Opportunity knocks for Pacers' Joe Young

Candace Buckner | IndyStar

CHICAGO — When the Indiana Pacers boarded the charter plane for the short flight to Chicago, 6-foot-2 rookie Joe Young noticed an empty seat, the one belonging to the veteran he has studied from the sideline. George Hill, back in Indianapolis with an upper respiratory infection, did not make the trip for the Pacers’ two road games that began Monday night in Chicago. Hill’s illness moved Monta Ellis to the starting point guard role and promoted Young from the bench to backup.

“I was on the plane,” Young said, explaining how Pacers coach Frank Vogel shared the news. “He told Monta and turned around and smiled at me and was like, ‘Hey, your opportunity is here. George is not on the plane as you see. Your opportunity is here, now it’s (time) to show it.’ ”

Young backed up Hill through the preseason, but when the regular season started, the Pacers preferred veteran Rodney Stuckey to anchor the second unit. But Stuckey also missed Monday night's game, with a sprained right ankle.

So Young, the second-round draft pick bursting with self-belief, played his first significant minutes of the season during the Pacers’ 96-95 loss to the Bulls. Young logged just over 12 minutes, scoring 5 points. Young did not commit a turnover and though he made safe decisions, he also did not register an assist.

After Monday’s loss, Paul George spoke generally about how all available bodies for the Pacers will need to play bigger roles in the absence of injured players but expressly pointed to Young.

“I think Joe,” George said, “Really it was his first time getting his feet wet, he’s going to have to play huge for us because it’s going to drain Monta. We’re going to need Joe to step up and play some huge minutes for us.”

In Chicago, George nearly matched his season high by playing 38 minutes, 31 seconds while Ellis logged just under 36 minutes. Before the game both George and Ellis knew their time on the floor would be extended and early in the fourth quarter, the pair had to return to the court along with C.J.Miles when the game began to slip away from the reserves.

At that point, Young’s night as the designated point guard came to an end. Within the context that Young has played sparingly since the preseason, his Monday night performance was satisfactory.

To Miles, the rookie held his own on the floor. Miles specifically highlighted how Young drew two shooting fouls against Derrick Rose, each time luring the former MVP to create contact as he attempted pull-up jumpers. Later, in the third quarter, Young made his only field goal of the game by draining a midrange jumper as Rose got caught up in a screen by Lavoy Allen.

“There wasn’t a drop off,” Miles said of Young as a backup.

While Young has sat this season, he said he has watched and learned. During Pacers’ games, he’s surveying the actions of Hill and Ellis. Afterward, the study expands to include Stephen Curry, Chris Paul and Mike Conley.

“Just taking what they have. It’s free stuff. If you can work on it, get better and put it in your game, it’s for anybody,” Young said. “I’m getting more comfortable in learning the game. I’m really becoming a vet in my head. … They call me rookie but inside, I think I’m a vet.”

In Chicago, Young jumped into the fire against wiser and better counterparts — Kirk Hinrich and Rose — but could face more comparable competition when the Pacers face the winless Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. The 76ers start an undrafted rookie at point guard in T.J. McConnell and 6-1 Isaiah Canaan comes off the bench. Young’s teammates trust he can step up. Of course, as confident as he is, Young believes the same. Still, Young wants to show even more.

“I just take it as these two games that George is not going to be here, just play the best I can,” Young said. “Put my best foot forward and play the best I can where I can show (Vogel), ‘Now I can put Joe in the rotation. We trust him. We had to put him here in Chicago and we had to put him in Philadelphia and he made the difference.’”

Follow Star reporter Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.