"Indiana Pacers power forward Tyler Hansbrough returns tonight to the state where he became a college basketball legend.

But there is no guarantee fans who make the three-hour drive from Chapel Hill to Charlotte will see the former University of North Carolina All-American play against the Bobcats.

Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said he is not planning to alter his player rotation until Hansbrough improves offensively.

Hansbrough did not play in Wednesday's season-opening loss to the San Antonio Spurs. It was the first time he had missed a game while healthy since youth basketball, Hansbrough said.

"He's behind," O'Brien said. "You earn your playing time. He missed a year of basketball. Anybody that walks in and thinks he's just going to get playing time, that's not going to happen."

Hansbrough said he is in game shape and doesn't feel he needs to play cautiously after missing extensive time with vertigo.

"This is a transition for me," he said. "It's frustrating. It's real frustrating, but at the end of the day, I just want to do what's best to help us win."

O'Brien said Hansbrough's problem is he's not executing the offense on the court.

"He's not totally getting it," O'Brien said. "We have a bunch of plays in. It's one thing to sit down and write them down, but to be able to execute them is another thing. He's not there at this point in time."

Hansbrough faces an uphill battle to get into the rotation. Josh McRoberts has a firm hold on the starting spot and O'Brien likes using veteran James Posey off the bench because he has 3-point range.

"Our rotation is our rotation until the guys not in it prove that should change," O'Brien said. "Nobody is given anything, nor should they expect to be given anything. It's a very thin line between guys in the rotation and guys not in the rotation."

Hansbrough played only 29 games last season because of an assortment of ailments."