George Hill and the Clippers Game

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For all the summer excitement of Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess and DeJuan Blair, perhaps the biggest offseason acquisition has been George Hill the shooting guard.

Before joining 48MoH, I wrote in my seldom read blog that the stories of the preseason were the play of Blair and Hill. Blair, for proving his game translates (at least partially so far) to the NBA and Hill, for the development of his jump shot.

“Oh, what wonders one summer with Chip Engelland can do. It may be a small sample size, but judging by the blistering shooting percentages, George Hill can shoot. From deep. Especially from the corner. Now, a lot of attention will be paid to his development as a point guard, and rightfully so. Hill finally looks comfortable there. But the most important development for him, so far as his future with the Spurs is concerned, is his jump shot.

You see, if Hill is to carve out more than cameo appearances in meaningful games it will have to be as more than a backup point guard because there’s no way you’re limiting Tony Parker’s minutes come Spring and Summer. So if Hill is going to be an impact as a Spurs player he needs to be able to play beside Parker rather than replacing him. For years the only prerequisite for that, at least offensively, is the corner three.”

While we’ll hold off on appointing any future All-Star appearances for Hill, for a night he showed a glimpse of what his ceiling can be. Fitting in naturally alongside Tony Parker (who had a nice game himself with 14-points and 14-assists), Hill absolutely torched the Clippers in the first quarter. Seventeen points on 6-f0r-7 shooting and two free throws in route to 22 points.

Even better, having two combo guards with different sets of abilities in the back court seems to be meshing well (Parker assisted in three of Hill’s six first-quarter baskets).

Recapping last night’ game seems pointless. It’s difficult to take too much away from a game where the other team completely rolled over. But as has been the case the past week or so (and again here), Hill’s play brings about another question: If George Hill the shooting guard ends the season as the biggest offseason acquisition (other than the return to health of Ginobili and Duncan of course), will that be enough to put the Spurs over the top?

That is, to say, if McDyess and Jefferson cannot raise their game to what we expected of them—which I would think is still better than Hill in his second year—will Hill’s improvement be enough to offset their thus far mediocre seasons?

As impressive as he has been as a starter—averaging 15.3 ppg in that role—I’m still not completely comfortable with the idea of a second-year, late round draft pick being the fourth best player on a championship contender.

Of course, the same probably could have been said about a younger Tony Parker back in the day. And if Hill can continue improving and sprinkle in a couple of performances like last night, I think we can put the questions and overrated talks to bed.

  • Gary

    The kid is really nice and I think more importantly he got the defensive mind set 😀

  • Sauce

    but again, this is against the clippers. none of the spurs fans (should) care about games against the likes of the clippers. we need to focus on the suns, the mavs, the blazers, the jazz, the thunder and even the grizzlies.

    the nuggets and the lakers are going to be too far out of reach in terms of playoff standings

  • Bushka

    I have been trying to table this notion consistently in the comments of several threads the past week or two.

    George needs to play minutes for us alongside Tony, and become a mainstay of our rotation with Tony. Theres a portion of the spurs nation that takes games on a day to day basis and see’s trading TP as the solution to every loss.

    I see no reason why the two can’t co-exist admirably and actually flourish.

    Theres 96 minutes between two guard spots. TP, Manu & George can all handle 30 to 36 each on any given night. More importantly it gives pop the option of resting people when necessary, and throwing a few minutes Roger Masons way.

    The better the quality of our main 3 guards the better our options moving forward.

  • DieHardSpur

    After shooting bad enough to get Popavich to publicly say “we need to make some DAMN shots,” I believe that George’s performance last night said alot. I believe his jumper is looking fantastic and I couldn’t be more pleased with his percentages. (look at Parker’s % from second year.)

  • ThatBigGuy

    Hill is a very good player on both ends of the court and I see no reason that he won’t improve some more. Him and Tony are figuring each other out when on the court at the same time and that’s only going to help us.

    I think Hill’s biggest attribute is his humility. Coming out of Ooey-pooey, a no name school if there ever was one, and being a very late pick helps him understand that in order for him to have a 15 year career, he needs to work his butt off and be the very best he can possibly be.

    Don’t look now, but the Spurs are 2-1 on the RRT!

