lurker23
03-01-2010, 11:39 AM
As part of the Raising the Bar series of features, I intend on doing an “Unheralded Player” segment at least every month, and sometimes more frequently as time/energy/ideas dictate. This segment is intended to highlight a Spurs player who has performed well, but perhaps hasn't gotten as much attention from SpursTalk or other outlets as he deserves.
For February 2010, there were several good candidates for this award, especially since it has been a month (for good reason) where fans focused on the large scale problems of the team, rather than the small scale positives. For example, Antonio McDyess has quietly begun to put up the stats the Spurs anticipated when they brought him in. In February, Dice played 7 games in which he received 18 or more minutes, averaging 8.0 points and 8.6 rebounds in those games. Manu Ginobili has slowly but surely come closer to the Manu of old in the month of February, averaging 18.5 points, 4.7 assists, and 4.5 rebounds in 11 games for the month. While nothing Manu does is all that quiet, he still hasn't received quite enough attention for finally putting a lot of his game together.
However, for my first Unheralded Player of the Month feature, I'd like to focus on George Hill. In February, George started all 11 games for the Spurs, sometimes at SG and sometimes at PG. As usual, George Hill has been playing solid defense on the perimeter. He's not Bruce Bowen yet, of course, but his focus on defense continues to be impressive for a second year player. More surprising is that, almost overnight, Hill has become one of the top offensive options for this Spurs ball club. In February, he averaged an impressive 15.9 points per game on 62 of 134 from the field (46.3%) and 13 of 35 from three-point range (37.1%). His minutes per game were at a career high this month (35.5), and he generally managed to keep his secondary stats at a similar rate per 48 minutes, including a steady 2:1 assist/turnover ratio. He's scored in double figures in 19 of his last 23 games, including scoring 15 or more points in 14 of his last 18 games. Read that last sentence again and tell me that isn't impressive for the second year guard out of IUPUI.
The remarkable story of George Hill is about more than just what he's done over the past month, however. It's more about the lightning quick way he's shot up the NBA ranks. In a mere year and a half, George Hill has gone from being a potential draft day joke (reactions on SpursTalk were generally, “Who?” and “WTF??!!” and general screams of outrage saying that we should have drafted at least half a dozen different guys before even considering George Hill), to being a solid back-up point guard, to now becoming arguably the best all-around starting SG (short of Manu) that the Spurs have had since the departure of Stephen Jackson. I'm not exaggerating; which starting SG for the Spurs has played better on both ends of the court than George Hill played in the last month?
All of this doesn't mean that Hill doesn't have room for improvement. Despite his solid defense, he's still prone to games where his man gets the best of him, and he still commits some rookie-like mistakes. Despite his improved scoring average and the all-important ability to hit the corner 3, he still settles for his jump shot too much, when he should be using his youth and athleticism to get the ball to the rim more frequently. Of course, all this begs the question, what is George Hill's ceiling? Can he extend his month of February for a full season, averaging 16+ ppg next year as the Spurs starting SG? Can his defense steadily improve until he's in consideration for the All-Defense team? Can he increase his confidence to the point that he becomes a vital leader both on and off the court for the next generation of Spurs? Only time will tell, but no matter what's in store for the future of George Hill, he can always look back at February 2010 and say, “Man, it may not have been a good month for the Spurs, but it was a great month for me.”
For February 2010, there were several good candidates for this award, especially since it has been a month (for good reason) where fans focused on the large scale problems of the team, rather than the small scale positives. For example, Antonio McDyess has quietly begun to put up the stats the Spurs anticipated when they brought him in. In February, Dice played 7 games in which he received 18 or more minutes, averaging 8.0 points and 8.6 rebounds in those games. Manu Ginobili has slowly but surely come closer to the Manu of old in the month of February, averaging 18.5 points, 4.7 assists, and 4.5 rebounds in 11 games for the month. While nothing Manu does is all that quiet, he still hasn't received quite enough attention for finally putting a lot of his game together.
However, for my first Unheralded Player of the Month feature, I'd like to focus on George Hill. In February, George started all 11 games for the Spurs, sometimes at SG and sometimes at PG. As usual, George Hill has been playing solid defense on the perimeter. He's not Bruce Bowen yet, of course, but his focus on defense continues to be impressive for a second year player. More surprising is that, almost overnight, Hill has become one of the top offensive options for this Spurs ball club. In February, he averaged an impressive 15.9 points per game on 62 of 134 from the field (46.3%) and 13 of 35 from three-point range (37.1%). His minutes per game were at a career high this month (35.5), and he generally managed to keep his secondary stats at a similar rate per 48 minutes, including a steady 2:1 assist/turnover ratio. He's scored in double figures in 19 of his last 23 games, including scoring 15 or more points in 14 of his last 18 games. Read that last sentence again and tell me that isn't impressive for the second year guard out of IUPUI.
The remarkable story of George Hill is about more than just what he's done over the past month, however. It's more about the lightning quick way he's shot up the NBA ranks. In a mere year and a half, George Hill has gone from being a potential draft day joke (reactions on SpursTalk were generally, “Who?” and “WTF??!!” and general screams of outrage saying that we should have drafted at least half a dozen different guys before even considering George Hill), to being a solid back-up point guard, to now becoming arguably the best all-around starting SG (short of Manu) that the Spurs have had since the departure of Stephen Jackson. I'm not exaggerating; which starting SG for the Spurs has played better on both ends of the court than George Hill played in the last month?
All of this doesn't mean that Hill doesn't have room for improvement. Despite his solid defense, he's still prone to games where his man gets the best of him, and he still commits some rookie-like mistakes. Despite his improved scoring average and the all-important ability to hit the corner 3, he still settles for his jump shot too much, when he should be using his youth and athleticism to get the ball to the rim more frequently. Of course, all this begs the question, what is George Hill's ceiling? Can he extend his month of February for a full season, averaging 16+ ppg next year as the Spurs starting SG? Can his defense steadily improve until he's in consideration for the All-Defense team? Can he increase his confidence to the point that he becomes a vital leader both on and off the court for the next generation of Spurs? Only time will tell, but no matter what's in store for the future of George Hill, he can always look back at February 2010 and say, “Man, it may not have been a good month for the Spurs, but it was a great month for me.”