A 98-86 win over the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves gave the Indiana Pacers their first pre-season win in four chances. Now, I say lowly regarding Minnesota because they project to be one of the worst teams in the Western Conference. Indiana doesn’t get much more love in the projections, but they do have the potential to be a borderline playoff team in the Eastern Conference.
For a team who hasn’t made the playoffs in four years, the Pacers have an entire new look with the additions of PG Darren Collison, F James Posey and first-round draft pick Paul George. Head Coach Jim O’Brien enters his fourth year at the realm and will look to preach defense and rebounding to a young team with what looks like a bright future in the long-term.
By: Nick Grays
Improvement of Center Roy Hibbert
Through four pre-season games, Hibbert is averaging a surprising 15.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3 blocks. Against Minnesota, he looked great with 16/14/7. With contributions like these, the Pacers can make huge strides in the defense and rebounding department considering how last season, Hibbert grabbed only 5.7 rebounds a game. At 7-2, Hibbert is establishing a reputation as a better-than-average scorer who can draw a lot of fouls in the paint. However, he also commits a lot of fouls. The key will be limiting the fouls, so the Pacers can utilize his vastly improving game.
The Play of Key Reserve AJ Price
Last season, the Pacers’ Achilles heal was the point-guard position. With the addition of Darren Collison, the team has definitely made an improvement at the position. At the same time, Price is lighting it up early in the pre-season. Before the game with Minnesota where he scored two points in 17 minutes, he had accumulated 41 points on 21 shots in 46 pre-season minutes. That’s a good sign because Price is emerging as what we call a combo-guard and will most certainly benefit from filling in for Collison or playing by the side of the starting point guard.
Lack of Team Defense
All of the headlines cannot be positive, we’re still talking about a Pacers team who emphasized improving defense in 2009 to only improve from 19th to 15th in the league in defensive efficiency. Despite holding the Timberwolves to just 34 points (12-of-43) in the second half, O’Brien still feels his team is light years away from being a solid defensive squad.
“We are so far away from being a halfway decent defensive team,” said O’Brien. “We’re setting ourselves up for disappointment if we don’t defend at a better level than we did tonight.”
Defense will be a huge factor in the Pacers success because they probably won’t outscore everyone (26th in offensive efficiency last season). Luckily, the Pacers know their weaknesses and have some time to work on them. It will be crucial the Pacers jump all over the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks early in the Central before the teams gain momentum.
Do the Pacers have any chance at making the playoffs this year? Any additional thoughts or feelings on the Indiana Pacers, please comment below!
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