  • zainn

    I wonder how much g. Hill’s contract will be after this season? i think his contract will be like 3 yr 15 million. whaddya yall think?

  • SpursOK

    With Hill playing well & Manu looking more like himself, Tony’s health looks to be the biggest question in the back court.

    With that said, it seems the remaining question is the front court additions of Jefferson & McDyess. Dyess finally seems to be having more consistent games. Is he getting it finally? We can hope so! The Spurs have done well without a virtuoso big man beside Tim.

    But Jefferson… His seems to wear it on his sleeve on the court: hesitant, uncertain. Hill talks about the importance of confidence to his shot…and Jefferson seems lacking it. But is this humility (a good Spur attribute)…. Or cluelessness?

  • Bushka

    I think he has two more years (one of them a team option which i’m pretty sure the spurs will exercise).

    That means that George’s new contract would probably fall right in line with the Collective Bargaining Bonanza (fistfight) between the owners and the players union.

    On checking it’s two more seasons after this one, with the third season being a team option of $2,086,000.

    Thers a Qualifying offer on the fourth of $3 mill however i’d hope they’d have sorted an extension by then.

    This is something i really love about our front office. By the time the new parameters are set (and all indications are pointing to them setting the bar real real low), the spurs as they are currently constructed will have a total of 26 million in payroll only. That’s with McDyess included and i’m sure his final year is only a partially guaranteed one.

    They swing for the fences without crippling the franchise for 5 years doing it.

  • Joe

    It’s nice to see George Hill make up for missing all those open 3’s in Portland that could have helped them win.

  • Bushka

    Although we’ll hopefully have Tiago on board, and reup tony.

    Tony, Tim, George, Dejaun, Tiago and or Manu a few draft picks a malik Hairston or two.

    That’s a quality base and we’ll hopefully still have some space.

  • not as good as I once was

    Good comments one and all.

  • John

    As much as I like Hill and especially his heart and effort… I think he’s another example of a talented player that doesn’t necessarily fit perfectly with the other pieces around him.

    We saw last week when Tony was out that George really doesn’t have the ballhandling ability to be a consistent PG (4 assists to 5 turnovers in the loss to the Nuggets, including several costly ones down the stretch). However, for all of his tenacity, he doesn’t really have the physical tools at 6-3 to be able to guard most opposing SGs; even some of the more physical PGs like Billups proved to be extremely troublesome for him. This isn’t someone like Bruce who you can just throw at a guy like Kobe or LeBron and ask him to slow them down for a night, just because Hill was born 5 inches shorter and there’s not much you can do about it.

    So right now he seems like a little bit of an awkward player; play him at point guard and you risk having him exposed as a ballhandler, or play him at shooting guard and having something of a liability on defense. I don’t doubt that he’s a wonderful guy and I’m glad to see him carving out a role for himself in the league, and yes, he’s had some promising games against some lackluster opponents, but he’s also been exposed at times against the good teams. That doesn’t mean I don’t think he can develop and start to get over some of these deficiencies, but with the window closing on the Duncan era ever faster, I sure hope he does that sooner than later.

  • grego

    In Hill’s defense, Manu had impact in his rookie season. Yes, he had the international experience, which skews the “rookie” label, but he was also injured and got into the thick of things quickly.

    He also got key minutes in last season’s playoffs as bad as they were.

    The good news is McDyess is playing better. He’s probably not going to take nights off like he did in the past because he looks like a different player.

    Blair/Manu combo is working, so its easy to put Hill into a lineup that needs some more dynamic play. In years past, the Spurs did not have anyone else and Manu had to bounce around.

    Now there is more stability in the first and second units. If Spurs can get Bonner and Finley back, they have much more fire power, instead of having to rely on Mason (who is on and off depending upon the night).

    There’s no need for Hill to become a full time starting PG. If he can continue to develop the skills and play it when needed, then I think the Spurs are fine (unless they really do try and move Parker).

    Spurs biggest needs will always be the big 3/4 positions. That is the problem still and will be the problem with their limited cash.

  • buns

    Just a quick not-so-related thing:
    Nando De Colo was the MVP this week end (29 points 5 ast 3 stl) in the ACB league. I’m just thinking Nando has a profile similar to Hill’s, with De Colo being a little taller, and very perfectible on defense. If the two play together next year or after, they may have to compete against ech other. And right now, the two are showing good stuff.

