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01-26-2005, 04:56 PM
Link (http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/preview_050126.html)
The Pacers' season may not begin now, but it certainly begins anew.
With Stephen Jackson's return to the starting lineup, the Pacers are as complete as they will be until Ron Artest returns next season. Though it will take some time for the players to adjust to the new rotations, and for Jackson to regain his game legs, the Pacers are poised to begin climbing the ladder in the Eastern Conference. With 12 games before the All-Star break, eight at home, and just two sets of back-to-backs, the schedule is affording Indiana an opportunity.
"We're entering a new phase of the season," said Coach Rick Carlisle. "I view this now as a 12-game season to the All-Star break. It's a stretch where we have good spacing, we have a lot of home games, we have two back-to-backs but the teams we're playing also have back-to-backs, so we have an opportunity here and we've got to take advantage of it and win some games. Having Steve back is an important part of that but having him back is not going to solve every problem that we have. He's going to have to be an important part to the solution of some of our issues of consistency and at times having some energy loss. He's going to be important to that."
Jackson was averaging 15.3 points through the first nine games of the regular season, and his scoring is a welcome addition. In the last 18 games, the Pacers got an average of 2.3 points per game from their starting small forwards. The hope is that Jackson's productivity and energy will give the Pacers the physical and emotional energy to avoid the one-step-forward, one-step-back trend of recent weeks. The reality is it will take much more than the effort of one player to permanently break out of that pattern.
"It's going to take us coming together as a team," Jackson said. "Obviously, a lot of people counted us out but the team has showed that we're professionals. Without me and Ron, the team has played decent, has played well enough to win some big games. We've just got to win the games we're supposed to win. That's the thing right now; we're winning big games, but we've got to win the games we're supposed to win. That's what's going to get us over the hump."
The five players facing misdemeanor charges from the Nov. 19 incident in The Palace of Auburn Hills (Jackson, Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest, Anthony Johnson and David Harrison) missed Tuesday's practice to appear at a pre-trial hearing in Rochester Hills, MI. Jackson, O'Neal and Johnson then met the team in Boston.
Point guard Jamaal Tinsley, who missed the last two days of practice with a sinus infection, did not travel with the team Tuesday and will not play. Neither will forward Jonathan Bender, who has been in and out of the lineup with a sore right knee. Anthony Johnson (flu) will be a game-time decision. Forward Austin Croshere, who missed two games with a sinus infection, is expected to play.
Boston snapped a nine-game road losing streak with a 97-92 victory in Charlotte Tuesday night as Paul Pierce scored 14 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter.
The Pacers' season may not begin now, but it certainly begins anew.
With Stephen Jackson's return to the starting lineup, the Pacers are as complete as they will be until Ron Artest returns next season. Though it will take some time for the players to adjust to the new rotations, and for Jackson to regain his game legs, the Pacers are poised to begin climbing the ladder in the Eastern Conference. With 12 games before the All-Star break, eight at home, and just two sets of back-to-backs, the schedule is affording Indiana an opportunity.
"We're entering a new phase of the season," said Coach Rick Carlisle. "I view this now as a 12-game season to the All-Star break. It's a stretch where we have good spacing, we have a lot of home games, we have two back-to-backs but the teams we're playing also have back-to-backs, so we have an opportunity here and we've got to take advantage of it and win some games. Having Steve back is an important part of that but having him back is not going to solve every problem that we have. He's going to have to be an important part to the solution of some of our issues of consistency and at times having some energy loss. He's going to be important to that."
Jackson was averaging 15.3 points through the first nine games of the regular season, and his scoring is a welcome addition. In the last 18 games, the Pacers got an average of 2.3 points per game from their starting small forwards. The hope is that Jackson's productivity and energy will give the Pacers the physical and emotional energy to avoid the one-step-forward, one-step-back trend of recent weeks. The reality is it will take much more than the effort of one player to permanently break out of that pattern.
"It's going to take us coming together as a team," Jackson said. "Obviously, a lot of people counted us out but the team has showed that we're professionals. Without me and Ron, the team has played decent, has played well enough to win some big games. We've just got to win the games we're supposed to win. That's the thing right now; we're winning big games, but we've got to win the games we're supposed to win. That's what's going to get us over the hump."
The five players facing misdemeanor charges from the Nov. 19 incident in The Palace of Auburn Hills (Jackson, Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest, Anthony Johnson and David Harrison) missed Tuesday's practice to appear at a pre-trial hearing in Rochester Hills, MI. Jackson, O'Neal and Johnson then met the team in Boston.
Point guard Jamaal Tinsley, who missed the last two days of practice with a sinus infection, did not travel with the team Tuesday and will not play. Neither will forward Jonathan Bender, who has been in and out of the lineup with a sore right knee. Anthony Johnson (flu) will be a game-time decision. Forward Austin Croshere, who missed two games with a sinus infection, is expected to play.
Boston snapped a nine-game road losing streak with a 97-92 victory in Charlotte Tuesday night as Paul Pierce scored 14 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter.