The Indiana Pacers ended last season with the 9th best record in the Eastern Conference (36-46 record) and they want to make the playoffs this season. Despite the losing record, they were fun to watch, as they were the 5th best offensive team of the league, scoring 105.09 points per game, however we already know that defense dictates the success and they were the 5th worst defensive team last season by allowing 106.20 points per contest. Curiously during the off season, the most heard word in the organization was "defense" and they made some interesting movements, in order to improve their dreadful defense.

They drafted Tyler Hansbrough with their 13th draft pick and although many people can point that Hansbrough isn't good enough for being the 13th selection, the fact is that his work ethic and hustle is what the Packers lacked in the last couple of seasons and Hansbrough will provide such intangibles to the team. He had a great showing at the Summer League, but unfortunately he got injured in the training camp and will miss the opening tip off.

The Pacers have also signed free agent Dahntay Jones for a 4-year contract and Jones showed last season with the Nuggets that he is a starting-quality shooting guard who provides instant defense and aggressiveness. He can also finishing the plays in fast transitions, but the Pacers did a good job in signing him, in order to improve their defense.

Last season, Danny Granger made the leap from a very good player into an elite player. He earned his first all star selection and he was the 5th best scorer of the league, with 25.8 points per game. In his 4 seasons as a pro, his scoring numbers climbed from 7.5, 13.9, 19.6 to 25.8 last season and that was one of the biggest reasons why he was awarded with the Most Improved Player of the Year award last season. For this season, there isn't any real reason to think that Granger won't be able to bring similar numbers. He's only 26 years old, so he is on the very beginning of the prime of his career and the Pacers need desperately that he can improve his playmaker ability. Last season, he ended with 2.7 assists per game and in a perfect world, he should be able to dish 5 assists per game because he will suffer constantly double team coverage from the opponents - that's the price of being an all star player.

The Pacers clearly missed a second option on their offense and that guy was supposed to be Mike Dunleavy. However, he played only 18 games, while battling through a dramatic knee injury. The bad news is that he is still recovering from the injury and it isn't granted that he will be 100% healthy. If somehow Dunleavy stays healthy for this season, then the Pacers will surely battle for the playoffs. With his absence, other players stepped it up and Troy Murphy was one of them. Murphy is coming from a career year last season, in which he averaged 14.3 points per game and grabbed a career-high 11.8 rebounds a game - only Dwight Howard ended with better numbers and he was a legitimate double double guy the whole season. Also Murphy developed into a terrific 3pts shooter and he ended shooting 45% behind the arc, while knocking down 161 three pointers. If Murphy is able to keep it up these numbers, than the Pacers won't mind in paying him his $11M dollar contract.

For the Point Guard duties, the Pacers have T.J. Ford and Earl Watson. T.J didn't have the best of the seasons last year and surprisingly he found himself getting outplayed by Jarrett Jack for much of the season (the fact he started only in 49 games is a clear sign of that). Despite scoring more points per game than in any other season on his career, in 2008-09 his assist numbers were as low as they had never been, with just 5.3 dishes per game. In a team which wants to improve defensively, T.J. Ford won't help them at all, however he can benefit from the fact that Danny Granger would receive an extra guy to defend him.

The Pacers lost Jarrett Jack during the off season and they decided to sign Earl Watson. While playing for the Thunder, Watson was relegated to the bench in the second half of the season in a strict franchise decision, but he is still a guy who can dish 5 or 6 assists per game, while being a serviceable backup point guard.

The future of this franchise belongs to Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert. Rush showed some flashes of an interesting potential, however he struggled to receive worthy minutes and only late in the season head coach Jim O'Brien apparently started to trust him. In April (7 games), he averaged 16.3 points per game, while shooting 52.8 % from the field, so the challenge for him is to be an integral part of the Pacers' rotation.

Meanwhile, Roy Hibbert  will be the starting center of the team in the future. However like Brandon Rush, Hibbert struggled to get his minutes and he can't develop if O'Brien insists in not giving minutes to him. Despite his limited minutes, he managed 7.1 points and 3.5 rebounds, but when you make the right conversion to per 48 minutes, he would bring 23.5 points, 11.6 boards, and 3.6 blocks in 48 minutes per game. Until he isn't ready for the starting job, Jeff Foster will take the nod, and he is a tough player who plays with some heart. These two young players have the talent to be pretty good players, however Jim O'Brien needs to trust them and be patient.

The Pacers have all the tools to be fighting for a postseason spot. If they are really focused in improving defensively, they will have some success, because they have the offensive talent to make some damages. However it's easier to say it than to do it and the Pacers will need to prove that they can do what they are planning to do. The Eastern Conference is staked with teams which can make a run for the playoffs and despite not having a top team pedigree, the Pacers are still one of those teams which will fight for a playoff spot until the very end of the regular season.