Pacers hold locker room meeting after loss to Rockets
By Mike Dyce
The Indiana Pacers were supposed to be the threat to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference. They’ve lost the last three games and were crushed by the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night and again on Friday by the Houston Rockets.
That prompted the players to hold a locker room come-to-terms meeting.
From Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com:
"It started with Paul George and David West, two of the Indiana Pacers’ veteran leaders, crowding inside the small visiting coach’s locker room.With their ankles still taped and their uniforms still on, there was an impromptu meeting taking place with hushed tones and grim faces. Sitting with his shoulder in ice at his locker, George Hill noticed and went over and slipped into the room. Then Roy Hibbert got up from his seat and stuck his head in.Ten minutes passed, then 15. The team with the NBA’s best record is in its first legitimate funk of the year and it’s shaking the players up."
Head coach Frank Vogel offered one explanation, teams aren’t taking the Pacers lightly anymore.
“Every team we play is playing above themselves,” Vogel said. “Our guys can talk about being the hunted but it’s a different thing to feel it. These teams are coming at us with great force and we’re going to have to rise to the challenge.”
The Pacers have time to right the ship before the playoffs however. Still, two blow out losses in a row is cause for concern.