"Dick has the same impact that he had when he joined me with the (Boston) Celtics and we went from 27th to third (in field goal defense)," O'Brien said. "His impact is substantial. Dick has tremendous input, as does (assistants) Dan Burke and Lester (Conner) and Frank (Vogel)."

Bird said Harter "is the best I've ever seen (with defense), and that's why he's here. If he doesn't have the input, he'll start to get the input because it's crucial for our team."

The Pacers have been one of the worst defensive teams in the league the past few years. They gave up 115 or more points 21 times last season. Opponents scored 106 points per game, fifth-worst in the league. Opponents shot 45.8 percent, tied for 15th.

O'Brien believes experience will help make them a better defensive team next season.

"I think the fact our team, the majority of our team we'll have back, will be guys that played with us last year," he said. "I think all those are significant improvements and I think (All-Star forward) Danny (Granger) continuing to improve on both ends of the court will be a significant factor."

SEASON HIGHLIGHT: Swingman Mike Dunleavy's knee injury helped forward Danny Granger burst onto the scene this season. The fourth-year forward made his first All-Star appearance and finished sixth in the league in scoring. Granger became the first player in NBA history to improve his scoring at least five points a game three straight seasons.

TURNING POINT: Holding onto big leads was a foreign concept for the Pacers. They blew 15 double-digit leads. Most of those blown leads came early in the season when the seven new players were still getting use to coach Jim O'Brien's coaching style. The Pacers would have made the playoffs if they had won four of those 15 games.