Indiana Pacers – Page 3 – Sportscolumn Blog

Odds and Ends: more on the Stephen Jackson shooting

Stephen Jackson will get off relatively scott free for his strip club shooting incident because his actions “appear to be on safe legal ground” but today it was announced that he will get another year of probation on the charges he faced for the brawl in Detroit. However, the extra year of probation has nothing to do with the shooting as no charges were filed in the incident. Meanwhile, an Indianapolis man was arrested in connection with the incident and Reggie Miller is ripping Pacers players for standing by Jackson.

You shouldn’t stand behind a player that is someone slapping you guys in the face during the middle of training camp being out at a strip club at 3 o’clock in the morning shooting it up like it’s the Wild, Wild West.

In other news…

[SFGate.com]: Art Shell says Walter will remain the starter until Aaron Brooks comes back

[Baltimore Sun]: Ravens team plane makes emergency landing. Ivy in stable condition with kidney tear

[Craig Sager’s Suit]: This explains Sager’s taste in clothes

[The Offside]: Materazzi writing a joke book on Zidane headbutt

[There’s Your Karma, Ripe as Peaches]: The Missing Link Retains WBA Heavyweight Title

Bulls and Pacers, you’re next up on the tee

Man amongst boys

Well, the 6 and 7 seeds are out of the Easter Conference playoffs as both the Bulls and Pacers headed off to summer vacation.

First, the Bulls. Despite a couple of nice efforts at home in games 3 and 4, they showed their inexperience and disparity in talent level by getting blown out in the final two games. In a home elimination game, with Dwyane Wade hurting, the Bulls were never even able to make a game of it, getting down by 10 after the first period. Tyson Chandler and Michael Sweetney were completely dominated by Shaq. Talk about a man amongst boys. Despite a first round exit, the Bulls have much to look forward to as they get at least a top 5 pick in the lottery this year thanks to Isiah Thomas’s ten-cent head.

Next up, the Pacers. When Anthony Johnson scores 40 points, you’re in trouble. After stealing game 1 of this series, the Pacers were unable to do anything with the home court advantage because Peja couldn’t play with his knee injury. Would Artest have made a difference in this series? Absolutely. There was a shot of Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh in the stands wondering what the hell they were going to do to improve the team. How do you build around Jermaine O’Neal? Do you keep Peja? Somehow this team went from perennial contenders to an easy out in the playoffs in 2 years. How the hell did this happen? Oh right, the Malice in the Palace.

Links:

[Frank the Tank’s Slant]: Bulls Can’t Take the Heat but Summertime Should be Fun
[Kolsky’s Bulls Blog]: No More Mr. Nice Shaq: Daddy is Back
[20 second timeout]: Anthony Johnson Scores 40, but the Nets Eliminate the Pacers
[Big Willie Style]: Pacers Post-Season Wrap-Up