With the recent harsh suspensions against guard Ron Artest and coach Isiah Thomas, the Pacers cannot help but feel that their punishments are stemming from something of a personal nature.  Thomas believes that the organization should defend itself, but that decision will ultimately belong to team president Donnie Walsh.

According to Mark Montieth of the Indianapolis Star Walsh said he will meet with co-owners Herb and Mel Simon today to discuss the issues.

"I want to sit down with Herb and Mel and see where they want to go with it," Walsh said. "This is really unusual."

The Pacers as a group were stunned by the severity of the penalties, and Thomas believes they are the continuation of a pattern of league rulings that have gone against his team.

He cited the one-game suspensions handed to Reggie Miller last season for fighting with Philadelphia's Derrick Coleman and the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant and to Jermaine O'Neal for an incident with Detroit's Corliss Williamson.

"I think in all of these incidents, we didn't provoke any of them," Thomas said. "We defended ourselves when someone was attacking us.

"Whenever the league has had a chance to give punishment, it's been very harsh when it comes to the Indiana Pacers."

"I don't know (why)," Thomas said.

"There's a healthy respect between the officials and Pacers," added Thomas.  "But there's a disconnect with the league office. When it comes to the review process, it's been grossly unfair."