Three Seconds I: On Indiana Pacers C Roy Hibbert, F Tyler Hansbrough and G-F Dahntay Jones

November 9, 2:58 AMIndiana Pacers ExaminerJohn Oehser

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Indiana Pacers C Roy Hibbert (Darron Cummings/AP Photo)

Each Monday on Examiner.com, Indy Basketball Report Editor John Oehser offers three thoughts on all things Indiana Pacers. Without further delay, this week's inaugural version of Three Seconds as the Pacers (2-3) prepare to play host to the Golden State Warriors Wednesday and the Boston Celtics Saturday . . .

3) A developing inside presence. That's what the Pacers needed C Roy Hibbert to become this season, and five games into his second season, he is showing signs of doing that. Hibbert (7-feet-2, 218 pounds) averaged 7.1 points per game in just over 14 minutes a game. He started 42 games, but the key statistic for Hibbert may have been rebounds -- as in, just 3.5 per game last season. He has started all five games this season and  has played 26.4 minutes per game. With injuries to Greg Foster and Troy Murphy -- and with rookie Tyler Hansbrough missing the first four games -- the Pacers have asked Hibbert to be the major inside presence at times early. What's important is that Hibbert has responded, averaging a double double with 11 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. "I've just got to play aggressive," Hibbert said following the Pacers' 102-86 victory over Washington Friday. "I'm just going after rebounds as hard as I can. . . . The coaches told me scoring would come, so I'm just going to try to clean up as much rebounds as I can." While statistics don't always tell the story, Hibbert told me following the Pacers game, "I can play a lot better. I just have to keep performing and working as hard as I can. We have 77 more games left, so I have to be able to do it consistently." How critical is Hibbert's development? "We're really going to rely on him," D Danny Granger said. "All of the good teams have at least a dominant low-post scorer. Roy gives us that. He's still doing some things he shouldn't do, but for the most part in his second year, he's ahead of schedule." Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star also writes that Hibbert has worked on his hook shot with both hands. Here.

2) Already leading. This from Wells on Saturday regarding the potential leadership of F Dahntay Jones, "There's little doubt that the Pacers will have their problems at times this season. I could see Dahntay Jones speaking up and going off on his teammates when the time calls for it this season. He comes across as that type person. You need a player like that in the locker room. Wells also writes that Jones and Granger had a "minor verbal spat over the defense during a timeout in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's game at New York." Granger told Wells, "We need something like that every now and then. It just shows we care." Wells adds, "That was also the same quarter that coach Jim O'Brien said he didn't have to remind his players to play hard on defense because they did a good job policing themselves. The Pacers held the Knicks to 11.8 percent shooting in that quarter." This was a good piece of reporting and analysis by Wells, who knows this team as well as anyone. I'm still learning this team, but early impressions of Jones are just that -- that he seems to be a good leader, solid defender (which is what the Pacers wanted when they signed him) and a better offensive player than many believed (16 points per game). The NBA's a long, long season, but early indications are Jones is solid offseason acquisition.

1) Mad-dog intensity. The fans weren't the only ones who liked what they saw from Hansbrough in his debut. The No. 13 overall selection in the NBA Draft, Hansbrough provided energy and aggressiveness -- not to mention 13 points andn inside presence. Hansbrough, in addition to being able to get to the free-throw line, shoots better from the perimeter than many believe, and the feeling is if he can give Indiana what he gave Friday, they'll be satisfied. "He brings tremendous energy," F Danny Granger said of Hansbrough. "He's going to play as hard as he can for as long as he can. Hopefully, he'll take some other people out from the other team, too. He's so physical. He's one of those guys you definitely want on your team." Granger said while Hansbrough is likely to "hit a wall at some point" as is the case with all NBA rookies, "in the long run, he's going to be a very good NBA. He brings that mad-dog itensity. I like to refer to him as a pit bull on the loose. That's the mentality you need on your team." Hibbert said Hansbrough, "Brings a lot of energy. I try to bring it at the start of the game when I'm out there, but there's no dropoff with him."