There are few things more exciting than a disgruntled superstar disgruntling all over his struggling team.
We missed one of the great stories of this nature (Allen Iverson) due to our December sabbatical, so seeing Jermaine O’Neal begin his campaign to get moved away from the Indiana Pacers has us fairly glee-filled.
He’s not out-and-out demanding a trade yet, but that’s not how a good citizen like Jermaine does these thing, you see. You start small…you build doubt within the organization by talking about taking a look at the situation after the season, which in turn causes more losing.
Then your uncertainty can just roll into an earlier (than this summer) request to be moved.
“If I can’t take this team to another level, I truthfully believe we should go our separate ways at the end of the season,” said O’Neal, who added his first choice is to remain with the Pacers. “I’m saying in general, the bottom line is you play to win. If we don’t have a system set to win a championship, if we don’t have the crew to win a championship, then what are we doing?
“I’m getting to the point, I’m in my 11th year, I don’t want to play 82 games and then exit to watch somebody else pop champagne…
Easy solution there – just become a fan of another team. Play for Indy – root openly for Detroit. It can only help you get moved sooner, pal.
Really, though – if Jermaine O’Neal goes on the block, is there any team in the NBA who’s not trying to get some of that?
Maybe San Antonio. Possibly Orlando, but our guess is Darko would be on the table in an instant in a case like this.
Personally, if we’re Indy, we’re very quietly shopping him around to Boston, although the longer Danny Ainge plays “watch our young talent grow”, the more that game converts into “look at our average, still semi-young vets”.
Sorry to take a pot-shot at the Celtics out of nowhere, but it’s Sunday and we’re semi-giddy over this whole situation. Plus, the Cavaliers are winning and becoming semi-watchable again.
If you think that means we’re all “Cavs are gonna be the #1 seed – no doubt” again, you’re wrong. Last night we uttered the statement, “Well, at least they can lose all seven games of this Western swing and still be over .500.”
NOTE: Indy’s win over NO/OKC last night isn’t really a story – Jermaine says until they win at least 3 in a row, nothing counts.
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Bring JO to the Bulls baby!
The Bulls have ’supposedly’ been trying to get JO for like 5 seasons now. I’ve read so much about them being interested in him that when I moved to Southern Indiana I started to watch Pacers games solely to see how he would fit in with the Bulls. My rundown is on top 5 centers article. Nevertheless, if you look at what the Pacers have done historically…IF they trade JO, it will be to a place that can’t possibly hurt them. So, any team in the East is probably out of the question. Maybe Portland for Magloire (does he have an expiring contract?)/Pryzbilla/LaFrenchie, a couple of their younger players and a draft pick?
I dunno, man- the Loog is coaching. When no one was listening he did what my teenage sister-in-law does to get attention and cut a wrist. He went the extra mile and broke something too, that clip board won’t be giving us any trouble no more. Cavs have been playing some monster D ever since.
So the next time someone says Mike Brown coaches like a teenage girl you proudly say, “Damn straight!” or something else that means the same thing, like “Fukkin’ A!” or “CHOO-CHOO!”
Breakaway clipboards to the fans – it’s the new Tomahawk Chop. Since submitted to Mr. Gilbert.
The Pacers have a favorable schedule on the horizon, if they’re ever going to bump up their level of play it is now. If not, blow the thing up. JO will never fetch more than he will right now.
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