Hill fits as Parker's stand-in
Jeff McDonald
Earlier this week, Spurs players — all 18 of them — were engaged in a relatively benign ball-handling drill. Big men dribbled next to small men, and some better than others.
At one point, coach Gregg Popovich wandered over to tell one of those big men what a good job he was doing.
“He said, ‘I will never play you at point guard,'” recalled Matt Bonner, a 6-foot-10 center by trade. “In case there was any confusion, he let me know.”
Thankfully for the Spurs — and probably also for Bonner — the manhunt for a backup to All-Star Tony Parker probably won't go so far down the roster this season.
That job unquestionably belongs to second-year player George Hill, who after a strong summer and an even better start to training camp has made the Spurs' coaching staff feel much better about their No. 2 point guard than they did last season.
Popovich has been effusive in his praise of Hill, going so far as to label him, “my favorite player on the entire team.”
“He's really matured,” Popovich said. “At this point, I'm really pleased to have him as our backup point.”
Of course, it isn't as if there are many other reasonable alternatives.
Though backup point guard was a perpetual question mark for the Spurs last season — indeed, Popovich tried everybody but Bonner there — they made no effort this offseason to bring in other candidates.
Before camp even began, it was going to be George Hill or bust.
“He's got to be a backup point,” Popovich said, “or we're in big damn trouble.”
Hill's performance in this camp should help Popovich breathe a bit easier.
With Parker sitting out Tuesday's preseason opener against Houston, Hill took the reins of the Spurs' offense and won over a few more hearts and minds. He scored 15 points, had four assists and, showing off his remade shooting stroke, hit both of his 3-point tries.
“I've matured,” said Hill, who averaged 5.7 points and 1.8 assists in 77 games as a rookie. “I have a year under my belt now. I see what it's like to play in the NBA. I know you're going to have good days and bad days. The only thing you can do is keep trying to improve every day.”
In the biggest difference between now and this time last year, Hill looks like an NBA point guard. When he was on the court against Houston, he was in command.
Parker, Hill's mentor and one of his biggest fans this side of Popovich, has taken notice.
“I saw from Day 1 in training camp, he was feeling very comfortable,” Parker said. “I think he's more aggressive overall in everything he does. His body language is better.”
It is a far cry from his rookie season, when Hill was simply trying not to drown in the sea of new information coming at him. It made him tentative.
He lacked, in Popovich's words, a “command personality” at the point. Too often, he deferred to the older veterans when he was supposed to be running the team.
“Now it's, ‘ with that,'” Popovich said. “His place is to go play and be aggressive and get minutes, and that's how he's playing.”
Hill is playing so well, in fact, that Popovich has bigger plans for him than just being Parker's understudy.
The coach has been tinkering with a smaller lineup that would allow Hill to play shooting guard next to Parker. Even at 6-foot-3, Hill is long enough, so that wouldn't be a defensive liability against many NBA shooting guards.
For Hill, a chance to play with Parker — instead of simply spelling him — would be icing.
“I just want to prove that I'm supposed to be here and I'm supposed to be the backup point guard,” Hill said.
Thankfully for the Spurs — and for Bonner — Hill appears ready to seize that role.
Saw some of this last season.The coach has been tinkering with a smaller lineup that would allow Hill to play shooting guard next to Parker. Even at 6-foot-3, Hill is long enough, so that wouldn't be a defensive liability against many NBA shooting guards.
How things have changed! It's amazing how quickly the Benophobia clears up the moment a PG graduates into his second year...
Now if he'd only say the same thing to Mason.
Chip should make George and Tony should shoot 500 mid-range jumpshots daily.
Hill was a big time jump shooter in college. Now this skilll doesn't always translate to the NBA, but if his stroke is being remade by Chip and he gets his confidence back, he could be good for a pretty nice PPG average at the backup point.
We figured this out 9 months ago.“He's got to be a backup point,” Popovich said, “or we're in big damn trouble.”
Pop's excessive praise for Hill has almost become a worry. timvp made a good point the other day saying Pop often singles out players who lack confidence...
Hopefully all this going-out-of-your-way praise is genuine.
Yea, when Pop said Hill was his favorite player I thought the same thing. Hopefully we are just reading too much into that comment.
