The Indiana Pacers are back in action on Wednesday night after three full days off that feels like a week in this lockout-shortened NBA season. The Pacers won't get three days off again until the All-Star break in late February, although the time off didn't really help the health of the team considering Jeff Foster used the off days to have a back procedure done that will keep him off the road and on the shelf for a couple of weeks.

Another downside to the break was that the Pacers had built up some nice momentum in winning five of their last six games. Hopefully they can carry that winning rhythm into Sacramento tonight as they fire up a challenging stretch of the schedule to close out January.

Among the links today, is a story with NBA.com's results from the GM survey on various team and player topics. The free-agent signing of David West is considered the most underrated player acquisition along with Boston signing Brandon Bass. George Hill checked in at fifth on that list, as well.

Check out all of the links after the jump.

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It doesn't count in the standings (thankfully), but it was great to see NBA basketball where the score was being kept and a winner and loser was decided. The Indiana Pacers opened the first of their two preseason games against the Chicago Bulls at Conseco Fieldhouse, entirely excited that all of the positive moves and momentum the young team had gained over the lockout summer (into fall) might finally show something.

Even though the game was preseason, the shortened and rushed focus of training camp into the regular season opener just ten days away, Coach Frank Vogel gave this game an honest regular season look, minus the team's free agent David West. The blue and gold picked up right where they left off in their playoff series with the very same Bulls team, quickly getting Chicago and Derrick Rose into foul trouble, storming out to a 33-22 first quarter lead, shooting 60% from the field.

Unfortunately, the defensive abilities of the Bulls stepped up big, in addition to the struggles to get anything to go in the basket for the Pacers, setting Indiana up to miss their first 15 field goal attempts and make just two for the entire quarter. The third quarter saw better execution and the fourth saw second quarter execution. Fifty-seven of Indiana's 86 points came in the first and third quarter, making it incredibly difficult for the team to find a groove in the second fourth where the Pacers were outscored by 24 points. Even shooting at their game FG% of 33.7 in those two quarters could've given Indiana a victory.

But even though the woes came in familiar stretches for recent Pacers squads, as the second unit struggled to find any kind of rhythm and leadership, there were still a lot of positives in the starting lineup. The good news is this game can be wiped from the books as a mulligan, and even though Indiana officially falls to 0-1 in this two game season, it's a growing step against a team that made it to the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago.

After the jump, a look at the play of the Pacers, both good and bad:

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All signs point to Magnum Rolle being left outside the 15-man roster to start the season for the Indiana Pacers. This of course, assumes there won't be a last-second trade to naturally free up a spot on the roster.

Someone has to go and Rolle is the guy that makes the most sense right now.

The late second-round pick has shown plenty of promise with his play in summer league and training camp, but the numbers game isn't playing in Magnum PF's favor.

And Twitter rarely lies.

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The Indiana Pacers officially close out the preseason today with their annual Fan Jam event at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Free to the public with free parking and even some free food, the event is always a good time as the players interact with the fans and have a little fun. A scheduling conflict will keep me from taking my boys this year which has us all sour because we always have a blast together at this event.

For those planning to go, I'd love to see any good pictures you take, so please post them at the Indy Cornrows Facebook page. It will be the next best thing to being there!

The Indiana Pacers remain consistently inconsistent.

After an up and down preseason, the Pacers look forward to opening night on Wednesday in San Antonio carrying a familiar set of issues along with them.

Whether it be Roy Hibbert, Darren Collison, Josh McRoberts or anyone else in the playing rotation, a poor night from any combination of players is usually too much for the Pacers to withstand. When the team is in sync and shots are falling, wins are always in play despite the narrow margin for error.

But if Hibbert struggles and lets down, or Collison turns it over in bunches, or McRoberts fades into the background while all of the above struggle defensively, losses are hard to avoid. I single out these three in particular because I feel if they can provide any sort of consistent production along with Danny Granger then the Pacers can remain in most games when it comes to winning time in the fourth.

They still need to play well to then actually win, but forget it on those off nights. Unfortunately, this is the all-too familiar formula from the past two years that has kept the win totals declining in the 30s.

After the jump, plenty of links from the past couple of days.

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Instead of focusing on the fact the Bulls had this game won in the first quarter, and there was very little effort by the Pacers to change that, I think it might be better to reflect on the preseason as a whole. There’s no reason to process too much thought about Luol Deng scoring 29 points in 30 minutes, or the 7’ Omer Asik somehow getting seven offensive boards, or Derrick Rose looking like the best PG in the East.

Should we meditate on tonight’s effort, let it not be on the overly lax defensive effort by Indiana, the sickening free throw and rebounding disparity, and the poor ball handling and decision making. But, here’s a conundrum: if we look at the preseason as a whole and don’t look at tonight’s effort, are we looking at anything then?

The bad news is of course that the scoreboard was lopsided tonight. Could it actually be worse news that three of the four Pacers preseason losses have been decisive defeats? Even the wins have generally consisted of overly lax defensive efforts and poor ball handling and decision making. The team wrapped up shooting 40% from the floor, 34% from the three point arc, and committing 20 turnovers a game.

I guess what I’m trying to say is: we probably should hope the preseason doesn’t affect the regular season as much as they’re saying it does.

Of course, the effort has been there on most nights. They’ve played generally well at times and for the most part, it seems they’re heading in the right direction. But regardless of the effort, numbers that mirror last season as much as they do aren’t going to help improve the team all too much, I’m afraid. Alas, there’s plenty of time to look towards the season opener that looms on Wednesday, so to sum up tonight’s game: it’s a good thing no one will remember it!

After the jump, a closer look at the characters that put forth an overly lax defensive effort, created the sickening free throw and rebounding disparity, and showcased poor ball handling and decision making:

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3-3		3-4
October 22, 2010 - 8:00PM EST
United Center
Radio: 93.1FM WIBC TV: No local TV
Probable starters:
Darren Collison	PG	Derrick Rose
Brandon Rush	SG	Kyle Korver
Mike Dunleavy	SF	Luol Deng
Josh McRoberts	PF	Taj Gibson
Roy Hibbert	C	Omer Asik

The Indiana Pacers close out the preseason tonight against the Chicago Bulls at the UC. Kyle Korver is expected to return to action tonight for the Bulls, but Joakim Noah is not.

If Danny Granger is healthy enough to go for the Pacers I can't imagine he'll play much. T.J. Ford is still out dealing with a hamstring injury.

No local TV, but Mark Boyle and Slick Leonard provide hi def visuals with their radio call on 93.1 FM or NBA.com. The game is being televised in Chicago so it may be on League Pass.

For a Chicago perspective, check out Blog A Bull.

Leave your thoughts and observations in the comments.

The Indiana Pacers finish their preseason schedule tonight when they play the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.

The Pacers have been away from the Fieldhouse since Tuesday getting all of the players acclimated to life on the road before the real roadies kick in during the regular season.

Tonight's game should be a great test against the talented Bulls team, but if Danny Granger doesn't play then we're looking at individual effort again. The good news is that Granger might play or at least could play, although I don't expect him to play unless his ankle is truly 100%.

Personally, I can't watch the young guys play enough but I'm also ready for the regular season. I really enjoyed watching the revamped starting lineup play together earlier in the preseason. They seemed to be coming along nicely when Granger tweaked his ankle. Hopefully they'll continue that trend when the games start to count next week.

After the jump, a few links of interest including stories on the sliding scale for ticket prices and the "watchability" of the Pacers.

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