Jermaine O’Neal will be the starting center for the Pacers this season.  He should have a big season because he’s more athletic than almost every center in the NBA.  O’Neal had a good season last year averaging 20.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.  O’Neal will get the Pacers a great presence in the paint on defense and he’s a great rebounder.  For his career, O’Neal has averaged 13.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.8 blocks per game.  Those numbers are so low because he was a bench player for 4 years in Portland until he came to Indiana.

Jeff Foster will be the back-up.  He was a starter last season and is a tough customer that should excel coming off of the bench because he always plays all out.  Foster has averaged 4.9 points and 6.6 rebounds over his career.

Third-year player David Harrison has played well for the Pacers in his short career.  He has averaged 5.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game in his 2-year NBA career.

Small Forward is going to be a position handled by young players for the Pacers.  Danny Granger will be the starter and he had a very good rookie season last year.  Granger only averaged 22.6 minutes per game last season, but he still averaged 7.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.  Look for him to improve on those numbers with his expanded playing time.

Another second year forward, Rawlee Marshall will be the back-up small forward.  Marshall averaged 3.1 points & 1.4 rebounds in his rookie season and should do o.k. with the added playing time.

Shawnee Williams was the first-round pick for the Pacers this year.  Williams is pretty raw as a player and the Pacers will take it slow with him.

The Pacers won the game last night despite only shooting 39.2% from the floor.  The Pacers did dominate the Magic on the boards 45-34 which helped the cause.  Al Harrington had an outstanding game with 32 points & 8 rebounds.  Danny Granger had another solid game with 18 points & 7 rebounds.  Stephen Jackson scored 10 points & dished out 6 assists.  Jermaine O’Neal only scored 9 points, but grabbed 11 rebounds.

This was a nice win for the Pacers that improves their record to 4-2.

The Pacers fell to 3-2 tonight as they played without Jermaine O’Neal.  That is still no excuse for shooting only 38.6% from the floor and allowing the Wizards to hit 51.8% of their shots.  Al Harrington led the way with 23 points.  Marquis Daniels added 11 points off of the bench.  Danny Granger had a decent game with 10 points & 8 rebounds.  No other Pacers player scored in double figures. 

The Pacers need to give a better effort than this.

The Pacers absolutely dominated the Sixers out-rebounding them 52-32!  Jermaine O’Neal had a good game with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.  Reserve G/F Rawlee Marshall hit all 5 of his shots from the field and all 6 free-throws that he attempted.  Marshall finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds.  Danny Granger scored 14 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.  Al Harrington scored 14 points and snatched 8 rebounds.  Jamaal Tinsley filled up the boxscore with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

Coach Carlisle is doing a good job of limiting the minutes of his stars and utilizing his deep bench.  If Carlisle can keep doing this, the team will be fresh in the playoffs, providing they make it to them.