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The first few days of Pacers preseason practice has been beautifully nondescript. Even with a few new faces, there aren’t any real camp battles for playing time and the only injury concerns center around veteran rest.
Both Thad Young and Bojan Bogdanovic have missed time with foot/ankle issues but without concern to the team. If you had to rank concern, Thad’s foot bruise/tweak would be most likely to linger into the concern zone.
The quality injury report and harmony among the roster is always fragile, but everything is going according to plan for Nate McMillan and the Pacers. If there is a spot to open up for preseason play, both forward spots would be the best to give a few younger players the chance to play more and show how they are developing.
The biggest news on Saturday was the return of Slick Leonard to the Fieldhouse, or more specifically the St. V’s Center, where the Hall of Famer took in practice along with Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird. Mark Boyle shared the good news as his partner returned after extended time rehabbing after a couple of different falls earlier this year.
Yes, Larry Bird and Donnie Walsh are still active at the Fieldhouse consulting for the Pacers.
The Pacers do not play until Thursday but there were a couple of preseason games on Friday night which brought out the first box scores of the season. Such a beautiful sight!
Great stuff in the links today include J. MIchael from the Indy Star breaking down how the Pacers will measure success in their effort to improve rebounding.
Check out the links:
How Indiana Pacers plan on improving rebounding in 2018-19 season
Pacers' backcourt tandem of Victor Oladipo, Tyreke Evans takes shape
O’Quinn Brings Rare Skill to Pacers - Pacers.com
Turner-Sabonis Experiment to Enter New Trial Phase - Pacers.com
Injuries to two starters leave Pacers shorthanded during 1st week of camp
A reduction in Thaddeus Young’s minutes is a sign of flexibility for the Pacers