McDonald: Expect Spurs' Hill To Be Playoff Spectator

[Yuixafun]

G. Hill lighting it up in the beginning of the season for 4 games, when every team is messing around with their new players and lineups, should merit him minutes now, in the playoffs?

Just a month ago he couldn't finish at the rim, hung out at the corners, and was getting owned by JJ Barea....

I'm not saying him let him rot, but this kid is still too raw, too limited in the knowledge of the offense.

Come playoff time teams raise their defensive intensity. Why ruin this kids confidence throwing him in such a pressure cooker situation when he's not ready.

There's a slim chance he might contribute a few meaningful minutes, but the odds are he'll be in the game, he'll be lost, he won't know what to do and he will get eaten alive.

And suddenly all the progress he's made during the season is obliterated. Some people you can throw into the fire and they come out steel but most get burned.

You gonna let your kid drive a race car when he just learned to drive stick this year, and then put him in the Daytona 500?

[nz_spur]

A 6'3 shooting guard with less of a frame than Hill whos gone on to have a successfull career.

... and yet can't get into the Warriors rotation.

[nz_spur]

I've thought about this for awhile because it didn't seem to make much sense but I think I have an idea. George Hill is a bad match for these Spurs, he's better off on a different team.

George Hill will never get much playing time on the current Spurs without getting ALOT better at shooting.

GHill's shooting 40% and 33% from 3pt land...and this is pretty much un-covered spot-up shooting.

When GHill's on the floor, teams leave him open to go guard another guy. And if you add Oberto/Ime/Bowen with him, you have very little offense on the floor except for the Tim/Tony and they get doubled/tripled with no punishment.

And there's one other problem that stops his being used just as a defensive stopper ala Bruce Bowen. Bowen's a physical specimen that fits in the SG/SF mold and his lateral quickness gives him the ability to defend PG's as well. GHill is just an average sized Point Guard.

Because GHill's only a skinny 6'2, he can't easily switch on screen/rolls. Roger Mason is a worse defender but he can switch onto PG's, SG's and even a SF once in awhile. The only kind of player GHill can lockdown defend is a PG whereas a real defensive stopper like Bowen can lockdown 3 positions and probably do a passable job on a Power Forward.

Very good points.

Still a shame though. Am looking forward to seeing what happens next year.

[mattyc]

I'm in the school of thought that Hill playing in the playoffs is integral to his game and development and I think Pop knows this. We'll see Hill when the situation permits.