<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Ron Artest isn't here, and won't be a part of the Indiana Pacers' postseason journey, no matter how far it goes. But he's still in their thoughts. "I left a message for him (Sunday)," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said before Game 1 of the Pacers-Detroit Pistons series at the Palace of Auburn Hills. "I've kept in contact with him consistently, even when we haven't been around him in person. He's still very much in our thoughts, still a part of our team. "Our entire team has great compassion for Ron and what he's had to go through, and great admiration for how he's handled things. He's done everything he can do to keep himself in great basketball shape, to improve himself as a player and as a person and still be a part of what we're doing." Here at the Palace, Artest's season ended. The other combatants in the terrible Nov. 19 brawl were allowed to return, but Artest got the toughest penalty ever levied by the NBA. He has practiced with the team much of season and traveled with it a few times, but he's not here. And the Pacers know how much it's killing him to watch this unfold on television.</div> Source
