The Pacers held their first practice of the 2014-15 season on Tuesday morning at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

As is the case every year when camp opens, there was a palpable excitement among the Pacers players and coaches as they embarked on a new year.

“I wouldn’t say (it’s) like the first day of school because no one had a fresh outfit laid out and ironed and things like that,” Pacers point guard George Hill joked.

Seriously, though, Hill added: “It’s always good to get back and see the guys from over the summer and see what they’ve done.”

While Indiana returns 10 players from last year’s roster, this year has a decidedly different feel. Lance Stephenson’s departure in free agency and Paul George’s leg injury created two openings in the starting lineup.

Still, Pacers head coach Frank Vogel reiterated on Tuesday that he expects his team to compete with the top teams in the NBA.

“We have reasonable belief that we’re going to be really good,” Vogel said. “And I think that our guys are approaching their work ethic that way.”

The biggest question heading into this year’s camp is how Vogel will choose distribute minutes on the wing. He has an array of options.

Veteran free agents Rodney Stuckey and C.J. Miles are proven scorers. Second-year player Solomon Hill has the physical tools to develop into an excellent defender. Sharpshooter Chris Copeland has moved from power forward to small forward to give Vogel another weapon. Croatian import Damjan Rudez was one of the best shooters in Europe.

“Obviously, we’ve got a big hole at both wing positions,” Vogel said. “Guys are going to get opportunities that they wouldn’t ordinarily have gotten elsewhere, and I look forward to seeing them step up.”

The media was allowed to watch the last 15 minutes of practice on Tuesday. During that time, the players were divided into three teams.

Returning starters George Hill, David West, and Roy Hibbert headlined the “blue” team, which also featured Stuckey at shooting guard and Solomon Hill at small forward.

But don’t read too much into that. Vogel isn’t going to commit to a starting lineup right away, and Miles, Copeland, and Rudez all figure to get shots with the first unit.

C.J. Watson, Adonis Thomas, Copeland, Luis Scola, and Lavoy Allen made up the “white” team, while the “gold” team consisted of Donald Sloan, Chris Singleton, Damjan Rudez, Shayne Whittington, Arinze Onuaku, and C.J. Fair.

Miles sat out the last portion of practice on a precautionary basis as he recovers from a strained calf.

Backup center Ian Mahinmi was sidelined with a shoulder injury suffered just before the start of the FIBA World Cup in August, though he did take part in conditioning drills at the end of practice.

The team will practice again on Tuesday night and meet with the media again following their third practice on Wednesday morning.

Stuckey Fitting Right In

Rodney Stuckey is no stranger to learning a new system. Though he spent each of his first seven seasons in Detroit, Stuckey was quick to point out on Tuesday that he had six coaches in those seven years.

So Stuckey is in hardly unfamiliar territory in his first training camp in Indiana. Though he insisted “it’s going to take some time” to learn the ins and outs of Vogel’s schemes and acclimate himself to playing with new teammates, Stuckey looked sharp in Tuesday’s practice.

In a three-on-two drill, Stuckey caught the ball on the left wing from George Hill and confidently knocked down a mid-range jumper.

Later, in five-on-five work, Stuckey drove baseline only to kick the ball back over the defense to a wide-open West at the top of the key.

On the next possession, Stuckey ran a well-timed give-and-go with Hibbert on the left block that resulted in an easy layup.

“Stuckey looked really good today, moving,” Hill said afterwards.

Added Vogel: ““I think he’s going to give us a lot of scoring punch, and quality play and veteran experience at the wing spot.”

It’s too early to tell whether Stuckey will earn a starting nod or come off the bench, but he should give the Pacers a nice offensive boost in either role. The 6-foot-5 combo guard averaged 13.4 points and 3.9 assists per game in his seven years with the Pistons.

“I’ll fit in,” Stuckey said. “Coach is going to make me fit in. He’s going put me in the positions for me to succeed, and I’m excited for that.”

Stephenson enjoyed a breakout season last year as Vogel’s staff found ways to utilize his gifts as a penetrator and creator. Stuckey possesses similar skills and believes he could flourish in a similar fashion if given the opportunity.

“My game is to attack, get to the free throw line, create for my teammates,” Stuckey said. “And that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

Hill Embracing Opportunity

While Stuckey and C.J. Miles have extensive NBA resumes, Solomon Hill is more of an unknown quantity.

The 23rd overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Hill appeared in just 28 games as a rookie. With George, Stephenson, Rasual Butler, and either Danny Granger or Evan Turner on the roster, minutes on the wing were hard to come by for the former Arizona standout.

But just a year later, Hill’s situation has taken a complete 180. It wouldn’t be a massive surprise to see Hill in the starting lineup on Opening Night, and the 23-year-old will undoubtedly receive significant minutes throughout the season.

“There’s an opportunity there, you just have to step up and be ready (to) take it in practice before the games come,” Hill said Tuesday. “There’s a lot of guys that see that same opportunity, so practices are going to be more competitive than ever.”

Vogel believes that Hill is ready for that challenge. He reminded reporters that Stephenson earned a starting spot early in the 2012-13 season after not even being a part of the Pacers’ rotation in 2011-12.

Vogel believes that Hill possesses the talent to make a similar leap.

“I think if he got big minutes last year that he would have really helped us and he would have done really well,” Vogel said. “I have the same expectation this year except he’s not going to be as much of a deer in the headlights when he gets his opportunity, because he’s going to get that opportunity regularly.”

Hill, for his part, believes that watching George and Stephenson and the other veterans in front of him last year helped him grow as a player.

He wants to contribute on the offensive end, and worked hard on fine-tuning his 3-point shot over the summer, but Hill knows that the bulk of his work this season will come on the defensive end.

Vogel has said multiple times that Hill possesses the potential to become “an elite defender” and singled the second-year forward out on media day as a player capable of filling George’s shoes as the Blue-and-Gold’s top perimeter defender.

“We’re a defensive team first,” Hill said. “Offense will come later and we have weapons on offense to take care of that, but defensively we all have to be on the same page.”