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12-18-2007, 03:57 AM
Buck Harvey: Years later, Hill finally alters Spurs
Web Posted: 12/18/2007 12:20 AM CST
Buck Harvey
Express-News Staff Writer
Mike D’Antoni’s angry face was back in town, as was Jack Nies’ confused one.
Back, too, was some familiar violence. Robert Horry slammed into Steve Nash again.
It wasn’t the same. This time, Horry bounced Nash off of Bruce Bowen instead of the scorer’s table, and Nash also failed to add a dramatic touch. He chipped a tooth in a game last week, and he could have waited until Monday.
Still, they acted as if last May’s series had never stopped, with every participant present and sweating except for Tony Parker and David Stern. And with just under three minutes left, with Amare Stoudemire leaving his feet again and Tim Duncan rising again, the Spurs were ready to do what they did before.
That’s when Grant Hill, as he threatened to do once before, got in the Spurs’ way.
Hill said he didn’t watch a minute of the Spurs-Suns series last spring. “I was still recovering from my seven years in Orlando,” he said, and he was smiling.
Now he can smile. He’s finally playing in games that matter.
But he was supposed to do this for a career. He was once a kindler, gentler Jordan, and when he visited the Magic in 2000, he was ready to change the NBA landscape. Duncan traveled with him.
The prize free agents of that summer were friendly, and they had the same agent. But they weren’t a package. That didn’t make the Spurs feel any better, however, and they envisioned the worst. Hill was ready to commit to the Magic, and the Spurs feared he would persuade Duncan to follow.
Hill, as much as Orlando, appeared to be the Spurs’ enemy.
But Duncan hesitated, and Hill didn’t try to talk him out of it. Later, Gregg Popovich flew to Detroit to recruit Hill, though both clearly understood the roadblocks. The Spurs didn’t have the necessary cap room.
Still they talked. And afterward, Hill called Duncan to share how impressed he had been with his coach. “I know why you have a tough decision,” Hill said then.
Duncan would go on to win three more titles. Hill would go from ice pack to ice pack. He missed 374 of 574 regular-season games over the next seven years, and he also missed something that Spurs fans have enjoyed for a decade — rivalries.
Hill says the closest he’s had is Carolina-Duke. And when he was told Monday night how sad that sounded, he nodded. “It is sad. And it’s the truth.”
Last summer, his 2000 contract finally completed, Hill faced what Michael Finley faced two years ago. Free to choose any team — and ready to play for the minimum — Hill looked to play for a winner.
Hill would have been a perfect Spur. At 35, he would have made them younger.
His famously chronic ankle would have fit in among the suddenly sore ones owned by Parker and Cisco Elson. And then there’s his football father; Bowen would have loved to hang with the son of a former Dallas Cowboy.
So Hill and Popovich talked last summer, just as they had seven years before. But whereas money had been the issue before, now it was timing. “They had their nucleus,” Hill said.
Hill might have signed with the Suns no matter. “Just all across the board, everything checked out,” Hill said. “OK, except for money.” He earns a little more than Sean Marks.
He gets satisfaction instead, and maybe there is something healthy to this attitude. Hill showed up in Phoenix looking like a revival-tent miracle who has thrown away his crutches. He’s started more games to begin a season since before he went to Orlando.
Hill helps the Suns close the basketball IQ gap with the Spurs, and he also gives Phoenix some poise they didn’t have before. That was clear Monday night after he came from the weakside to block Duncan. Then, with everyone’s hearts racing, he calmly threw in a 17-footer for the lead.
And when Bowen missed? There was Hill, grabbing the rebound, drawing the foul, tossing in the following free throws. The buzzer sounded, and Hill was the only Sun to look toward the Spurs’ bench.
Then he gave a nod to Popovich.
[email protected]
LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA121807.buck-column.en.282f2fc7.html
Web Posted: 12/18/2007 12:20 AM CST
Buck Harvey
Express-News Staff Writer
Mike D’Antoni’s angry face was back in town, as was Jack Nies’ confused one.
Back, too, was some familiar violence. Robert Horry slammed into Steve Nash again.
It wasn’t the same. This time, Horry bounced Nash off of Bruce Bowen instead of the scorer’s table, and Nash also failed to add a dramatic touch. He chipped a tooth in a game last week, and he could have waited until Monday.
Still, they acted as if last May’s series had never stopped, with every participant present and sweating except for Tony Parker and David Stern. And with just under three minutes left, with Amare Stoudemire leaving his feet again and Tim Duncan rising again, the Spurs were ready to do what they did before.
That’s when Grant Hill, as he threatened to do once before, got in the Spurs’ way.
Hill said he didn’t watch a minute of the Spurs-Suns series last spring. “I was still recovering from my seven years in Orlando,” he said, and he was smiling.
Now he can smile. He’s finally playing in games that matter.
But he was supposed to do this for a career. He was once a kindler, gentler Jordan, and when he visited the Magic in 2000, he was ready to change the NBA landscape. Duncan traveled with him.
The prize free agents of that summer were friendly, and they had the same agent. But they weren’t a package. That didn’t make the Spurs feel any better, however, and they envisioned the worst. Hill was ready to commit to the Magic, and the Spurs feared he would persuade Duncan to follow.
Hill, as much as Orlando, appeared to be the Spurs’ enemy.
But Duncan hesitated, and Hill didn’t try to talk him out of it. Later, Gregg Popovich flew to Detroit to recruit Hill, though both clearly understood the roadblocks. The Spurs didn’t have the necessary cap room.
Still they talked. And afterward, Hill called Duncan to share how impressed he had been with his coach. “I know why you have a tough decision,” Hill said then.
Duncan would go on to win three more titles. Hill would go from ice pack to ice pack. He missed 374 of 574 regular-season games over the next seven years, and he also missed something that Spurs fans have enjoyed for a decade — rivalries.
Hill says the closest he’s had is Carolina-Duke. And when he was told Monday night how sad that sounded, he nodded. “It is sad. And it’s the truth.”
Last summer, his 2000 contract finally completed, Hill faced what Michael Finley faced two years ago. Free to choose any team — and ready to play for the minimum — Hill looked to play for a winner.
Hill would have been a perfect Spur. At 35, he would have made them younger.
His famously chronic ankle would have fit in among the suddenly sore ones owned by Parker and Cisco Elson. And then there’s his football father; Bowen would have loved to hang with the son of a former Dallas Cowboy.
So Hill and Popovich talked last summer, just as they had seven years before. But whereas money had been the issue before, now it was timing. “They had their nucleus,” Hill said.
Hill might have signed with the Suns no matter. “Just all across the board, everything checked out,” Hill said. “OK, except for money.” He earns a little more than Sean Marks.
He gets satisfaction instead, and maybe there is something healthy to this attitude. Hill showed up in Phoenix looking like a revival-tent miracle who has thrown away his crutches. He’s started more games to begin a season since before he went to Orlando.
Hill helps the Suns close the basketball IQ gap with the Spurs, and he also gives Phoenix some poise they didn’t have before. That was clear Monday night after he came from the weakside to block Duncan. Then, with everyone’s hearts racing, he calmly threw in a 17-footer for the lead.
And when Bowen missed? There was Hill, grabbing the rebound, drawing the foul, tossing in the following free throws. The buzzer sounded, and Hill was the only Sun to look toward the Spurs’ bench.
Then he gave a nod to Popovich.
[email protected]
LINK: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA121807.buck-column.en.282f2fc7.html