2014 Preseason

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George Hill made a public vow in the Pacers' locker room following their elimination loss to Miami in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season. He was going to go to work right away, and come back a different player.

The opening preseason game doesn't offer final proof of anything, but Hill offered some intriguing hints in the Pacers' 103-90 victory over Minnesota on Tuesday. Playing 20 minutes, he scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and passed out seven assists with just two turnovers. Yes, it was an exhibition, and yes, the Timberwolves' point guard Ricky Rubio is no threat to make the all-defensive team, but the difference in Hill's approach was obvious.

He ran the offense, attacked the basket whenever possible, set up teammates for easy shots and played without hesitation. In other words, he played more like a true point guard than at anytime in his NBA career, anytime since his days at IUPUI – or as head coach Frank Vogel referred to it on Tuesday night, The Pui.

It amounted to legitimate evidence that he had kept his vow, that showing up at Bankers Life Fieldhouse the day after the team had returned from Miami and showing up so often that he had to be asked to leave on occasion, will pay off. Legitimate evidence also that the 10 pounds of muscle he added in the off-season has improved his strength, quickness and confidence.

“I came back … to find myself again,” he said of those workouts. “I think I lost myself (last season), being passive and things like that. I spent a lot of work finding who I was again and playing basketball.”

Hill figures to be the Pacers player to benefit most from the absence of Lance Stephenson and Paul George. As the team's most dynamic players last season, the offense usually ran through them. Hill, meanwhile, usually made an entry pass to the wing and ran to the corner of the court, where he waited for a possible – but unlikely –  return feed.

Don't look for him over there this season.

“I sold that real estate,” he said following Tuesday's game.

“It was a bad view,” he said. “I kind of lost on it, so I sold it.”

Hill wore pink Peak shoes on Tuesday and wrote “Leah Strong” on them with a marking pen. It was a tribute to the cancer-stricken four-year-old daughter of Cincinnati Bengals player Devon Still. “Just giving him a shout-out,” Hill said. “Athletes got to stick with athletes.”

He stood out even more, though, for his assertive performance, which was neatly summarized on one play midway through the third quarter. He threw in an off-balance 18-footer after drawing a foul. He missed the free throw, but rushed in to pick up the rebound and toss in a six-foot floater. That sequence pushed the Pacers lead to 12, and it stayed in double figures the rest of the game, peaking at 20.

“Probably last year I'd get that same rebound and dribble back out and try to set something up,” he said. “It shows the progress is there. Just trying to do what I can to get better.”

Hill rejects the notion that he's playing more like a conventional point guard to prove himself to critics. The change in approach is borne of necessity. Still, it should enable him to silence those who question his playmaking skills, and allow him to unleash more of an arsenal that was partially kept in storage in past seasons while others flourished.

“Having the ball in your hands builds confidence,” he said.

Hill was the only anticipated starter to start the third quarter, as coach Frank Vogel wanted him to play more minutes as the primary offensive threat. “Put him back in Pui mode,” Vogel said. Hill responded by scoring 11 points, hitting 5-of-6 shots, and passing out four assists. Yes, it came against Minnesota's second unit. But it was about as much as he could do in one pre-season game to follow through on a promise and fulfill new expectations.

To show the world that he's found himself again.

Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Indiana Pacers. All opinions expressed by Mark Montieth are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Indiana Pacers, their partners, or sponsors.

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Hill Making Good on Promise

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Pacers 103, Timberwolves 90 (Preseason)

Training camps come and go, and before you know it, you're feeling a little out of sorts when you look around the locker room.

David West, veterans of 11 NBA seasons and 34 years of life, knows that feeling.  

“Some of these guys are a bit young,” he said following practice on Monday. “I think Adonis (Thomas) wasn't born when I was in high school. That's a little weird.” 

West could be excused for feeling a little strange when he takes the floor on Tuesday for the Pacers' opening pre-season game, too. Two new starters will join him, bringing notable change to a group that reached the Eastern Conference finals each of the past two seasons.

Rodney Stuckey and C.J. Miles are likely to replace Lance Stephenson and Paul George, joining West , Roy Hibbert and George Hill. Their positions are hardly certain, but coach Frank Vogel is taking the most logical approach for now and going with experience. Stuckey's position is likely safe, given the lack of competition at his position, while Miles could be threatened eventually by Solomon Hill or Chris Copeland.  

Regardless, the chemistry experiment will take time. Nobody is anticipating a solution after the first exhibition game, or perhaps all seven. The lineup changes will require most sharing of the ball on offense and more cooperation on defense, to make up for the loss of the dynamic abilities of George and Stephenson.

