Setting The Pace: A Pacers Podcast

On today's episode, Alex goes solo to discuss the Indiana Pacers finally breaking through for their first win of the season — doing it in style against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Alex dives into a wild night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where Quenton Jackson and Aaron Nesmith delivered career performances to power Indy to victory.

We breakdown:

Alex Golden goes live at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to recap the game. The Pacers fall to 0-5, continuing their losing streak. In addition to losing the game, the Pacers announced that Obi Toppin will be out until February with a foot injury. Alex talks about it all on today's episode. 

Per Pacers PR: Forward Obi Toppin has been diagnosed with a partial stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot. Toppin will travel to New York and have the injury surgically repaired by Dr. Martin O’Malley of the Hospital for Special Surgery. 

Hoste...

Facci is back and he is holding it down without Alex today! On today's show, Facci welcomes in fan favorite of the podcast, Keith Smith from Spotrac. The guys discuss the following topics as the NBA week is officially one week in!

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Alex Golden is joined by Tyler Smith from Indy Sports Legends to recap the Pacers 107-105 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The Pacers blew another opportunity to win a close game. Siakam was the backbone again for the Pacers with 27 points and 13 rebounds, but the shooting woes were intensified in this game from everyone on the roster. Mac McClung made his debut, Jarace Walker scored a career high, RayJ Dennis had a team high +13 in plus/minus but too many misses cost the Pacers a chance at their first win. 

We discuss it all today on Setting T...

On today's episode of Setting The Pace, Noblesville GM, Chris Taylor, joins me to discuss: the Boom starting their training camp this week; who they selected in the G League Draft on Saturday; insight on Indiana native Kyle Guy returning to basketball after retiring; thoughts on Gabe McGlothan and Jalen Slawson (who played on the Pacers preseason team) and the first season of the Boom in their state of the art facility in Noblesville.

In addition to that, Chris talks about the growth he has seen in 2-way players RayJ Dennis and Quenton Jackson; what he's seen...

On today's episode of Setting The Pace, Alex Golden is joined by Brett Evans to discuss the Pacers singing of Mac McClung and the waiving of James Wiseman. The guys discuss why the Pacers went with Wiseman as the man to be waived and what it is about Mac McClung that brings some level of intrigue as this team continues to battle injuries.

Later, Alex and Brett discuss the Wiseman waiving, and what it means for the center rotation moving forward. Brett shares his opinion on who the Pacers best fit at the center is with this...

Alex Golden is joined by Kyle Taylor from iPacers to discuss the Pacers 4-point loss to the Timberwolves. The guys dive into the play of Tony Bradley, RayJ Dennis, Quenton Jackson returning from injury, Aaron Nesmith's 18-point night, what to make of Jarace's performance, the untimely fouls from Shepp and end with giving all the flowers to Pascal for his heroic efforts in this one.

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Alex Golden goes solo to discuss the Pacers 25-point blowout loss to the Grizzlies. The loss is bad, but nothing was worse than losing two more players to injuries at the guard position. Bennedict Mathurin (toe) and Taelon Peter (groin) exit the games with injuries, and the Pacers finish with 3 healthy guards. 

While it looks bleak early on for the 2025-2026 Pacers, Alex shares 3 positives that could come from all of these injuries, and gives his thoughts on the game. 

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Alex Golden and Mike Facci talk about the Indiana Pacers falling short to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a double overtime thriller. Bennedict Mathurin was a man on a mission and Pascal Siakam was able to score on any defense the Thunder threw his way. Andrew Nembhard did not return to the game after halftime, leaving the Pacers with no healthy point guards. The center rotation continues to be a question mark, but Obi Toppin logged significantly more minutes at the 5 than I Jax, Bradley or Huff. Bigger roles for Peter, Sheppard and Jarace, how they performed. Nesmith fouled...

