George Hill is a beast

[mountainballer]

will be very interesting, who's minutes he will eat. if he is as good as he looks in the preseason and Pop is in fact as high on him as he told via medias, then we can expect Hill to play 20+ minutes, maybe up to 25.
this would mean we see him also a lot alongside Tony. likely he will steal the minutes from Mason, who's PT might drop down to also about 20MPG. if Hill's shooting in the preseason wasn't a fluke, he could make Mason even more dispensable, considering Hill is the much better defender and also better ball handler. Mason might even become a trade candidate at deadline, his contract will be quite attractive for many teams.

I can't see where else Hill's minutes could come from.

[benefactor]

The potential showed it's flashes last year...but now he is wide open. Hill is going to be our most important bench player of all the players not named Ginobili.

will be very interesting, who's minutes he will eat. if he is as good as he looks in the preseason and Pop is in fact as high on him as he told via medias, then we can expect Hill to play 20+ minutes, maybe up to 25.
this would mean we see him also a lot alongside Tony. likely he will steal the minutes from Mason, who's PT might drop down to also about 20MPG. if Hill's shooting in the preseason wasn't a fluke, he could make Mason even more dispensable, considering Hill is the much better defender and also better ball handler. Mason might even become a trade candidate at deadline, his contract will be quite attractive for many teams.

I can't see where else Hill's minutes could come from.

Agreed. Mason is still looking very limited and has potential to become not much more than a gunner off the bench. Hill could wind up with a lot more minutes at SG...which would be fine with me because even though Mason is bigger, Hill is by far the better all around player. With enough minutes, it might be hard to ignore him in the sixth man of the year discussions.

[kobyz]

even Mason is 6'5 i without a doubt prefer Hill over Mason at the SG position - defensively and offensively. Mason should not play any minutes this season, Hill need to get all of his minutes.

[mystargtr34]

After the 16 minutes he will get backing up Tony, theres about 20 minutes left to split between he and RMJ, when Manu is out of the game. I think Mason's shooting ability will get him at least 15 of those minutes, leaving about 5 for George, meaning about 20 MPG, which is about right for him given the quality of back court in front of him.

The only way i see GH taking the majority of Mason's minutes is if he shoots the 3 at closer to 35%, which is a stretch, despite his pre-season numbers. If he can get it above that magic number, then the rest of his game will outweigh Mason's better shooting %.

Either way, its a good problem to have.

[mystargtr34]

even Mason is 6'5 i without a doubt prefer Hill over Mason at the SG position - defensively and offensively. Mason should not play any minutes this season, Hill need to get all of his minutes.

Mason is still one of the best shooters in the entire league. Right now, his game is more complimentary to Tim and Tony, than is George's - despite his extra flaws.

[Muser]

Mason should not play any minutes this season, Hill need to get all of his minutes.

[TMTTRIO]

If George can keep this up could he possibly be in the running for 6MOY and possibly beat Manu out? Something interesting to think about.

[Muser]

Let's put the brakes on people, Hill would have to beat out players like B Gordon/Terry etc. for 6MOY, i'm as happy as the next guy that he's playing well but let's not go too far.

[Manu-of-steel]

Let's put the brakes on people, Hill would have to beat out players like B Gordon/Terry etc. for 6MOY, i'm as happy as the next guy that he's playing well but let's not go too far.

agree. If Hill plays within the system and gives us decent numbers, i'll be ok with that.

[Bukefal]

I have never liked Hill and I always thought we would be better off without him, but it's nice to see he is improving. As for our team, damnnnn we have a kick ass squad!!! Spurs fans, we should feel lucky, very lucky and happy!

[Spurs Brazil]

IF Hill can keep his good play in the regular season he’ll take some minutes from Mason at 2, especially when we see some great offensive SG and PG.

Hill and TP together will be fun

[kobyz]

you fall to all the Mason hype, he is not good enough for that level, he only can shoot the 3 without doing anything else on offense and he can't play defense, and against the real defenses of the playoff his 3 point shooting also not existent, so yes i for sure redder give his minutes to Hill and Bogans!