SEE ALSO: Storylines from the First Week of Training Camp

“We're doing some learning and teaching,” West said. “Trying to get our system set defensively more than anything, making sure guys understand rotations. We're going to have to be a better help defensive team, even more so than the last couple of years. We have unproven wing defenders at this moment. We feel Solo is going to be tough on that wing, particularly on defense, but we … have to make sure we can contain wings and scheme to stop people.

“We're going to have to be a scrappy group. We're still trying to figure out our identity. But we've got to step on the floor with confidence. Confident to make plays, attempt to make plays, and look to be a competitive basketball team.”

Vogel is pleased with the early returns in practice, and his players support the claims of improved ball movement. And whiles one of the off-season goals was to improve the team's three-point percentage, the ultimate desire is for more free throw attempts.

The Pacers averaged 23.3 foul shots last season, which tied them for 15th in the NBA. The loss of their best one-on-one players, George and Stephenson, will require ball movement and drives to the basket to get to the foul line. If that approach also creates three-point opportunities, all the better.

“I don't want to s hoot more threes to shoot more threes,” Vogel said. “I just want to be more efficient.”

Vogel plans to go with a 10-man rotation most of the regular season, and will play at least that many in pre-season games. The returning starters – West, Hibbert and Hill – likely won't play more than a quarter against the Timberwolves. C.J. Watson is out with a sore foot, and Ian Mahinmi is questionable with a sore shoulder.

That should leave ample opportunity for rookie Damjan Rudez and some or all of the free agents who do not have fully guaranteed contracts: Shayne Whittington, C.J. Fair, Chris Singleton, Arinze Onuaku  and Thomas, the 21-year-old who actually was born when West was in high school, but still has the knack for making him feel old. 

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Pacers Unveil A New Look

Mike Penberthy vividly recalls the moment that was simultaneously heartbreaking and inspiring.

He had just torn his hamstring in practice in the Pacers training camp in 1997, Larry Bird's first season as coach. Sitting alone in the locker room, with his right leg and his professional career on ice, Bird walked in and sat down with him.

“You can play in the NBA,” Bird told him earnestly. “Just stay after it.”

Penberthy did, ultimately following a nomadic path that took him through the CBA, Germany, Italy and, best of all, Los Angeles, where he was a member of the Lakers 2001 championship team, although he was not on the playoff roster. And now, all these years later, after playing 10 professional seasons here and there, he wound up back with the Pacers. Kind of. Reunited, distantly at least, with Bird.

Penberthy, now a professional shooting instructor who joined the staff of the Minnesota Timberwolves last week, has tutored a few Pacers the past few years. Paul George, certainly, Evan Turner briefly, and Solomon Hill most recently. His work with Hill could be crucial to the second-year forward's career, and the Pacers' season, if Hill can become a legitimate 3-point threat at small forward.

Hill hit 39 percent of his 3-point attempts as a senior at Arizona and 10-of-18 with the Pacers' Summer League team as a rookie. The reality of the NBA caught up with him, however, as he hit just 7-of-23 shots in his limited time over 28 games last season.

Shooting better was a priority even before George broke his leg on Aug. 1, and a virtual necessity afterward. Hill and Penberthy had been working together at junior college and small college gyms in the Los Angeles area in July, and the sessions took on greater importance following George's horrific moment. Nobody had wanted Hill's opportunity for more playing time to arrive so cruelly, but it had arrived just the same.

“I said, 'Look, we're both hurting about this, but this is a chance for you to make a mark,'” Penberthy recalled. “He was very receptive.”

They ultimately worked together for six weeks, five days per week, and two sessions per day for four of those weeks. Hill also worked with a personal trainer at a Gold's Gym location in L.A. to improve his body.

Penberthy (you can see highlights of his European career here) saw no need to adjust Hill's shooting release. He focused instead on his rhythm and tempo – getting his legs into the shot more, releasing the ball at the right moment, and not standing up too straight.

“I wanted to smooth him out,” Penberthy said.

“He became a stronger shooter. He used to flick the ball. He's much more rhythm-oriented now.

A lot of guys talk about using their legs, but they don't really use them. In NBA three point shooting, you have to use them. It's not about jumping higher, it's using the power in your legs. He had to time his release so that he's actually using his legs.”

So far in training camp, Hill has shown improvement.

“When he shoots without thinking and shoots in rhythm, they go in most of the time,” assistant coach Dan Burke said.

Burke, however, recalled a practice scrimmage a couple of days ago, when Hill barely missed a clean look at a 3-pointer. The next time down, he passed up a shot, then declined to penetrate when Roy Hibbert jumped out to defend him, and passed the ball.

