Pacers win
- Thread starter xelxock
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I wouldn't say that Ron's reception at Conseco Fieldhouse was undeserved. After being suspended last year for 73 games, the fans in Indy welcomed him back with open arms. How did Ron repay that? He asked for a trade! Did you expect them to cheer and applaud his return?
As for torture, being booed comes with the territory. Players have to endure unruly fans on the road all the time. Maybe the best thing I heard a player say about this came from Gilbert Arenas on the Jim Rome Show a few weeks back. Rome asked Arenas what it was like when fans on the road talked smack and Arenas answered, "When a fan yells 'you suck!' I turn to him, say 'thank you' and take a bow." Its all how a player responds.
Personally, I thought this was the first true test to see where Ron's head really was. I thought he played pretty well. I mean, it wasn't him missing point blank shots under the basket- that was bonzi, shareef, and thomas. Besides all that though, I thought the way Ron went to his former teammates and slapped hands and how he hugged coaches showed that hes pretty tough. I mean, if he was devistated about not winning, he could have thrown a tantrum, flipped off the crowd, or whatever. He didn't- he congratulated the pacers and left the court w/out incident.
As for torture, being booed comes with the territory. Players have to endure unruly fans on the road all the time. Maybe the best thing I heard a player say about this came from Gilbert Arenas on the Jim Rome Show a few weeks back. Rome asked Arenas what it was like when fans on the road talked smack and Arenas answered, "When a fan yells 'you suck!' I turn to him, say 'thank you' and take a bow." Its all how a player responds.
Personally, I thought this was the first true test to see where Ron's head really was. I thought he played pretty well. I mean, it wasn't him missing point blank shots under the basket- that was bonzi, shareef, and thomas. Besides all that though, I thought the way Ron went to his former teammates and slapped hands and how he hugged coaches showed that hes pretty tough. I mean, if he was devistated about not winning, he could have thrown a tantrum, flipped off the crowd, or whatever. He didn't- he congratulated the pacers and left the court w/out incident.
I don't think the team is that depending on Ron (as far as his performance night in and night out) at all. What I mean to say by that, is, he's had some pretty horrendous shooting performances and games where he's just looked like he didn't feel so hot and the Kings still came out on top. I think it's more telling of how they are dependent on putting the ball in the hole and getting stops... which is the game of basketball.
Some times, as a player, you just have a bad game. Some times, as a team, you just have a bad game. After the first quarter, the Kings did that... yet still managed to stay in the game until the end, which is still encouraging. Look at the Pistons... they lost to the Knicks last night... that stuff happens sometimes. As long as they come out on Sunday and have a better game, there is nothing to worry about.
As far as the Pacers fans, I wouldn't really expect anything different. Yeah, it's hard sometimes, especially with a guy like Ron, who seems to be emotional about that stuff. But you just have to focus on the game and play. You can't worry about all that other stuff. Unfortunately, his emotions may have got the best of him, kind of like they did against Kobe the first time in LA. I haven't met a Pacers fan I disliked, which is a lot more than I can say about Lakers fans!
Some times, as a player, you just have a bad game. Some times, as a team, you just have a bad game. After the first quarter, the Kings did that... yet still managed to stay in the game until the end, which is still encouraging. Look at the Pistons... they lost to the Knicks last night... that stuff happens sometimes. As long as they come out on Sunday and have a better game, there is nothing to worry about.
As far as the Pacers fans, I wouldn't really expect anything different. Yeah, it's hard sometimes, especially with a guy like Ron, who seems to be emotional about that stuff. But you just have to focus on the game and play. You can't worry about all that other stuff. Unfortunately, his emotions may have got the best of him, kind of like they did against Kobe the first time in LA. I haven't met a Pacers fan I disliked, which is a lot more than I can say about Lakers fans!
So? It's just one game, the team has to come back and beat Minnesota now. I know some pacer fans are happy, some of them are bragging(I got to listen to jermaniac talk about how "the queens don't want it with the pacers" on real gm) but they don't get any extra points for this or anything. It's still just one w even though it might be a moral victory for them. Hopefuly Ron and the rest of the team can use this as a motivating game for the games @MN, @LAL, etc.
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