At the beginning of the season, Jalen Rose took a black marking pen to his locker. With carefully printed letters he wrote words such as "Soldier" and "Hunted," as well as a phrase that summarizes his roots in the streets of Detroit: "The Rose that grew from concrete."  The Indiana Star reports today on the most difficult time in Rose's career when trade rumors and diminished production are making him search hard for the self-motivation he finds in those phrases.

Although the trade deadline (Feb. 21) is more than a month away, the involved parties flatly state that they don't want a deal. "Jalen is not on the trading block," Pacers president Donnie Walsh said. "He never has been. That's as simple as I can say it."

"It's not something I want at all," Rose says. "I've put a lot of time and energy into establishing myself in Indiana. I've been through ups and downs. For the most part I'm happy here, and I want to see not only some championship banners hanging in the rafters, but my number hanging in the rafters."