Hill picks Phoenix

[SirStefan32]

one of the things that struck me while digging in the numbers: his consistency.

this guy doesn't seem to have those 1-11 clunkers. while his overall % is a superb 52%, its a highly consistent one as well.

That goes back to Hill being a very smart basketball player. He knows exactly what he can and can not do. He knows what shots he can and can not make.

I think this signing is great. Not only is he a very good player with a very high basketball IQ, but he can also serve as a great mentor to Diaw.

 

[goldseraph]

goldseraph- can you talk a little bit more about his post game? what kind of moves are we talking about? does it draw the double-team? how does he pass out of the post (usually to strong side or weak side)? is he a fadeaway kind of guy or does he try to back in strong?

i ask because i think that skill is something this team lacks and could really benefit from.

Hill can back down smaller guards and SFs fairly well. Usually he posts up on the high block or on the wings, and resorts to a spin-move cut to the basket where he is really good at banking it off the glass from wierd angles. He also has a nice turnaround fadeaway jumper from 10-15 ft. Hill also is good at posting up then passing to cutters down the lane or throwing it back out to an open 3pt shooter on the edges. Sometimes if he is on a guy significantly shorter, he can command a double team and is good at passing out of them. Hope this helps!

 

[TheHopToad]

Think of if that pick would have hit #5, and boston hit #6. We could have traded marion to boston for Ratliff/#5/Telfair... Given MIN #5/#6/Ratliff/Telfair/KT for KG... And MIN would have had #5/6/7 and expiring contracts up the wazoo. Grant hill wouldnt have even fielded calls from other teams, we would have vets fighting tooth and nail to play here for the minimum, and half this board would be running around the streets of phoenix buck nekkid.

I would have been perfectly happy if we had gotten that pick and just spent it ourselves on Cory Brewer. Add him to what we have now and I'd be pretty stoked...

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

KG > Marion + Brewer

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Hey in one of the first leads I read that confirmed Hill coming to phoenix, it said he had an exclusive interview with some Basketball News agency. Has anyone heard/seen details of the interview?

 

[Rab]

I was listening to Gambo and Ash yesterday on my way home, and they were talking about whether they liked, or loved this signing. Both Ash, and Byrnes said they liked it a lot, but didn't love it.

I, for one, love this signing, but only after you take everything into consideration.

1. The organization has been getting kicked in the nuts for the last couple of years, especially the last 2 months. It is great to me to see a player such as Grant Hill choose to come play here for less money. It makes me feel even better to know that 15 teams reportedly were courting him.

2. Grant Hill signing here in PHX means that he is NOT going to be playing for our big obstacles in Dallas and SA. That alone makes it completely worth it to me.

3. The price tag that comes along with this signing. Is Hill a high risk injury wise? Yes, but it's not like we're paying the guy much in basketball terms. Take a chance and see how it goes.

4. We traded away some of our SF help in James Jones, and replaced him with a much better player, again for less money.

5. We finally have another veteran that is not only a good player, but a great locker room presence. We have two very immature stars in Amare and Shawn, and hopefully Grant can assist Nash in helping those two grow up a little. Nash can't do it by himself. He needs help.

6. His on the court ability. Grant is a very intelligent player. A good playmaker and a good ball handler. Having a player like him on the floor with Nash provides us a luxury we haven't had since we traded JJ away. That is an added bonus to a team full of wings that can't create. He has a great midrange game, something the Suns lack, and can get to the line. No one other than Amare consistently gets there.

Is Grant going to be the difference maker, or the final piece to the puzzle? Probably not, but he sure is a help, and I don't think we're that far off anyway. The Suns are pretty much done this offseason, but I like this team going into next year. The only wish I have is to get another decent big, but it's doubtful it will happen.

 

[Folster]

M.J. was talking to a reporter in Orlando who had a lot of positive things to say about Hill. One thing he said scared me though. I guess Hill takes anti-inflammatories three times a day and sometimes has trouble walking the day after games. I imagine that the anti-inflammatories are common throughout the league, but the difficulty he has walking is quite worrisome.

 

[phillycard]

Congrats guys. If Zo can hitch a ride to a ring, then certainly Grant can. Probably the only Dukie outside of Johnny Dawkins I actually like, he deserves one.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Almost every first-round prospect looks great the week after he's drafted. I know zero about Tucker, and he might turn out to be great, but counting on him at this point seems pretty suspect.



It was observed by many on this board that he became less aggressive looking for his shot late in the season, after he suffered the shoulder injury.



Sure, as the Spurs knew they would. The Suns were fatally undermanned.



In his two-minute stint, sure, I guess. He wasn't prepared to contribute in such a critical situation.



See above. Nash was also lackadaisical in Game 6, until the Spurs opened up a huge lead and he realized, "Holy crap, my season is over if I don't pull off a miracle."



Hey, don't get me wrong, I like Grant Hill a lot. But expecting a 35-year-old guy with six major surgeries (don't forget the hernia) to come in and be the savior seems pretty far out there.



Is Hill going to defend him? Get him in foul trouble? If what you say is true, how does Hill help at all?

E - You are such a pessimist. The key is that neither Dallas or SA got him. Or even the Lakers.

If they had then you would be touting those teams for bringing in a vet like Hill and saying the significantly improved while we sat on our hands and if anything got worse.

And as for Tucker. Counting on him is just plain stupid. BUT i was looking at another thread and those Josh Howard comparisons are eerie. Obviously that is best case scenario but it seems they are exactly the same. He will contribute if not this year than down the line.

Grant doesn't make us preseason favorites which is what you want (trust me i do too - the best part about getting KG would have been the next 6 months of "just hand the title to phoenix talk and mass media coverage) but he does make us better. Hill for Jones at less money is simply a no brainer.

