Jalen Rose wants the Pacers to get in a track meet.
“I feel like we’re playing too slow,” said Rose, who delivered 15 of his 18 points in the second half of last night’s 91-89 loss to the Knicks. “The Knicks are getting too many easy baskets. If we get a steal we’ve got to force the tempo.”
Of course, theory is one matter. Executing it is another. And personnel is yet a third.
“We do have some guys that aren’t the fastest guys in the world,” assessed backup point guard Travis Best. “Without Patrick [Ewing], they’re running and getting in transition. We don’t have that same kind of lineup, and it makes it more difficult for us to do that.
“And when they’re coming down and scoring at will, it makes it tough to get in that mode,” Best said. “We’re coming down in halfcourt sets and they’re getting a lot of easy baskets. We’re fighting for everything.”
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Pacers were hammered on the boards yesterday, 41-32.
“Rebounds have always been our weakness,” said the 7-foot-4 Rik Smits, who managed only one. “I know I didn’t do my part. Rebounding has been my weakness for a long time. Today, I wasn’t able to do anything on the boards.”
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An apologetic Pacer assistant coach Rick Carlisle admitted he had his size 15’s in the wrong place at the wrong time. And so his wallet is $10,000 lighter.
Carlisle was fined by the league yesterday for deliberately tripping Latrell Sprewell on Saturday during Game 3, NBA VP Rod Thorn announced.
“I’m sorry it ever happened. It was a reactionary thing,” Carlisle said of the incident, which occurred as Sprewell was out of bounds in front of the Indiana bench with 4:54 left in the third quarter.
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Mark Jackson on the Pacers’ pitiful start: “They knocked down shots. We didn’t respond. Give them credit. They did a great job of moving the ball and making us pay for doubling by making shots.”