Analysis by NBA.com's Conrad Brunner

The Indiana Pacers announced the signing of free agent guard Galen Young, bringing the team's roster to 17 players with training camp opening in less than a week.

Walsh sent assistant coaches and training staff members around the country throughout the summer to work with the younger players, and he received glowing reports. Jonathan Bender has gained weight, Al Harrington has lost weight, Jermaine O'Neal has become stronger and sharpened his skills. There hasn't been a discouraging word about any of the players thus far.

If the Indiana Pacers' big men show significant improvement this season, they may owe it all to a Tostitos commercial.

While filming a TV spot for the snack food in early August, Pacers coach Isiah Thomas asked legendary center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to help coach the team's less-than-imposing corps of big men -- and Abdul-Jabbar accepted.

The title of Reggie Miller's biography was ''I Love Being the Enemy.'' Perhaps it should've been, ''I Love Having an Enemy.''

Now, the biggest rival of Miller's career is back, and the two old warriors - Miller is 36, Jordan 38 - will be able to resume hostilities. Only this time, Miller has the better team around him. The Pacers might not be championship material, but they were 22 games better than the Wizards last season.

Jordan is 38, and getting amazingly older by the moment, unlike kids such as Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson and Vince Carter. So, technically speaking, Jordan's decision Monday to delay the announcement of whether he will come back to the game is only hurting him.

I'm not worried about Jordan stumbling around his sport the way Willie Mays and Muhammad Ali did when they chose to stay around their sports too long. That won't happen with Jordan; he's too good for that. He's too crafty.

What does concern me, though, is Jordan looking, well, regular. That is what will happen if Jordan returns. So he shouldn't.

"Personally, I'm a skeptic. I don't think it's going to be a cakewalk for him," Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said. "He had such dominating talent and was such an unbelievable player, and to come back and play at that level is going to be very difficult in my opinion."

Cecil Harris of the Indianapolis Star reports that the Pacers Continued to fill out their roster with three signings. Jamison Brewer, a rookie point guard who played well in the NBA summer league in July, agreed to a two-year contract. The Pacers also signed guard Norm Richardson and center Will Cunningham to one-year deals. Financial terms were not disclosed, but they are belived to be non-guaranteed contracts.