Posted by earthmansurfer:

To start off I was pretty disappointed with what I saw, but his game clearly improved as the summer league went on. Also, they were clearly trying to develop or see his outside game.

What has been needed to say has been said, but just to restate something here: Hill has played ball for like 5 years. He went to Arizona on potential and in 3 years was a lotto pick. Many of us here wanted to take a chance on a guy like Jennings (I did), but in a funny way we did take a chance. Next time you see Jordan Hill, think, 5 years of experience. That is insane. Most of these guys have been playing ball for 2 or 3 times that. Big men often take time and those with not much experience take a lot more time, so it is interesting that we got one who has improved each year amazingly so. Hill would have been drafted late first last year, ok the draft wasn't great this year, but still.

I think with Hill we are going to know what we got by year 2, cause he has really moved up and now he is on the grand stage. Add to that some real coaches and direction now which was up in the air the last 3 years.

I see Hill as being at least average, but when we look at him you have to throw this hugely steep curve that he is on, so it's deceptive to predict. But again, just think what he has done in 5 YEARS!

EMS

Posted by misterearl:

Fire

Markji - dominating players are not made in Summer League.

Posted by Bippity10:

Posted by Markji:

This article is why everyone's whining. It came out before SL and everyone, including myself, was expecting a dominating player. But the dominating player didn't show up.

However, I like Hill....he will work and improve, but he isn't ready now to play a major role. By next year he will.

I think everyone should stop letting articles sway your opinion. If you pay attention to this actual article, not once does the writer say he will be a dominating player. He did however say:

While Hill is still developing fundamentally, he has a great feel for the game and an excellent nose for the ball. He's quick, active and knows where to go on the floor to be in the middle of the action.

Which is exactly what we saw in summer league.

Other than that what else did he say? He said scouts said he was the real deal. Probably why he went in the top 10. The rest is just a review of what the author saw in the drills. When you read these articles you just have to take them for what they are. The authors opinion. It's no different than yours or mine and is no guarantee of "summer league dominance" or any type of dominance. It's no different than someone coming on the site and saying Gallo is a bust before he plays an NBA game. It's all just opinion and ultimately a guess. The player still has to perform.

Hill has spent June working out at Tim Grover's Attack Athletics gym. He's gotten stronger and has had a chance to really polish some of his skills in the low post.... Under the direction of Grover's lead trainer, Mike Procopio, Hill was showing off his length, quickness, athleticism and … his jump shot. Hill isn't going to win any 3-point shooting contests in the NBA, but he showed good mechanics from 18 to 20 feet and consistently was draining shots from his favorite spot near the top of the key.

Hill also showed off .... excellent speed running the floor and the ability to get up off the floor repeatedly with excellent explosion.

.... Procopio began putting the players out there in 2-on-2, 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 scenarios. This is where Hill really shined. While Hill is still developing fundamentally, he has a great feel for the game and an excellent nose for the ball. He's quick, active and knows where to go on the floor to be in the middle of the action.

During one set, he caught the ball on the block and made a beautiful no-look pass to a cutting Jonny Flynn for a layup. In another sequence, he caught the ball on the left block, spun to the middle and hoisted a beautiful, soft 10-foot fadeaway jumper over the outstretched arms of his defender. A third time he spun baseline and dunked in traffic.

On the defensive end of the floor his lateral quickness gives him the ability to guard players on the wing. He was able to slow down Syracuse's Paul Harris on several switches and when guarding the pick-and-roll.

Posted by Markji:

Posted by Bippity10:

Posted by Markji:

This article is why everyone's whining. It came out before SL and everyone, including myself, was expecting a dominating player. But the dominating player didn't show up.

However, I like Hill....he will work and improve, but he isn't ready now to play a major role. By next year he will.

I think everyone should stop letting articles sway your opinion. If you pay attention to this actual article, not once does the writer say he will be a dominating player. He did however say:

While Hill is still developing fundamentally, he has a great feel for the game and an excellent nose for the ball. He's quick, active and knows where to go on the floor to be in the middle of the action.

Which is exactly what we saw in summer league.

Other than that what else did he say? He said scouts said he was the real deal. Probably why he went in the top 10. The rest is just a review of what the author saw in the drills. When you read these articles you just have to take them for what they are. The authors opinion. It's no different than yours or mine and is no guarantee of "summer league dominance" or any type of dominance. It's no different than someone coming on the site and saying Gallo is a bust before he plays an NBA game. It's all just opinion and ultimately a guess. The player still has to perform.

