Starting power forward David West is playing solid basketball for the Pacers so far this year. He has played in 19 games (all starts) for the Pacers so far this year and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 11.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. The Pacers are watching his minutes as he is coming off knee surgery last year, but it hasn’t been a problem as Tyler Hansbrough is playing decent basketball off the bench. With West and Roy Hibbert playing near the basket the Pacers have a frontcourt advantage on most nights.

The Pacers need to play 25-year old center Roy Hibbert 30+ minutes per game this year and see what he can really do. Hibbert has played in 7 games (all starts) so far this year for the Pacers and he is averaging 29.4 minutes, 12.9 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. Hibbert could develop into one of the best centers in the NBA if the Pacers take off the training wheels and just let the man play.

21-year old starting shooting guard Paul George is off to a really solid start for the Pacers so far this year. George has played in both of the Pacers games so far this year and he is averaging 34.5 minutes, 15.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. George has also been solid from long range so far this year as he has already hit 6 of 10 (60%) shots from three point range. The Pacers are the team lying in the weeds in the Eastern Conference and George is a big reason for that as he has a huge upside.

The Pacers decided to fire head coach Jim O’Brien after the team started the season with a 17-27 record. 37-year old Frank Vogel was the choice to replace O’Brien as the Pacers’ head coach and he did a good job. Under Vogel, the Pacers were 20-18 (52.6%) during the regular season and they were 1-4 in the playoffs against the Bulls. The Pacers did give the Bulls a hard time despite getting beat in only five games. The Rockets have already interviewed Vogel, so the Pacers must not feel the same way I do about him or they would have locked him up by now. I think it will be a mistake not to bring Vogel back as he got the most out of the Pacers’ roster.

24-year old center Roy Hibbert finally got to show what he could do in 2010-11. He played in 81 games (80 starts) last year with the Pacers and he averaged 27.7 minutes, 12.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game. Hibbert has now played in 232 games (191 starts) in his first three years with the Pacers and he is averaging 22.8 minutes, 10.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game. The Pacers want Hibbert to play more around the basket and to utilize his size more on defense and the boards, which is something he really started to do when Frank Vogel took over as the head coach.