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Hi NBA fans. I'm going to be blogging all through the season this year. It should be very interesting. I'm going to be talking about a lot of things, some basketball, but a lot probably won't be about basketball. It will be everyday things that I deal with in my life.

SLOW START

We lost three in a row to start the season to three teams that were in the playoffs last year, which is where we're aspiring to be this year. We finally got our first win in New York on Wednesday. It was a great team effort and I thought our defense really carried us at the end.

We have some new players, so we're still trying to figure out each other, but it's a long season, so I'm sure we'll get it done. We'd love to have Mike healthy, but the fact of the matter is you're going to have injuries. You've just got to deal with them. You could always say "What if?" but I think every team has at least one person injured. Injuries happen and it's just a part of the grind of the NBA.

I haven't played my best thus far. I haven't shot my free throws very well. I haven't shot from the field very well. I'm playing with new teammates, so I've got to find my niche in the offense, where I'm going to find my shots and things like that. It's kind of different than it was last year.

We've got a three-game homestand now, which is pretty important for us. We've got Washington, Golden State and Boston. The one that sticks out for me is Boston. If we can get that win, that would be big. But we've got to get the two before that first.

Chemistry is the big thing for us now. Not only on offense, but the chemistry on defense: Knowing where each other's going to be, knowing that the help is behind us, just relying on each other. Everything else will take care of itself.

THE ROOKIES

We've got Tyler Hansbrough, aka "Psycho T," aka "T-Bone." We've got a bunch of names for Tyler. He's like a linebacker that's playing basketball. Man, that dude is beyond intense! In practice, I'm not trying to drive in his direction. I'm not trying to take a charge on him. Otherwise, I might be out for two or three weeks!

He's one of those players that, when the ball goes up on the rim, I'm glad he's on our team. He might hurt somebody on our team too. You never know, but that's just the intensity that he plays with, which is what we need.

We've got him getting bagels every morning, getting the newspaper. He and A.J. Price, I've got them doing little things. For the plane, they've got to get food for everybody. They've got to carry stuff after the game. Typical rookie stuff. But for the most part, our rookies really don't give us no trouble and we all get along with each other. They're rookies, but we don't try to belittle them or nothing like that.

OFF THE FLOOR

I really like to travel abroad, so I took a trip to Italy, Switzerland and France this summer. I had a really good opportunity to get out of the country, which was really cool.

I really loved Switzerland. It was a very clean place. The infrastructure there, as far as the roads and the technology, was probably more advanced than what we've got over here, which was pretty surprising. As Americans, you kind of think that we're more advanced than other countries, but Switzerland was impressive.

I'm big into video games. I have an English bulldog named "Bentley," who I play with a lot. He's kind of like my little son, since I have no kids. I spend a lot of time with him, my wife and my dad. My little brother's in town, so I always have a lot of family here. We play monopoly, go to movies together, argue a lot, but we have a lot of fun.

Right now, I'm kind of addicted to FIFA, the soccer game. I love NCAA Football 2010 and I play Madden, of course. I'm from New Orleans, so I play with the Saints every single time. Drew Brees is the man. I'll put up points on anybody with the Saints' offense.

I beat people bad online. I've got my secret screen name, and I'll be talking to people too. I'll be like "Yeah, I've got a game tomorrow," and they'll ask, "Oh, who do you play for?" I'll say "I play for the Pacers," and they'll say "Quit lying." They don't believe me. It's kind of funny.

I won't give my gamer tag out to the public, but a few of my friends will try to tell their friends that Danny Granger's in the room. And I'll say, "What are you talking about? I'm not Danny Granger." It's the funniest thing in the world, because every time someone tries to put me in a room and say who I am, I act like I have no clue what they're talking about.

I play just about every day. I won't play on game days, but other than that, every day.