McDonald: George Hill: Pop's pet

[mookie2001]

was Hill better as a rookie than TP?

are you serious?

No.

[Spur|n|Austin]

Hill knows the playbook.

[Manufan909]

part of being a coach is knowing how to treat different personalities.

interstingly enough, he is somewhat dismissive of blair's early success. it may be that he recognizes blair has talent and drive enough to where he does not need to be coddled but, on the contrary, brought down to earth on a regular basis.

Maybe so, but from my ignorant perspective ( , that is what all of us are viewing this from, unless there are telepaths on ST, or people close to Blair), I really don't like Pop making fun of Blair, especially the joke he made about Blair getting one D board, as well as seriously saying he doesn't know where Blair will fit and all that. Maybe that approach works best for Blair and Pop is a genius, but I don't like it. At least give the man his props. But then again, with every Spur, sports writer, and ST poster slobbering all over Blair, maybe Pop is has the right idea here.

As long as Blair is at worst the 3rd/4th big come the POs, I am gravy. If in June and July Tim is getting 35-40 minutes, Blair is getting 15-25 minutes, and Ian/Dice/Theo (in that order) are all splitting up the 40 minutes left, that would be my ideal 4/5 rotation.

Concerning the "Blair as a starter" thread, I would only want him to start as a PF, so he could only start when TD rests. And he could only really start with a shot blocking big most nights, like Ian or Theo. But for the shorter teams, he could start with Dice. Or if he proves able to use his weight and low center of gravity to keep much bigger players (Oden/Bynum/Shaq) away from their preferred spots,then he could start with anyone. He sure as can use his power and elasticity on O, I hope he can translate it to D. He has Timmy, Dice, and Theo to teach him in practice, and players have said he is open to tips, so there is hope yet.

Oh, and sorry for making this into a Blair thread, I'll post this in the Blair thread as well.

[Kool Bob Love]

Every person is different, you can't reach everyone with the same approach.

Besides being the greatest rookie PF of all-time, Pop was very relaxed with Duncan because he's a thinker, over analyzes things, etc. Pop knows how to talk to him and get the best out of him. Manu was a man when he got here and a baller, he knew he could just pluf him in and this was a pro, ready to go. Same with all the vets he signs in (Fin, Barry, etc.).

Parker's dad must have placed a call to Pop and said... "that little boy needs an ass whipping. He's thinking about finding movie star girlfriends, fast cars and Gatorade commercials. Get his head out of those clouds."

Unfortunately, Pop never could find Beno's dad's phone number.