Jermaine O'Neal ponders future with Pacers.. http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/9/0...6-4829-094.html <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jermaine O'Neal declared his future with the Indiana Pacers uncertain Wednesday in the wake of the news that Isiah Thomas had been fired as head coach. O'Neal, a member of the USA Basketball national team that defeated Mexico 96-69 Wednesday night, said he was stunned and angered by the decision, although he was calm and smiling with reporters after the game. "I'm extremely upset. If it wasn't for Isiah Thomas I wouldn't be here. Isiah has given me the confidence to be not only the player I am today, but the father and the son that I am today. He's sat down and been a father figure for me. I was just sitting there trying to grasp going into the season without him." O'Neal, who signed a seven-year, $126 million contract with the Pacers on July 16, said he would not have re-signed with the Pacers if he had known Thomas would not be his coach next season. He acknowledged that he feels deceived by the Pacers, but stopped short of saying he would demand a trade. Not yet, anyway. "I don't want to get into that now," he said. "I'm here to accomplish one goal and that's to play for USA Basketball. I'll handle everything else next week. "I'm going to go (back to Indianapolis) next week sometime and try to figure where my future is with the team."</div> JO will get over this...as soon as he looks as the contract he has 126 million..OUCH!! And trust me he will feel better playing for a good coach like Rick... Personally I think JO needs to open his eyes here..Thomas stinks as a head coach....this is basketball and a business....and saying he what he has in that article is shocking...Maybe he is just mad...and is saying stuff he doesn't mean..
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting allnet:</div><div class="quote_post">Personally I think JO needs to open his eyes here..Thomas stinks as a head coach....this is basketball and a business....and saying he what he has in that article is shocking...Maybe he is just mad...and is saying stuff he doesn't mean..</div> JO had a close relationship with Ishiah... Its like your best friend being traded to another team... also the Pacers essientally lied to him... they told him he would be playing for Ishiah... there are reasons why people sign places and one of JO's was Ishiah... although I do believe when he cashes his first pay check... he will have less to say Ishiah does not 'stink' as a head coach... its not entirley his fault that a renagade of retards broke down at the end of the season and failed to beat the Celtics... Im glad to see Rick get a job... he was coach of the year last year, was fired for Larry Brown (?)... he deserved a job over half of these guys actually hired...
If I was given a 126 million contract i wouldn't care if my best friend got traded..but it is different situation from coach to a player getting traded..I would move on..and yes Thomas is a terrible coach..he made bad plays late in games and mainly in the playoffs with playing time...He couldn't make his team play as a team..and play to their poteinal
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting allnet:</div><div class="quote_post">If I was given a 126 million contract i wouldn't care if my best friend got traded..but it is different situation from coach to a player getting traded..I would move on..and yes Thomas is a terrible coach..he made bad plays late in games and mainly in the playoffs with playing time...He couldn't make his team play as a team..and play to their poteinal</div> oh your right... those shots he was taking were just horrible...
You just get it,coaches are there to call the plays....to get the right rotation...and motivate their team and make them play to their talents...Thomas didn't do that..
thanks for informing me of a coachs job... I think I know what the job of a coach is... Thomas should have gotten deeper in the playoffs this year... but the previous 2 years he had a young team and they were probably where they needed to be... he wasnt given a chance to prove himself... teams collapse down the stretch... its not the first, it wont be the last... you cant put it all on the coach...
The blame can't be totally on the coach but alot of it was....people have said even in the media how badly he coached in the playoffs....A coach like Rick Carlisle makes them a top 3 seed again IMO..
JO's a grown man. I'm sure he can handle this. I didn't know his contract was gonna be that huge. Jeez.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting slamduncan21:</div><div class="quote_post">JO's a grown man. I'm sure he can handle this.</div> thanks for the obvious... next are you gunna tell us he plays for the pacers?
I'm with purehoops on this one. I'd put the blame on the players for the collapse. Isiah cannot go out there and play for them. And I think JO has every right to be upset. He was promised, as part of the negotiations, that Isiah would remain as coach, and it turned out they lied to him. Plain and simple. I'd be angry with the team as well. It's only natural. And if anyone wants to fight back with how much he's getting paid, his play warranted a big payday. He worked to get to where he is, so he earned the pay.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Big D:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm with purehoops on this one. I'd put the blame on the players for the collapse. Isiah cannot go out there and play for them.</div> That's true, but when you use your last time out in the last few minutes of a game, and you don't put Reggie in the game, that's not putting the players in the best situation to win the game. Frankly, Isiah was not a very good coach.
