If you're like me -- please, God, no! -- you've spent the past month immersed in the world of two-deep zones, swim moves, chop blocks and Tupe Peko. So you may have missed the following news regarding the Indianapolis sports scene:
The Pacers, our NBA franchise, are really good.
Not really good.
Really, really good, clearly the best team in the Eastern Conference and, if head-to-head play means anything, maybe (gasp) the best team in the NBA.
The Colts, bless them, hogged all the spotlight in recent months, obscuring a number of developments that suggest last year's second-half collapse will not -- will not -- be repeated:
• Ron Artest.
At the tail end of last season, he gave his word he would straighten out his act, and for the most part, he has been true to his word.
There were two questionable moments -- one in preseason, another earlier in the regular season -- but coach Rick Carlisle handled them decisively, and Artest seemed to get the message without too much provocation.
Nothing is guaranteed in Artest's world, and there's always the fear he will explode when frustration sets in. But we're halfway through the season, and he has no flagrant fouls, no suspensions, nothing. He's played like an All-Star, and he's acted like one.
• Jamaal Tinsley.
Is he absolutely, positively the point guard of the future? That's a leap of faith some of us aren't ready to make just yet, even as Tinsley has helped lead this run of 12 victories in 13 games.
But he deserves all the credit for keeping himself in physical and psychological shape, even at a time when he was glued to the bench.
"Everything happens for a reason," Tinsley said Thursday. "I guess that (opening the season on the bench) was the best thing for me."
• Reggie Miller.
OK, I'll admit it: When Miller spent the first two months of the season hidden away from the offense, I couldn't help but wonder if his age, 38, was starting to show.
In this latest stretch of games, though, Miller looks like a man with plenty of game left in that spindly body. He's looking for his shots, and he's making his shots.
"He's the Jerry Rice of the NBA," Carlisle said.
• Jermaine O'Neal.
Let's put it this way: If O'Neal really wants out of Indy and desperately wants to move in with Isiah Thomas -- and there's still that sense nationally -- he's chosen a strange way of showing his dismay with his current situation. Because all he's done is what he said he wanted to do: Carry the Pacers to a championship the way Tim Duncan carried the Spurs to two titles.
Which really shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody.
The big issue now, of course, is whether the Pacers will maintain this level of play, or suffer the kind of collapse that doomed last season.
Well, it's a big issue outside the organization. Inside the locker room, it's never mentioned.
But things are very different this time.
First, it's hard to imagine one team can get rocked again by so many off-the-court family issues. Those problems didn't cause the team's second-half demise, but they were an undeniable factor. Players not only got down, but as O'Neal hinted Thursday, they also took issue with the inconsistent way those off-the-court matters were handled.
"For whatever reason, last year, we stopped almost liking each other," O'Neal said.
Then there's Carlisle, who is getting more out of less than Isiah Thomas ever did. Maybe Carlisle's lack of communication skills was overstated in Detroit, or maybe he's just improved in that area since returning to Indy. Whatever the case, this group has gotten the message.
The biggest reason it won't happen again, though, is this: It happened before.
"I don't think anybody who wears this uniform wants to go through what we went through last year," O'Neal said. "Because we're cheating ourselves, cheating the city, cheating the organization. Why not keep playing this way? Why not get past the first round? Why not get to the championship?"
The Colts might be done. But suddenly, there's this feeling around here there could be another championship run right around the corner.
www.indystar.com