"The coach has been tinkering with a smaller lineup that would allow Hill to play shooting guard next to Parker. Even at 6-foot-3, Hill is long enough, so that wouldn't be a defensive liability against many NBA shooting guards."
Another reason for Hairston to buy lots of suits if he makes the team.
it's pretty safe to say that Pop communication about Hill is unusual and very enthusiastic.
maybe he's worried about hill confidence about his PG game and abilities and wants to make him confident.
or maybe Pop is just very happy with what he sees from Hill after having been very worried about his ability to reach the required level.
don't really know but i think that it will take time for Hill to feel totally confident in his backup PG role. The kid should be where Pop wants till the middle of the RS IMO, and if the team is having good results, it should give him plenty of time to improve without too much pressure.
I think Pop is making those comments to Hill rather than the media. It's an effective way of instilling confidence in someone. The goal is to make it seem like Pop is still praising Hill even when Hill isn't around, which makes it sound a lot more genuine.
I'm still not 100% on the Hill bandwagon as the backup point. I'm going to hold out judgment until the compe ion is real. Summer league and preseason games don't count.
I like him backing up the shooting guard spot though.
I agree. He has to show playmaking abilities ASAP.The better he plays the more rest Parker can get.....
You guys are a tough crowd lol. He looks like he is making huge strides as far as i'm concerned. No he doesn't look like a pure point guard. But when we drafted him he wasn't a point guard either.. As long as he keeps shooting the ball with confidence and use his athletic abilities to play suffocating defense; I think everything else will come along in due time.
Hill has similar physical attributes as Rajon Rondo.
He's a bit raw right now, but he has the talent.
The only think I'm unsure about him is whether he has the instincts to be point.
I'm still waiting to see Hill break down the defense in the half court and get to the basket on the dribble. He did a little of that early in SL, usually by splitting the double team on a pick, but not consistently by the end of SL and not in the first pre-season game.
One of my major concern's with Hill is his development in regards to Pop. I think Pop is being way too ing easy on the kid. Don't know if its due to Pop changing and growing older, mellowing out like the '03 cab he gets drunk off of every morning of the week, or because he just thinks Hill is too much of a pussy to handle the Parker treatment...
But the first impression I got of Parker seeing him in the USA was he was soft and would cave under Pop's relentless riding of him to be flawless. I was wayyyy in wrong about that, maybe it was because of a euro bias, but my first impression of Hill was that he is more strong willed than Parker.
Perhaps that's all irrelevant, but I really think Pop is being too soft on Hill. I have no doubt he will be in the rotation come playoffs, but I worry about his performance there without Pop crushing him to a powder and rebuilding him up to one of the best backup pg's in the league.
Honestly, can any of you imagine Pop letting Parker run a timeout as a rookie?
Pop sacrificed 6-7 years in arterial and venous damage in his quest to make Parker his perfect point guard. And he's puttin Hill on a pedestal left and right (in relative Pop terms..).
I don't like it.
Pop has wasted a lot of time over the years trying to change players. Manu finally blossomed when Pop got out of his way. To some degree the same can be said of Parker, as Pop realized he wasn't going to be John Stockton and decided to let him play to his strengths, which was scoring.
For Hill, he's obviously not as talented as Parker or Ginobili but he does have talent. I'm guessing Pop doesn't have the time to tear him down and build him back up.
But I'm sure Pop has mellowed. And with so many thin skinned players that have come through here in the last few years (I'm looking at you Bonner, sorry) Pop has probably had to try this "positive reinforcement thing".
At the same time, he has said that if Hill doesn't blossom then we're screwed so what else can he do but give him minutes and see what happens. Pop has made his choice. He might as well be in support of it.
If indeed Hill is getting easier treatment from Pop than Parker got, maybe it's simply that they are expected to fill different roles. Pop has been clear that Hill looks great as the back up point guard.
backups can be the difference between any given game
look at the kings game back in '04
see: jackson, bobby
LOL George Hill!
If Hill gets all the minutes as backup PG, and considering Ginobili will be back, with the addition of RJefferson, it looks like Roger Mason could be the guy without a lot fewer minutes this year.
26th pick Hill > 11th pick Bayless.LOL George Hill!
Yea i agree i was thinking the same few things about him..
He has great potential lets hope he lives up to it !.
So far so good..
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