MoSpur
05-04-2006, 12:01 PM
this guy coming back to the Spurs? Don't know if it could happen because of salary cap issues, but as a fan would you be interested?
It was the middle of Game 4 at Conseco Fieldhouse, and Stephen Jackson was looking up at a video screen, watching a replay of himself being called for a foul against New Jersey's Vince Carter.
"I never know if they're booing the call," he said later, shrugging, "or booing me."
Chances are, it's a little bit of both. For reasons that Jackson doesn't completely understand, he has become the unofficial target of Indy's basketball frustration. As the Pacers stand at the cusp of elimination, with his team trailing 3-2 and Game 6 tonight at Conseco Fieldhouse, Jackson continues to represent everything that has gone wrong with the Pacers the past two years.
And he hears the booing.
Says it doesn't bother him, which is hard to imagine, but he hears it.
"I don't know. They probably expect me to be Reggie (Miller),'' Jackson said. "It ain't gonna happen. We're two different people. No way I could be him or replace him. If they want me to be Reggie, they need to find somebody else, because that ain't me. I'm Stephen Jackson.''
Without question, the specter of Uncle Reggie hangs over this franchise and specifically Jackson. But there's more to this.
There's the issue of appearances. Sometimes, he appears detached, disinterested. Other times, his emotions, which he is the first to acknowledge sometimes cloud his better judgment, send him over the edge, especially when he's arguing with officials.
Why, though, is he the lightning rod when it comes to ref-baiting? Jermaine O'Neal argues. Jeff Foster argues. Sarunas Jasikevicius argues. David Harrison, well, he's perpetually frothing at the mouth.
The boos reserved for Jackson, though, are more vociferous than they are for other Pacers.
"I don't really know why,'' he said the other day. "A couple of weeks ago when Sacramento came in, I was asked, 'How will Ron (Artest) feel about coming back and getting booed.' I said, 'He shouldn't feel bad. I still play here and I'm getting booed.' "
Is most of it about Jackson's game? Absolutely. Early in the season, he often looked like he wanted to be somewhere else. And he's undeniably streaky, either very good or downright awful on a given night. When he gets the ball on the wing and grinds the offense to a halt with one-on-one play, the groans serve as a prelude to the boos.
Moreover, his maddening immaturity came to the surface again after Game 5, when he ripped rookie Danny Granger for allowing Vince Carter an easy path to the goal during a key late possession. Even if Jackson was right -- he said he would have done a better job on Carter -- that was a sentiment best reserved for the locker room.
Keep in mind, though, Jackson has been the closest the Pacers have had to a sure thing all season. He has played through injuries, appearing in 81 of 82 regular-season games. He has continued to produce, even if he has rarely played the role he was acquired to play -- the two-guard and the third scoring option. He isn't Reggie, but, then, who is?
"I know I'm a streaky player, and sometimes emotionally, I'm down, but one thing nobody can take from me is how hard I play or how much I love this game,'' said Jackson, who chased his NBA dream all over the globe before making it in America. "If they like me, great. If they don't, hey, I'm still breathing.''
It was odd how differently the protagonists were viewed in the wake of The Brawl with Detroit Pistons fans Nov. 19, 2004.
Ron Artest came out of it as a flawed hero, a cult figure who was generally beloved by Indiana fans. But Jackson, who was the first into the stands to defend Artest? He came out of it viewed as a bad guy with a vicious streak whose emotions were beyond control.
"Still, to this day, I'm seen that way," Jackson said. "I guess Ron's a superstar, one of the best players in the league, and they're not going to promote me like that. So I've got to take the fall for a lot of the stuff he created.
"People around me know I was just trying to be a good teammate. Before that night, I'd never been suspended for an incident, never been suspended for a fight, nothing. But they wanted to protect Ron's image so he could be used in commercials and (promoted) as one of the game's best players."
Jackson bent over at the waist and stared at the floor.
"I don't want to be in commercials, anyway,'' he said.
"A lot of people don't look at it like it was me trying to help him. They want to look at it like me going up and being a thug, which is totally out of the question. Right before it all started, I was guarding Ben Wallace. If I wanted to start something, I could have, but we were up by a lot of points, so there was no need to start that."
Despite the negative response he often receives, Jackson would like to remain in Indiana. At this point, though, that's probably less than a 50-50 proposition. In the past, he has shown he can fit in if he's surrounded by the right kind of players and personalities. On this team, though, the formula doesn't always work.
