FanHouse Jim OBrien

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Not long ago, the Indiana Pacers were said to have a character problem, what with players such as Stephen Jackson, Ron Artest and Jamaal Tinsley. That issue, we know, has been taken care of.

Now the Pacers have a talent problem. As in, not enough of it.

Who doesn't like a list, especially on a Monday morning when that's about all you can handle?

Training camps are opening, so here are five coaches likely to start feeling the heat if their teams don't get off to good starts.

Mike Dunleavy, L.A. Clippers: The Clippers head into the season with expectations, which might not be the best news for Dunleavy. He's got to figure out a way to reconfigure his relationship with Baron Davis so that the veteran point guard once again can thrive. If Dunleavy and Davis aren't on the same page, there's no hope in L.A.

Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it with a Debate in the Paint. This week, the topic is which team did the least this summer to improve.

Put it this way: I'm just not feeling the Indiana Pacers' offseason. It's not that they haven't done anything, it's just that what they've done isn't much. There have been a few unimpressive offseasons -- with the Knicks, Warriors, Bulls, Heat and Nuggets coming to mind – but we're going with Indiana for least productive.

It's one thing to sit tight if you're knocking on the door to an NBA title and it's fine to simply tinker if you're a playoff team or knocking on the postseason door. But neither of these really describe the Pacers, do they?

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About 90 minutes before last night's Pistons-Pacers game, the visitor's locker room at the Palace of Auburn Hills was deathly quiet. With half of the Pacers roster still on the court working out, the other half sat slumped in front of their locker, silently watching a big flat-screen TV with its sound turned off that was showing footage from Detroit's recent preseason game against the Cavs. In other words, it's the kind of situation that makes for extremely awkward interviews.

I broke the silence to talk with Pacers rookie Roy Hibbert about his gaudy preseason numbers (per 48 minutes, he averaged 23.5 points, 15.3 boards, 4.7 blocks ... and 9.2 fouls) and what he needs to do to earn more playing time (remember those fouls?). Later, I also caught up with coach Jim O'Brien for his take on Hibbert's progress.

Matt Watson: You've got your first game in about an hour and a half. Do you have any butterflies about starting your career?
Roy Hibbert: I already got that all out of my system. I just got to go out there and play hard.

Matt Watson: Making the adjustments from college to the preseason, was that tough for you?
Roy Hibbert: [I've been] working on a lot of stuff in terms of getting up and down the court, just learning the offense. It's a different one than college, but I'm getting used to it.