| The Boys Come Back to Town Authored by Andrew Perna - April 27, 2006 - 4:57 am
| Current Featured Columns | | Final Thoughts On The 2008 NBA Draft This year's draft was decidedly more calm and casual than the Oden/Durant showdown, which made for a more candid and personal experience.
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The Right Pick?
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After taking a look back at the box scores from the first two games, the Pacers are lucky to have escaped New Jersey without facing a 0-2 hole. While neither team has been too impressive, the Pacers have failed to take care of the ball and are shooting just forty-percent in the series.
Indiana, who was without Peja Stojakovic because of a swollen left knee, was saddled with foul trouble in Game 2. This prevented them from becoming the aggressors that they had been in the fourth quarter of their Game 1 victory.
What is most unfortunate for the Pacers is that the Nets didn’t play well in either game, but were still able to grab victory. On Tuesday night the Nets turned the ball over twelve times, to the Pacers thirteen, and their bench only scored nine points to Indiana’s twenty-one.
Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson combined for a 10-for-27 shooting effort, which left Kidd with just six points to go with double-digits in both rebounds and assists. Unfortunately, Indiana had to deal with more than just the Nets.
The Pacers were whistled for twenty-four fouls, while the Nets were called for just nineteen. As Bob Kravitz, of the Indianapolis Star, said in his column Wednesday, “Is O’Neal playing horribly, or are the officials making it look that way by calling him for an offensive foul every time his sneezes?”
Both O’Neal and Rick Carlisle were careful with their words, but they got the point across that they felt the referees’ treatment of O’Neal was unfair. If you’re having trouble buying this because you feel O’Neal, Carlisle, Kravitz, and yours truly are biased maybe you’re right.
But think of it this way – Can you name another star player who gets called for offensive fouls, make the four in one game, while making the same aggressive moves in the paint that he has all throughout his career?
I didn’t think so.
Regardless, the Pacers can only blame themselves for losing. You can’t worry about the officials. They did get away with a call in Game 1, with Nenad Krstic’s jersey-grabbing foul on Anthony Johnson in the final seconds. That foul isn’t called seven out of ten times, and without that call on Sunday the Pacers might be down 0-2.
Then there are the injuries. There’s Peja’s swollen right knee, Jamaal’s right foot, and Stephen’s right pinky finger. Don’t forget Jermaine’s tender groin, Freddie’s thumb, and Austin’s head. The list just goes on…
Nevertheless, the Pacers accomplished what every lower-seed hopes for in the playoffs – a spilt in the first two games on their opponent’s home floor. Now all that the Pacers have to do is defend their home floor against New Jersey, a team that was 20-21 on the road this season.
Easier said then done.
O’Neal told the Indianapolis Star Wednesday, “The fact is the home court is in Indiana now. We would have liked to win. All we have to do is go back and honor our home court and I think we’ll be fine.”
If fine means a pair of victories, that’s fine by me. |
