So the Pacers won their debut under new coach Jim O’Brien last night, even with O’Neal and Troy Murphy. But my favorite part of the article on the win? This … unfortunate quote by O’Brien:

“That’s all I’ve ever seen from this team is that they fight,” O’Brien said. “That’s what I think everybody is going to come to expect out of these guys.

Ahhhh The Brawl, The Malice At The Palice… the gift that keeps on giving.

It’s nice to see them win the opener despite injuries, but color me unimpressed until I see more effort consistently. I’ve heard the “we have a new attitude”, “we’re going to play up tempo”, etc etc too much the last few years to believe it before I see it consistently.

And let’s see how O’Neal does when he gets back. The last few years it’s actually seemed the Pacers play better when he is out.