<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> <div class="bi">Rush Still Irked</div> <div> <span style="font-style: italic">Nov 9</span> - Kareem Rush, now an Indiana Pacer, faces his old team tonight for the first time since being cut. He's still peeved about how Bernie Bickerstaff, then coach-general manager, explained the decision to cut a player so close to the end of the season.</p> </p> At the time, Bickerstaff issued a statement saying, "The Bobcats are about two things -- hard work and maximum effort. With that in mind, we think that it is best to go in a different direction with Kareem."</p> </p> Rush believes those comments hurt his chances of catching on elsewhere in the NBA.</p> </p> "I think he could have handled it a little bit differently," Rush told the Indianapolis Star. "I've got a family to feed. I had no contract. I was looking for a job. Not to say he did it on purpose, but he scared some teams off with what he said. I didn't think any of it was true." -- <font color="#000000">Charlotte Observer</font></p> </p> [*]Rush, who signed a one-year deal with the Pacers over the summer, didn't circle tonight's game on the schedule, but he became aware of it as the days got closer. [*] [*]"I don't try to think about it much," he said. "Of course I'm going to have some ill feelings about what happened down there, but I'm not going to hold any grudges. I'm here, I'm back in the league and that's all I really care about." -- <font color="#000000">Indianapolis Star</font> [*]</div> </div>