I'll say again...I think he will be fine....but he didn't show what this and other reports on him suggested.

Hill has spent June working out at Tim Grover's Attack Athletics gym. He's gotten stronger and has had a chance to really polish some of his skills in the low post.... Under the direction of Grover's lead trainer, Mike Procopio, Hill was showing off his length, quickness, athleticism and … his jump shot. Hill isn't going to win any 3-point shooting contests in the NBA, but he showed good mechanics from 18 to 20 feet and consistently was draining shots from his favorite spot near the top of the key.

Hill also showed off .... excellent speed running the floor and the ability to get up off the floor repeatedly with excellent explosion.

.... Procopio began putting the players out there in 2-on-2, 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 scenarios. This is where Hill really shined. While Hill is still developing fundamentally, he has a great feel for the game and an excellent nose for the ball. He's quick, active and knows where to go on the floor to be in the middle of the action.

During one set, he caught the ball on the block and made a beautiful no-look pass to a cutting Jonny Flynn for a layup. In another sequence, he caught the ball on the left block, spun to the middle and hoisted a beautiful, soft 10-foot fadeaway jumper over the outstretched arms of his defender. A third time he spun baseline and dunked in traffic.

On the defensive end of the floor his lateral quickness gives him the ability to guard players on the wing. He was able to slow down Syracuse's Paul Harris on several switches and when guarding the pick-and-roll.

I highlighted things this article stated which we, as fans, didn't see until maybe the 5th game but still not as good as the article stated. He wasn't in shape; didn't have explosiveness; wasn't good in a crowd; wasn't strong physically, etc.

I don't want to keep knocking Hill. I'd rather leave it positive and say he will improve and be a good player and help our team.

Let's break these down

1.) He's gotten stronger-What were you expecting to see in summer league to illustrate this?Plus this is an opinion, the writer gives no evidence to back this up
2.) really polish some of his skills in the low post-He will continue to do this for the next few years. Remember he is a rookie. We all knew going in that he was a project so if we read more into this, it is our fault. The writer never said he would be a dominate post scorer.
3.) excellent speed running the floor and the ability to get up off the floor repeatedly with excellent explosion-I think he showed this
4.) This is where Hill really shined-All this says is that he did well in 4x4 on that day
5.) knows where to go on the floor to be in the middle of the action.-Offensively I think he showed this in summer league. Defensively he did not. To me, this was the first real quote that should have raised any type of expectation.
6.) no-look pass-Who cares? What does this mean? Why is this even highlighted. Anyone that has played ball for a year or more has probably made a no look pass. What does that mean?
7.) dunked in traffic-People read this and get excited like he's going to be dunking all over everyone. But again, any NBA player above 6-1 has dunked in traffic. This has no bearing on what type of player he will be.
8.) defensive end of the floor his lateral quickness gives him the ability to guard players on the wing-Another one that fans read into. Many guys have the lateral quickness that gives them the ability to guard players on the wing, doesn't mean they can put it into practice. Plus this is simply his opinion, and does not make it so.
9.) Guarding the pick and roll-see above.

Don't get caught up in what writers write. They are fans like you and me. If you had pursued this profession you could be one of them. Does this make your ability to assess a players talent more refined just because you chose a different career path? No, of course not. Some writers will like Hill. Some will not like him. Some will catch him on a good day in practice and some will catch him on a bad day. The best thing to do, is read the article, file it in your own mental database and when you see common themes from writers then maybe you could jump to conclusions. But you can't jump everytime someone writes a shiny article and get all excited about it.

To me the common theme about Hill has remained the same since I started hearing about him. He has a lot of talent and some potential but he has work to do. Summer league did nothing to dispel that.

Posted by misterearl:

bippity - your detailed breakdown is on point. Writers get just a wrapped up in opinion pieces as fans. They rarely take the time to analyze within their 24 hour news cycle. As a result, journalism is dead.

The profession could use an infusion of new blood as their intellectual laziness is a major reason why newspapers are becoming more and more irrelevant.

Outstanding stuff.

Posted by EnySpree:



I think Jordan hill looks alot like Hector, lol....nickname is outdated though...nobody will get it right away.