indiana Pacers locked up a pair of regular season titles and a bit of history for Coach Rick Carlisle with Wednesday’s 111-78 victory of visiting Milwaukee.
The win secured both the Central Division and Eastern Conference regular-season championships for the Pacers. In doing so, Carlisle joined Pat Riley as the only NBA head coach to win divisional titles in each of his first three years on the job. He won Central Division titles in both of his previous seasons as head coach of the Detroit Pistons.
“I’ve been lucky. I’ve had good players all three years,” said Carlisle. “This year, the reason we’re in the position we’re in more than anything else is because of Jermaine O’Neal. It’s really why he’s a top candidate for MVP. Nobody thought that this team would be able to play at this level, but his leader ship and his play, his encouragement of teammates. . . . Jermaine’s got to wear the hat for being the major reason that we’re in this position, so I have great gratitude for him and all the guys for putting me in a very unique situation. It’s great fortune for me.”
Carlisle deferred most of the credit for his coaching milestone to his players, who are on the threshold of becoming the first NBA Pacers team to win 60 games and securing home-court advantage throughout the NBA Playoffs.
“This team has done something to this point that probably a lot of people didn’t believe was going to happen and that’s locking up the division and the regular season conference championship for the year,” he said. “The important thing for us now with seven games to go is to keep an edge, to keep playing at a high level and to continue to try and get better.”
The 55-20 Pacers built a commanding lead over most of their Eastern Conference competition. Their closest, Detroit, entered play Wednesday night seven games back. New Jersey, the likely No. 2 seed as Atlantic Division champion, is even further back.
“It’s business. It’s what we expected to do,” said O’Neal. “It’s one of the goals we had written down. We've got a bigger goal right now to deal with and that’s trying to get the road to come through Conseco Fieldhouse for the entire playoffs. Hopefully, we can get that.”
Despite having accomplished so much already, the Pacers do not appear inclined to rest on their laurels as they pursue the 60-victory plateau as well as the NBA Championship as the league’s top seed. While they have attained some of their goals, there are others to reach for.
“We want to win a championship,” said Al Harrington. “Somebody just said that we’re definitely going to put up a banner next year, but we’re trying to get the big one. So, that’s just our focus.”
No Summary Tonight...sorry but the Pacers are the BEST! Here is an article by John Clayton from pacers.com. Enjoy and GO PACERS GO!
After Clinching East, Pacers Look Ahead
By John Clayton
Indianapolis, March 31, 2004
The Indiana Pacers locked up a pair of regular season titles and a bit of history for Coach Rick Carlisle with Wednesday’s 111-78 victory of visiting Milwaukee.
The win secured both the Central Division and Eastern Conference regular-season championships for the Pacers. In doing so, Carlisle joined Pat Riley as the only NBA head coach to win divisional titles in each of his first three years on the job. He won Central Division titles in both of his previous seasons as head coach of the Detroit Pistons.
“I’ve been lucky. I’ve had good players all three years,” said Carlisle. “This year, the reason we’re in the position we’re in more than anything else is because of Jermaine O’Neal. It’s really why he’s a top candidate for MVP. Nobody thought that this team would be able to play at this level, but his leader ship and his play, his encouragement of teammates. . . . Jermaine’s got to wear the hat for being the major reason that we’re in this position, so I have great gratitude for him and all the guys for putting me in a very unique situation. It’s great fortune for me.”
Carlisle deferred most of the credit for his coaching milestone to his players, who are on the threshold of becoming the first NBA Pacers team to win 60 games and securing home-court advantage throughout the NBA Playoffs.
“This team has done something to this point that probably a lot of people didn’t believe was going to happen and that’s locking up the division and the regular season conference championship for the year,” he said. “The important thing for us now with seven games to go is to keep an edge, to keep playing at a high level and to continue to try and get better.”
The 55-20 Pacers built a commanding lead over most of their Eastern Conference competition. Their closest, Detroit, entered play Wednesday night seven games back. New Jersey, the likely No. 2 seed as Atlantic Division champion, is even further back.
“It’s business. It’s what we expected to do,” said O’Neal. “It’s one of the goals we had written down. We've got a bigger goal right now to deal with and that’s trying to get the road to come through Conseco Fieldhouse for the entire playoffs. Hopefully, we can get that.”
Despite having accomplished so much already, the Pacers do not appear inclined to rest on their laurels as they pursue the 60-victory plateau as well as the NBA Championship as the league’s top seed. While they have attained some of their goals, there are others to reach for.
“We want to win a championship,” said Al Harrington. “Somebody just said that we’re definitely going to put up a banner next year, but we’re trying to get the big one. So, that’s just our focus.”