<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Not only did Austin Croshere return to game action after a six-week absence Wednesday, he was thrust into the starting lineup. Too soon, it turned out, for someone who hadn't yet participated in a full practice. Croshere, who had suffered two concussions in a short stretch of games in January, played the first five minutes of the Indiana Pacers' 101-99 loss to Denver at Conseco Fieldhouse, then sat the rest of the game. He missed a layup in his only field goal attempt and added a rebound and two assists. "The conditioning wasn't bad, but not having the ability to have any practice time, my timing was a little off," he said. "I felt a little out of it, but it was good to be out there. "Not playing five-on-five basketball for six weeks, I messed up some things in our team defensive principles." Coach Rick Carlisle started Croshere because starting center Scot Pollard had to sit out the game with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Carlisle's reasoning was to keep Danny Granger and David Harrison together in the second unit because they had been effective in that role. "It was a mistake probably to put him out there," Carlisle said of Croshere. "I thought we could buy some minutes with him because we didn't have Pollard tonight, but it was just too tough for him. That's on me. If we could buy 10 or 12 minutes over the course of 48 with him starting, we thought it would be a plus. It's too bad that didn't go better." Pollard's latest bout with plantar fasciitis could sideline him for the immediate future. He missed Sunday's game at Toronto because of foot and back injuries. His back is better, but his foot might continue to cause problems. "Another day's rest and hopefully he'll be OK, or this could be something we have to wait on awhile," Carlisle said.</div> Source
