FIO Preview: Indiana Pacers

2008-2009 Indiana Pacers season preview and fantasy impact, courtesy of Fantasy Insider Online. Read the team preview here in the Yard, and then visit the FIO link for the rest. - Zach Harper Last Season Recap: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly For years, the Indiana Pacers were one of the most resilient teams in the NBA. Head coach Rick Carlisle helped this team persevere through Jermaine O'Neal injuries, Jamaal Tinsley off-court problems, Hurricane Artest, and any other altercation/debilitating injury that plagued the Pacers. When the magic ran out last season, the Pacers replaced Carlisle's slow, excruciating style with Jim O'Brien's up-tempo, watch-able style of play and injected some life into this Pacers franchise. And it seemed to work just about the entire season. The Pacers did their best Phoenix Suns impression in the Eastern Conference and played run-n-chuck basketball. Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy had career years and nearly combined for 40 points per game. In one year, the Pacers went from 24th in the NBA in scoring to 7th in points per game. Indiana ended up missing out on the playoffs by one game and finished with a 36-46 record (which was one more win from the previous season). Indiana Pacers basketball was finally fun for fans again and infused some joy into Conseco Fieldhouse. The Pacers scored 104 points per game and were led by two young players who adapted perfectly to life in the fast lane. Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy had breakthrough performances last season and showed that they belong in up-tempo basketball. Granger averaged 19.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. He also hit 171 three-pointers and shot 44.6% from the field. Dunleavy complemented that by averaging 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and making 165 three-pointers. The Pacers finished third in the league in three-pointers made. Indiana dealt with significant injuries to Jermaine O'Neal, with Troy Murphy and Jeff Foster providing a presence on the boards. They combined to average 15.9 rebounds per game. The problems that the Pacers had seemed to all be off-the-court issues. Jermaine O'Neal simply couldn't get healthy and took a long time to trust his knee in order to test it on the court. O'Neal missed 40 games and underperformed on the court when he did play, averaging just 13.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. The Pacers also had to deal with Jamaal Tinsley and his own personal life version of Grand Theft Auto. Tinsley distracted the team for the umpteenth time off the court by encountering gunshots and car chases while out one night. The Pacers also had to deal with Shawn Williams being arrested before the season and having issues adapting to the team's rules throughout the year. Take those situations and couple them with the fact that the Pacers couldn't defend at all (105.4 points per game for opponents) and couldn't consistently win at home (21-20), and it's easy to see why the team wasn't able to make the playoffs for the 10th time in 11 years. 2008 Draft Impact (Average) The Indiana Pacers were able to acquire a second first-round pick during the draft and ended up with two of the Top 17 picks. In a deal with Portland, they exchanged their 11th pick for the 13th pick and selected Brandon Rush from Kansas. Rush was a dynamic college player who was able to score in just about every situation and be a good defender in all defensive schemes. Rush will not be an immediate impact player for the Pacers, but he could be within a couple of months. He's a good outside shooter with the ability to spot up or create his own shot. He won't start over Mike Dunleavy anytime soon and might not even get minutes over Marquis Daniels as the reserve shooting guard. But by season's end, Rush could very well be the first shooting guard off the bench. With the 17th pick in the draft (acquired from Toronto), the Pacers took Roy Hibbert from Georgetown. Going into the 2007 draft, Hibbert was looked upon as a good big man prospect with lots of ability and an inside track to the lottery. After going back to Georgetown for his senior season, the perception of Hibbert changed. He is a very slow big man who doesn't have good lateral quickness on either the offensive or defensive sides of the court. He isn't a very reliable rebounder and is slow to block shots from the weak side. However, he is a decent scorer who has a great feel for the post and can pass well to cutters and wide-open shooters. Hibbert isn't going to be an All-Star in this league, but he could eventually be a very serviceable center in the mold of a Rasho Nesterovic. Unless there are injuries, Hibbert will probably see very few minutes this season. Off-Season Impact Moves The only significant moves of the offseason for the Pacers were the two trades they pulled off on draft night. In the first trade, the Pacers dealt Ike Diogu and the 11th pick (Jerryd Bayless) to the Portland Trailblazers for Jarrett Jack, Josh McRoberts, and the 13th pick (Brandon Rush). At the time, the trade addressed a point guard need with Larry Bird focused on moving the team away from the Jamaal Tinsley era. Rush and Jack were good acquisitions for the Pacers because it added depth to an underperforming backcourt. Both will be significant upgrades to Marquis Daniels and Travis Diener as the backup guards. Jack would normally be brought into the starting point guard position, but Indiana acquired one with their next trade. The second big trade for the Pacers that manifested on draft night was Indiana's dealing Jermaine O'Neal and the 41st pick (Nathan Jawai) to the Toronto Raptors for T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Maceo Baston, and the 17th pick (Roy Hibbert). This was a significant move because it moved the Pacers completely in the opposite direction of the old half-court system of the past and made a full-fledged jump to the fast-paced offense. Indiana acquired the perfect point guard to help them transition into an even faster team. T.J. Ford is arguably the quickest player in the NBA and if healthy can really push, this offense to the limits. With Nesterovic, they will have a decent starting center during his contract year. Preview for the 2008-2009 Season Team MVP: Danny Granger, SF - Even with a healthy Jermaine O'Neal on the team, Danny Granger would have been the best player on the Pacers last year. Going into this season, he is the clear-cut go-to guy who will lead this team to any success it can earn. Last year, he hit over 170 threes and was just 33 points away from averaging 20 points per game. He also accumulated 95 steals and 84 blocks. This year, he should be able to improve upon that and get up to 100 steals and 100 blocks. Danny Granger has the chance to be an All-Star this season and will need to play like one if he's going to lead this Pacers team to the playoffs. Breakout Player: Jarrett Jack, PG - Over the past four seasons, T.J. Ford has missed 27, 10, 7, and 31 games respectively and only played more than 30 minutes per game once. With this trend, Jarrett Jack may get a chance to truly shine as a point guard this season. If Ford cannot stay healthy, then Jarrett Jack gets the starter's minutes and should be able to run this team at a high level. In the only season in which Jack played more than 30 minutes per game, he averaged 12 points and 5.3 assists per game. If you factor in the high-speed connection of the Pacers' offense under Jim O'Brien, Jarrett may be able to get those numbers up to 15 points and 7.5 assists per game. Bust Player: Jamaal Tinsley, PG - For everyone who owns a Tinsley jersey, it's time to throw it in the closet and pray that it's considered a throwback someday. Larry Bird has been very upfront with the media this offseason about his disappointment in Shawne Williams and his determination to trade Jamaal Tinsley. Tinsley has been asked to go home, and his things have been shipped from his Indiana locker to his house. Tinsley won't be easy to trade with three years and $21 million left on his contract, so he could be on the shelf for months. And if he doesn't keep in shape during that time, he'll take a month to get ready when he finally does get dealt. Playoff Contender or Pretender? I really want to believe that this team can contend for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but when Rasho Nesterovic, Troy Murphy, and Jeff Foster are your best low post scorers, then you're nothing but a pretender. The Pacers are going to have to be on every night and play small ball because they cannot match up against bigger teams and won't be able to rely on defense when their offense isn't clicking. Jim O'Brien has implemented a very nice system for fans to watch and for players to participate in, but they simply don't have enough talent at key positions to win at least half of their games. The acquisitions of Jarrett Jack, T.J. Ford, and Brandon Rush will reap benefits eventually, but probably not anytime soon. The Pacers needed to add a low post scorer with Jermaine O'Neal traded away, and Roy Hibbert and Josh McRoberts hardly count as a completed task with respect to doing just that. What the Pacers can do this year, though, is continue to lay the groundwork for the team to turn into the Suns/Warriors mindframe of the East. T.J. Ford, Mike Dunleavy, and Danny Granger are as good a starting perimeter for fast-paced teams in this league as you can find. Jarrett Jack and Brandon Rush coming off the bench to spell them isn't a bad way to back that trio up, either. The Pacers aren't going to surprise anybody this season like they did last year, but they also won't be a team to overlook on the schedule. Teams will come in knowing that they have to run and play hard to beat Indiana. The Pacers are pretenders this year, but at the rate they are changing this team, it shouldn't be long before they're back in the thick of the playoffs.