Pacers Should Blame Themselves

Jermaine O’Neal feels disrespected by the referees? Perhaps that is because the referees and the NBA have been disrespected by the Indiana Pacers.

Since Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson jumped into the stands at the Palace of Auburn Hills on November 19, 2004, the Pacers have given the NBA black eye after black eye.

It started when Artest demanded a trade from the very team that stood by him and supported him after his 72-game suspension from his participation in the Palace brawl.

After the Pacers washed their hands of Artest by trading him to Sacramento, the Pacers were dedicated to a clean image that would make the city of Indianapolis proud.

Their cleaner image lasted until October 9 when Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley, Marquis Daniels and Jimmie Hunter were involved in an altercation outside an Indy west-side strip club in which Jackson fired five bullets into the air after he was hit by a moving car.

So much for a new, clean image.

After trading away Jackson to Golden State, Tinsley, Daniels and new Pacer Keith McLeod have found themselves under investigation yet again after Tinsley allegedly punched a bar manager and threatened his life.

Even though this latest incident has not been fully investigated, recent behavior would lead everybody to believe the Pacers were at fault.

Black eye after the black eye, and now the Pacers feel they have been disrespected?

The Pacers need to respect the league before they demand respect of their own.

This new lack of respect the Pacers have demonstrated needs to be blamed on the organization’s management and their lack of discipline, as well as bringing in players with questionable moral issues.

Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird are probably kicking themselves on a daily basis because of their poor management decisions. Trading away locker room leader in Austin Croshere and replacing him with Daniels – who looks like he is the star of Cops – is not a good way to win a championship or maintain the squeaky-clean image the Pacers created during their glory days of Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson and Rik Smits.

If the Pacers were performing on the court, perhaps there would not be a magnifying glass on every newsworthy story. But, the Pacers are just two games above .500 and have lost three consecutive games to sub-.500 teams.

If the Pacers want to win back the fans, they need win on the court first and re-earn the respect of the league before they demand respect from the referees.

The Pacers organization needs to make a blueprint of the Colts.

Class wins championships. Thugs win jail time.