Posted by Finestrg:

To me there's no comparison between the early struggles of Gallinari and Hill. Gallo's in the right position on the floor to do his thing, Hill's not. That's the key difference. Gallo belongs exactly where he is - out on the perimeter ready to shoot the ball or ready to put it on the floor and try to either get by people if they get too close or create for others. Going by the Euro. clips, those seem to be his strengths -- 3 pt. shooting touch, handle, aggressiveness, creativity, passing - all in a 6'11" body. That's his bread & butter. He's shown he can post up a little bit and I think it's a good idea for him to further incorporate that into his game (you can never be too versatile) but I'm comfortable with his positioning on the floor. I don't think that's his problem. There are other factors at work - the injury had obviously slowed him. Now said to be fully recovered however, we'll see if he can find himself again. I definitely don't seen Gallo playing out of his element out on the court though. He's where he needs to be. He needs to prove to himself that he's healthy, learn to trust his body like he once did and continue to get comfortable with the NBA style, his teammates and continue to improve his confidence. Gallo also has his coach continually singing his praises, unlike Hill..

Hill on the other hand has no business even being out there -- he's got a solid shooting touch but he's not a 3 pt. shooter, he's not a ball-handler nor a creative Milicic-type passer that far away from the hoop. Also, last I checked, you can't post up anyone 25' from the hoop and you're also not gonna get many rebounds being out that high. Plus, when a big interior player's that far out of his element position-wise, he's more apt to make mistakes as we've seen. The only time I've ever seen Hill operating out that high in college it was by design to work a play for him -- he'd come out high to set a pick and immediately roll to the basket where Wise or Fogg would hit him with a quick pass for a score - similar to what Lee does with Duhon. I haven't seen that yet with the Knicks.

Papabear Says
Maybe he needs to cut some of his hair off so he can see!!! Just joking. I think that he is just a late bloomer and he is lacking confidence.

"The only time I've ever seen Hill operating out that high in college it was by design to work a play for him -- he'd come out high to set a pick and immediately roll to the basket where Wise or Fogg would hit him with a quick pass for a score - similar to what Lee does with Duhon. I haven't seen that yet with the Knicks."

This is especially odd to me since Toney can run the pick and roll and the two of them worked a lot together in the pre-season. Or did they? They were both in camp early and Jordan has shown a steady improvement in conditioning and strength. His activity level seems to be getting better. But I have not seen them run it and would expect they could.

Posted by JohnWallace44:

If you have to wait 1/2/3/4 years for a guy to develop... you can get that value in the 2nd round folks. Let's find a different reason to give this guy a pass.

When Derozan, Holiday and Williams are playing impactful minutes in the Atlantic Division and our guy is glued to the bench, tell us then that you're willing to wait 4 years, upon which time you'll have to give this guy another contract.

I agree with you, unfortunately, because Hill has to be ready by next year to be a solid rotation player on this team. Hopefully he is a quick learner, but I have my doubts. Nothing that I have seen indicates that he will learn, adjust, and fit in quickly. I think he could eventually be a decent post player PF.

I think Hill does a good job on the pick and roll. The only problem is that he never gets the ball when he rolls. He looks open to me on many occasions, but I'm looking at it from a TV camera angle and can't be 100% sure that he is open. He's fast, both on the pick and roll, and on his post moves. Maybe a little too fast and this might be why he's looking a bit awkward out there.

I'm starting to really like him defensively. There is no doubt he has the timing and athleticism to be a quality shot blocker. I also love how active he is going for rebounds. With a little more weight, he should become an athletic beast in the paint for us.

I agree that he shouldn't be handling the ball 22' from the basket, but I have no problems with him playing the pick and roll from there. I would love just once for him to get the ball off that pick and roll to see what he can do with the ball. Will he travel ? Will he have butter fingers ? Or will he finish the play ? If he can finish the P&R, have a decent mid range game, and a couple of post moves coupled with his defensive abilities I think we have a solid player for the future.

When people complain about his 2 traveling calls or whatever some of his mistakes have been lately, I think it's unfair. The kid looks nervous , and looks like he wants to do too much too soon. We must remember the kid is 6'10" and picked up the game of basketball much later in life than most other NBA types. I think when he gets used to the NBA size and pace, and gets his jitters over with, I think the kid will really impress.

A big part of the problem with Hill to be fair is that we have no PG. Duhon is still playing at his 08-09 2nd half level. CP3 can make Tyson Chandler look great by running a great pick and roll and getting to the elbow. Duhon is not doing that.

That's about the only thing I can say in Hill's defense at this point.

The kid is what? 22? He's older than some of his peers in the league that are having an impact.

Here are some players that are younger...
Javale McGee
Anthony Randolph
Andrew Bynum

Guess what these players have in common? That's right. We could had chances to draft each of them. They play Hill's position. They're younger than him. They're more polished NBA players.

Hill was taken with the 8th pick and Lee was taken with the 30th pick. Lee was taken 30th because he had holes in his game. Hill was taken 8th and has more holes than a guy you took 30th. Hill has no feel for the game and with this offense you need that. That is why we see chandler struggle a lot.

I am rooting for the kid. I just think this draft was horrible and we should have traded down and tried to get multiple players. Usually when you dont have a feel for the game that isnt something you get.

TD and Gallo have great feel for the game and TD was a four year player which helps some kids. I just think it is tough to learn in the NBA what they want Hill to learn.

Posted by King1:

TD and Gallo have great feel for the game and TD was a four year player which helps some kids. I just think it is tough to learn in the NBA what they want Hill to learn.

Our very own Clyde always makes this point, and its such a good one. Its extremely tough to learn on the job when you're in the NBA. Very hard. This is what college is for.

We can only go on what we have seen not what we feel Hill could be or may be or may not be. What we have seen so far is a poorly skilled player with a limited motor. This is indisputable. Given that and given our desire to develop much more talented young players in Lee, Gallo, and Chandler, and given a handful of veterans who also contribute more to the team in Harrington, and dare I even say it, Jeffries contributes more than Hill can ---- you couple this with Mike's desire to play a tight rotation - you can see why Jordan Hill will not get minutes, and should not get minutes, and may be a regrettable pick down the road.

There is no reason to coddle Jordan Hill or attack users who see him as a disappointment. What he has to do is work hard and play hard and if he does maybe he can play his way into a rotation. If not then it is a regrettable choice. It happens.

Posted by Cosmic:

We can only go on what we have seen not what we feel Hill could be or may be or may not be. What we have seen so far is a poorly skilled player with a limited motor. This is indisputable. Given that and given our desire to develop much more talented young players in Lee, Gallo, and Chandler, and given a handful of veterans who also contribute more to the team in Harrington, and dare I even say it, Jeffries contributes more than Hill can ---- you couple this with Mike's desire to play a tight rotation - you can see why Jordan Hill will not get minutes, and should not get minutes, and may be a regrettable pick down the road.

There is no reason to coddle Jordan Hill or attack users who see him as a disappointment. What he has to do is work hard and play hard and if he does maybe he can play his way into a rotation. If not then it is a regrettable choice. It happens.

We seem to be confusing talent with development. Hill HAS talent. He has physical talents that are NBA level. He has shown that he can stick a jumper and other things. What he hasn't done is mastered the intricacies of BB beyond just basic Big man skills. He has the TALENT to do these things, but lacks the BB IQ, which can be developed. He's already shown a lot of growth over his college career, but clearly he has a lot more to learn. Don't even try to make it sound like players don't stand a chance of improving on skills and BB knowledge, cuz that would be ridiculous. Guys on our own team have shown growth, so why not Hill?