Pooh
01-18-2004, 10:57 PM
By Mark Montieth
[email protected]
January 18, 2004
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Indiana Pacers were only on the outskirts of New York on Saturday, but it was close enough to inspire thoughts of former coach Isiah Thomas.
Actually, they had no choice. The New York-area media fired questions about the New York Knicks president at Jermaine O'Neal, the most publicly loyal Pacer toward Thomas.
Thomas, fired by the Pacers in August, has made plenty of waves since taking over the presidency of the Knicks, shaking up the roster and coaching staff.
O'Neal stayed in touch with Thomas until he was hired by the Knicks. Since then, the two have exchanged voice messages on their cell phones.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle also phoned in congratulations to Thomas, and got a lengthy complimentary message in reply.
Thomas has hired two former Pacers assistants for the Knicks, Mark Aguirre and George Glymph. Aguirre was recently elevated to the bench on Lenny Wilkens' staff, while Glymph -- O'Neal's high school coach -- is a developmental coach.
The Pacers won't venture into New York to play the Knicks until Feb. 3, the night after they play the Los Angeles Lakers in Indianapolis.
"You look at our team now, our guys are developed now," O'Neal said. "We're the guys that Isiah brought in and really developed. Now we're a contender. Hopefully he does a good enough job to keep those guys coming in second in the Eastern Conference, and not first.
"Hopefully those guys continue to do good things, but come Feb. 3, I'm going to let Isiah know, I'm going to let Mark Aguirre know about everything I'm doing on the court in that particular game."
Tinsley comes through
Jamaal Tinsley's statistical line from Saturday's 90-84 win doesn't look like much. He hit 3-of-12 field goal attempts and had just one assist in 24 minutes.
Carlisle, however, was thrilled with the point guard's second-half performance.
Tinsley scored all 12 of his points after halftime, hitting three 3-pointers and three free throws. Just as importantly, he shut out Jason Kidd in the final period after Kidd scored 21 in the first three quarters.
Kidd missed all five shots and had three turnovers in the final quarter.
Pacers backup Anthony Johnson, meanwhile, scored seven second-half points, hitting 3-of-5 shots.
"Our point guard position played brilliantly in the second half with shot-making and defense," Carlisle said.
Johnson, a member of the Nets the past two seasons, gave Tinsley a defensive tip that helped against Kidd.
"A.J. told me to deny him the ball," Tinsley said. "I was trying to get the ball out of his hands. The first half I gave him too many open shots."
O'Neal goes deep, too
The most surprising of the Pacers' six 3-pointers in the second half was the one belonging to O'Neal.
The Pacers were struggling to get off a shot to beat the 24-second clock in the fourth quarter when O'Neal backed up a step and hit one over Rodney Rogers.
It reduced the Nets' lead to three points with 9:18 left.
"I've been struggling (with shooting)," O'Neal said. "I don't want to pop out there as much. But I knew the shot clock was going down. If I was going to get up a shot, it might as well be a 3-point shot.
"I don't think Rodney Rogers thought I was going to shoot it so he didn't get up to block the shot."
[email protected]
January 18, 2004
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Indiana Pacers were only on the outskirts of New York on Saturday, but it was close enough to inspire thoughts of former coach Isiah Thomas.
Actually, they had no choice. The New York-area media fired questions about the New York Knicks president at Jermaine O'Neal, the most publicly loyal Pacer toward Thomas.
Thomas, fired by the Pacers in August, has made plenty of waves since taking over the presidency of the Knicks, shaking up the roster and coaching staff.
O'Neal stayed in touch with Thomas until he was hired by the Knicks. Since then, the two have exchanged voice messages on their cell phones.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle also phoned in congratulations to Thomas, and got a lengthy complimentary message in reply.
Thomas has hired two former Pacers assistants for the Knicks, Mark Aguirre and George Glymph. Aguirre was recently elevated to the bench on Lenny Wilkens' staff, while Glymph -- O'Neal's high school coach -- is a developmental coach.
The Pacers won't venture into New York to play the Knicks until Feb. 3, the night after they play the Los Angeles Lakers in Indianapolis.
"You look at our team now, our guys are developed now," O'Neal said. "We're the guys that Isiah brought in and really developed. Now we're a contender. Hopefully he does a good enough job to keep those guys coming in second in the Eastern Conference, and not first.
"Hopefully those guys continue to do good things, but come Feb. 3, I'm going to let Isiah know, I'm going to let Mark Aguirre know about everything I'm doing on the court in that particular game."
Tinsley comes through
Jamaal Tinsley's statistical line from Saturday's 90-84 win doesn't look like much. He hit 3-of-12 field goal attempts and had just one assist in 24 minutes.
Carlisle, however, was thrilled with the point guard's second-half performance.
Tinsley scored all 12 of his points after halftime, hitting three 3-pointers and three free throws. Just as importantly, he shut out Jason Kidd in the final period after Kidd scored 21 in the first three quarters.
Kidd missed all five shots and had three turnovers in the final quarter.
Pacers backup Anthony Johnson, meanwhile, scored seven second-half points, hitting 3-of-5 shots.
"Our point guard position played brilliantly in the second half with shot-making and defense," Carlisle said.
Johnson, a member of the Nets the past two seasons, gave Tinsley a defensive tip that helped against Kidd.
"A.J. told me to deny him the ball," Tinsley said. "I was trying to get the ball out of his hands. The first half I gave him too many open shots."
O'Neal goes deep, too
The most surprising of the Pacers' six 3-pointers in the second half was the one belonging to O'Neal.
The Pacers were struggling to get off a shot to beat the 24-second clock in the fourth quarter when O'Neal backed up a step and hit one over Rodney Rogers.
It reduced the Nets' lead to three points with 9:18 left.
"I've been struggling (with shooting)," O'Neal said. "I don't want to pop out there as much. But I knew the shot clock was going down. If I was going to get up a shot, it might as well be a 3-point shot.
"I don't think Rodney Rogers thought I was going to shoot it so he didn't get up to block the shot."