Preseason Preview

The thought was that the Pacers would be in the playoff hunt while at the same time determining which pieces of the team they want to keep around Danny Granger. Thus far Indiana has been disappointing by those standards as they are only 14-26, although that puts them only 4.5 games out of the playoffs at the moment.

Ready to Breakout vs. Reality: Roy Hibbert has started the majority of this season’s games at center for the Pacers. He has been solid and shown flashes of potential with six double-doubles, but five of those came in the first nine games of the season. Although, he did have his best game of his career on Friday as he scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against the Hornets. He’s getting 23 minutes a game and appears to be settling in as a serviceable NBA center. If his playing time stays consistent, his number should continue to improve.

Over the Hill vs. Reality: Jeff “Bananas” Foster has only seen the court in 16 games this season due to a sprained ankle and back problems. It’s unlikely Foster will see much time when healthy with the Pacers often going small and Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough, and Troy Murphy all in front of Foster on the depth chart at this point.

Worst Moment: Danny Granger had been playing with pain in his foot when he suffered a torn plantar fascia on December 5 against the Clippers. While Granger was out the Pacers lost eight straight from December 18 thru December 30. The Pacers also lost nine of ten from beginning in mid-November.

Best Moment: From November 4 thru November 17, the Pacers won five straight, including a victory over the Celtics.

Best Case Scenario: It’s a longshot, but if the Pacers get healthy they can possibly sneak into the playoffs. Just as important is continuing to groom Granger into a star while developing their young players.

Worst Case Scenario: The Pacers finish ninth or tenth in the East. They don’t get a great draft pick and go into 2010 with an almost identical roster.

NBA Midseason Reports