One part of Rick Carlisle's recent comments should excite Pacers fans the most

As the Indiana Pacers begin training camp and hope to follow up on their impressive 2023-24 campaign with an even better season, there is a lot to be excited about if you are a fan of the team.

The Pacers opted to run it back with the same team that brought them their first conference finals appearance in a decade. Additionally, they will enjoy their first full season with Pascal Siakam on the roster, who provided a major boost to the team after they acquired him from the Toronto Raptors in January.

However, perhaps the most exciting part about the Pacers this season stems from what head coach Rick Carlisle had to say during the team's Media Day session on Monday. In his appearance, Carlisle revealed what the expectations are for the Pacers and suggested that the team may finally emphasize working on arguably the main thing holding them back from title contention.

Rick Carlisle says Pacers' 'main theme' is improving the team's defense

The Pacers finished with the seventh-worst Defensive Rating in the NBA (118.0) and allowed the fourth-most points per game (120.2). At Media Day (YouTube link), Carlisle spoke about the team's defensive shortcomings last season and stressed how important it is for the team to improve in this area, though he did mention their subtle improvements during last season.

"I think the main theme for this year for us is we want to build on what we did last year. There'll be an awful lot of attention paid to the defensive end. At Christmas time last year, we were 28th in defense," Carlisle said. "We made some pretty significant changes to the lineup, got more physical, we got bigger. Between Christmas and All-Star, we got to 26th."

Furthermore, Carlisle mentioned that the Pacers' defense must be "constant" if they want to become legitimate championship contenders.

"We believe that defense is one of the things that's got to be a constant if you're going to win a championship. And so a lot of time will be spent on it," Carlisle said." I'm not going to throw out any, you know, numbers as to what our goal is. I mean, we certainly want to get into the top half of the league in defense and, hopefully, one day, be a top-10 defensive team."

It is no secret just how bad the Pacers are on defense. While there are a lot of good defenders on the team, especially a player like center Myles Turner, who is a two-time blocks champion, the Pacers team as a whole ranks as below-average on the defensive end. Knowing that Carlisle plans to work on fixing this is an incredibly welcoming sign for Pacers fans.

In addition to Turner, Siakam elevated the Pacers' defense after joining the team. The former NBA champion is very versatile on the defensive end and can guard multiple positions. Additionally, while he is not a lockdown defender, Aaron Nesmith may be the team's most important defender because of his perimeter defense and high energy.

Another name to keep an eye on is Jarace Walker, who is entering the second season of his NBA career. Though he was disappointing in his rookie campaign, Walker has the tools and physicality to become a legitimate defender in the NBA. If Carlisle is serious about wanting to improve the team's defense, it would not be surprising to see more minutes from Walker next season.

All in all, Pacers fans should be thrilled with Carlisle's comments as the team hopes to inch even closer to true championship contention.