Posted by King1:

We know MDA isnt going to play more than 8 players during the season. I think the 8 will be Duhon, Chandler, Gallinari, Nate, Lee, Harrington, Jared, and Darko. I really dont see Hughes, douglas, hill and Curry getting much clock unless someone gets hurt. I really expect Gallnari to shoot the ball great and open up the pick and roll even more.

Posted by Cosmic:

Posted by Redcru:

Cosmic---you think the young guys will get any run? You don't mention Curry---you think his body will break down again?

If Gallo actually doesn't start---still has to be top three in minutes played....agree?

Hill: I just don't see anything special about him and even worse he is, in my logical opinion, behind Lee, Darko, Al, Gallo, Chandler.

Just curious Cos, why do you feel that way? I know a lot of you guys do. I don't feel like that at all man. I love Jordan Hill. If I had to rate this guy compared to all the big men that were just taken in the draft, it's Griffin 1, Hill 1A - that's how highly I think of him. I don't wanna say Amar'e Stoudemire just yet but I think the potential's definitely there where I can say with a straight face that we could be looking at a player eventually on par with Carlos Boozer production-wise, easily, even better possibly (it's not the best example as they're different players - I just think Hill has the athletic ability and skill package to do more things than Boozer). Maybe something closer to Al Jefferson eventually. And don't get me wrong, Jefferson's a very good player - I realize that. All Hill needs to do is add some strength and a little more mass until he get's himself on that 250/260+ lb. rock-solid level with these guys and that's definitely something he can work on starting day 1 even without any substantial PT right away (it'll take a little while but the body will come - even if he only adds 10 lbs. of muscle to get to 245 lbs., that might be his ideal playing weight). When he get's a little wider & stronger, I'm tellin' ya, sky's the limit. This kid's got everything you can want in a PF prospect coming outta college with no glaring holes in his game - plus athleticism, legit height, EXCELLENT offensive game already (EXTREMELY diverse offensively), EXCELLENT rebounder already, good defender with a chance to be a really good defender if he commits to that phase of the game. Only a 65% FT shooter but has more than enough touch to improve on that and eventually get himself to that 80% range. That's really all I can think of - muscle mass and FT shooting - and even those aren't glaring flaws. I guess you can call these two areas "weaknesses" though they're 100% correctable & improvable. What more could you want? Are some of you guys down because he didn't dominate in those 5 summer league games? Is that it? I mean I really didn't expect him too. This guy's shown more than enough in college to convince me...Even in those 5 SL games I thought he held his own nicely, especially toward the end... Here's an interesting quote from Hill in the new Athlon Sports pro basketball magazine I just read (Hill's take on the camparisons between himself & Griffin): "Blake Griffin is definitely a good player, but in my opinion, I've got a lot more skills than him." Wow. I was very surprised to read that as this kid's as soft-spoken as they come. You know what though, I love that quote. I don't think that was meant to be ****y or disrespectful toward Griffin at all. I think that's just a kid telling us that he's super confident in his ability and his game. I don't know if I totally disagree with that statement either. It's a bold statement, I'll grant you, but is it so far off base? I don't think so. I agree with you Cos that he'll have to wait his turn because our frontcourt situation is a little crowded right now (although I wouldn't mind it at all if he were to be incorporated into the gameplan ASAP by D'Antoni), but this kid's future is very bright man. I think we got an EXCELLENT player here and so much more advanced than people think...

Take a look at this clip - trust me, this isn't some "best plays" reel strung together like some meaningless b.s. Jared Jeffries youtube highlight film - this guy was executing well on both ends like this almost every trip down court.



[Edited by - finestrg on 09-28-2009 1:03 PM]

Posted by babyKnicks:

Check out Marc Berman’s blog, as he got Mike D’Antoni to talk about where he envisions the rookies Toney Douglas and Jordan Hill fitting in this season.
“…We see flashes of him (Hill) being really good,” D’Antoni said. “To project he’ll be better than…we have a lot of guys. We hope he continues his progress but again he’s a question mark. Looking at the roster, he’s got to be better than those guys.”
There were high hopes Douglas would earn the backup PG position. But with D’Antoni looking to go with a big lineup and Robinson capable of manning the PG position, he may not make the top 9. “He didn’t look good in the summer league, I think,” D’Antoni said, adding, “But the last three weeks he’s looked terrific (in voluntary scrimmages). But he’s another question mark.”
In listening to Harrington talk glowingly about Douglas and his ability to “get after it” I wouldn’t be surprised if Douglas is a factor this season. Hill will take longer to develop with not many minutes available.
And so it begins…