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Not gonna lie, Im lovin me some Jordan Hill.
NYHoopsCoverage, ZagsBlog.com
Mike D’Antoni says he likes to play rookies, just not “bad rookies.”
D’Antoni became defensive Sunday when told that former Knick and current Houston Rockets rookie Jordan Hill said he wasn’t given “the opportunity” to play during his tenure in New York. Hill was dealt to Houston by the Knicks during a three-team deal Feb. 18.
“I don’t like to play bad rookies , I like to play good rookies,” D’Antoni said before Houston met the Knicks Sunday at MSG.
Hill was the No. 8 pick in last June’s NBA Draft but was constantly compared to Milwaukee rookie Brandon Jennings, who was chosen 10th and is in contention for Rookie of the Year honors. The Knicks needed a point guard more than they appeared to need another frontcourt player.
“Jordan was in a position where we had Al [Harrington], Jared [Jeffries], David Lee, I tried to go with [Darko] Milicic for a while,” D’Antoni said.
“He didn’t get a great chance, I agree. But at he same time we’re trying to thread the needle and make the playoffs. There was no reason to say, ‘Jared, you don’t play. Let’s play Jordan.’”
He added: “It’s hard to do that. Until he has proven that he can beat the veteran out. Because you start putting rookies in and you got veterans sitting over there and the veterans [are] playing better. That’s not good for anybody.”
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You mean it's not good for your career win percentage... Typical short-sighted D'Antoni, sacrificing the future on the altar of the immediate...
Funny how on an even better team, in the thick of playoff contention, but for a coach who can develop players, Hill is now being developed - AND BEATING OUT JEFFERIES... Hill is receiving a large quan y of consistent minutes, being utilized in the offense, and, tonight, at Madison Square Garden, in front of fans who gave up on him and the coach that never gave him a chance, Hill put up a career high in points at 13, chipping in 5 rebounds and 3 assists in 25 minutes of play in a Houston win.
Not too shabby for a bad rookie.
D'Antoni would rather ruin a player than develop him if said player isn't the ready-set-go, offensively-skilled type (preferably guard) from the start.
Not gonna lie, Im lovin me some Jordan Hill.
From Jordan Hill's Twitter after today's game: "Giv me da opportunity and ill make da most out of it...DA GOOD ROOKIE!!! ; )"
That's his facebook status as well... I'm glad to see him not only stick it to D'Antoni by proving his worth, but also by proving his worth in a win in which he was a big part.
I ing love Daryl Morey.
He saw the untapped potential and got him for a bag of yag off tube socks.
d'antoni is pretty big for his britches considering the teams he has coached have never proved anything when it mattered. Steve Nash,Amare,Marion made him look like a better coach then he actually is
How does a coach anywhere expect a rookie to beat out a veteran when you don't see what his worth is by playing him in a game?
lol untapped potential... jordan hill in sucks... just look at his game, its so damn awkward and he is not doing anything special for the rockets. the rockets dont really have a choice but to play him since they traded landry and are thin up front. jordan hill will never be anything special in this league, BOOK IT.
son watch your mouth!
How funny thatyou say look at his game, and you can't name anything specifically wrong with it. Lame dude, just lame attempt
If only we had a savior...someone name Ian....
Hill is already better than Ian so doesn't that make him the Alpha Omega?
sure i can i just dont really feel the need to... but heres a few things, low IQ, poor footwork, awkward around the basket, and to top if off hes not even that athletic. hes not what the knicks were hoping for thats why the shipped his ass out, no need to waste time on kwame brown in a power forwards body.
Watching Jordan Hill is like watching Landry come in his rookie year and just decimate opponents. Dude gets to the glass and is taller. He can finish in traffic. Cannot believe D'Antoni would say somthing as stupid as this. Well yes I can...he's a moron.
True. It's not even good for the rookie.
