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yes lets welcome a guy back that cold clocks people
'
Pacers Welcome O’Neal’s Early Return
By Conrad Brunner - Dec. 23, 2004
Jermaine O'Neal will be back in the starting lineup when the Pacers face the Detroit Pistons on Christmas Day in Conseco Fieldhouse.
Federal Judge George B. Daniels today upheld the Wednesday ruling of arbitrator Roger Kaplan reducing O'Neal's suspension from 25 to 15 games. The 15th game came Wednesday night in a 102-90 loss to Philadelphia, so O'Neal can officially rejoin the Pacers.
O'Neal was making a visit to St. Vincent's Hospital when his agent called with the news.
"I can’t describe it," O'Neal said. "I put it in God’s hands and let God guide the situation so that I could play again as soon as possible. I want to thank the players union, all the lawyers and my agents. They all put in a lot of time and effort. They all kept me upbeat.
“I’m happy about two things for Christmas: great health and family; and the opportunity to play again. I’m extremely happy. It’s been a tough process. Now I can play the game I love so much. I’m ready, but I have to find a way to bottle up the energy and use it in a good way. I have to make sure we win games and when Stephen Jackson gets back, we can win a championship.”
O'Neal was one of five players suspended for their roles in an incident that brought an early end to the Pacers' 97-82 victory in The Palace of Auburn Hills, MI, on Nov. 19. The arbitrator upheld NBA Commissioner David Stern's decisions to suspend Ron Artest for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs, Stephen Jackson for 30 games and Anthony Johnson for five. Reggie Miller was suspended one game for leaving the bench area. The players union appealed the suspensions of all but Miller.
“This is the first good news we’ve had in some time on this issue," said franchise CEO and President Donnie Walsh. "We’re very happy for Jermaine and we’re happy to have him back playing with the team. At this point, we are not involved in the legal issues, but only in how they affect our players and we’re hopeful this will become a more permanent decision in the next couple of weeks.
“As we’ve said before, we continue to support all of our players and our franchise is dedicated to surviving this incident and pursuing our goals.”
The NBA issued a statement saying it would not contest the judge's ruling until another hearing can be held on Dec. 30. The league contends the arbitrator had no jurisdiction to reduce the suspension.
"While we disagree with the court’s decision today and expect that ultimately Judge Daniels will find that the arbitrator had no authority in this matter, we will, of course, abide by the ruling of the court,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik. “Since Jermaine O’Neal has already served 15 games of his suspension, he will be eligible to participate in the Pacers’ games, at least until the next court hearing date set for December 30.”
Coach Rick Carlisle said O'Neal would move right back into his usual place in the starting lineup, though he isn't sure exactly what to expect after a 15-game absence.
"He's been diligent in continuing to work out and work on skill stuff but as we all now there's no subs ute for actual NBA game conditioning," Carlisle said. "It's going to be tough for him and we're going to have to be careful. But I don't know what's reasonable (to expect).
"If he's allowed to play he's going to start. It's as simple as that. We'll have to play him in spurts where it's not too much for him. But right now, just to have the extra body up front and to have a post option would mean a lot to us."
The Pacers, 7-2 after beating the Pistons on Nov. 19, have gone 5-10 since. Detroit, which lost center Ben Wallace to a six-game suspension for striking Artest, has gone 8-8. The two teams expected to battle for supremacy in the Eastern Conference when the season began enter their nationally televised rematch with identical 12-12 records.
"You're getting your franchise player back," said rookie center David Harrison. "That's self-explanatory. He's going to give our team a dimension we haven't had since the Detroit game (of Nov. 19).
"He stays in shape. He's going to have a little rust on him getting some game-time experience but when that wears off, you've got to remember he's an MVP candidate. He's a really good player. I think he's going to come out there and he's going to shine."
O'Neal, who missed most of the preseason with a slow-healing foot injury, was averaging 22.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots at the time of the suspension. In his absence, the team has felt his absence both in the low post on offense and in the lane, defensively.
Even though he hasn't played in a game in more than a month, the players expect O'Neal to provide a major boost immediately.
"He's the best player on our team," said Fred Jones. "Of course, if he plays, that's going to excite us all and get us all going a little bit more. If you're one of the top 10 players in the world, evidently anything you do when you step on the court is going to get stuff done.
"Of course, he hasn't played in a compe ive game in a long time but he's a compe or and he's a great player so he'll be able to help us out."
The Pacers will have to make a roster move to activate O'Neal from the suspended list.
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yes lets welcome a guy back that cold clocks people
'
I more than welcome his return
how many breaks does this guy deserve?
he got a break to get the nba contract
got a break to get out of portland
got a break to go to a team and be the player on the team
and he cold clocks someone for all those breaks
and now he gets another break and gets to play and gets A TON OF MONEY BACK NOW
And it's a Merry Christmas to the loyal Pacers fans, one month of suffering was enough...
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