The Pacers have nothing but love for their coach Rick Carlisle and are dumbfounded to the reasons why he was fired from Detroit. Apparently he was arrogant, didn't talk to secretaries, or any of the players, but it doesn't seem to be the case in Indiana.

Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal said Friday: "It's funny, because I (saw) some of the quotes from some of the Detroit players talking about the difference between Larry Brown and Rick Carlisle, and they were saying he didn't talk to the players, and he's been totally opposite to us. I can't really vouch to what went on in Detroit; I can only vouch to what goes on in Indiana, and he is a great coach.

"When you hear so many things, you wonder why he was fired, winning 50 games two years. You wonder, what's the personality? But . . . he's made this team -- he's really picked up where Isiah (Thomas) left off. He's put the finishing touches on this team, and I'm very excited for him. I think he should have won coach of the year. People don't know how extremely tough this team is to coach because of the different personalities."

Al Harrington, who has a few friends among the Pistons, said: "All those guys loved him, to be honest. Not one guy had a bad thing to say. They loved that Rick gave them a lot of rest -- something they did not get with Larry Brown."