“He froze,” Burke said. “That tells you that it's confidence. Every shot has to be in rhythm, in tempo and with confidence.”

Confidence should come with playing time, which was sporadic last season. Hill was projected for backup minutes at the start of last season, and even was in the coaches' discussions about the starting lineup early on, but failed to take advantage of his early regular season opportunities. He slid further down the bench as the season progressed, and out of sight after Danny Granger returned. He wound up on the inactive list for 27 games and drew 23 of the dreaded DNP-CDs when he was in uniform.

He showed a few flashes late in the season, scoring eight points and hitting two 3-pointers in the final eight minutes of a loss at Houston, and contributing five points and five rebounds in 28 minutes of a win at Orlando.

“If he got big minutes last year he would have really helped us, and done well,” coach Frank Vogel said. “He's not going to be as much a deer in the headlights when he gets his opportunity, because he's going to get his opportunity regularly. When that happens he'll be a big part of what we do.”

That's part of Penberthy's job, building confidence. Not through psychological voo-doo, but by making a player a better shooter. He's been instructing shooters since he was 16 years old, before he became a two-time NAIA All-American at The Master's College in Santa Clarita, Ca. He helped Andre Iguodala improve his 3-point percentage from .337 to .394 and become an All-Star in 2012. He helped Oklahoma City's Reggie Jackson improve from a .210 percentage as a rookie in 2011-12 to .231 to .339 last season. Jackson had endorsed Penberthy to George, who hit .297 from thee 3-point line as a rookie but has since hit at least 36 percent of his attempts each season.

George in turn brought Hill to Penberthy.

“I liked what was going on and I stuck with it,” Hill said.

Penberthy also spent 10 days with the Pacers last March tutoring Evan Turner, at Bird's request. And he appeared to help. Turner had hit just 38-of-132 3-pointers (.288) with Philadelphia, but hit 12-of-24 shots in his 27 games with the Pacers.

“He has a little talk-back to him, but that's OK,” Penberthy said. “That's better than ignoring you.”

Penberthy was working extensively again with George early in the summer, focusing on shooting after cutting the ball and catching the ball.

“We were really making some strides,” Penberthy said. “Man, he looked good before he got hurt.”

Hill, who is routinely one of the last players off the court after practice because of all the shots he puts up, comes across as mature beyond his years. It would be easy to mistake him for an assistant coach if he wasn't in uniform. But he admits to some immature moments as a rookie. He didn't handle his two-game appearance with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the National Basketball Development League well when he didn't get the playing time he anticipated, and he admittedly hit a wall early in the season when the grind built and playing time diminished.

“Looking back, I would attack every day and not take days for granted,” he said. “If someone had told me my rookie year Paul's going to get hurt, I'd think I should have done more.”

Hill won't be as likely to have to deal with the frustration of riding the bench in the upcoming season, although he'll have to contend with C.J. Miles and Chris Copeland for minutes. Hill's defense should keep him in the picture, even if his shooting doesn't improve dramatically. He's probably the Pacers' best perimeter defender, and the likeliest candidate to replace George in the role of stopper.

“He's got that ability,” Burke said. “He's got to slow down sometimes. He wants to jump in on everything. It's not always being a Doberman and attacking. Sometimes you have to use your smarts, space some guys and crowd others. Once he figures that out, he's going to be pretty darn good.”

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Mentor Helping Hill Become 3-Point Threat

Chris Copeland participated in the NBA's Rookie Transition Program in August, an unusual thing for a two-season veteran of the league to do. 

Then again, it might have been appropriate for one who feels like he's starting over. He has a new body, a new position and a renewed opportunity for playing time in the upcoming season with the Pacers.

Copeland, who entered the NBA two Octobers ago as a free agent and final-cut survivor with the Knicks, had not yet gotten around to attending the program, in which rookies are advised on a variety of issues they'll confront in the league. This year, he was as much a mentor as a student, but still found the program worth a few days of his summer. 

“A lot of people were like, 'What are you doing here?'” he said. “But I actually learned a lot.”

The program's schedule did not includes classes on learning to play small forward. Copeland has been doing that on his own time with the Pacers, preparing to make a shift that should bring the kind of playing time fans were crying for last season. With precious few opportunities for him behind David West and Luis Scola at power forward, he appeared in just half of the regular season's 82 games, for an average of 6.5 minutes. That was less than half of what he had played with the Knicks the previous season, and time enough to score just 3.7 points per game despite hitting 42 percent of his three-point shots.