[Solid D]

Hill's defense on Westbrook was impressive last night. It was like watching a different player, really. He showed confidence, tenacity and a great shooting touch. He only had one bad trip, where he dribbled down the clock looking for options on the wing and then hoisted a heat-check. Otherwise, George was the most complete player (offense and defense) for the Spurs.

[all_heart]

Hill's defense on Westbrook was impressive last night. It was like watching a different player, really. He showed confidence, tenacity and a great shooting touch. He only had one bad trip, where he dribbled down the clock looking for options on the wing and then hoisted a heat-check. Otherwise, George was the most complete player (offense and defense) for the Spurs.

That's great to hear, how's his first step? I ask cause because when a bigger player guards him he's going to have to tear him up w/speed. When that happens...

[rjv]

hill needs to be a solid PG back up this year and pop knows this. if hill can spell tony well then pop can keep mason and manu from having to play any time at the 1 spot.

[admiralsnackbar]

you fall to all the Mason hype, he is not good enough for that level, he only can shoot the 3 without doing anything else on offense and he can't play defense, and against the real defenses of the playoff his 3 point shooting also not existent, so yes i for sure redder give his minutes to Hill and Bogans!

You fall to all the Hill hype -- if he's playing shooting guard most of the game, he won't be playing his primary role: back-up PG.

[HarlemHeat37]

There are a good amount of teams(starting units) that Hill can play the 2 against..he can play SG vs. Ray Allen IMO, Ray is too slow to beat him, and he isn't big enough to give George problems..Charlotte would be fine, Cleveland would be fine, Dallas(vs. Terry), Denver, Detroit, LAC, Memphis, New Jersey, Phoenix..

Playing him against guys like Kobe, Vince, Roy, Joe Johnson, and others of that caliber wouldn't work at all, so we'll potentially have trouble defending those teams, since Finley/Mason are still liabilities, and RJ can't defend 2 guys at once..

[wildbill2u]

Okay, so I know we've all been using the word "beast" for DeJuan Blair, and rightfully so. Blair has had an amazing preseason, showing an incredible ap ude at pulling in rebounds and creating SpursTalk threads, and we expect great things out of him in the regular season. However, I invite you to take a step back and look closer at the preseason George Hill has been having:

Oct. 6 vs. Houston: 15 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds in 30 minutes
Oct. 9 vs. Olympiacos: 17 points, 2 assists, 3 rebounds in 22 minutes
Oct. 11 at Miami: 12 points, 1 assist, 2 rebounds in 18 minutes
Oct. 14 vs. LA Clippers: 13 points, 2 assists, 3 rebounds in 29 minutes
Oct. 16 vs. Cleveland: 13 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound in 25 minutes
Oct. 20 at Oklahoma City: 16 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound in in 18 minutes

He's done all this while shooting 26 for 47 (55.3%) from the field, 26 for 31 (83.9%) from the free throw line, and 8 for 13 (61.5%) from three-point range.

While George has spawned a few threads this preseason, it's time to truly appreciate how special a player he could become for this team. We already knew he had the potential to be a great defender; if he can throw in a solid offensive game, he has the potential to be, as far as all-around game goes, the third best guard on this team.

Good catch and good info we should all respect. No wonder Pop likes this kid.

[Agloco]

Yet another example of the utter incompetence of the Spurs' FO.

[Agloco]

you fall to all the Mason hype, he is not good enough for that level, he only can shoot the 3 without doing anything else on offense and he can't play defense, and against the real defenses of the playoff his 3 point shooting also not existent, so yes i for sure redder give his minutes to Hill and Bogans!

[HarlemHeat37]

[Agloco]

Seriously though. I was lol and wtf at the same time.

[HarlemHeat37]

LOL I didn't notice that he said that until you "redded" it for me..

[Manufan909]

Dude, who's the senorita in your sig???

[lefty]

Hill Billy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!