The Pacers began last season a reformulation with Jim O?Brien in front of the team and it was concluded with the trade of Jermaine O?Neal to Toronto. We are in front of a team which will begin this season a new cycle. With O?Brien, the Pacers are no longer the defensive team, which was their identity on the past few seasons and I remember that in the 2003-2004 season, the Pacers had just allowed 85.6 ppg during the regular season! This team doesn?t exist anymore and the team is currently using a run and gun style, which O?Brien has implemented last season.

The Pacers were the second team on the East with most points per game last season (104.0 ppg), just behind the Magic, but they were also the worst defense of the Eastern conference, with 105.4 ppg allowed. Jermaine O?Neal was traded to Toronto, in exchange for T.J. Ford and Rasho Nesterovic. T.J. Ford will play for his 3rd team in just 4 seasons, but the system of the Pacers is perfect for him. He is surely one of the quickest guards on the league and he feels at home on a run and gun style. Jamaal Tinsley won?t be part of the team, but on the moment I?m writing this preview, nobody still knows where he is going to play next season and what the Pacers will receive in exchange.

On the four seasons Ford has already played on the NBA, he is yet to play a whole season and his history of injuries is well known. So, the Pacers took a very wise decision of adding the former Blazer Jarrett Jack to their roster, on a trade which also sent Brandon Rush and Josh McRoberts to Indiana and Jarryd Bayless and Ike Diogu to Portland. With Jack on the roster, the Pacers have solved the main problem they had last season.

With O?Neal leaving the team, Danny Granger will be the franchise player of the Pacers and his development has been impressive: from 7.5 ppg on his rookie season to 19.6 ppg last season, while also improving on the other relevant categories: rebounds, assists and steals. The 20 points per game should once again be a reality for him this season and if Granger continues to improve at this rhythm, he will be a contender for a spot on the All Star Game. Brandon Rush will be his backup and he will be very useful to the team. He was a NCAA champion for Kansas last season and he helped the team with 13.3 ppg. His athleticism and defensive ability will make him an interesting player.

Mike Dunleavy is coming from a career season and he has becoming such an offensive weapon that not even the Pacers thought he could be so important to the team. Dunleavy is a perfect player for the run and gun system, due to his great outside shooting ability (42.4% 3pts last season). For the first time, he has all regular season games while being at Indiana and he finished the season, with career records in scoring (19.1 ppg), assists (3.5 apg) and 3pts shots per game (2). With an even better organized system this season, Dunleavy will have the chance to continue what he has began last season.

The frontcourt of the team presents various solutions and some new faces. Troy Murphy is a center which fits very well on the system of the team due to his outside shooting ability, but he will need to be more consistent than he was last season, where he just averaged 28 mpg. Nesterovic will be the starting center of the team and he is coming from a good season with the Raptors and he will need to take this opportunity the better he can. Even though he has just averaged 20.9 min/game, Nesterovic had 7.8 ppg for 55% FG and 4.8 rpg, but Jeff Foster will also fight for the starting center position and even though he doesn?t have the scoring touch that Nesterovic has, Foster is a very strong player on defense, who does the dirty job in the paint very well, something which will be extremely important, in order to stop the centers of their opponents. The major doubt on the frontcourt will be what rookie Roy Hibbert will be capable to do this season. We are talking about a 7′2 center with 275 lbs, who will play for a team which uses run and gun as their style. So, how will he be useful for the team? Last season in Georgetown, Hibbert averaged 13.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 2.2 bpg, but his lack of mobility will make him struggle to get some opportunities on the Pacers this season.

Indiana will try to comeback to the Playoffs this season. The team has a better adapted roster to the run and gun style that O?Brien has implemented, but they will need to have their run and gun game well tuned right at the beginning of the season. The Tinsley story should be solved soon and the Pacers should get at least one new player. Also the schedule will help them, as 7 of their first 10 games this season will be played at home.

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