Nate Taylor

nate.taylor@indystar.com

Joe Young and Glenn Robinson III have been challenged by Nate McMillan. The message from the new Indiana Pacers coach was blunt: Show your worth this summer.

Young, 24, and Robinson, 22, will try to demonstrate their value and display their improvement to McMillan next week in summer league play. The Pacers revamped their starting lineup last week by acquiring Jeff Teague and Thaddeus Young in two trades, but McMillan stressed the team will need to have better production next season from its reserves.

Young and Robinson hope to fill those roles alongside veterans Rodney Stuckey, C.J. Miles and Lavoy Allen. McMillan said how Young and Robinson perform in the summer league, which starts Saturday, will be a pivotal step in terms of their chances of being in the rotation next season.

“Both of those guys are in the same position,” McMillan said Tuesday. “This is a big summer for them and it’s an opportunity for them to show us what they’re capable of doing. I think it’s important they show us right away. They need to show myself and show Larry (Bird) that we have a backup guard and we have a backup wing.”

Young and Robinson were used sparingly last season by former coach Frank Vogel. Young, a 6-2 point guard, averaged 3.8 points and 1.6 assists in 41 games as a rookie. Robinson, a 6-6 small forward, averaged 3.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 45 games.

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Since last season ended, Young and Robinson have spent much of their time in Bankers Life Fieldhouse. They have trained together and with other young players on the roster such as Rakeem Christmas, Shayne Whittington and Myles Turner.

“I thought my rookie season went great,” Young said. “Not a lot of second-rounders got to play as much as I did. I took advantage of that. The coaches feel like I did a great job when I did have the opportunity, and I just want to build off of that.”

Both are expected to play the majority of the minutes during the summer league and McMillan said Young and Robinson will need to show better aggressiveness on offense and be more effective on defense.

Robinson said he knows he is capable of impressing. Last summer, Robinson played well on the Atlanta Hawks’ summer league team after he spent his rookie season with the Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves. That led to Bird signing Robinson to a three-year, $3.2 million deal last July.

Robinson’s next goal is to go from a fringe player in the NBA to a consistent role player.

“We need another wing defender,” he said. “Offense will come, you know, for anybody, but I think that’s the biggest key that they’re looking for. (Paul George) is a great wing defender, so if we have two of them out there, it’s to our advantage.”

Robinson also said the Pacers’ new style, an up tempo offense, should better display his skills, which he showed during the early part of last season.

“I am a guy who can get up and down the court and is willing to run and get that defense shifted,” he said Tuesday. “I think it’s definitely to my advantage and I’m just looking forward to playing at a higher speed.”

Young hopes to be a more consistent shooter – just 21.7 percent from behind the arc – and become more of a facilitator. He has gained 15 pounds since last season and now weighs 197 pounds. Young said the added strength, in his core in particular, should help him score better in traffic and provide more resistance on defense.

“I’m doing everything I can do to improve,” he said. “I think I’m 100 more times better. From the season being over until now, I just put so much work in that I feel like I got better. I’m just working hard for my opportunity and once I get that opportunity, this world is going to get a taste of it.”

McMillan will see if Young and Robinson prove to be right.

Call IndyStar reporter Nate Taylor at (317) 444-6484. Follow him on Twitter: @ByNateTaylor.

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