Well, through five games, the Pacers are 11th in the NBA in defensive efficiency (giving up 102.9 points per 100 possessions) and 9th overall in opponent’s eFG% (47.1%). In speaking to the media this summer, Coach O’Brien touted FG% as the defensive metric that he was most concerned with, stating that something around 43% would mean they are doing the things he wanted to see. Five games in, they’re giving up only 43.6% shooting to the opposition, so they are right in line with his goal and significantly below the 45.8% the team allowed last season.

Getting back to the Washington game specifically for a second, Tyler was amazing during his debut, getting to the line 10 times and just generally being everything he was billed as. Great to see. And Roy in the post was perhaps even more fantastic. That needs to become a larger go-to component of the offense and will be interesting to watch progress as the season unfolds. With Troy and Jeff banged up and Dunleavy still a few weeks away from even practicing according to his own account, it’s nice to see that the young front court guys — including possibly even Solomon Jones — can all be counted on to produce. They’re all inexperienced, so no one should expect them to be stalwarts of consistency, but the ability seems to be there.

But that game was four days ago, so you likely already know this.

Have no fear, however. We have a big analysis of the first five games coming as soon as today (but more likely tomorrow). And that new feature, “The Five Game Report,” is going to be a new staple around these part. Every five games, we’ll step back and look at what happened: the numbers, the analysis and all the rest and put it up as a big info dump. Sort of a “State of the Pacers” type thing. Hopefully, it will make for good perspective at the time as well as something we can look back at later in the year when it will be harder to immediately recall what happened in November.

So look out for “The Five Game Report: Vol. I” shortly.

In the meantime, you can also check out our new complementary site: “8p9s (Deleted Scenes)”

Essentially, this will be the place where we dump a lot of the stuff that pertains to Pacer Nation and is interesting, but is either (a) too silly, (b) too ephemeral, or (c) too “I don’t have anything to add to this but it’s definitely neat” to actually devote a whole post to here.

It’s a Tumblr site so you can follow it that way if you’re into the whole Tumblr thing. Or just bookmark the site/subscribe to the RSS. And I’m sure we’ll be linking over there from here from time to time.

Enjoy. And please do email us at 8pts9secs@gmail.com if you find anything that involves the Pacers that might be a good fit. (Also, don’t worry, we’ll make it look prettier to look at eventually. Just using a Tumblr template for now until some extra hours in the day magically appear.)

8p9s (Deleted Scenes): All the Eight Points, Nine Seconds goodness you’ve come to expect, just shorter, shallower, sillier and probably worse — much like the guy in the photo.

Related posts:

1. 8p9s/Pacers TrueHoop Network Season Preview
2. Introducing: Eight Points, Nine Seconds
3. Read the Archived ESPN/8p9s Pacers Chat

Glossary: Offensive Rating | Defensive Rating | eFG% | Pace

Gilbert Arenas and his band of merry men come to Indiana on a night when the whole town will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the House that Reggie Built. (Tom Lewis wrote a great tribute on Cornrows.) For a franchise that once had to host a telethon just to raise enough money to keep the team in Indianapolis, the opening of Conseco was a historic moment. The Eastern Conference success foreshadowed by Chuck Person’s late 80s squad and later realized by the Reggie-led rosters of the 90s had turned the Pacers into a legitimate NBA team and transformed Market Square Arena into a raucous environment to watch a basketball game.

And the construction of Conseco was a culmination of that success. The team was in Indianapolis to stay and, not only that, it was now going to play some 50 games per year in a building that is still regarded by many NBA insiders as the best NBA facility in the association.

It’s a fitting occasion for a night when the Pacers are once again trying to establish themselves as an NBA team worthy of respect. The JailPacers Era put a black mark on the franchise that evolved from minor embarrassment to endemic problem as time went on, and once the losing began, the team turned from punchline to afterthought.

That’s where the Pacers are now. The worst should be in the rear-view mirror. I mean, it has to be, right? Now the winning must begin anew, if not simply to help repair the broken bonds with local fans and garner greater national interest for a once-proud franchise than to simply stem the financial hemorrhaging that has to be weighing on the mind of the team’s owner more and more with each passing day.

So let’s set aside real basketball analysis, forgo the player breakdowns and save the stat-talk for after the game is done. Tonight isn’t about any of that. Tonight is about seeing whether or not this roster can be inspired to properly represent the state stitched on their jerseys.

The Pacers need a win. And Conseco deserves a win — if not simply for providing the current players with a hallowed house to shoot hoops than as a hat tip to the past glories that occurred under its roof and transformed the uniforms that today’s players wear into more than just blue and gold mesh. Sure, the problems that got the team to this point aren’t on most of the guys who are now on the team. But it doesn’t matter. They are the only Pacers that matter right now and they are the only ones who can help ensure that the road ahead overshadows the recent past.

So, as silly as it sounds, the only thing Jim O’Brien should say tonight is: Win one for a building.

Related posts:

1. Mel Daniels Fired, Drama Returns to Conseco
2. Game #4 Preview: Need Win, Will Travel
3. Game #1 Preview: Sekou Smith Talks Hawks