The Pacers Season Ticket Experiment: Game #2

Danny Granger: If he gets injured, the team moves to Omaha.

After missing the first game in my season ticket package, I finally got out to see the other preseason home game in my package - Pacers/Rockets. Last Friday the former Western Conference contenders (is it out of line to assume that they'll be lottery bound this year without Yao, Artest, and McGrady?) came to Indiana for game 4 of their preseason schedule. One the Pacers side of things, there were no fancy promotions or ticket sales, just the standard pre-game email with the starting lineups, which seem to finally be rounding into season opener shape. Our starters?

PG - TJ Ford

SG - Brandon Rush

SF - Danny Granger

PF - Troy Murphy

C - Roy Hibbert

Not bad. Young and possibly a little injury prone, but not bad. Our arena?

To be fair, at least 20 more fans trickled in after the tipoff...

Not full. Not remotely. Which is great if you're trying to figure out each replacement referee's accent during foul calls from the balcony. Not as great if you're one of the Pacers staffers in charge of hyping up the fans. At one point, we had a 7 person hype crew come to our section, only to realize that they outnumbered us before leaving quietly.

Come on Pacer fans, get LOUD!

I'd estimate maybe 3,000 people attended the game. And this was a beautiful Friday night. It was so bad that the scalpers were still trying to sell tickets as a I left midway through the 3rd quarter. As for the game? Well the game was good, and hopefully an indicator of the Pacers play this year.

O'Brien-ball was in effect throughout the first half with fast breaks, strong ball movement, and solid 3-pt shooting propelling the Pacers to a big first half lead. Of particular note, the Pacers did two things that they'll need to do in order to win games this year:

1. Set up T.J. Ford as a playmaker, but ensure that he doesn't waste too much time dribbling down the shot clock without passing - last year, this led to way too many fall away jumpers as the shot clock expired. The T.J. I saw on Friday was more committed on defense and wasn't trying to force the offense. We'll see if it holds up.

2. Let Brandon Rush develop some confidence in his shot - In this offense, Rush needs to do two things - replace some of the slashing to the basket that Marquis Daniels did, and - more importantly - be a marksman from 3-pt range. The Rush I saw Friday pulled the trigger on his open shots, and looked more confident than the rookie version.

As usual, Granger and Murphy were solid, and are still options 1 and (a distant) 2 offensively for this team. Roy Hibbert looked very similar to how he looked last year - invisible at times, but occasionally proficient at others. As a team, the rebounding was weak - Houston's 24 offensive rebounds despite not playing anyone taller than 6-9 will attest to that. Meanwhile, the Pacers were led on the glass by 6-0 T.J. Ford and 6-3 Luther Head. Yikes.

That little guy? Leading rebounder.

Speaking of Head, he looked pretty good out there. Strong defender and a good shooter, although when Dunleavy returns he'll likely be dropped out of the rotation. Still, it's nice to see him playing his ass off for a spot. Solomon Jones, on the other hand, didn't impress anyone, although he had a couple of nice blocks when he wasn't busy not rebounding.

The arena entertainment was pretty standard, although the brass band wasn't there, you had your usual Boomer-based entertainment (but no Bowser), Pacemates dancing, and a couple giveaways. Nothing great.

I left with the team protecting a 20 point lead in the 2nd half, lamenting yet another game without a Travis Diener appearance. All in all, the game was a nice debut to watch. This team can score, and if they can hold teams to 100 points per game, they'll win more than most people thought. A playoff push isn't out of the question, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Still, they'll take down a few good teams along the way - hell, they did it last year.

Next home game: 10/30 vs. Miami Heat (Season Opener!)

Level of Excitement: 4/5

Editor's Note: Levels of excitement depicted by Achewood characters on a 1-5 ranking.