  • rohan

    this kid will be a superstar someday….. & i wish in spurs uniform………

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Timothy Varner

    We read it, Jesse.

  • Chris

    Hill has been amazing starting at SG and playing next to Tony. Good we have our future backcourt. It’ll be good especially with Manu leaving the Spurs this summer.

  • vegatrondon

    Why doesnt POP get Haislip some PT? How many years did he sign with the spurs?

  • vegatrondon

    I just saw that he was released and went overseas…too bad, I thought the guy was very athletic. Couldnt do much worse than RJ.

  • Blofeld

    Coach Engelland should really get a raise for the work he’s done helping both Parker and Hill with their jump shots. I read he also tried to help Jefferson with his outside shot, but when he approached him about it, he realized Jefferson couldn’t even speak and would only drool. Hum…figures….

  • Hollywood

    Hill’s offense is getting better, which is good news. But his defense and rebounding seemed better last year. I think he’s improving in certain areas but I don’t think he’s experienced enough to pull all parts of his game together.

    Considering our lackluster season, his role as a starting SG is a step up, but I can’t see this as a longterm solution. He doesn’t have great basketball instincts as far as passing. I’m not sure he makes other players better, which isn’t to say he’s a selfish player but his accomplishments seem singular and specific to him alone.

    Pop loves gimmicks like playing him on Durant and larger players. That’s worked well occasionally, but again, I don’t see this as a legitimate longterm solution for our defensive problems. Hill gets burned on defense quite a bit this year.

  • SpurredOn

    What he brings on defense makes his value as fourth best player on the team even more valueable.

  • Bushka

    Nando is not nearly as solid on D as George.

    Don’t forget that while Georges Height is 6’3 His wingspan is a somewhat ridiculous 6’8.

    Hence his “cubits” nickname on Pounding the Rock. He is actually very well suited to perimeter D. The better he gets at channeling the guys who penetrate into Tim and Co the more valuable he’ll become as a defensive asset.

    George is solid Defensively as a youngster. The older he gets the better he is going to be on “D”. I have heard that stated anecdotally all over the mighty interweb and I think it does hold an excessively large grain of truth.

  • J

    A couple of corrections:

    —————
    For all the summer excitement of Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess and DeJuan Blair, perhaps the biggest offseason acquisition has been George Hill the shooting guard.
    —————

    This is Hill’s second season. He was drafted in summer ’08 by the Spurs in the first round- i.e. he wasn’t an off-season acquisition.

    —————-
    Why doesnt POP get Haislip some PT? How many years did he sign with the spurs?
    —————-

    Haislip was released by the Spurs by his own request so he could accept a contract to play for Greek league powerhouse team Panathinaikos. Haislip wanted to play in real games, not just be a prop in practices, and was not eligible to play in the NBDL, so the Spur’s accommodated his request. It is unclear what the Spur’s plans were for him or whether he was meeting Pop’s expectations etc, but it appears to have been an amicable parting of the ways.

  • J

    …while Georges Height is 6′3 His wingspan is a somewhat ridiculous 6′8.
    ——————

    that’s why his ball-handling is not as sharp as a typical 6’3″ guard, but why he’s able to guard players significantly taller than himself.

    if he were 6’5″ with a 6’5″ wingspan, he’d likely not be able to guard a player who was any taller, but nobody would be questioning his ability to defend at the 2-position.

  • J

    Trade Ratliff for a 2nd round pick and activate Mahinmi?

  • Bushka

    J.

    “For all the summer excitement of Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess and DeJuan Blair, perhaps the biggest offseason acquisition has been George Hill the shooting guard.”

    The author meant that changing Georges position to shooting guard was the off season acquisition. Instead of at the expected Point poisition he was mostly utilised at last year. That’s why his minutes are ticking up.

  • Joe

    @ “Joe”:
    It’s sad that you have to steal someone else’s screen name just to post an opinion that you think other posters might disagree with (not that this is the first time you’ve done this), as if posting on a message board that only requires you to identify yourself by a screen name weren’t anonymous enough for you.

  • http://yahoo.com Big SPUR fan!!

    Too bad he can not keep his pants on!

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