The Pacers have been living in Bizarro World lately, where reality becomes inverted, so maybe the scene on Monday shouldn't have been surprising.
There was Paul George, all smiles and moving about freely while putting up jumpers. And there was David West, hobbling off the Bankers Life Fieldhouse practice court with the help of a walking boot and a cane. What's next? Reggie Miller coming back to play? Slick Leonard coming back to coach?
George, of course, has a broken leg suffered on Aug. 1. You wouldn't know it from watching him, but he's still expected to miss the upcoming season. Certainly nobody within the Pacers' organization has thoughts of rushing him back. West, though, hopes to be back for the Oct. 29 season-opener against Philadelphia, although you wouldn't know it from watching him.
“I sprained it pretty good,” West told reporters. He meant, of course, it's a bad sprain. Remember, bad is good and good is bad in this world. However you want to describe it, West's injury is a serious-enough sprain to keep him out of the Pacers' final two preseason games – Tuesday at Minnesota and Thursday at Charlotte.
That's bad, but it qualifies as good news because it could have been much worse. West had his leg kicked out from underneath him after going up for a shot underneath the basket in Saturday's preseason game with Dallas, and felt his right ankle roll. He knew immediately the injury report wasn't going to have a happy ending.
“Anytime you feel (the ankle) touch the ground, you know it's going to be tough to deal with,” he said.
Still, it's only a sprain, and it's only the preseason, and the Pacers are taking good news wherever they can find it. They lost Lance Stephenson to free agency in July and lost George to a broken leg in August. West's absence is another loose bolt in the chemistry machine but is hardly devastating. The same can be said for the sore foot that will keep projected starting guard Rodney Stuckey out for the final two preseason games.
Frank Vogel is the master of finding silver linings amid dark misfortune, and isn't stopping now.
“It's more of a challenge, but every coach deals with injuries,” he said. “Just one of the things we have to overcome.”
The best that can be said about injuries is that they create opportunities. The latest one falls to Luis Scola, West's backup at power forward. Scola was a starter throughout the vast majority of his career until last season, and found the transition difficult. It wasn't the fact he didn't get to line up for the opening tip, it was having to play fewer minutes and at less predictable times. He averaged 7.4 points on 46 percent shooting over 16.8 minutes in the 80 games he played off the bench, but 17 points on 56 percent shooting over 27.6 minutes in the two he started.
He'll start these next two games, and any others West misses. He's quick to say he hopes West returns soon, but looks forward to having a familiar role.
“Everybody plays better (as a starter) because you know when you'll play,” he said. “You get extended minutes and get a chance to get more confident with more repetition. It's a good opportunity for me to get a little rhythm and get some extra minutes.”
Rhythm remains a desire for all the Pacers. All the sliding and shuffling within the roster has made on-court chemistry more difficult to achieve. Vogel considers it a priority on both offense and defense, a quest that will continue through the early stages of the regular season. He acknowledged that he might never arrive at a consistent starting lineup this season, adjusting it to the strengths of the opponent.
Scola, however, pointed out something easy to overlook. With just two pre-season games left, it feels like training camp is nearly over. It's not. It began on Sept. 30 and the season begins on Oct. 29. So, as of Monday, nine days remained, nearly one-third of camp. Which leaves plenty of time for learning new dance steps and developing better rhythm.
“I believe we are not there yet, but we have time,” Scola said. “We shouldn't be there now. We should be there in 10 days.”
Scola remains optimistic that it will come. Partially, probably, because he's that kind of guy, but also because of what he's seen in practice in the moments key players have been able to perform.
“I think we have a good group of players, a very good group of players,” he said. “I think we can be a very good team. I think we can be as good defensively as we were last year and we can be a little better offensively. As good as we were as a team last year, we weren't really a good offensive team. We were ranked 22nd (27th in scoring). I think there's a chance to be a very good team. I believe that.”
Of course it would help if George would return. That won't happen anytime soon, despite appearances on Monday. Shooting around without limping is one thing, playing in a game is another, and the Pacers naturally will be extremely cautious with their best player's health. He has mentioned the possibility of returning late in the season, but that decision is for another day. A distant day.
“Any chance Paul George will be ready for the season opener?” Vogel was jokingly asked.
“I keep telling him if he's not ready by Halloween, he's milking it,” Vogel said, playing along. “Time for him to toughen up.”
Seriously, it's time for a lot of Pacers to toughen up. But they might as well keep a sense of humor, too. You never know what'll happen next in Bizarro World.