A sudden and unexpected piece of news is bringing Pacers fans (still on a high from the Darren Collison acquisition) back down to earth.

Yes.  Lance Stephenson, the promising second round pick in the 2010 draft, has been arrested in New York for pushing his girlfriend down a flight of stairs.  He has been charged with third-degree assault.

This is not the first time the NY high school star has been in trouble with the law.  Back in 2008 he was charged for groping a girl at his school, and he was once suspended for an altercation with a teammate.

Well, at least the Pacers are no longer depending on Stephenson to be the point guard of the future.  After years trying to get rid of knuckleheads since the 2004 brawl (Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley, David Harrison, Shawne Williams, etc), it appears the Pacers may have added a brand new one.

When the Pacers selected Stephenson with the 40th pick, they assured fans that they had done their background research and that Stephenson's past problems were not going to be a future issue. 

Let's hope this is a once-off anomaly.

PS: According to Wikipedia, Stephenson was also cut from the under 18s national squad for "chemistry reasons."  That's never a good sign.

Good news.  Looks like Danny Granger's dislocated finger isn't a problem.  Granger led Team USA with 22 points in a scrimmage over China.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the first time Granger has led the team in scoring.

Even more promising, ESPN's David Thorpe believes Granger will be the second most valuable player on Team USA behind Kevin Durant. He said: "The last U.S. team had basket-getters at every position. This team doesn't."

Let's hope Danny can carry his strong play over into the upcoming season.

I'm excited.

Finally, finally, the Indiana Pacers have done something this offseason.  In a four-team, five-player trade, the Pacers sent Mr. Double-Double Troy Murphy to the New Jersey Nets in return for Darren Collison and James Posey from the New Orleans Hornets.

Trevor Ariza went from the Rockets to the Hornets and Courteney Lee went from the Nets to the Rockets.  The Hornets also sent Julian Wright to the Raptors for Marco Belinelli.

After months of saying it couldn't be done, Larry Bird has finally done it.  The Indiana Pacers have their point guard of the future.  Collison, judging from his rookie year, is the real deal.  He probably could have given Tyreke Evans a run for ROY honors had he not been stuck behind Chris Paul for a large chunk of the year.

In just 27.8 minutes per game last season, Collison averaged 12.4 points, 5.7 assists and 2.5 rebounds.  But the numbers are somewhat misleading because when Paul was playing, Collison rarely got more than a few minutes a game.  When Paul went down with an injury, Collison really stepped up, averaging more than 21 points and 8 assists in the month of January.

Posey, who helped the Celtics to their title in 2008, is still a solid defensive presence who can hit big shots when called upon.  The problem is, Posey also plays small forward, and the Pacers have a logjam at that position.

As for Troy Murphy, well...he will be missed.  He was the team's second best player, a guy who gets a double-double almost every night and can stretch the defense with his 3-point shooting.  But his contract was expiring at the end of the year anyway, and the opportunity to score Collison was too good to pass up.

In the short run, the loss of Murphy will hurt the Pacers, but at least they now have a point guard that can potentially lead the team somewhere.  Hopefully the playoffs.

The NBA season schedule for 2010-2011 has been released.

Of course, the Indiana will play 82 games like every other team in the league, but the way the schedule is arranged could make or break a fragile team like the Pacers.

Breaking down the schedule

The Pacers play their first game on 27 October 2010 against the Spurs in San Antonio, who have finally added Brazilian Tiago Splitter to their roster.  Apparently this guy is the real deal, so it will be interesting to see how he performs in his debut against the Pacers.

The second game is also on the road, against the Charlotte Bobcats (remember, a playoff team last season) on the 29th.  The first home game is against the Philadelphia 76ers a day after on the 30th (and is the first game of a home-and-away series).  So not the easiest of starts for the Pacers.

A tough early stretch for the Pacers between late November and early December: Orlando, @Miami, Cleveland, Oklahoma City, @LA Lakers, @Sacramento, @Utah, @Phoenix.

The longest road trip is just 4 games in January: LA Clippers, Golden State Portland and Denver.  The longest home stand is also 4 games from late February to early March: Detroit, Utah, Phoenix and Golden State.

The toughest stretch in the schedule has to be in March, right when the Pacers should be making a push for the playoffs if they have a chance, or conversely tanking if they are out of the picture.  Check out this brutal stretch:

@Oklahoma City, @ Dallas, @Houston, Philadelphia, @Minnesota, @Philadelphia, @New York, New York, @Boston, Chicago, @Memphis, @New Jersey, @Charlotte

Not all of them are imposing opponents but that's 10 away games with just 3 home games wedged in between.

As for the easiest part of the schedule?  Well, there's no such thing for the Pacers this season.

Key dates to look out for

27 October 2010 (@San Antonio) -- the Pacers begin on the road against one of the toughest teams in one of the toughest buildings in the NBA.  Let's see how good this Tiago Splitter guy is, and whether rookies Paul George, Lance Stephenson and Magnum Rolle will get any playing time.  And what about Tyler Hansbrough?  Will he be back to his old self?

22 November 2010 (@Miami) -- the Pacers hit the road against the new Big 3 and their talents down at South Beach.  How will they cope against the trio of Wade, Lebron and Bosh?  The Pacers are a team that can play up or down to the level of their opponent, so this is as good a test as they'll get.

26 November 2010 (Oklahoma City) -- last year's leading scorer Kevin Durant comes to Conseco Fieldhouse to take on Danny Granger.  A couple of years ago, most people used these two guys in the same sentence, but since then Durant has streaked ahead.  Can Granger bring him back down a notch?

28 November 2010 (@ LA Lakers) -- on the road against the defending champs.  'Nuff said.

15 December 2010 (LA Lakers) -- ditto, but at home.

19 December 2010 (@ Boston) -- first look at the new Boston Big...Five?  Will be interesting to see how the two old O'Neals play together.

28 December 2010 (Boston) -- second look at these guys, this time at home.

31 December 2010 (Washington) -- here's a New Year's treat for Pacers fans -- no. 1 pick John Wall in Conseco Fieldhouse!

14 January 2011 (Chicago) -- the new look Chicago Bulls visit Conseco Fieldhouse.

15 February 2011 (Miami) -- the Heat visit Indiana.  Should be a sell-out.

25 February 2011 (Utah) -- local produce Gordon Hayward returns to Indiana.  They never had a chance at picking him anyway, so we'll never know.

15 March 2011 (New York) -- Amare Stoudemire against the Pacers.  Man I miss the good old days.

13 April 2011 (@Orlando) -- the last game of the season.  Will the Pacers be in the running for the playoffs?

For the full schedule, click here.

More bad news for the Indiana Pacers.

Danny Granger, the team's best player, dislocated the ring finger on his right hand while contesting a shot during Team USA's final scrimmage.

It was put back into place almost immediately, though X-rays will show whether Granger will miss any significant time.

Having disclocated a pinky playing basketball in April, I can say that it still bothers me and is not the way it used to be.  Hopefully the trainers at Team USA can work some magic on Granger's finger.

On the bright side, team director Jerry Colangelo happens to think Granger has a good chance of making the final cut, which came as unexpected news to me.

"Granger will be hard to keep off this team because of his scoring ability, he's a veteran, he's 6-8, he knows how to play.  So if he can stay healthy, he's got a great chance to be a part of it."

Let's hope so.