Grant Hill is a real man

[Gaddabout]

You guys can have your scorers. I'll take the 37-year-old small forward who snagged 12 rebounds that Amare couldn't touch and did all the little things that allowed the Suns to win a tough game on the road. This guy played the game of his life and didn't give a **** about his stat sheet. He's the real player of the game, and maybe the series, and maybe even the first round of the playoffs.

 

[Tyler]

You guys can have your scorers. I'll take the 37-year-old small forward who snagged 12 rebounds that Amare couldn't touch and did all the little things that allowed the Suns to win a tough game on the road. This guy played the game of his life and didn't give a **** about his stat sheet. He's the real player of the game, and maybe the series, and maybe even the first round of the playoffs.

I dont think you will find many that disagree with you. He wants this so bad. His talent with his want is a scary thing, especially when you have Amare, Nash, J-Rich, and hopefully a healthy sideshow Robin to back him up. I am so excited for Monday, almost as excited as I get for MNF when the Cards are playing.

 

[PoolBoy]

i say J-Rich as player of the series for us. He went harder than anyone minus MAYBE dudley. those 2 were the MVP's. Nash and STAT need to pick it up in the next round.

 

[BC867]

Nash and STAT need to pick it up in the next round.

Nash had a real off-night in closing out the Blazers. But it was great to see the rest of the Suns, including the bench, keep control. It's a good sign.

When Amare was double- and triple-teamed, he did the right thing. With the game on the line, he drew the crowd and made some neat passes.

In thinking back to over fourty years of Suns teams, I don't think any matches the complete package this team has.

The only thing that's getting old is Leandro never giving up the ball once he gets it. Whether it's playing Point Guard while Dragic has to stand there and watch or fighting his way to the hoop.

He's an undersized 2 Guard who disrupts the team chemistry and I'd like to see him gone. He should take lessons from JRich on how to play the position, although he'll never be at that level.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Thank god for Dragic. I remember the days when a bad Nash game meant zero chance to win. Tonight I wanted more Goran than Steve.

 

[hsandhu]

You guys can have your scorers. I'll take the 37-year-old small forward who snagged 12 rebounds that Amare couldn't touch and did all the little things that allowed the Suns to win a tough game on the road. This guy played the game of his life and didn't give a **** about his stat sheet. He's the real player of the game, and maybe the series, and maybe even the first round of the playoffs.

People will kill amare for his lack of rebounds, and nobody has been more critical of him in the past that me...but you can see he is really competing on defense, and i'm willing to bet a lot of the boards hill grabbed amare did his job and kept his player off the board.

 

[BC867]

Thank god for Dragic. I remember the days when a bad Nash game meant zero chance to win. Tonight I wanted more Goran than Steve.

I was thinking the same thing in the 4th quarter. I believed that we would hold on to the lead with Dragic on the court.

But, I must say, Steve's key three and free throws reinforced that, no matter what Steve does throughout the game, doesn't diminish what he can do with the game on the line.

 

[Chaplin]

People will kill amare for his lack of rebounds, and nobody has been more critical of him in the past that me...but you can see he is really competing on defense, and i'm willing to bet a lot of the boards hill grabbed amare did his job and kept his player off the board.

Exactly. There was probably a good 5 or 6 rebounds that he allowed JRich and Hill to get by simply keeping Camby and/or Aldridge away from the basket.

 

[AfroSuns]

Stick around anyplace, as Grant Hill has for more than 15 years in the NBA, and you begin to see earlier versions of yourself, the way Hill can't help noticing the parallels between Brandon Roy's speedy return to the Portland Trail Blazers' lineup and Hill's own insistence on participating in the playoffs a decade ago.
Hill knows it's not his place to meddle with an opposing player while he's in the midst of a playoff series, and realizes he doesn't have any insight into the state of Roy's surgically repaired knee. But if there were anything he would say to Roy it would be the same advice he gives any teammate dealing with an injury, the same counsel he gave Orlando Magic point guard Jameer Nelson in a phone call last year when he heard Nelson was making an earlier-than-expected return from shoulder surgery to play in the NBA Finals: Be sure there's someone within the organization who is looking after your best interests.
And above all, "Make sure you have peace of mind."
If a player doesn't have peace of mind now, he could be looking at a lengthy odyssey to find it, just as it took for Hill, now 37.
Hill's story needs to be heard by any player fighting his way through injuries just because it's the playoffs. No one wants to end up the way he did, with an appendage filled with metal and a giant what-if hanging over his career. But then, every player -- from superstar to garbage-time reserve -- should look at the long, bungee-cord timeline covering Hill's career. It's not just a cautionary tale; it's a case study in how to cope with the misfortune of injury and deal with the inevitability of age.

