| March Madness Authored by Andrew Perna - March 30, 2006 - 2:21 am
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With two games remaining this month the Pacers are a dreary 7-9 this March. They have failed to post back-to-back wins all month, and have lost embarrassing games to Boston, New York, Houston, and Toronto. Those disheartening losses all came in between victories over New Orleans, Sacramento, and Washington.
In a months time the Pacers have welcomed back Jamaal Tinsley, Scot Pollard, and more recently Jermaine O’Neal. We have also seen rookie Sarunas Jasikevicius become buried on the bench, and fellow rookie Danny Granger emerge as a legitimate force within the league.
Over the teams’ last ten games Granger is averaging 11.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, while seeing more consistent playing time. The highlight of the month for Granger and Pacer fans everywhere was his performance during their March 17th victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings. Granger outplayed former Pacer Ron Artest, scoring 23 points and grabbing seven rebounds in the victory.
Artest struggled scoring 18 points on horrendous shooting – he was 6-22 from the field.
Despite their struggles this month they have shown several positive signs. They hung tight with Detroit in a loss on March 24th. What was most impressive about their performance against Miami on Monday night was that they kept their composure during some very intense moments. Jermaine O’Neal and Udonis Haslem even had a heated scuffle midway through the second quarter.
Miami’s Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade, and Haslem were all whistled for technical fouls, and Haslem was ejected after receiving a second technical for arguing a foul called against him. Shaquille O’Neal was also charged with a flagrant foul Monday night, but was instrumental in the Heat’s second half comeback.
As March concludes the Pacers are the closest to full strength they have been in almost two years but, all is not well in Indiana. Austin Croshere is still sidelined with complications from back-to-back concussions, and rumors are circulating that Fred Jones might be shut down for the season because of a torn ligament in his left thumb.
Another strange occurrence has been the absence of Jasikevicius. After playing an integral role for Rick Carlisle during the first half of the season, he has only played a total of 23 minutes in the Pacers last nine games, so where has Sarunas gone?
Only Carlisle can answer that question.
The Pacers may be limping into April, but at least the madness that was the month of March will soon be over. |
