(a sorta) League Preview: Indiana Pacers

After a brief survey of the League’s sorriest, our attention is now on teams like Golden State, Minnesota and New York: Almost certain suckers that have just enough talent and potential team cohesion to make run at an 8 seed if EVERYTHING goes right. This group certainly includes the second weakest offering from the East’s Central Division.

Indiana Pacers

PG T.J. Ford Earl Watson Travis Diener

SG Brandon Rush Dahntay Jones

SF Danny Granger Mike Dunleavy

PF Troy Murphy Tyler Hansbrough Josh McRoberts

C Roy Hibbert Jeff Foster

Aside from blue chipper Danny Granger, Indiana clearly is not the most talented team. Troy Murphy’s offensive prowess is undone by his meager defensive presence. Lil Dun is coming back from a difficult surgery. Second year big Hibbert and the rookie Hansbrough will bring a good mix of skill, energy and youth. But for Indiana to play well, both young guys will need to be serious contributors each and every game. Same goes for shooting guard Rush. He will surprise a lot of opponents this season. His challenge will be consistency. TJ has always intrigued me as a floor leader. Unfortunately he is injured with regularity.

Luckily for Indiana, coach Jim O’Brien is known for making something out of nothing. His offense creates open jump shots for everyone on the floor. Granger is a serious player. His package of length, strength, agility and acumen is the stuff of stars. In O’Brien’s system, he has plenty of room to operate. Dunleavy, Murphy and Rush will also have ample opportunities on the perimeter. If Ford can stay healthy and Hibbert and Hanbrough can play, O’Brien could have this crew hummin in the neighborhood of .500. Lots of ifs.

This is an important season for a franchise that has still never quite shaken the bad feelings of the Malice in the Palace. Losing Donnie Walsh did not help much. Their respective win totals for the past three season are 35, 36 and 36. Quality. Indiana’s purge of talented bad apples has been executed horribly. The Pacers have repeatedly lost leverage in the potential dealings of the mal contents, usually because Indy got up on a moral high horse. What’s up, Larry? Drafting Granger was obviously a great move--though he did drop to the Pacers at 17. Yet unless some of GM Bird’s other young players blossom this season, the failure to secure enough talent is his. If the living lephracun Jim O’Brien can enchant his team into the playoffs, Larry lives for another day. If the Pacers stay in the doldrums, he is gonna get McHale’d.