Nice article on Grant, more here http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2010/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=granthill-100428

 

[Chaplin]

Nice article on Grant, more here http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2010/columns/story?columnist=adande_ja&page=granthill-100428

Great article by a Laker homer.

The comments are pretty funny. Everyone loves Grant except for bitter Magic fans that think he should give back the money they paid him over all those year and insulted the Magic by leaving.

Nowhere do they mention the playing time issue, which I recall was the biggest reason he came to the Suns.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Grant Hill drinks Sprite!

 

[slinslin]

Thank god for Dragic. I remember the days when a bad Nash game meant zero chance to win. Tonight I wanted more Goran than Steve.

Dragic did not exactly have a good series either in my opinion.

The alarming thing is that Nash's poor play becomes a pattern recently. He is not going to produce like he has this year for the rest of his contract that much should be evident by now.

Next season might be the last where you can justify starting him in the NBA.

 

[dodie53]

i want me some Sprite!

 

[Gaddabout]

Did anyone see Hill drop a tear on TNT when Sager pushed his buttons about finally winning a first-round series? It was a manly tear. Just feel real good for him.

 

[Sunshooter]

salute!:notworthy

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Did anyone see Hill drop a tear on TNT when Sager pushed his buttons about finally winning a first-round series? It was a manly tear. Just feel real good for him.

I didn't see a tear at all. He made a comment about crying. I think that was sweat.

Grant Hill played like a grown ass man last night. That block on Bayless was about as good of a block as you will ever see in a game. After that block, I knew we would win.

Amar'e boxed out really well tonight. He didn't grab too many rebounds, but Camby/Aldridge didn't go off either. Camby had exactly 4 rebounds. Sometimes you have to see the game inside the game.

 

[chickenhead]

Shout-out to the Suns trainers, too! Having Grant on the floor in great shape with his mixture of skill, leadership, desire, and willingness to do it all is an awesome thing, and I don't think it would happen for Hill everywhere else.

 

[DeAnna]

I didn't see a tear at all. He made a comment about crying. I think that was sweat.

Yep, that was just sweat.

 

[DeAnna]

I think JRich was really the difference in this series. So you know the Spurs will take him away.

 

[jagu]

Players of the series

1. J-Rich- beast.. seriously most of his threes and shots were in heavy traffic and pretty good defense. When right he is a juggernaut on offense.
2. Hill- locked down on Miller and treated him like he treated Bayless when he sent his dunk attempt down to the ground. Probably the biggest defensive change that altered the series.
3. Dragic- kid logged some quality minutes in the playoffs
15.5 PER, 13 for 31, 7 for 15 from 3, 12 Assists, 4 TO's, 41 PTS, shot 47% from 3 this series.

 

[jagu]

I think JRich was really the difference in this series. So you know the Spurs will take him away.

Pick your poison. Guard JRich and let Amare drop 45 on you, or play off J-Rich and guard Amare. I think J-Rich is unstoppable when he is on, I don't care who you throw on him. Portland tried hard to stop J-Rich and the Blazers have better D than San Antonio with faster moving big men as well (Camby/Aldridge).

 

[Mainstreet]

I think JRich was really the difference in this series. So you know the Spurs will take him away.

I would not say JRich was the difference but he was huge in the series. I'm not sure how the Spurs can easily take away a player like JRich who can create his own shot and can play both inside and outside. The Suns seem to play unselfish as a team with not much drop off between the first and second unit. Offhand, this is the first time I can recall that the Suns played well with Nash having a subpar game.

Grant Hill is very, very special.

 

[Gaddabout]

I think JRich was really the difference in this series. So you know the Spurs will take him away.

JRich never goes off if Hill doesn't take over the difficult defensive assignment. Don't forget that.