this is a few days old so feel free to lock if it's already been discussed... but I thought a NY writer's take who isn't on the beat might be a welcomed fresh perspective

Schwartz: Knicks blew it with Hill pick

By PAUL SCHWARTZ

I was reading last week in The Post that my man Marc Berman insisted that the Knicks New York Knicks had serious interest in a power forward from Arizona named Jordan Hill and all I kept thinking was "You got to be kidding.''

Now, I'm not James Naismith and I'm not even Donnie Walsh but before I wrote football for a living I spent my days and nights covering the Knicks and Nets. I don't want to date myself but back in those halcyon days those franchises actually made the playoffs. What does any of this have to do with Jordan Hill? Well, last March I covered what turned into Hill's final college game. It was a Sweet Sixteen matchup against Louisville at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and it was not a good day for the Wildcats in general or Hill in particular.

Hill was dreadful. He missed 12 of the 18 shots he attempted, and the rest of his team followed his lead. Louisville looked like the best team in the nation in a 103-64 annihilation of Arizona but as it turned out, Louisville wasn't even the best team in the Midwest Region, as two days later they were beaten by Michigan State.

By far, the best player on the floor that day for Arizona was Chase Budinger, who scored 22 points and should have gone higher in the NBA Draft than he did (44th overall to the Pistons).

One game doesn't cancel out an entire career but what disturbed me about Hill was that he did not finish around the basket and was completely overshadowed by Louisville's two stud players, Terrence Williams and Earl Clark. Both Williams and Clark looked far more ready for the NBA than Hill. Both Williams (No. 11 to the Nets New Jersey Nets ) and Clark (No. 14 to the Suns) were taken later in the first round of the NBA Draft than Hill and it will be interesting to chart the development of those three players. Here's betting both of the Louisville guys will make it bigger than Hill.

Hill is a natural rebounder and may develop into a useful player for the Knicks. But taking him with the eighth pick? He's got to be better than he was that day I saw him in Indy.

--

Note; Paul Schwartz covers the Giants New York Giants and the NCAA Tournament for The Post.

The thing that makes this particularly painful is I wanted Terrence Williams. And if you look at hill's numbers, the more responsibility he's gotten, the less efficient he's become... I don't see as bleak of a future as Shwartz but unsettling to read nonetheless because the team cannot botch this pick.

[Edited by - supremecommander on 06-30-2009 12:36 PM]

I was not feeling the Hill pick either. I feel Walsh should drafted a starting point guard or a shooting guard.

Message to PAUL SCHWARTZ

Posted by JamaicanJetFan:

I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion over passing up on DeMar DeRozan. I think the kid might be special

I wanted either DeMar, Williams or Jennings.

Posted by JamaicanJetFan:

I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion over passing up on DeMar DeRozan. I think the kid might be special

dj and TMS are going a little nut over at http://www.ultimateRaptors.com/forums/topic.asp?id=6969

Im not going to say it was a bad pick because it wasnt--but the so-called red flags are there and I mentioned them before

he was very productive and he can really rebound BUT anyone who watched that Louisville AZ game would not have walked away with a great impression. Now we add in that his team was 18-14 and that he did NOT dominate players of his own talent level Pendegraph Gibson. he had a very good game early on against Aldich but that was early. You would expect a better W-L from a major college team with a big time frontcourt player who had a pro wing and a pro PG on the team.

Again that doesnt mean he wont be good but this is not a no brainer done deal pick at all. When comparing him to Amare Stoudemire at the same age--Amare was putting up an average of 40 points against the Spurs in the WCF at the same age while Hill was getting dominated by the Louisville[cough cough] bigs.

I think that he will show well in the SL and he needs to put on a strong 10 pounds of muscle. He needs more base strength if he is playing 5 man in the nBA.

IMO with Hill it is all about how hard he will work. The kid has a decent jumpshot and has a few post moves. If he works hard and adds 10-15 pounds of muscle and continues to gain consistency with his post moves and jumpshot, there is no reason this kid cannot be a 18/10 starting caliber PF in this league. He has all the physical tools, he just has to continue to develop his skills.

I think the kid sucks to be honest. he plays exactly like mikki moore, and not because he looks like him. I was not excited about the pick, he is not a starter he is a rotation guy.

Walsh's Draft Record

1986
1. Chuck Person, Auburn (4)
2. Greg Dreiling, Kansas (26)
3. No pick
4. Derrick Taylor, LSU (72)
5. Richard Rellford, Michigan (95)
6. Jeff Hall, Louisville (118)
7. Steve Woodside, Oregon State (141)

1987 (GREAT SELECTION)
1. Reggie Miller, UCLA (11)

1988
1. Rik Smits, Marist (2)
passed on Mitch Richmond, Dan Majerle, Seikaly taken after

1989
1. George McCloud, Florida State (7)
passed on Mookie Blaylock, Tim Hardaway, Dana Barraos, Shawn Kemp, BJ Armstrong Vlade

1990 (GREAT SELECTIOn)
2. Antonio Davis, Texas-El Paso (45)

1991 (Good selection in a weak draft)
1. Dale Davis, Clemson (13)

1992
1. Malik Sealy, St. John’s (14)
passed on Doug Christie, Sprewell

1993
1. Scott Haskin, Oregon State (14)
-passed on sam cassel

1994 (not bad)
1. Eric Piatkowski, Nebraska (15)

1995 (god value)
1. Travis Best, Georgia Tech (23)
2. Fred Hoiberg, Iowa State (52)

1996 (TERRIBLE DONNIE)
1. Erick Dampier, Mississippi State (10)
-passed on Kobe, Peja, Nash, Jermain Oneil, Big Z, Rish

1997 (Helped get them to the finals)
1. Austin Croshere, Providence (12)
-passed on derek anderson, brevin knight, bobby jackson

1998
1. Al Harrington, St. Patrick’s H.S. (25)

1999
1. Vonteego Cummings, Pittsburgh (26)

2000
1. Primoz Brezec, Olympia Ljubljana (27)

2002
1. Fred Jones, Oregon (14)
2. No pick

2003
2. James Jones, Miami (Fla.) (49)

2004
1. David Harrison, Colorado (29)
2. Rashad Wright, Georgia (59)

2005
1. Danny Granger, New Mexico (17)
2. Erazem Lorbek, Michigan State, (46)

Posted by MS:

I think the kid sucks to be honest. he plays exactly like mikki moore, and not because he looks like him. I was not excited about the pick, he is not a starter he is a rotation guy.

you haven't seen this kid play much if u think he plays exactly like Mikki Moore.

I don't necessarily agree that the KNicks blew it with the Hill pick. they blew it when they weren't able to get their main target which was Rubio. Which was attainable but the GM dragged his feet. It would have been a sweet draft had they come away with. Rubio-Hill, Evans-Hill, Curry-Hill, Flynn-Hill, Harden-Hill. we would have been singing praises towards Walsh.

I am talking about Net's Miki Moore. That's spot on, athletic, runs the floor, hits the 12-15 foot jumper and can dunk the ball around the rim, he is a better rebounder I will give him that.

He wasn't the best player on the board, I think you trade down I think the Nets/Suns/Denver/Raptors. We don't need a rotation guy with a limited ceiling. That conference always scares me