By Sekou Smith
[email protected]
December 26, 2003


Welcome to another episode of "As the Pacers' Point Guard Rotation Turns," where, depending on the cir stances, you could see any one of four different players in Indiana's starting lineup.

On today's show we have former starter Jamaal Tinsley reentering the picture in a backup role just in time for a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center.

Out since Halloween, the last time the Pacers played the Bucks, with an injury and then the flu, Tinsley quickly became a forgotten man because the Pacers (21-8) continued to roll without him.

But with an injury to veteran starter Kenny Anderson, who's on the injured list for at least five games with a strained right calf, the dashing and daring Tinsley has another opportunity to state his case for an increased role.

He's more than ready for a chance to play the hero in the Pacers' point guard soap opera.

"My confidence is never going nowhere, no matter what they do," said Tinsley, the starter and assists leader the past two seasons who was unceremoniously benched in favor of Anderson at the start of the regular season.

He'll back up Anthony Johnson tonight, but Pacers coach Rick Carlisle expects Tinsley to play significant minutes, in spurts since his conditioning won't be up to par after sitting for so long.

"I've got a good feeling about Jamaal coming back into the fold," Carlisle said. "He's worked awful hard and hasn't gotten a whole lot of notice for it in the last month and a half. Now is the time when it's going to have to pay off for him and pay off for us because we're going to need him."

Carlisle said the Pacers' point guard dilemma has been a tricky one because all four -- Tinsley, Johnson, Anderson and Jamison Brewer -- bring distinct traits to the position.

"You'd love to have the ingredients of all four in one guy and another guy coming off the bench, and have that guy be healthy all the time," Carlisle said. "So far we've been lucky to have four point guards. It's been essential for us. Otherwise we'd have been stuck with one guy on two or three occasions."

Make no mistake about it: Tinsley wants to be that one guy. Sure, he's only played in four games this season, but he thinks he's ready to resume his role as the floor leader of the team.

"I'll play 48 minutes," he said. "I'm a warrior."

Tinsley insists he is not upset about being benched without much of an explanation. His actions earlier this season -- sitting despondently at times during timeouts while his teammates stood in the huddle -- would suggest otherwise.

"I'm not angry," he said. "I've proved enough. They ain't seen nothing yet."

When asked if watching from the end of the bench after two seasons at the helm was a good or bad experience, Tinsley acted like it was no big deal.

"Nothing. It's nothing," he said. "I've dealt with a lot of things harder than this. This is nothing."

Tinsley's benching caught quite a few observers by surprise. He spent his summer reshaping his body after his conditioning deteriorated during the second half of last season.

Tinsley was torn. Last season, he had to decide what was more important, being by his mother's side as she battled cancer or doing his job. He tried to do both. But his mother died March 20 and the Pacers flamed out in the first round of the playoffs, losing to Boston in six games.

Fair or not, fingers were pointed at Tinsley. But as is his trademark, Tinsley came through the turmoil of his second season with his wits intact.

It wasn't until his surprising demotion from starter to benchwarmer that there were signs of unrest. He appears to have rebounded from that setback as well.

"I think he's handled it pretty well," Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal said. "He understands the business side of it, and opportunity comes knocking all the time over a period of 82 games. This is his opportunity. If he wants a position, if he wants to show people -- either the Pacers or other teams -- that he's a starter, he's going to take full advantage of it now."