Grant Hill's minutes

[playstation]

I know most people want him tied up to like 24 minutes a game, and i'm not saying i disagree, but i do want to point out that he's not necessarily THAT old yet.

last year for the last month of the season he played in every game averaging over 34 minutes a night. he played in 65 games at 31 minutes a night for the total of last season and not only enters the season feeling great but has what he acknowledges as some of the best trainers there to help him.

grant hill will be 35 this coming season.

for recent players that were reasonably healthy stars entering the twilight of their careers:

reggie miller at 35 played 81 games at 39.3 minutes per game
gary payton at 35 played 82 games at 35 minutes a night
michael jordan at 34 played 82 games at 39 minutes a game (then retired for a while)
larry bird at 35 played 45 games (due to back) at 37 minutes a game
alex english at 35 played 82 games at 37 minutes a night
jason kidd at 33 (last season) played 80 games at 37 minutes a night
scottie pippen at 35 played 64 games at 33 minutes a night

some of these guys had injury histories (pippen, bird, kidd), others not.

its not outlandish to think grant could play 70 of more games averaging 32-34 minutes/game.

the only reason it wouldn't happen would be lingering issues of favoring his left side. last season, apparently the reason he missed games was due to issues with his left knee and tendon of his left ankle. i'm guessing that's due to favoring one side. if the trainers can stop that (they succeeded with amare), they have a gem, if not, i'm still betting he'll play at least 50 games and 30 min/game...

 

[fordronken]

One thing I did think about was the notion that he would be taking over playmaking duties while Nash is resting. I don't think that's the case. A big part of him being here was to take some of the playmaking duties away from Nash while Nash is on the floor. He's most likely going to start, and he's most likely going to finish games and halves. So what does that mean? Probably the first and last six minutes of each half. He gets extended rest and equal stints in every game.

This leads me to another question. What will be our crunch time lineup? Will it depend on match ups? I think Bell and Barbosa could be in that crunch time lineup and move Hill out. To me, there are a few options for crunch time lineups:

#1
Nash
Bell
Hill
Marion
Stoudemire

#2
Nash
Barbosa
Bell
Marion
Stoudemire

#3
Nash
Barbosa
Hill
Marion
Stoudemire

#4
Nash
Bell
Marion
Diaw
Stoudemire

#5
Nash
Barbosa
Marion
Diaw
Stoudemire

 

[404959]

How much is hill supposed to carry this year? I personally dont think that he will make a huge impact.

 

[nashman]

Hill will make a huge impact just being on the floor its another person that you HAVE to gaurd!

 

[da_suns_fan]

The real question should be how many games do you hope to see Grant Hill play this year.

I think 60 something would be awesome.

The fact is we are going to have a six man rotation for at least 20 games....and thats if everyone else (by some miracle) stays healthy for every game he misses.

Grant Hill is a much better player than James Jones and Kurt Thomas, but you just gave up 76 and 67 games played, respectively.

Not good for a team that had a short rotation to begin with.

 

[F-Dog]

James Jones played 18 mpg last year.

I'm still not sure what the Suns will do with Alando Tucker--they built the roster for Tucker to get minutes as 9th man, but with D'Antoni, there's no guarantee. If Hill gets injured, though, the Suns will plug Tucker in.

 

[elindholm]

#3
Nash
Barbosa
Hill
Marion
Stoudemire

I think this is the default crunch-time lineup until someone gets hurt. I don't particularly like it, but D'Antoni seems to prefer Barbosa to Bell (overall), and Hill sort of has to be out there for his playmaking and savvy.

 

[F-Dog]

I think this is the default crunch-time lineup until someone gets hurt. I don't particularly like it, but D'Antoni seems to prefer Barbosa to Bell (overall), and Hill sort of has to be out there for his playmaking and savvy.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Hill at PF in crunch time, which would make room for Raja at SF.

 

[elindholm]

It wouldn't surprise me to see Hill at PF in crunch time, which would make room for Raja at SF.

Supplanting Marion? Not in this lifetime. Imagine the furor that would develop should D'Antoni adopt the habit of benching Marion when the game is on the line. Remember, he is the team's highest paid player, by a large margin.

 

[F-Dog]

That might be a problem for a lot of coaches, but I don't think it would be a problem for D'Antoni. (Especially when the Suns are playing the Spurs, if you catch my drift.)

Beyond Steve Nash, I don't think any Sun will finish all of the close games.

 

[elindholm]

That might be a problem for a lot of coaches, but I don't think it would be a problem for D'Antoni. (Especially when the Suns are playing the Spurs, if you catch my drift.)

Beyond Steve Nash, I don't think any Sun will finish all of the close games.

Except for foul trouble, Marion and Stoudemire are also locks. I'm not saying that's the way it should be necessarily, but D'Antoni's whole stubornness about putting his "best five guys" on the floor -- regardless of circumstances -- makes me believe that, at least, he'll stick with the three All-Stars come hell or high water.

 

[azirish]

In another thread, I pointed out that Hill's injury issues were with his ankles and he has not had those problems for three seasons. 2005-06 he had hamstring and later a hernia; but not last season. The Magic did have a policy of not playing him in the second of back to backs, so his number of games were not a result of a major injury last season.

How many minutes will he play? It will depend on how he feels and how he does. Issues will include:

1. Defense - He played guard on one of the best defenses in the NBA last season, but it was one with a major shot blocker. If he can defend well, he will get a lot of minutes. If he's only average, then it will be a lot fewer minutes.

2. Outside Shooting - Hill does not have great range on his jump shot. With the Suns reliance on spreading the floor, it may not be desirable to have both Hill and Marion on the floor at the same time.

3. Attacking the Basket - Hill is great at getting to the basket and drawing fouls. The Suns also have Amare to attack the basket, so it will be interesting to see how they interact.

4. Rebounding - In Detroit, Hill was a great rebounder. It is not clear if his decline in rebounding is due to being moved to guard or if his lack of hops is respondible. If he can rebound well, it would make a big difference in how much he plays.

5. Play Making - Hill is not a PG in the Nash mode, but he may very well be better at it than Barbosa and Banks. If he does some playmaking, he may get minutes when Nash is resting. At the same time, having him with Nash could alter the offense and let Nash play off the ball more.

It does on and on. IMHO, there is just too many unknowns to figure what is going to happen.

 

[Sunsman44]

It wouldn't surprise me to see Hill at PF in crunch time, which would make room for Raja at SF.

And it wouldn't surprise me to see Tucker at PF during garbage time. Marks (C), Tucker (PF), Pike (SF), Straw (SG), and Banks (PG).

As far as Grant Hill goes, I don't see him going over 28 minutes a night. Will probably even request about 1 out of every 2 weeks off from practice and/or a game.

Cannot invision the fact that this 35-year-old, with a myriad of injuries to both knees and ankles, is going to play over 30 minutes and over 80 games. That is wishful thinking.

Alando Tucker better step it up for Grant when he gets tired.

 

[joshstmarie]

How much is hill supposed to carry this year? I personally dont think that he will make a huge impact.

be prepared to be pleasantly surprised then. if the guy can hit half the open shots james jones got to look at last year we will be that much better. ball not moving as much with nash out?...enter grant hill. i think hill is going to bring alot more than people think. having another guy that can draw a foul besides nash/amare is going to be huge.

 

[dodie53]

i hope coach D uses a 8 or 9 man rotation..

and i think hill will play under 27 minutes per game