Heading into the last week of the preseason, the Indiana Pacers are still trying to find themselves. They still don’t know who they are, and that probably won’t turn into a reality until December.

Preseason is normally a bit different for Frank Vogel and this organization, especially the last two years.

Typically, it was used as a talent evaluator. Just last season, Indiana was already peaking at their highest level of confidence for the regular season, so they used the preseason to observe their younger talent. Solomon Hill, Donald Sloan, Chris Copeland, and the newcomers were all options that disguised Indiana for the time being.

Sure, the starters played, but they already knew what they would receive from “the five.”

This season, it’s been an entirely different trip. It will continue to feel weird, new, and unorthodox, until Paul George returns to the team next Fall.

Five games into the preseason, the only thing the Pacers had in mind was to figure out how to gel the new offense. The first part of that, especially for this team, is to experiment with the new guys. The additions of C.J. Miles, Rodney Stuckey, and Damjan Rudez are the new shining members, all of whom the Pacers decided to reach for in the free agency market.

The next part of the process, after experimenting, is to enter the decision-making stage. Vogel hasn’t made it that far yet.

He’s still attempting to figure out how well Copeland is going to play, and how many minutes he’s worthy of each night. The starting unit is supposed to be in place, in which they’ll role with George Hill at point guard, Stuckey and Miles on the wings, and the combination of David West and Roy Hibbert in the middle.

If there’s one thing Vogel and President Larry Bird can notice from the preseason, it’s how much smoother and open the offense will become.

Paul George and Lance Stephenson shouldn’t take those words as offensive. It’s actually just common logic: If you remove two ball-dominant stars that love to create for their teams by isolation, it’s going to force others to make plays. And, since this roster doesn’t include a star of their caliber, they have to do it by sharing the wealth.

Add that to the dilemma they had with outside shooting. Being a team that you would never name as one to be deadly threats from outside last year, Indiana used that as a focus for their offseason. When you lost 9.4 total 3-point attempts per game (George and Stephenson combined), it called for a new approach to be taken. Considering that was exactly 50 percent of their total perimeter shots each night (18.8 as a team), other players have to fill the void.

Even 18.8 outside attempts per game wasn’t enough. Not for a title contending bunch, or one that somehow found their way to 56 wins and a No. 1 seed. This league is predicated on two things in the modern era: 3-point shooting, and screen roll offense. You can have different variations of the pick-and-roll all you want, but you better ensure that you aren’t ignoring the long-range attacks … in proficient ways.

Examining the other three conference finalists in 2013-14 (Oklahoma City, San Antonio, & Miami), none of them made less than 8.1 3-pointers per game. Also, none took less than 21.4 on average. Oklahoma City shot 36.1 percent from deep, Miami shot 36.4 percent, and San Antonio was at a blistering 39.7 percent.

The Pacers settled back, and only knocked down 6.7 per game, while shooting 35.7 percent — both the lowest of all four conference finalists. We saw where it got them in Games 3, 4, and 6 down in American Airlines Arena.

Thus far in the preseason, Indiana has dug deeper into the waters of outside shooting, taking 22.8 3-pointers per game in their five matchups. That’s right around where they need to be, if not a few more than that. The only issue? They’ve only been 32.5 percent effective, making 7.4 each game, on average.

Nobody is claiming they have the shooters Golden State (24.8 3-point attempts per game last year) or Atlanta (25.8) owns, but they’re going to have to put more points on the board than they did last season.

Even with Chris Copeland coming alive from deep in the preseason, they’ve been on the same course in terms of scoring the ball. Well, it’s only been five games, but it doesn’t matter when you say “It’s just preseason.” These things will carry over, sort of, and their style of play will somewhat mirror what we’ve seen in the last two weeks.

All through last season, Indiana was only able to average 96.7 points per game, and 104.1 points per 100 possessions. They were barely in the top 25 of either category, and that will never sit well with such a competitive, hard-nosed owner (Bird) in your organization. From the beginning, Bird has wanted them to play with an edge, and apply the aggression necessary to become a feared, dreaded defense. But, he’s also wanted his teams to be capable on offense, and never emulating a college team that doesn’t know how to achieve balance. That’s what the Pacers fell into last season. It can’t happen again, or the hopes of grabbing the last No. 7 or No. 8 seeds in the East will be shot.

Through their first five preseason games, Indiana looks to be on the same pace as they were.

They’ve scored 97 points per game, and allowed 96.6. Just as much as they’ve tried to incorporate more outside shooting to make up for the lost points, they’re not coming with the greatest efficiency. As a lasting effect, they’re not making a positive change to the offense that Vogel envisioned.

With this team, it’s not going to be fair to them unless they’re re-evaluated in mid-December. It takes time to make up for the loss of two starting wings, especially when one of them (George) was right behind LeBron James in being the greatest “two-way player in the world.” Some even threw George above James in that regard, since LeBron slacked off on the defensive end for 75-80 percent of last season.

Copeland, who has shot 12-of-27 (44.4 percent) from deep in his preseason games, has to be given between 25 and 30 minutes a night for this team to enforce fear into others’ eyes. With Vogel expressing how much he would like to go 10-deep with the rotations, and play all of his wings their justified minutes, they may slip down on the 3-pointers, and revert to their style of play last season.

With George and Stephenson out of the picture, they’ve lost their best penetrators, and actually their two best passers when it comes to delivering entry passes to the post. So, if you want to revert back to the traditional, hell-bent, post-heavy style of play, they better be keeping their turnovers down when trying it.

All signs point towards Copeland and Miles being able to unleash, and giving them their best chance at winning from the outside.

Vogel already knows their defensive schemes can be somewhat similar to last season, since the frontcourt (West and Hibbert) went untouched. The only issue is West’s recent ankle injury, but he does expect to be back for the first week of the regular season.

If the defense is still going to be a top five or seven in limiting outside shots, and stopping points in the paint, they still have to find a way to out-score their opponents.

In today’s game, that solution becomes letting loose from beyond the arc. We’re about to find out if that backfires on them or not, by how many they can actually convert on.

But, as the exalted Wayne Gretzky once said … “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”

Keep spreading the offense, Pacers.