Spurs betting on Hill
Jeff McDonald
LAS VEGAS — Spurs guard George Hill can sum up memories of his first trip to Sin City in two horrific words.
“Shooting slump,” he said. “That's the biggest thing I remember.”
As a rookie a year ago, Hill strode into his first NBA summer league with high hopes and a high roller's confidence. He left like so many other Las Vegas losers, the destitute victim of his own bad luck.
After Hill went 2 of 25 from the floor in three games, the buzz among the basketball glitterati gathered in the desert was palpable: The Spurs had already crapped out on their first-round draft pick.
Somehow, Hill survived his first bout of professional failure. He wound up turning in a solid if unspectacular rookie season, proving himself at least to be a credible NBA player.
Today, Hill is back in Vegas for the start of his second summer league. He returns to the scene of his 23 missed field goals with something new to prove.
Now, he must show the world — starting with the Spurs — that he can be a credible NBA point guard.
“We're going to say, ‘Hey, show us you can play the point,” said Spurs assistant coach Don Newman, who will guide the summer-league squad. “‘Show us you can be the backup guard to Tony Parker.'”
Hill's progress will be an essential storyline of summer league, which for the Spurs' entry begins today against a group from New Orleans.
For much of last season, backup point guard was a sore spot for the Spurs, who toggled through a conga line of unsatisfactory options.
They are hoping Hill, now on the cusp of his second pro season, will be the answer. The job is his to win or lose.
The Spurs do not plan to bring back veteran Jacque Vaughn, nor have they made much of an attempt to secure another point guard through free agency.
“He's going to have every right to earn that position,” Newman said. “I think he'll do it.”
Last season was very much a trial-by-fire for Hill, who not only had to adjust to life in the NBA but had to learn a new position on the fly.
Hill, 6-foot-2, had never played point guard before he showed up in San Antonio last season, selected with the No. 26 overall pick out of little-known Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis.
He acquitted himself well early in the season.
Injuries decimated the Spurs' backcourt, and Hill found himself a starting point guard six games into his pro career. He scored in double figures in 17 of his first 20 games, including a trio of 20-point performances.
In that, he proved one point. Vegas was a fluke.
“He showed us he has a bright future in this league,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Eventually, Hill's shooting yips caught up with him again, as did the grind of an 82-game season.
He shot 40.3 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from the 3-point line, numbers that have earned him an offseason date with shooting coach Chip Engelland.
By the time the playoffs rolled around, Hill had largely fallen out of the rotation, as Popovich opted to give point-guard playing time to more experienced hands.
“(Point guard) is the hardest position you can ever learn in the NBA,” said Hill, who averaged 5.7 points last season. “Especially coming from a small school and always playing the ‘two' (shooting guard) my whole life. It was a lot to digest.”
This week in Vegas, Hill will have plenty of chances to showcase all he has learned in the past 12 months.
The Spurs will hand him the ball and let him run their summer-league team, sink or swim. It will be, quite literally, the Summer of George.
As Hill returns to the site of his first professional flop, this time with 81 games of NBA experience under his belt, he will not have to fight hard against the urge to say, “I told you so.”
Before he can erase memories of a bad Vegas trip, Hill still has a point to prove.
“People are going to like you, or they're going to hate you,” Hill said. “That's life. I'm just going to control what I can control. All I know is, I can work hard to be the player they want me to be.”
