Spurs New Star: Hill Quickly Rising (Hoopsworld)

[duncan228]

Spurs New Star (http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=16109)
By: Yannis Koutroupis

Hill Quickly Rising: Make no mistake about it, the San Antonio Spurs were stretching a bit when they selected George Hill out of IUPUI 26th overall in the 2008 NBA Draft. In fact, had any other team made the pick it would have been highly criticized and questioned because Hill was a combo guard without much size that played against mediocre competition in college.

The Spurs have proven to be superior when it comes to scouting and finding perfect fits for their system though. Hill showed intriguing flashes as a rookie and at the beginning of this season he was deemed Coach Popovich's favorite player. In the Spurs first round victory over the Dallas Mavericks Hill had his coming out party and is turning out to be the real difference maker for them.

"There is no mystery that he played unbelievably," admitted Manu Ginobili. "In Game Four, he was huge. It was a game that none of the big three had a big night and he led us to the win by making big shots and being the guy out there on the floor. He had eight points (in Game Six) that were very important in a moment that we needed buckets. He played very solid and was very reliable for us. He is playing the most minutes for us on the court because of this."


Keep Reading... (http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=16109)

[Sausage]

Great read. Love the kid and hope he can keep up his high level of play from here on out!

[stnick2261]

Hoopsworld? :rolleyes


In fact, had any other team made the pick it would have been highly criticized and questioned because Hill was a combo guard without much size that played against mediocre competition in college.

Spurs WERE highly criticized. Especially after the first summer league. I'd argue that if the Lakers or Celtics had drafted him (like they said they would have if we didn't), they wouldn't have been criticized as much. Even if they just said "we've got a great team, we can forget about him and just let him develop".


No one ever would have thought in just two short years that Hill would surpass Parker as the Spurs starting point guard. Few coaches in the league would have made the switch in fear of the backlash it would cause with Parker. Coach Popovich has never been afraid to take chances though and most importantly he has the respect of his players to accept whatever he feels is best.

Let's tap the brakes here... when did Hill surpass Parker? Hill has been starting over Parker much like Mason (or Bogans or Barry or Hedo) started over Manu.

[duncan228]

Hoopsworld? :rolleyes

That's why it's in the thread title. You know where it's from before you enter.

[The Truth #6]

Interesting article. The theme of the article was which coach put trust in his young player. Carlisle is blamed for not trusting his young guy even though Pop pretty much did the same thing last year.

It's great that Hill got the opportunity and made the most of it. Still, regarding the article, its funny that Pop is being praised for his trust of youth. In the larger context, that's probably amusing to a lot of Spurs fans.

[Baseline]

Amidst all the Popovich praise, there's another young player who continues to rot on our pine.

His name is Ian Mahinmi. Somebody should introduce him to Pop sometime.

[toki9]

Only one round down...many more to go...

[blizz]

He's NOT that good man. Get off his sack.


Amidst all the Popovich praise, there's another young player who continues to rot on our pine.

His name is Ian Mahinmi. Somebody should introduce him to Pop sometime.

[024]

Hill responded to Popovich's challenge, scoring 17 points on 7-8 shooting from the field. On a crucial play in the 4th quarter he even waved of Manu, one of the game's greats in clutch moments, calling his own number instead.

"It was a point that we were struggling and I wanted to get the ball and he said that he wanted it and ran it well and made the shot," described Manu. "He was the point at the time and he had to take over. If he thinks he is confident and playing well, it's his job to decide who takes the shot."

i actually remember this. the mavs were practically breathing down the spurs' necks. hill had the ball and ginobili kept pestering him for it but hill wouldn't give it to him. ginobili kept running back and forth asking for the ball but hill kept waving him off. i remember thinking that hill better know what he's doing. he ended making a jump shot so it was good.