Pooh
10-19-2003, 05:41 PM
By Sekou Smith
[email protected]
October 19, 2003
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Those in attendance at the Verizon Wireless Arena were treated to a rare sight Saturday night, with the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics in town for a preseason game.
Unfortunately, it wasn't a rekindling of the rivalry that developed last season, when the Celtics eliminated the Pacers from the first round of the NBA playoffs.
There's no way to re-create that kind of atmosphere without Reggie Miller, Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest, all of whom sat out to rest sore muscles and bones.
Instead, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle started second-year guard Fred Jones and rookie James Jones along with veterans Jamaal Tinsley, Al Harrington and Scot Pollard.
That's a group that probably won't share many opening tips beyond this preseason after Saturday night's 84-80 loss before a raucous pro-Celtics crowd of 8,558.
But with seven veterans sidelined with an assortment of bumps and bruises, Carlisle has no other option but to mix and match his lineups.
"I thought we hung in considering," Carlisle said. "That last group showed some grit, the young guys. But we've obviously got to get some guys healthy. I think we're going to do that, but we've got to make sure that we do it in the right sort of time frame. We don't want to rush anyone back too soon."
Carlisle acknowledged before the game that his team is still a bit of a mystery because it hasn't played at full strength. When it will is a bigger question. The Pacers won't practice today, with the rest clearly needed for all involved.
Well, almost everybody. The reserves who've logged big minutes in the first six preseason games don't want the extended playing time to end.
"This is giving a lot of guys an opportunity to play, guys that are normally not playing," said Fred Jones, who scored 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting. "This is something we love to do, so every time out there's a lot of pride involved. We don't want anybody thinking they can walk over us, regardless of who's on the floor at the time."
That can be tough with Boston's Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker (who combined for 27 points) working against rookies and second-year players.
But the Celtics' All-Star duo was far from the Pacers' biggest problem. With Boston's defensive pressure extending beyond the 3-point line, the Pacers -- regardless of the five men on the floor -- repeatedly took the 24-second shot clock down to single digits before getting off a shot.
The Pacers shot just 34.3 percent from the floor and made just 7-of-21 3-pointers. Boston countered with a 47 percent performance from the floor and outscored the Pacers 38-22 in the paint.
"Look, we're going at it with basically half our team and we're still competing every night," said Pacers forward Al Harrington, who scored 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. "The guys that are playing, we know each other's games. It just takes time to develop some continuity out there.
"We're rolling with it right now, but when we get everybody healthy we'll be special."
[email protected]
October 19, 2003
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Those in attendance at the Verizon Wireless Arena were treated to a rare sight Saturday night, with the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics in town for a preseason game.
Unfortunately, it wasn't a rekindling of the rivalry that developed last season, when the Celtics eliminated the Pacers from the first round of the NBA playoffs.
There's no way to re-create that kind of atmosphere without Reggie Miller, Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest, all of whom sat out to rest sore muscles and bones.
Instead, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle started second-year guard Fred Jones and rookie James Jones along with veterans Jamaal Tinsley, Al Harrington and Scot Pollard.
That's a group that probably won't share many opening tips beyond this preseason after Saturday night's 84-80 loss before a raucous pro-Celtics crowd of 8,558.
But with seven veterans sidelined with an assortment of bumps and bruises, Carlisle has no other option but to mix and match his lineups.
"I thought we hung in considering," Carlisle said. "That last group showed some grit, the young guys. But we've obviously got to get some guys healthy. I think we're going to do that, but we've got to make sure that we do it in the right sort of time frame. We don't want to rush anyone back too soon."
Carlisle acknowledged before the game that his team is still a bit of a mystery because it hasn't played at full strength. When it will is a bigger question. The Pacers won't practice today, with the rest clearly needed for all involved.
Well, almost everybody. The reserves who've logged big minutes in the first six preseason games don't want the extended playing time to end.
"This is giving a lot of guys an opportunity to play, guys that are normally not playing," said Fred Jones, who scored 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting. "This is something we love to do, so every time out there's a lot of pride involved. We don't want anybody thinking they can walk over us, regardless of who's on the floor at the time."
That can be tough with Boston's Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker (who combined for 27 points) working against rookies and second-year players.
But the Celtics' All-Star duo was far from the Pacers' biggest problem. With Boston's defensive pressure extending beyond the 3-point line, the Pacers -- regardless of the five men on the floor -- repeatedly took the 24-second shot clock down to single digits before getting off a shot.
The Pacers shot just 34.3 percent from the floor and made just 7-of-21 3-pointers. Boston countered with a 47 percent performance from the floor and outscored the Pacers 38-22 in the paint.
"Look, we're going at it with basically half our team and we're still competing every night," said Pacers forward Al Harrington, who scored 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. "The guys that are playing, we know each other's games. It just takes time to develop some continuity out there.
"We're rolling with it right now, but when we get everybody healthy we'll be special."