Five Questions for the Indiana Pacers

I love this feature on ESPN, where five bloggers get asked five questions about a team, so I borrowed it and answered the questions that were asked about the Indiana Pacers.  This will be an important season for the Pacers.  One that could get the fans back on their side.  No more talk about what the roster can be, these are the guys we have, and let's see what they bring to the fight.

1.  For which Pacers player is the 2011-12 season most important?

This is year of Roy Hibbert.  He needs to step up his game and get that confidence that I know he has.  He's always been the player who if he doesn't get those first couple of shots to go down, he will start passing up shots.  He needs to be a big guy on the block who the Pacers can pass it down to, and know they'll get a point down there.  Also he needs to be more aggressive on the boards. There were some games he'd get a couple of rebounds.  A guy with his size only getting a couple of rebounds?? Not acceptable.  Mr. Hibbert, time to step up the game.

2.  Who is the most intriguing player on the Pacers' roster?

David West.  We know he had knee surgery last year, and he's saying his knees are fine, but only stepping on to the court and playing will show that.  He's a guy who averages 18 points and 9 rebounds a game, if we can get that out of him, this team will be much better.  He could help out some of the scoring with Granger down low.  But we will have to see what we are getting out of West. It's a 2 year deal, so I feel he's worth the investment of that deal.

3.  What do the Pacers need most?

Confidence. I think for guys like Hibbert, Paul George, Darren Collison, they need to know how good they are and how good they can be. Believe in what Coach Vogel is preaching to them, and go out there and get those wins.  Even Danny Granger gets down on himself during the game, and he really checks out of that game.  He needs to step up his leadership level and set the bar for the rest of the guys.  Keep trying to get his points and help out his team mates.  But I think this team just needs that extra shot of confidence to be a great team.

4.  Will a shortened season help or hurt the Pacers?

This is a such a tough question because you can go both ways.  I think it will hurt just a tad because Frank Vogel will have a shorter time implementing the system he wants to put together.  But luckily, we have the same core group of players here and they did make a lot of progress last season, so that should help.

5.  What are the expectations for this season?

This team needs to make the playoffs or else this season is a failure.  The biggest thing for me and for fans is that this team needs to get off to a fast start.  Get some wins right off the bat and make the game exciting again. Get the fans support by winning the games that you look on paper to win.  There's a lot of talent here, and it just needs to click.  Possibly fighting in the upper half of the Eastern Conference would be icing on the cake.