IC Cold Links: O'Brien Seeing Steady Improvement; Another Vescey Rumor Debunked

T-minus seven days. We're officially one week away from the regular season jump starting its engine next Wednesday, but the Pacers still have two preseason contests remaining, including a trip to Orlando tonight at 7 p.m.

So, let's get right into the links for today's stories.

• Mike Wells has the latest from the coaches' mouth as Jim O'Brien is seeing day-to-day improvement, but the consistency is not there yet. Again, sounds like last year to me.
• Peter Vescey's Sunday column in the New York Post boasted plenty of NBA rumors and two of them were dismissed right away. The Pacers have already stated they won't comment about the rumor that team president Larry Bird will step down after this season. The team says Bird's comments from before the preseason (that he's hear for the long haul) is still true. Now Vescey's other rumor about the Cavs being interested in signing Pacers reject Jamaal Tinsley is also false. Cleveland.com is reporting that sources have vehemently denied any contact with Tinsley.
• We hardly knew thee. The "real" refs could be back by next week's regular-season openers, according to NBA.com.
• Rookie Tyler Hansbrough will be honored by the University of North Carolina with its most prestigious student-athlete award, according to TarHeel Daily. He'll receive the 2009 Patterson Medal.
• It's not everyday that two Pacers players pop up on the front of ESPN's NBA home page, but T.J. Ford and Roy Hibbert are being target by the World's Leader as the fantasy basketball sleepers of the year.
• And my favorite Tuesday night programming on NBATV has been altered for this year. Out is Gary Payton. In is Kevin McHale. Not sure how I feel about that one.