West strengthens lineup, bench

Larry Bird’s goal all along has been to strengthen not only the starting lineup, but the bench.

With his first major move in the 2011 personnel market, he appears to have accomplished just that.

Multiple media outlets — including ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, TNT, The Associated Press and The Indianapolis Star — reported Sunday the Pacers have agreed to terms with David West, the veteran free agent who spent the first eight seasons of his career with the New Orleans Hornets.

Both West and his agent, Lance Scott, confirmed the deal in interviews with the various outlets.

Read the full Caught in the Web at Pacers.com

Pacers take “roll-with-it” mindset into camp

Given the fluid nature of, well, everything, Frank Vogel is well aware of the need to be flexible.

“This was a roll-with-it practice, it’s going to be a roll-with-it type of year,” Vogel said after the first day of his first training camp as head coach of the Pacers on Friday at Conseco Fieldhouse.

“We’re just having fun with it. We understand there’s going to be imperfections but we’ve got a good group of guys that like playing basketball, they like the competition, they like being around each other, so we’re just going to have fun.”

Read the full Caught in the Web at Pacers.com

Vogel talks about team on Crate

Pacers head coach Frank Vogel talked about his first training camp as head coach, including some of the key issues facing the team, when he joined Chris Denari and me for the latest episode of Pacers Crate.

Watch the video on Pacers.com

5 key questions as Pacers enter camp

The most anticipated training camp of Larry Bird’s tenure at the top of the totem pole begins Friday afternoon in Conseco Fieldhouse.

A young team very much on the rise, the Pacers are positioned to climb the ladder of Eastern Conference contenders. Just how many rungs they can reach depends in no small part on the answers to the five key questions facing the team as camp opens.

Read the full Caught in the Web at Pacers.com

Pacers pass eye test

The real test awaits, of course. When training camp begins Friday in Conseco Fieldhouse, the players will get a much better idea of just how well they kept themselves in shape.

Two-a-days don’t lie.

To this point, however, the Pacers have passed the eye test with flying colors. Of the 10 players that have been working out on the practice court through Wednesday, all appear not only healthy but at least as fit as could be expected.

Read the full Caught in the Web at Pacers.com

Unique schedule brings challenge, opportunity

It begins on the day after Christmas at home against Detroit and ends four months later at home against Chicago. In between, the Pacers’ 2011-12 schedule offers a little bit of everything — except the norm.

With 66 games instead of 82, a little tweaking had to be done by the NBA, resulting in a schedule unlike any other.

Read the full Caught in the Web at Pacers.com

Pacers roster refresher course

Remember that exciting young team that pushed the Bulls to the brink of elimination in the playoffs last May?

They’re back.

The postseason starting five — Darren Collison, Paul George, Danny Granger, Tyler Hansbrough and Roy Hibbert — all return under contract. To that young core, add George Hill, the electric guard acquired from San Antonio on draft night.

Those top six players have an average age of 25, so this is a team with a combination of youth, experience, talent and chemistry that expects to begin climbing the ladder toward the upper echelon of Eastern Conference contenders this season.

Read the full Caught in the Web at Pacers.com.