IMO there are three things important to us being better than next year.

1) Nash not declining at a fast rate
2) STAT and Boris coming in after a summer of working hard and being im proved. I could forsee Amare returning to the 25ppg level next year and to me Boris is the key to how good we really are. If he learns to play with Amare and gets back to the Dallas 2005 level we are going to be scary good.
3) Team chemistry. Marion scares the hell out of me. Amare and his ego are okay because he is an alpha dog and he plays like an alpha dog. Theres no room for that from Marion in that Locker room.

Still - I want KG soooooooo bad. I'm not giving up the dream.

 

[elindholm]

If they had then you would be touting those teams for bringing in a vet like Hill and saying the significantly improved while we sat on our hands and if anything got worse.

No I wouldn't, although I do think Hill would have been more valuable to the Spurs than to the Suns. But when the Spurs got Finley a couple of years ago, I wasn't that distraught, because I didn't think he'd make that big a difference. (It turns out I was wrong about that.)

 

[Arizona's Finest]

No I wouldn't, although I do think Hill would have been more valuable to the Spurs than to the Suns. But when the Spurs got Finley a couple of years ago, I wasn't that distraught, because I didn't think he'd make that big a difference. (It turns out I was wrong about that.)

LOL - I still have this full page post i wrote and saved in Microsoft Word about how Mike Finley was the key to our championship that year for when he signed. I WAS distraught when he went to SA and he ended up being killer in this last series.

And thats the role Hill will play. Strong vet who will make noise come playoff time. I think one of the most underrated pieces of this whole thing is the training staff of the Suns. I have the utmost faith in this staff as it seems they take care of nagging injuries better than any other team and are proactive and agressive. And i think Amare has to thank Nelson and staff for his miraculous return. I think Hill will benefit from Nelson and get 65+ games out of him.

The only thing that kills me about the staff (and its not Nelsons fault) is that Nash debacle at the end of game one. Not being able to get him back in the game for those last two crucial offensive plays- as wells DA's insistence on starting that POS Junior instead of KT is what lost us the series (and i know your with me on that cheese). NOT Game 5.

 

[azirish]

No I wouldn't, although I do think Hill would have been more valuable to the Spurs than to the Suns.

That is very interesting. I tend to agree with Hill's assessment that with Manu, Finley, Bowen, and Barry, that Hill's contribution on the Spurs would have been limited. It seems to me that Hill's role is almost certain to be greater than with the Spurs.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Huh? Zero for zero is 00%, not 100%.

Or, to quote Billy Preston (who spent alot of time playing keyboard for the Beatles, as well as having his own hit), "Nuthin' from nuthin' leaves nuthin".

okay, using percentages was the wrong tact. how's this: he didn't miss a single shot!

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

You miss 100% of the shots you dont take, and statistically speaking, most of the ones you do take.

 

[PetryJr]

No I wouldn't, although I do think Hill would have been more valuable to the Spurs than to the Suns.

Really? I don't think he'd be very valuable to the Spurs, to be honest. And it's not only because the Spurs already have players in his position.

Their offense revolves around Duncan's post-ups, and Ginóbili's and Parker's penetrations. They have three playmakers, and for their spacing to work, they need the rest of the perimeter players to be spot-up shooters.

My opinion is that, out of their 3 perimeter players, they need at least 2 good three-point shooters on the floor at all times. That was always the case during the playoffs.

So, basically, when Parker penetrated and the defense collapsed, two of Finley, Ginóbili, Barry and Bowen were usually ready to hit a three. When Duncan had the ball in the post and was double-teamed, he also had at least two three-point shooters around him. And when Ginóbili had the ball in his hands, he probably had only one three-point shooter waiting for the pass, since both PG's didn't have 3-point range. But Manu himself has 3-point range, and he's developed a step-back three to keep the defense honest in that situation.

So what I'm saying is, the Spurs don't really need another playmaker. They need shooters around their playmakers. One interesting example is Brent Barry. Before joining the Spurs, Barry was viewed as a shooter, but also as a very good passer and playmaker. But in San Antonio, he just doesn't handle the ball that much anymore. Now he's just a three-point shooter who cuts to the basket every once in a while.

Hill would probably find a way to contribute there, since he's a very smart player. But unless he developed a reliable corner three, I don't think he'd be that effective in San Antonio.

 

[Hugh D'Man]

E ......- Grant doesn't make us preseason favorites which is what you want (trust me i do too - the best part about getting KG would have been the next 6 months of "just hand the title to phoenix talk and mass media coverage) but he does make us better. Hill for Jones at less money is simply a no brainer........

technically...its Hill and cash for James Jones and Tiago Splitter (or?) ...

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Tiago? How did the spurs draft pick get into this conversation?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

You miss 100% of the shots you dont take, and statistically speaking, most of the ones you do take.

you don't miss 100% shots you don't take 'cuz you haven't taken any. by definition "to miss" means you've undertaken, and failed in, some affirmative action, and by refraining from shooting you have not taken the action in which to fail. i still say he's 100%!

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

alright mr analysis, next test of tearing apart a sport quote.

the best offense is a good defense

 

[Hugh D'Man]

Tiago? How did the spurs draft pick get into this conversation?

It appears from what has been said, Portland would not take Jones w/o getting # 24. The two moves were tied together. Thus, to get the $$ to sign Hill, Phnx gave up Jones and #24.

 

[azirish]

Tiago? How did the spurs draft pick get into this conversation?

It is imagined that if the Suns had kept the #24, they'd have taken Splitter rather than Fernandez. That is possible, but hardly a sure thing.