Inside Pacers training camp day nine: Regular season prep begins

INDIANAPOLIS – It's not often you get to see Rick Carlisle run a few players through a specific drill, but that was the scene as reporters entered the gyms in the St. Vincent Center on Monday afternoon.

Carlisle, plus two basketball assistants, were working with a group of four players on a unique three-point shooting exercise – Jarace Walker, Ben Sheppard, Jay Huff, and Kobe Brown all participated. They were asked to start about 10 feet from the basket, then retreat behind the three-point line as a pass was lobbed over their head.

Right after catching the ball, it was time to shoot. Carlisle and the assistants would throw the passes to a random location beyond the arc, forcing the quartet to move suddenly, and backwards, before quickly catching and shooting.

The four players were divided into two teams – Walker and Sheppard was one, Brown and Huff was the other – and raced to make a certain number of these difficult threes, usually seven, before the other group. Sheppard performed well.

Elsewhere, players strolled through the halls of the building wearing the team's ABA Classic uniforms and got up their normal shots. Obi Toppin rang the bell after a strong shooting performance, a daily occurrence at this point. And the new jerseys? They are popular among the team.

"Fan of all the vintage stuff," guard Andrew Nembhard said.

Other notes from the Pacers second-to-last practice of 2026 training camp below.

Circle City Spin

The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, up close

Circle City SpinTony East

T.J. McConnell's injury

While the specific side of the body is still not known, center Larry Nance revealed that T.J. McConnell's injury, which has kept him out for all of training camp, is a hamstring issue.

"He must have loaned me his hamstring when his went down. Ships passing in the night at that point," Nance said. The veteran big man missed the early part of camp with his hamstring injury but returned in time for the Pacers second preseason game.

McConnell wasn't on the court when media members were allowed into the St. Vincent Center courts, but he was around and wearing the ABA uniforms like many of his teammates. I saw him getting shots up all the way back on October 6, but McConnell didn't play in the preseason and is still a TBD for opening night.

That might mean it's Quenton Jackson time

If McConnell isn't ready for game action, Quenton Jackson would slide into the backup point guard role. The Pacers clearly trust him to some extent after signing him to a multi-year contract last season, then letting it become fully guaranteed for the current season in July.

For most of Jackson's basketball life, he's been a two guard. But once he joined the Pacers organization, primarily via the then-Indiana Mad Ants, he was tasked with more on-ball responsibilities as a lead creator.

It's helped him grow into a capable point guard, albeit one who is better as a scorer. "Other organizations, I was more of a two. Which, I am a two, but I can play the one," Jackson said of the positions on Monday. "But I mean, I just kind of stick next to guys like [Haliburton], [McConnell], pick their brain about certain things on the floor."

Jackson brings a certain fire when he's on the court that is contagious. It typically shows up on the defensive end, but his motor and willpower help him get into the paint with the ball frequently.

Those are useful skills. But Jackson's key responsibilities as a point guard will be more about organization and offensive flow. "Get us in the flow, get us in the offense, make sure everybody gets touches," Jackson said of running the second unit. "And then make sure that energy is still on the floor and make sure we're picking up on defense, too."

In many ways, he just wants to be an extension of McConnell. This year, Carlisle sees Jackson as being ready to be a full-time roster player. They'll have to rely on him at various points throughout the season when injuries pop up.

"He's improved each year and he's the kind of guy that we love," Carlisle said of Jackson. "He's a hard worker. He's early in the gym, one of the last to leave. From a culture standpoint, he's everything that we are trying to be about."

Andrew Nembhard's view on Ivica Zubac and the starters

Nembhard was the first player in recent seasons to explain the importance of defensive chemistry – he and Myles Turner were a strong guard-center duo on that end of the floor.

That's why Nembhard's perspective on playing with Ivica Zubac was needed. They are both upper-tier defenders at their position and give the Pacers a higher floor on the less glamorous end of the court.

Right now, communication is key for those two in shutting down opponents. As time passes, they'll learn more about each other's tendencies and strengths.

"We're just working on him getting up to touch. He's always been in a drop," Nembhard said of Zubac on the defensive end. "I think the biggest thing that he helps us with is those defensive rebounds that end our defensive possessions but start our offense too."

Zubac has been higher up defending ball screens so far. That requires a lot of rotating from his teammates behind the play. To this point, it seems as if Zubac's best abilities – plus some defensive tweaks from the Pacers – are pushing the Pacers to a point where they emphasize paint defense more than they did in past seasons.

As for the offensive end, Nembhard is happy with the starting five but acknowledges they are re-capturing their old chemistry. "We haven't really felt that group for a while. It's been like a year or so. So it's just creating that chemistry," he said. "A lot of guys can do a lot of different things out there, so just trying to be aggressive but also fit in at the same time."

Larry Nance fitting into the Pacers system

Nance is in his 12th season and on his sixth team. He's used to adjusting and fitting into new systems.

And yet, after Jay Huff struggled to click in the Pacers play style last year, there were questions about how quickly Nance would get up to speed. The eye test says he figured things out quickly, as did his preseason production.

"He's a veteran guy that's been in a lot of systems," Carlisle said of Nance. "Very smart, high IQ. So in general, he picks things up very quickly. He's done a good job."

Nance averaged 5.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game in the preseason. Critically, he moved well after missing significant time across the last two seasons due to injury. He was often the team's backup center during preseason and training camp.

"This team is all about processing speed, and I think that's something that really is in my favor," Nance said. "Playing 12 years, playing with a bunch of different coaches, learning a bunch of different vocabularies, learning how to play. So I think I've adjusted pretty well to the pace of the offense, and I'm just excited to see it in action."

Nance said that his ability to make quick decisions comes from his experience playing many different positions throughout his career. Early on, he was more of a three or four. Now, he's mostly a five but can play at the four spot in a pinch. Along the way, he toggled between all three positions and learned a lot about versatility – something Carlisle loves.

"If I go out there and have a bad five minutes, all you've got is five minutes of bad footage on me," Nance said of his upcoming first opportunity with the Pacers. "I think... whether that's true or not, it's daunting, just to get out and get a good start."

The Pacers, and Nance, will hope a good start comes when they kick off their season in New Orleans on Wednesday.

Thank you for reading. I won't be at the Pacers final training camp practice Tuesday but will be in New Orleans for their season opener. Many stories to come, sign up and they'll go straight to your email inbox.