On today's episode of Setting The Pace, Alex Golden is joined by Brad and Ryan Knight, The Brothers of Basketball and Hosts of The Pacers Post Up Podcast to preview the Pacers NBA Finals rematch with the Thunder. What players are unable to play in this game, what will be the biggest hurdle for the Pacers to climb, who is the key to the Pacers chances of winning, what can we takeaway from the preseason, how do the Pacers handle the point guard situation against a stingy defense and one more time discussing the significance of Aaron Nesmith's extension. 

Alex opens up the show discussing Kam Jones apologizing to the fans and media at practice today after his arrest for speeding on Monday. Then, Alex and Facci play a game of True or False, determining if the 12 statements are true or false.

1). Taelon Peter logs more minutes this season than Johnny Furphy.

2). Bennedict Mathurin ends the season as the starting shooting guard.

3). Tony Bradley will play his way into the backup center role behind Isaiah Jackson.

4). Aaron Nesmith will lead the team in 3PT%.

5). Pascal Siakam m...

On today's episode, Alex and Facci kickoff the show discussing Aaron Nesmith agreeing to an extension with the Indiana Pacers, that will take him through the 2028-2029 NBA season. Then, the guys quickly touch on Kam Jones being arrested after leading police on a police chase...(2:30)

In segment 2 (11:30), Jeremiah Johnson of Fan Duel Sports Network joins us to breakdown the current state of the Pacers, Benn Mathurin not agreeing to his rookie extension with the Pacers, what to make of the center and point guard questions, Siakam and Nembhard's upcoming roles, whether or not the Pacers will...

On today's episode of Setting The Pace, Alex and Facci discuss the point guard depth being ultra-thin after cutting Cam Payne...(2:05)

The guys then discuss Tony Bradley making the roster, what the centers did in 4 preseason games and how Rick envisions this group moving forward (4:07). Spencer Dinwiddie on the Pacers radar? (17:40)

In addition to that, the guys touch on the opportunity Taelon Peter has and what he looked like in preseason, Ben Sheppard being back in the mix of things and what the 2nd unit could look like with no point gu...

Alex Golden and Mike Facci kickoff the show with an energetic Facci who is hyped about Taelon Peter. Then, the guys transition into a lengthy, all over the place conversation about the current rotation at center and whether or not the front office dropped the ball when trying to build out the 2025-2026 Pacers depth chart. (2:30)

The guys highlight how Wiseman was seen at practice with the 2nd team, Carlilse discussing the Pacers roster overall needs more time together to establish chemistry, what to make of preseason play without TJ for 2 of the games and Drew for 1...

On today's episode, Alex and Facci gets things started by talking about Ben Sheppard returning to practice with no limitations and what injury he was dealing with. Then, Facci responds to David's claim that he really isn't a true Jermaine O'Neal fan, after failing to wish him a Happy Birthday earlier this week. (3:04)

Then, Eddie Gill joins (11:05) the show to discuss the Pacers point guards in depth, his experience with being thrown into the full of things with limited prep time, the impact of no TJ McConnell, and how he sees Q and RayJ fitting in. Then...

Alex Golden is joined by David Cole and Carson Stafford to discuss 3 Pacers we are interested in watching this upcoming season, and what type of role they could have this season and in future seasons. After that, David wonders if Giannis staying in Milwaukee is actually better for the Pacers versus them trading him. 

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On today's episode of Setting The Pace, Alex Golden and Mike Facci recap the Pacers 124-108 loss to Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. Benn Mathurin shined with 31 points on 11-12 shooting; the centers go all game long with no made baskets and chemistry continues to be an issue.

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On today's episode of STP, Alex Golden and Mike Facci share their thoughts on the Pacers 116-101 victory over the Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder). 

Timestamps:

On today's episode of Setting The Pace, Alex Golden and Mike Facci discuss the recent news of TJ McConnell being out for at least a month, the Pacers releasing Delon Wright and signing Cam Payne, and why the Pacers have elected to keep Quenton Jackson on a 2-way deal. (3:30)

Then, the guys are joined by Chris Denari to discuss the McConnell news, his takeaways from the Pacers first preseason game and what he is seeing at training camp. (17:37)

To end our conversation with Chris, we introduce a new segment called 'Get To Know Your Guest...

