Reply With Quote
I didn't catch the game last night. What was up? No points, no shots taken, no assists? WTF?
One of the hot rumors that surfaced just hours before the 2008 NBA draft was that the Spurs
sent out a league-wide email stating that their 1st round pick (26th overall) was available. Considering how well the Spurs draft and evaluate talent the other 29 teams in the league should have jumped on the opportunity to rid them of a first round pick. Without any deals to their liking coming about, the Spurs decided to hang on to the 26th pick, going under the radar to snag George Hill out of IUPUI. At the time many questioned the pick, but now Hill looks poised to be yet another steal for a team that has built a dynasty thanks to thievery in the draft.
However, it wasn't just experts and fans questioning the selection of Hill. After a lackluster summer league performance in Las Vegas, even Hill's eventual head coach Gregg Popovich began to question whether or not Hill was a guy who could help them this year.
"He had a tough summer league," admits Coach Popovich. "We actually had some doubts after the summer league, wondering what direction to go and what we wanted to do as far as his progression was concerned. But once the lights went on and the real games came he showed that he can play."
While Gregg Popovich and his staff may have had some doubts, Hill certainly did not. Hill showed what he was capable of once the lights came on as Popovich said, but it was his mentality away from the bright lights that helped him move past a poor summer league.
"Actually, after summer league I still had a lot of confidence," says Hill. "Even though my shot wasn't falling and things weren't going so well in summer league, I still didn't hang my head. I think that's what it takes. You're going to have bad days, you're going to have bad weeks, and you can't hang your head low. You have to keep working hard every day and that's what I did. I had a bad summer league, but as soon as I got back to the gym I worked my butt off to get better, get in better shape, learn the game, watch a lot of tape, and I think that's what it takes. You have to do what you can every day to get better."
Even with the strong work ethic and dedication that Hill showed after Vegas he still wasn't a guy the Spurs were depending on much going into the season. After all they had one of the league's best point guards in Tony Parker and the savvy veteran Jacque Vaughn to spot him when he needed a rest. All their plans to bring Hill along slowly became an afterthought though once Parker injured himself early in the season against the Miami Heat.
"George Hill has had the chance to get minutes that he wouldn't have gotten and he's shown a real proclivity for learning quickly and that's a good sign," says Popovich. "He's a mentally tough kid who has done a good job."
Popovich was forced to give Hill an extensive role in Parker's absence, and was subsequently forced to keep Hill in the rotation once Parker came back - his play was too strong to not reward.
"The opportunity helped me a lot," says Hill. "Any time you get to into a role and get your feet wet and just get out there and play it only makes you better. What could be better than having game time experience? That's what makes you better. Once you're in there you're learning different things, you're learning the tempo of the game and how it's played and that's the main thing."
Hill isn't just a great fit for this Spurs team on the court; he's great off of it as well. He's extremely well spoken and very mature about his approach to making his impact felt.
"I felt like it would be a great thing if I could play for them right away, and I think that's one thing they brought me here for was to have youth and to have me play my game. When Pop puts me in the lineup I think it's good for me and good for the team because my youth is something that we need around here. But we have a great team, so I didn't really expect to get a lot of minutes behind Tony Parker and a point guard like Jacque Vaughn. Just to have that opportunity is a blessing."
One of the most important things for every rookie is to have someone in the locker room that you can go to for anything. Los Angeles Lakers Shooting Guard Kobe Bryant has never passed up on an opportunity to credit Byron Scott for being a great mentor to him and a big part of his success. Hill is already doing the same with Tony Parker and Jacque Vaughn.
"They've both been great assets to me in my success. Every day I'm learning something different from them, whether it's the floater in the lane, how to be a leader on the court, how to be more vocal - there are a lot of things that they teach me and I would want to be anywhere else but here. We have two great veteran point guards to learn from."
Parker took some time away from teaching the first year guard to praise him for his play while he was sidelined with an ankle injury.
"George is playing good. He's very aggressive, plays great defense, and he ran the team very well while I was out. He's good."
Going against Hill everyday, Parker had a pretty good idea of what he was capable of. However, Parker's backcourt mate Manu Ginobili was caught by surprise a bit.
"He's been performing really well, probably exceeding expectations for the first 20 games. A lot of the guys that saw him before said that he was going to be able to contribute and do well for this team, but probably weren't expecting too many 20-point games early in the season. He's showing great maturity and poise for a point guard of that age, so we're very happy to have him as a teammate."
Tim Duncan, the only member of the Big Three not to miss a game this season, has spent more time playing with George Hill than Manu and Tony, and can really appreciate what he and the rest of the bench has brought to the team. Last season depth was a major problem for the Spurs, but that isn't the case this year.
"Through the stretch where Tony and Manu were hurt those guys got a lot of time out there on the floor. They got a lot of minutes and I think that's paying off for us right now. They come on the floor very confident for us now, make plays when we need them, pick us up when they need to, and we're
going to need that kind of help from people from the bench."
The Spurs have quietly started to play the best basketball in the Western Conference, thanks largely in part to the additional depth that they have compared to last year. Toronto Raptors point guard Jose Calderon has taken notice of the former Jaguar.
"I watched him, I know he's playing good. I didn't know him before, but he's been playing good. He's a nice backup point guard for Tony. All those years they never had that kind of point guard behind him," said Calderon, who makes a great point. Hill is the best point guard that Parker has had backing him up in a long time. Now teams will no longer be able to relax once Parker takes a rest.
George Hill is the kind of player like Tayshaun Prince that teams are going to regret passing up on. They had their chances at him though. There were 25 picks before the Spurs were on the clock, and they all but tried to give the pick away before the draft. Now all they can do is watch as Hill blossoms into a big time player. The rest of the league should be getting used to it by now though, because draft day steals for the Spurs are becoming as traditional as their odd-year championship runs.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=11001
I didn't catch the game last night. What was up? No points, no shots taken, no assists? WTF?
He didn't get that much PT. And when he did Manu was running point more. Manu was playing more aggressively then past couple games. I think Pop wanted to insure a win. Plus, Tony was playing excellent with most of the starters especially Mason. TP played 38 mins, so not much room for Hill. Kurt and Manu off the bench were awesome.
So much for Pop reading my posts on ST.
Yeah, it was a rumor, and it may be benefical to the advancement of this story, but I don't believe it for one second.One of the hot rumors that surfaced just hours before the 2008 NBA draft was that the Spurs sent out a league-wide email stating that their 1st round pick (26th overall) was available.
This is the Spurs we're talking about. If the press catches wind of a rumor about what the Spurs are going to do, before they actually do it, you can almost guarantee they've been played.
My guess is the Spurs saw a chance/opportunity (Batums medical history? What do ents?) to get Batum, so they sent out a smoke-screen.
It almost worked, and he would have been a nice pick-up, but they can't be too unhappy with their consolation prize.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