PHOTO GALLERY: Chris Copeland's 2013-14 Season

He'll test the waters at small forward in the upcoming season, a move he and coach Frank Vogel were considering by the end of last season and one that became a better idea than ever after Paul George, broke his leg on Aug. 1. C.J. Miles and Solomon Hill also will contend for playing time there, with Miles the early favorite to start, but Copeland should get more calls to action than last season – particularly with Vogel's plan to use a 10-man rotation throughout the regular season. 

“I look for Chris Copeland to get a lot more minutes at the wing spot,” Vogel said earlier this week, a pronouncement that would have brought applause had fans heard it.

To make the change, however, Copeland had to make some changes. He wasted no time going about it, showing up to work out at Bankers Life Fieldhouse the first day of the off-season after the Game 6 loss to Miami in the Eastern Conference finals. He came back at least four days each week after that, aside from a week in which he competed in a tournament and the rookie orientation program.   

“I hadn't gone through the rigors of an 82-game season, let's be honest, so I was anxious to get better,” Copeland said. “I wanted to make my presence felt this year.

“I trusted the staff. (Strength and Conditioning Coach) Shawn Windle promised me, if I stayed with him for the summer I'd be in the best shape of  my life. He was correct. I still have a ways to go but I'm definitely in the best shape I've ever been in.”

Copeland's weight had surpassed 240 pounds at times last season, but plunged to 222 after just one month of off-season workouts. He then had to go about putting some back on. He's about 230 now, and plans to stay there. He reduced his meal portions and “lived in the weight room” to become stronger and more agile and went through drills designed for his new position. Defending pick-and-rolls and chasing the likes of George Hill off screens, for example.

“He's not at his ceiling in terms of agility and conditioning, but he's dramatically further ahead than this time last year,” Vogel said.

The mental adjustment will be at least as great as the physical. The Pacers' offense doesn't differentiate much between shooting guards (twos) and small forwards (threes) but there's a significant divergence from small forward to power forward (fours). Small forwards play more on the perimeter, and will likely have to chase opponents around screens and deep into the corners. They also have to be able to contain the dribble of quicker players, rather than focusing on defending post-ups.

Copeland played the position some in New York, although in an entirely different offense, and he got some chances at the position last season –  just not enough of them to be come well-acquainted with it. 

SEE ALSO: Predicting the Pacers' 2014-15 Lineup and Rotation

“Even though he's not a natural small forward, he's capable if he's made to learn those responsibilities fulltime,” Vogel said. “The times we tried him there last year, we didn't give him a high volume of reps in training camp and practice. If he failed last year, I don't think it's solely on him. He needs a lot of time and reps to learn that position.

Copeland is by all accounts quicker and faster, but needs to develop new playing habits, both offensively and defensively. Hanging around the three-point line on offense, as he did much of last season as a “stretch four” won't be enough this time around, and he won't be able to hide as much on defense.

“He's moving faster,” assistant coach Dan Burke said, “but he's got to maintain that level and he hasn't been able to do that yet. He has to play with a certain force and speed, and he's still figuring it out.”

Copeland should find some advantages on offense at his new position by posting up other small forwards, and he still should be able to take some off the dribble with his deceiving quickness, as he did late last season when he hit the game-winning shot at Milwaukee by driving into the foul lane.

The greater challenge will come on defense against quicker players, although one that should be mitigated by the fact he'll likely be playing mostly against backup small forwards. The Pacers' enhanced emphasis on team defense, necessitated by George's absence, will add further complexity to the position.

“I think he can do well enough (on defense) to let his offense shine,” Vogel said. “Is he going to be Paul George? He's not going to be Paul George. He's got to work at it. He's got to bring a great deal of spirit and competitiveness to that end and pick up his assignments.”

Added Burke: “ You're never out of a play, the way we're supposed to play. He's still hell-bent on guarding his guy and when he gives up the ball he thinks he's done. No, you've got to get back to your help spot for the next play. And, we're going to ask him to be a big-time help-side rebounder for us. You can never relax.”

Copeland hasn't. But he is hoping to put down some roots in Indianapolis. He bought a house on the northeast side last year, and while he'll be a free agent after the upcoming season, he hopes to make the city a long-term home. He's comfortable enough off the court now to have reacquired his dog, a Husky named Dama (Serbian for “lady”), from his mother.

“I'm hoping to be here for some time,” he said.

At least and at last, he's positioned for a fresh start.  

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Copeland Hopes Transition Brings Stability

A day after promising not to talk much with the media this season, and only moments after media relations director David Benner had cajoled him into stopping for a chat following the opening practice of training camp, Roy Hibbert talked on Tuesday.

He talked rather expansively, too. About his summer workouts with NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, his plan to be a more effective low-post player in the upcoming season and his refreshed and revised outlook.

