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Love the article man..keep em coming...
Hill in race for Rookie of the Year ... sort of
Mike Monroe
The race for Rookie of the Year is between Chicago's Derrick Rose and Memphis' O.J. Mayo, the Nos. 1 and 3 picks in the 2009 draft.
Spurs rookie George Hill is in a rookie race that is just as compelling: Championship Contender Rookie of the Year.
That is a two-man race, as well. The only other rookie making a meaningful contribution on one of the legitimate le contenders is Orlando's Courtney Lee.
Hill has played in all but two of the Spurs' 54 games, averaging 18.0 minutes, 6.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists. His bigger contribution has been at the defensive end, which is the reason Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has given him all that playing time in the first place.
Lee has played in 50 games for the Magic, starting 15. His numbers are similar to Hill's — 7.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists.
Trail Blazers fans will protest that Nicolas Batum, taken one pick ahead of Hill on draft night, should be on this arbitrary and arcane list. Since it is subjective, we'll wait for the Blazers to actually make the playoff field before considering them a legitimate contender. It's been six seasons.
J.J. Hickson did a nice job filling in for the Cavs when Zydrunas Ilgauskas was out injured, but he averages only 12 minutes and 4.4 points per game.
It's rare when rookies drafted by the league's best teams make immediate contributions, and the reasons are evident. Unless they own the picks of other teams, these teams draft at the end of the first round. They usually have player rotations that are hard to crack, too.
“I've been in the league 15 years,” said Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, “and Sam Cassell is the only rookie I've seen contribute to a championship team in that time, and I mean the only one.
“Granted, I'm talking about the team that wins it all, but in 15 years he's the only guy I've seen who played a significant role on a championship team.”
Indeed, few rookies in league history have made major contributions for teams that won the le. The exceptions are significant: Boston's Bill Russell, in 1957, along with teammate Tom Heinsohn (who actually beat Russell in voting for Rookie of the Year); Lakers guard Magic Johnson, in 1980 (Larry Bird was that season's Rookie of the Year); and Boston's Kevin McHale, in 1981 (when Utah's Darrell Griffith was Rookie of the Year).
Hill's career path likely won't match those players, all of them in the Hall of Fame, but it is no reach to imagine a career as significant as Cassell's.
Cassell came into the league with a brash personality that exceeded his skill set. His game grew into his own expectations, and he became an All-Star.
Hill lacks Cassell's bravado, but his calm, confident demeanor has allowed him to interact with teammates who expect everyone who shares their locker room to expect success.
“You walk in that locker room and there's huge expectations for everyone,” Spurs general manager R.C. Buford says. “I bet guys like Michael Finley and Brent Barry and Robert Horry walked in there and were a little bit daunted at times by the level that you step into, and it's something this group has sustained for some time.
“It says something about George that he's been able to step in that locker room and not be overwhelmed.”
Manu Ginobili's latest injury likely means a bigger role for Hill over the next couple of weeks. Unless Lee's role for the Magic grows, too, Hill will be a long step ahead in a fic ious Rookie of the Year race that may extend into June.
Love the article man..keep em coming...
Come on, Bud...“I've been in the league 15 years,” said Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, “and Sam Cassell is the only rookie I've seen contribute to a championship team in that time, and I mean the only one.
2003 doesn't ring any bells?
Hill with starters minutes = ROY
we seen what he can do when given starters minuters, nearly equivalent statistics to them rookie ballhogs
First thing I thought ofCome on, Bud...
2003 doesn't ring any bells?
nice
Cassell rookie playoffs = 9 points / 39 percent shootingCome on, Bud...
2003 doesn't ring any bells?
Manu rookie playoffs = 9 points / 38 percent shooting
I guess that percent point put Cassell into the elite
apparently i had the same unoriginal thought as everyone else on the board
Pity Mike couldn't think of it...
Maybe he meant from college rookie as Manu was 26 and had been a pro for many years.
But if he was being literal, then yeah, Bud f--ked up there.
He probably thought of Manu as a veteran player since he was already a pro and was 25 years old.
There are so few four year college players coming in nowdays - the primo players don't stick around in college very often.
Hill is an exception, but he was way under the radar at draft time last year.
It's likely that Hill will do some mistakes during the playoffs. Playoffs for rookies are damn complicated. The good news is that Spurs have a solid plan B with a Mason and Ginobili backcourt.
One of the more pointless articles I've ever seen.
That Monroe guy is the biggest Spurs homer around, everytime someone posts one of his articles he seems to just get worse and worse.
Umm......no.
Beno knows it better than anyone
Also JJ Hickson at this point > Hill. As much as the Cavs are on TV these days we get to see him play a lot, and he's got talent and hustle beyond his years.
No kidding.
A fic ious award backed up by weak statistics?
You can do better, Monroe.
I thought the same thing after I saw the first comment....thought to myself, if this was McDonald he'd be getting thrashed for this article.
i actually wanted the spurs to draft lee but the magic took him ahead of the spurs. i think lee will be getting more minutes than hill in the playoffs due to the magic's lack of depth in the guard position. lue and jacque vaughn's twin, anthony johnson, won't be able to keep up with the cavs and celtics. hill will be on a short leash when playoffs come as popovich does not trust rookies.
It's a three man race!
There's no telling what Hill would do with starters minutes on a worse team, but from the evidence we have, he would at least have a shot.Hill with starters minutes = ROY
we seen what he can do when given starters minuters, nearly equivalent statistics to them rookie ballhogs
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114369
Using the number from that thread of 0.45 points per minute for George Hill, if you extrapolate that to the amount of minutes per game that Derrick Rose is getting (36.5), you get 16.425 PPG for Hill. Derrick Rose's PPG? 16.6.
DWade just got his career high against Lee's "damn fine" defense... good point though.
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