<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Go ahead, scratch your head and start second guessing your initial thoughts. You're probably not the only one doing it. Because really, it wasn't supposed to be this difficult. Not against a team that was on a five-game losing streak. Not against a team that was without its starting point guard and high-flying small forward. And not against a team that's just in its second year in the NBA. But again, this is the Indiana Pacers, a team that has many people guessing at their true identity. The Pacers suffered their worst loss of the season when they were embarrassed by the Bobcats 122-90 Wednesday night. "A championship team cannot make excuses for losses," Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal said inside the empty locker room afterward. "A championship team cannot get beat the way we got beat. Hell, we shouldn't even get paid for this game. "I'm not trying to take anything away from the Bobcats, they played a heck of a game, but we feel like we're at another level. We have to play at another level every single night. It feels like we took 10 steps backwards. I felt like we were the expansion team." The Pacers have looked like anything but a championship team. The season is only seven games old for the Pacers, but they've already shown their lack of team chemistry and mental toughness, their inability to play defense and lack of desire to finish off teams when given the opportunity. "When we're playing well, there are very few teams that are as good as us," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "When things don't go well for us, that's when we have to look in the mirror as a group and figure out how to collect ourselves and continue on a path that's the best way for winning. We've got some soul searching to do." The talent is there for the Pacers, but it's times like this when heads are low and body language on the court is poor that somebody takes control as the leader. "This team needs to step up and find some leadership and stop doing these things," Pacers forward Austin Croshere said. "It's not coaching; it's effort and taking responsibility for what's happening on the court."</div> Source
I saw Kareem Rush's stats....insane, but not like he's never done in before. Western conference finals game 7 against the Wolves when he was with the Lakers. I believe he was 6 of 7 from three in that game as well. Ron where you at?
I was loving it when I saw the highlight clips from the match on nba.com. The Bobcats really showed what they could do, especially against a top-tier team like the Pacers. I guess the Pacers were alittle complacent with thier 2 win streak over Miami and let their guard down. They'll bounce back though. I think Ron will have a huge next game to show that the Pacers are not done yet.
we needed this to happen to realise that we arent invinsible if we had gone ahead and won then the pacers would have thought that nothing could come in their way. i rather have them realise their mortality now rather than later when the games decide how high you get placed.and who gets home court advantage.