All of those things became necessary given the way Hibbert finished last season, when he was the most obvious of several factors that led to a disappointing finish. After playing in the All-Star game for the second time in February, he struggled with his reduced role in the offense late in the season, and lost confidence along the way. He hit just 3-of-28 shots in the final four regular season games, and had six scoreless games over the final 23, playoffs included.

His importance to the team's game-by-game fate was obvious. The Pacers lost three of the four playoff games in which he failed to score, and were 7-2 when he scored in double figures.

Hibbert is a sensitive soul by nature. That might have hurt him late last season, when he dug himself a hole after accusing some teammates of selfishness, but it probably helped him in the off-season as he dedicated himself to climbing out and quieting the criticism.

“It was unfortunate,” Hibbert said Tuesday. “I know I could have played better. I take full responsibility for that. It's a new year and I have confidence in myself. I'm just going to go out and play extremely hard. I'm not going to say last year didn't happen. I realize it did.  I'll work through it and get better.”

One major step toward improvement was to work with Abdul-Jabbar, owner of six NBA Most Valuable Player awards and 19 All-Star game appearances. The two worked together on the Bankers Life Fieldhouse practice court late in July. When it concluded on July 26, Hibbert shared his enthusiasm with the world via an afternoon tweet: “Just finished the best week ever!” 

Hibbert also watched ninja movies with Abdul-Jabbar and dined with Abdul-Jabbar and team president Larry Bird at a downtown restaurant one evening.

“I'm like a fly on the wall, hearing some of the stuff they talked about,” he said. “Realizing (Abdul-Jabbar) didn't have chartered flights until about two years after he retired. They were going back and forth talking about a lot of things. I learned a lot.”

More relevantly, Jabbar convinced Hibbert of the importance of agility, lower body strength and becoming more explosive around the basket by crouching lower.

“He's big into martial arts and balance,” Hibbert said. “That's one of the things he saw with me – positioning and making sure I don't fall and making sure I worked to create space and own that space.”

Not that Pacers coaches hadn't been preaching the same thing. 

“Kareem said his career didn't really take off until he learned how to get low, and Roy took that to heart,” said Frank Vogel, who watched all of Hibbert's workouts with Abdul-Jabbar. “It's something we've always worked on him with, but to hear Kareem say that it changed his career resonates with Roy a little more.”

Hibbert flashed his new approach toward the end of Tuesday's workout, after media members were allowed in to watch, taking an entry pass from David West, ducking to gather himself in front of the basket, and dunking the ball. He plans to make more a habit of that in the upcoming season, rather than allowing himself to be pushed away from the basket and throwing up awkward shots.

“We looked at the analytics, and when I'm three or four feet off the block, that's when my percentages go down,” he said. 

Establishing a beachhead near the basket, and doing something once he's there, will require more strength and agility. Hibbert said he has dropped about 12 pounds since last season, from 290 to 278, and focused more of his weight training on his lower body. The plan is to be quicker around the basket, and therefore more of a scoring threat – primarily by dunking the ball.

“He looks a little lighter and bouncier,” Vogel said. “He had a good hop in his step in September.”

For that to continue into the Spring will require a collective effort, and will hinge on psychological as well as physical matters. Hibbert will need opportunities to show off whatever offensive improvements he has made, which seems a virtual certainty with Lance Stephenson and Paul George out of the offense. Those two combined for 28.3 field goal attempts last season, nearly as many as the other three starters combined to take (29.1). Stephenson and George were dynamic players who could get to the rim for easy shots, so it made sense to turn them loose. But their success came at the expense of Hibbert more than anyone. 

This year, the Pacers will have to share the ball more to compete. And that will be just fine with Hibbert, a close friend of San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan and a fan of the pass-oriented style of play that carried the Spurs to the NBA championship last season.

“The mindset is to make sure everybody gets a piece of the pie and gets a chance to compete,” Hibbert said Monday.

Hibbert also has taken an example from Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, who has become one of the NBA's best centers without relying on scoring. Noah averaged just 12.6 points last season, his career-high, but became an All-Star for the second time and won the Defensive Player of the Year award that many thought would go to Hibbert at the beginning of last season. Noah averaged career highs in rebounding (11.3), assists (5.4) and steals (1.2), and was never heard to complain about touches.

“As much as he gets under people's skin, he brings a lot of effort and I respect him for that,” Hibbert said. “I'm going to see if I can do that.”

Such is the irony of Hibbert's revised mindset. He'll try to care less about scoring, but will get more scoring opportunities. The kind that can be slammed through the basket, along with last season's worries.