Next season, it's likely Indiana fans won't have Jackson to kick around any longer.
It was the middle of Game 4 at Conseco Fieldhouse, and Stephen Jackson was looking up at a video screen, watching a replay of himself being called for a foul against New Jersey's Vince Carter.
"I never know if they're booing the call," he said later, shrugging, "or booing me."
Chances are, it's a little bit of both. For reasons that Jackson doesn't completely understand, he has become the unofficial target of Indy's basketball frustration. As the Pacers stand at the cusp of elimination, with his team trailing 3-2 and Game 6 tonight at Conseco Fieldhouse, Jackson continues to represent everything that has gone wrong with the Pacers the past two years.
And he hears the booing.
Says it doesn't bother him, which is hard to imagine, but he hears it.
"I don't know. They probably expect me to be Reggie (Miller),'' Jackson said. "It ain't gonna happen. We're two different people. No way I could be him or replace him. If they want me to be Reggie, they need to find somebody else, because that ain't me. I'm Stephen Jackson.''
Without question, the specter of Uncle Reggie hangs over this franchise and specifically Jackson. But there's more to this.
There's the issue of appearances. Sometimes, he appears detached, disinterested. Other times, his emotions, which he is the first to acknowledge sometimes cloud his better judgment, send him over the edge, especially when he's arguing with officials.
Why, though, is he the lightning rod when it comes to ref-baiting? Jermaine O'Neal argues. Jeff Foster argues. Sarunas Jasikevicius argues. David Harrison, well, he's perpetually frothing at the mouth.
The boos reserved for Jackson, though, are more vociferous than they are for other Pacers.
"I don't really know why,'' he said the other day. "A couple of weeks ago when Sacramento came in, I was asked, 'How will Ron (Artest) feel about coming back and getting booed.' I said, 'He shouldn't feel bad. I still play here and I'm getting booed.' "
Is most of it about Jackson's game? Absolutely. Early in the season, he often looked like he wanted to be somewhere else. And he's undeniably streaky, either very good or downright awful on a given night. When he gets the ball on the wing and grinds the offense to a halt with one-on-one play, the groans serve as a prelude to the boos.
Moreover, his maddening immaturity came to the surface again after Game 5, when he ripped rookie Danny Granger for allowing Vince Carter an easy path to the goal during a key late possession. Even if Jackson was right -- he said he would have done a better job on Carter -- that was a sentiment best reserved for the locker room.
Keep in mind, though, Jackson has been the closest the Pacers have had to a sure thing all season. He has played through injuries, appearing in 81 of 82 regular-season games. He has continued to produce, even if he has rarely played the role he was acquired to play -- the two-guard and the third scoring option. He isn't Reggie, but, then, who is?
"I know I'm a streaky player, and sometimes emotionally, I'm down, but one thing nobody can take from me is how hard I play or how much I love this game,'' said Jackson, who chased his NBA dream all over the globe before making it in America. "If they like me, great. If they don't, hey, I'm still breathing.''
It was odd how differently the protagonists were viewed in the wake of The Brawl with Detroit Pistons fans Nov. 19, 2004.
Ron Artest came out of it as a flawed hero, a cult figure who was generally beloved by Indiana fans. But Jackson, who was the first into the stands to defend Artest? He came out of it viewed as a bad guy with a vicious streak whose emotions were beyond control.
"Still, to this day, I'm seen that way," Jackson said. "I guess Ron's a superstar, one of the best players in the league, and they're not going to promote me like that. So I've got to take the fall for a lot of the stuff he created.
"People around me know I was just trying to be a good teammate. Before that night, I'd never been suspended for an incident, never been suspended for a fight, nothing. But they wanted to protect Ron's image so he could be used in commercials and (promoted) as one of the game's best players."
Jackson bent over at the waist and stared at the floor.
"I don't want to be in commercials, anyway,'' he said.
"A lot of people don't look at it like it was me trying to help him. They want to look at it like me going up and being a thug, which is totally out of the question. Right before it all started, I was guarding Ben Wallace. If I wanted to start something, I could have, but we were up by a lot of points, so there was no need to start that."
Despite the negative response he often receives, Jackson would like to remain in Indiana. At this point, though, that's probably less than a 50-50 proposition. In the past, he has shown he can fit in if he's surrounded by the right kind of players and personalities. On this team, though, the formula doesn't always work.
Next season, it's likely Indiana fans won't have Jackson to kick around any longer.