I like the Pacers better than the Celtics. When I saw Jermaine O'neal go to the basket..and I saw Antoine Walker punch him.."skirmish" (Reggie)! But when I watched it again over and over on TNT their ending show..I saw that O'Neal elbowed West like twice....and now I admire Antoine for standing up for his guy and telling O'neal that he can't do that. Antoine didn't really punch him..just like shoved him a bit. And then Jermaine pushed him back after swinging with his elbows at West...I don't know what was happening before that..if there were tensions..but I hope there aren't suspensions. REGGIE IS THE MAN!!!
Trading elbows won't get Antoine walker suspended. But... after getting the T, he made contact with an official trying to restrain him. I'd hate to see him get suspended, even though I'm a Pacers fan, but if he does get it, that is the reason. The NBA is very protective when officials get bumped.
I'm a Pacer homer so a big thanks to 'Toine for being dumb and getting suspended. But I clearly realize the Pacers have no shot in the next round against Detroit.
I don't think it's unrealistic to believe. I doubted that they could compete with 6 healthy players suited up & they did. I doubted that they could be even a .500 team until Jermaine O'Neal and Steven Jackson got back from suspension & they did. I doubted that they would make the playoffs once Jermaine O'Neal went down with the shoulder separation & they did. If anything we should learn that while it is totally reasonable to be realistic about the team, it's not really smart to doubt them. Rick Carlisle is certainly a great coach, the players are very focused, and they believe. Lots of "IFs" for sure--If Tinsley comes back strong, if Jermaine's shoulder continues to heal, and if Steven Jackson doesn't do any more damage to his knee, the team becomes deeper and healthier than they have been all season. And isn't "advancing for your 39-year old retiring franchise player" both a great story and a great motivating factor?
I want the Pacers to go as far as possible. What they've done this year is incredible. If the Lakers, Knicks, Celtics or some other "marquee" NBA franchise had done what they did this year, it would be the talk of the NBA and the main story of the season. But since it's only the Pacers, only a few of us even care. If they manage to close out the Celtics and beat the Pistons this year, I will be almost as happy as when they made the NBA finals. But lets get real. They would not win 4 of 7 from the Pistons, especially if Jermaine and Jamaal aren't at the top of their games. The only reason they can beat the Celtics is because the Celtics players are so dysfunctional. Doc Rivers is going to need therapy all summer to recover from that group.
It may not be the Celtics year (two years from now, when Jefferson and the rest of the kids come of age, it will be), but it really isn't the Pacers year. They'd be lucky to win two against Detroit without Artest, who IMO is far and away their best player.
