Pacers Back In Indy And Back To Work

Jet lag? What jet lag?

After losing some valuable practice time with all of the travel and special events involved with the Asian trip, Jim O'Brien wasted little time re-setting his team's work out clockt. Less than a day after a 14-hour return flight from Beijing, the Pacers were getting after it in the Fieldhouse on Monday afternoon.

According to a tweet from Mike Wells, Danny Granger sat out the practice with a sore right foot. Sore right foot? Hmm, sure that wasn't a sleepy head. Seriously, considering the limited time Granger spent on the court, let's hope this is a minor issue. Since the Pacers' favored injury term 'sore' is in play we can only guess the injury is somewhere between a flight-induced cramp and a full right-foot amputation.

I'm sure the players had to drag themselves onto the court today, but a good shock to the system is often the best way to adjust back to a familiar time zone.

Expecting a sloppy practice would be reasonable, but heading into a workout with such low expectations can actually generate a strong effort when the body responds better than expected. Now tomorrow might be a mess, but regardless, JOB and the team have no time to fret about jet lag and need to take advantage of every minute of practice time left in camp.

A few links of interest after the jump, including a nice recap of the trip.

• PACERS: One win, won loss, one unforgettable experience
  Bruno recaps the Pacers' business trip to Asia. Despite the sight-seeing excursions and public appearances, Jim O'Brien maintained training camp mode.

  "It was good getting a couple of games on film," said Coach Jim O'Brien. "It was a diagnostic experience from the standpoint of helping us understand what we have to work on offensively and defensively. It was a good cultural experience for the team."

• ESPN Pacers Chat with David Thorpe at Eight Points, Nine Seconds
  Jared Wade will be chatting with David Thorpe on Tuesday afternoon at 2:30PM EST. Get your questions ready and join the fray.
• Larry Brown tossed in Hawks over Bobcats 107-90
  More preseason replacement referee growing pains, this time in Atlanta where Larry Brown couldn't take it any more and snapped.
• Heat sign Carlos Arroyo to 1-year deal - Peninsula is Mightier
  Jamaal Tinsley's hopes of signing with the Miami Heat appear to have taken a death blow.