Fans want to see young players on the court at all costs. 90% of the NBA fanbase complains their coach doesn't like young players/rookies. They're more worried with novelty and an outside chance of finding the new big thing than with the quality of the basketball they're paying for.
lol @ hill being anywhere NEAR landry, even as a rookie.... wtf are you smokin ??
If you were aware of Hill's basketball history, you'd understand why some of this is, and also appreciate just how far he's come in such a short period of time in organized basketball. It's obvious he has flaws... players can develop from that. As for the IQ, that couldn't be further from the truth. Adelman cautioned Houston fans to temper their expectations of Hill because his playing time was likely to be light at first due to Adelman's complex offensive schemes. True to his word, Hill played as sparingly as before. However, he caught on and is now contributing, making the smart play and even nets crunch time minutes in close games (though I can't speak for today, as I was on the road). His footwork has improved immensely from his first reps as a freshman at Arizona, and he has increased productivity in every key statistic all while increasing his role within the offense under three different coaches and in three different schemes in his time at Arizona.
Too many coaches, a short time as a big man (late growth spurt in high school found him with new potential in a game he hadn't played in an organized fashion) and then a limited role with his first pro team has his footwork and timing at this level looking awkward. But he is one of the hardest workers out there, and is devoted to playing team basketball. He won't light the league on fire, but he can be a very important player on good teams. If you disagree, that's fine, but it's because of your own blindness and ignorance of the facts.
He is awkward now. Most big men are. Let him develop within a system and with a consistent role and he'll prove his worth. He already is, if you cared to look.
Did you even watch Landry his rookie year? He was getting beat out in the summer league by Mike Harris. Of all players Harris! Then midseason his practices were good enough and Adleman put him in. Started destroying compe ion with his dunks right away.
Yeah, I see that same ability to get to the hoop and dunk in Jordan Hill.
There's nothing more annoying than fans overrating the performance of scrubs/young players in March/April.
Most fanbases don't have D'Antoni as their coach. Big men need time on the court to get accustomed to size and speed of this game. The Knicks weren't going anywhere, yet Hill never saw the court. Perhaps his lack of progression with New York also stems from non-structured scrimmages and lax practices (if any practice at all) and then non-structured offensive schemes that require skills that Hill didn't come complete with, nor was taught by his NBA coach.
Which proves that D'Antoni is not the exception.
Wrong. Fanbases diminishing a first-year player based upon his time under D'Antoni is more annoying. That "scrub" is playing winning basketball for a team that's in playoff contention and is getting better and better by the game. Does he have a long way to go? Sure. Has anyone said anything about future All-Star selections? No. What was said was the facts of the matter. Hill was a better player than D'Antoni gave him credit for, deserved more PT from D'Antoni, and deserves the shot, even this late in his rookie year, that was never given to him by his first professional team.
yes i did see his rookie year as i am actually from houston. hill's game at this point is nowhere near it. and who the is hill dunking on ?? no one. he isnt nearly as explosive as landry. hill is kwame brown, sorry. when yao comes back, this kid will only be used to give a 2nd string guy a breather.
I wasn't even thinking specifically about Hill. I consider Hill a young player, not a scrub. He's potential to be a decent role-player, although nothing more. He's better now than at the start of the season, when he was so horrible that putting him on the floor would hurt, not help, his development.
But there are plenty of Jordan Hills every season. How many 20 points games has Bill Walker had since he was traded to the Knicks? It seems that in this case D'Antoni is the guy willing to give a chance to the young players...
JHill would have been performing better early on if Antoni gave him a chance.
D'Antoni's history provides a context that differs with how you hold and now paint his treatment of young players/rookies. Whether or not he's an exception, most coaches of bottom-5 teams with POS players like Jefferies on their roster will play the top-10 pick some consistent minutes. This isn't a Darko on the eventual Championship Pistons. Hill is proving with minutes that he's more than capable as a rookie, and anyone who says he has no potential beyond the 7-point, 6-rebound in 18 minutes per game production he's been putting up lately doesn't know anything about Hill, or doesn't care, or is blind.
His potential may not be anything greater than Al Horford, but so the what!
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