Pacers waive Sam Young; Indiana’s Hibbert looks good vs. Bucks

admin January 6, 2013 0

By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers announced Sunday they have waived forward Sam Young.

Young, the fourth-year player out of Pitt, was signed as a free agent by the Pacers in September. He played in 28 games and averaged 3.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

Young has a sprained left ankle, and the veteran has a history of problems with both ankles. He said he was never healthy last season. Young had to worry because of his partially guaranteed contract. On Jan. 10, all player contracts become guaranteed for the rest of the season, so the move wasn’t a surprise.

Additionally, the Pacers announced Sunday they have recalled rookie center Miles Plumlee from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA D-League.

SATURDAY’S GAME

INDIANAPOLIS – Roy Hibbert said he wanted to make sure he scored the first basket of the game.

He converted a lefty hook over Larry Sanders, and the Indiana Pacers – and Hibbert – mostly rolled from there in a 95-80 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Hibbert was the best player on the floor Saturday night. He had 20 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks. The center with the max contract made 8 of 16 shots in a year he has mysteriously struggled to convert around the basket.

Hibbert didn’t gloat in the locker room afterward. In fact, judging by his soft-spoken sentences and generic platitudes, one would have thought the Pacers lost the game.

For the first time in three tries against Milwaukee, Indiana certainly did not.

After halftime, the Bucks couldn’t find a quality shot with a search warrant, and things went downhill to the point Brandon Jennings didn’t even bother running up the floor after a fourth-quarter turnover. Instead, Jennings stood out of bounds as Indiana converted the power play.

Basically it was a lack of energy in the second half that allowed them to pull away, said Jennings, the star point guard who had 12 points and fewer still that mattered.

The Pacers’ defense, which has reached Chicago-esque levels of effectiveness, had more than a little to do with Milwaukee’s ineptitude.

In 15 of Indiana’s 34 games, the opposing team has shot under 40 percent from the field. When the other guys can’t throw it in the ocean, the Pacers’ offense – a unit well below league average – doesn’t have to do much to win games.

Sure, Indiana coach Frank Vogel tossed in some new wrinkles – a super big lineup with Jeff Pendergraph at small forward here, a two-point guard lineup there.

But this victory was encouraging because it followed the tried-and-true formula – with one departure.

Paul George and David West, the high-scoring forwards, had only 15 points in the first three quarters and shot a combined 7-of-20 overall. The night before, in Boston, George and West had suffered through a nightmarish 8-for-36 evening that ended in a Celtics walkover.

This time, other players scored the points and made the shots that the go-to guys couldn’t. And that is progress for Indiana, which has struggled to find bench scoring all season.

Orlando Johnson got his first crack at solving the instant offense dilemma, posting seven points in nine first-half minutes.

I’ve been waiting for this, said Johnson, a second-round draft choice from Cal-Santa Barbara. It felt good. I’ve been getting my legs under me.”

Vogel seemed pleased with Johnson’s first foray into meaningful action, assessing the shooting guard’s defense as solid.

So Johnson might have many more nights to look forward to. This one belonged to Hibbert.

Did Hibbert’s confidence need a game like this? Vogel said it’s hard to tell. But it can’t hurt.

When you believe fully it’s going to come, it’s going to come, Vogel said. You can’t fake that.