Today, Alex and Facci play one of their favorite games, Stock Up, Stock Down OR Stock in the Middle! They go through each player on the Pacers roster after the first preseason game and determine whether or not said individual is a stock up, down or in the middle. 

On today's episode of Setting The Pace, Alex Golden and Mike Facci recap the Pacers 135-134 OT victory over the Timberwolves. The guys discuss what they liked and did not like from this game, as well as what went down that is worth monitoring for future preseason games, such as injuries, position battles and young players looking to improve their play. 

Alex Golden and Mike Facci dive into 5 storylines they will be monitoring for preseason game #1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Before they dive into the main topic on today's show, they discuss some notes from Monday's practice where Tyrese Haliburton was seen shooting, Isaiah Jackson talked about his Raising Canes obsession during rehab and Rick Carlilse shared some more details on the injuries to Kam Jones and Ben Sheppard. Lastly, Facci discussed his weekend away with his wife and how many times he's listened to The Life of a Showgirl! 

Alex Golden is joined by Casey Johnson to share their biggest takeaways from the Indiana Pacers Fan Jam scrimmage and then they go through the Top 10 captions for a Milwaukee Bucks of Giannis pointing at something and Myles Turner intently listening...best captions were read on the air. 

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On today's episode of Setting The Pace, Alex and Facci dive into the Pacers projected depth chart, and decide what players belong where. Then, once the depth chart is established, the guys go through the roster and determine what a 9-man rotation would look like, what a 10-man rotation would look like and who are the first players out of these specific rotations.

After the guys discuss the players who will make the rotation and predict how many minutes they will play this season, they read comments from twitter in response to Myles Turner saying that his...

On today's episode of Setting The Pace, Alex Golden and Mike (on the mic) Facci discuss the backtracking Myles Turner is doing after making another jab at Pacers fans on media day, Monday. The guys then transition into some comments that were made by Rick Carlisle after Wednesday's practice on Jay Huff, Jarace Walker and Tony Bradley. 

The guys also discuss what James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson have been up to during their time of injury rehab, and dive into what Delon Wright had to say about joining the Indiana Pacers just days before Training Camp. 

On today's episode of Setting The Pace, Alex Golden goes solo on today's episode to share some of the comments that Rick Carlisle made at Day 1 of Pacers Training Camp. Carlisle discusses what he is wanting to see from his team at camp, what he likes about James Wiseman, what it will mean losing coach Mike Weinar and what assistant Johnny Carpenter adds to the staff, health concerns for Ben Sheppard, Kam Jones and RayJ Dennis and reflecting on Nancy Leonard, who's funeral they will be attending on Saturday in Carmel, Indiana, causing the team to rearrange their practice...

Alex Golden is joined by Dustin Dopirak of The Indy Star to discuss what stood out to us from Indiana Pacers Media Day. After we share our takeaways from media day, we dive into things we want to see from training camp the next few days + a little Indiana Hoosiers Football talk. 

-Jay Huff found out about being traded to the Pacers in a pantry?

-How will teams defend Nembhard

-Jarace's future and opportunity this season...is he too honest sometime?

-Benn Mathurin ready to prove his worth to this team.

On today's episode of STP, Alex and Facci look at the 7 key bench players who appear to be in contention for playing time this season and discuss what they want to see each guy prove this season!

Here are the players discussed and in what order:

McConnell, Sheppard, Furphy, Wiseman, Huff, Toppin and Walker!

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Alex Golden and Facci are joined by Pacers GM, Chad Buchanan, to discuss the 2025 offseason and the upcoming season!

On today's episode, Alex Golden goes solo to discuss: the most recent news about the Pacers 3rd string point guard spot, why the Pacers won't just convert a 2-way player to the 15 man roster, what is going on with Monte Morris after just signing, Delon Wright coming to training camp and battling for a roster spot, who will most likely get the first crack at the starting center spot, Siakam's leadership, Mathurin's opportunity, Mike Weinar departing, Jarace Walker having a great workout in pickup games Thursday and remembering the life of Nancy Leonard. 

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Pacers starting forward Aaron Nesmith makes his Setting The Pace debut! Aaron joins Alex and Facci to discuss his first season in Indiana, some of his favorite moments, answers some rapid fire questions, the growth in himself as a defender, a funny behind the scenes story with him and Buddy and his go-to food spot in Indy!

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On today's episode of Setting The Pace, Andrew Nembhard, Pacers guard, stops by the show to chat with Alex and Facci. The guys dive into the Pacers run to Eastern Conference Finals, ask Andrew questions about the year, his game winner against the Knicks in Game 3, whether or not he is looking to extend in the offseason, playing for Team Canada this summer and what players on that team he is looking to connect with, as well as specific questions on a variety of teammates and what his goals are for next season.

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Pacers fans, this was a fun one! 3rd year guard, Benn Mathurin, stops by Setting The Pace for another interview. On today's show we dive into: rehabbing from his injury, what his expectations are for this season, sitting out during the playoffs and how he learned from that, what he thought of the offseason for Indiana, his belief in this group moving forward, some new hobbies he dove into over the offseason, how he plans to get better for his team, reflecting on last year's success, what he needs to improve on individually and he also discusses what motivates...

Alex Golden and Mike Facci discuss the Colts 3-0 start to the season, the INDIANA FEVER taking down the Las Vegas Aces in Game 1 of the 2nd Round of the WNBA Playoffs and how the Fever have gotten here. Then, they debut a new segment called "prove it" where they go through each player in the projected Starting 5 and share what they want to see them prove this upcoming season.

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Big DAVE from the CHGO Bulls Podcast joins for an incredibly deep conversation on the current state of the Chicago Bulls and their future. The guys discuss all of the offseason moves that were made and whether they were good or bad deals. Then the guys dive into the roster overall, layout a depth chart heading into the season, and discuss which players are most important to the Bulls success moving forward. Lastly, the guys look at potentially making trades or riding out the season and entering with significant cap space! Fun convo with several Pacers parallels. The guys...

Alex Golden and Mike Facci are joined by Rohan Katti of the Gyro Step Podcast of GSPN to discuss the Milwaukee Bucks upcoming season. The guys go back and forth asking Rohan about the current state of the Bucks and what the future looks like with this group. They dive into Turner's arrival, the lack of wing depth, needing more point guard depth and what the ceiling and floor is for this Giannis led group. 

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As we continue our Central Division Previews, we take a break from the other teams in the division and focus on your Indiana Pacers. Facci and I answer the following 8 questions and have a lengthy discussion about the upcoming year for the blue and gold. 

Questions:

1. How can Indiana avoid the overused phrase “gap year” for next season? 

2. Which players need to take the biggest step forward in order for Indiana to reach its’ ceiling with this core? 

3. Pascal Siakam rebranded his style of play to an extent in order to f...

Alex Golden and Mike Facci kickoff the show discussing the Colts big win over the Broncos on Sunday, as Facci's favorite football team, the Denver Broncos choked away a victory with a costly penalty on the 60 yard field goal attempt. After a brief discussion on the Colts, the guys talk about the Cavaliers with Bob Schmidt of the Fear The 'Fro Podcast. With Cleveland expected to win the East once again this season, there are a lot of question marks with this team and reaching expectations. The guys also look at the Cavs current salary cap situation and what...

Alex Golden is joined by Bryce Simon from The Pistons Pulse to discuss the Detroit Pistons upcoming season. In this preview, the guys go in-depth on the Pistons team and also jump into a good discussion on the Pacers. 

Today, Alex and Facci draft 16 of the 17 players on the Pacers roster to form teams of 8 each. At the end of the season, the guys will see who drafted the better team by tallying up the stats and accolades from the season. Play with your friends and make your own rules! Let us know if you do and how your team turned out!

Then, the guys get into their Western Conference Standings Predictions. How many similarities do Alex and Facci have this time? Not nearly as many as they did for the East...definitely a great discussion...