Suns at Magic Game Thread

[bigfoot]

Hill certainly has a positive attitude toward what the team/coaches are demanding of him. I really hope their plan works out in the end. Hill himself seems sold to the idea, and he knows his game best, so who am I to say it's stupid? But really, this guy's attitude is winning me over.

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Hill did not shoot as well as he would have liked Saturday, going 6 for 18 from the field with a career-high eight three-point attempts (two successful). But he got what he wanted out of the game.

"It's always good to come back and beat your old team," Hill said.

He said he will keep shooting the threes even as assistant Alvin Gentry joked that Hill nearly set his career high for attempts in a season Saturday.

"Don't judge me where I am right now, but judge me where I am at the end of the year," Hill said.

 

[jandaman]

I'm happy with Hill's contribution so far...

the only ting I am not happy with is his playing time.... should be between 26~28 minutes for now... and gradually increase it as the season goes.

Play Skinner, Strawberry more now, incorporate them to the system.

Hill's biggest job and ultimately his purpose will be in the playoffs, as he can find his own offense and thats huge against Spurs, Mavs in which those teams will need to get a good defender on him.

Jazz is still a problem... a huge problem.

I think Williams, Brewer, Kirilenko, Boozer, Okur..... will be a tough matchup... Milsap, Giricek coming from bench is huge for them too.

 

[WuRaider]

The defense last night was BEAUTIFUL (except Amare). Mike D has the defense he needs right in front in front of his face. It's simple, use very few double teams. Last night was the perfect example. They let Howard get his and when they did double team, the shooters were cold and that led to long rebounds and fast break buckets. I doubt he's going to stick with it but he has to realize that the best defense for this offensive team is a simple one.

Amare should be ashamed. The dude is nasty and mean on offense but he is a below average defender. Boris is smaller than him but did a way better job of holding Dwight outside the lane. For a stretch, Amare became a liability and that's not looking good for a guy who wants to be most improved and MVP. You can say, he's shaking off the rust but I just don't think he has the right people teaching him how to play D. They need to bring in a big man coach just for Amare.

 

[jandaman]

main reason Im not happy with Amare either.

Doesnt box out, doesnt play defense... just putting hands on his man's face... cant do it.... scared to bump bodies, always replies on going for blocks or steals which leads to fouls...


I thought he improved but.... yet to see it.

WILL be a huge issue when it comes to play the other contenders.

 

[arwillan]

The defense last night was BEAUTIFUL (except Amare). Mike D has the defense he needs right in front in front of his face. It's simple, use very few double teams. Last night was the perfect example. They let Howard get his and when they did double team, the shooters were cold and that led to long rebounds and fast break buckets. I doubt he's going to stick with it but he has to realize that the best defense for this offensive team is a simple one.

Amare should be ashamed. The dude is nasty and mean on offense but he is a below average defender. Boris is smaller than him but did a way better job of holding Dwight outside the lane. For a stretch, Amare became a liability and that's not looking good for a guy who wants to be most improved and MVP. You can say, he's shaking off the rust but I just don't think he has the right people teaching him how to play D. They need to bring in a big man coach just for Amare.

they should have used a similar strategy to beat the spurs last year. let duncan get his but shut down parker and ginobili. i think we gave too much attention to duncan last year

 

[cly2tw]

they should have used a similar strategy to beat the spurs last year. let duncan get his but shut down parker and ginobili. i think we gave too much attention to duncan last year

The problem was we couldn't stop either of Parker and Ginobili, while Bowen stopped Nash. As we could not exploit the mismatch from Bowen covering Nash, our only sure-fire offense was Amare.

 

[arwillan]

The problem was we couldn't stop either of Parker and Ginobili, while Bowen stopped Nash. As we could not exploit the mismatch from Bowen covering Nash, our only sure-fire offense was Amare.

yep, exactly. nash missed a lot of shots when he got the switch with duncan on him and that really hurt us because he normally hits those every time. oh well, you win some and you lose some

 

[nowagimp]

who's hating on Hill? I know at least as far as I'm concerned my issue is with DA who's trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. I think Hill's skills could be put to BETTER use. As much as I'd love to see turn into a major 3-point threat, I think that's a lot to ask of a 35-year old guy who's never shot threes in his life and has SERIOUS skills going to the hole and hitting the midrange shot. Just because you shoot a lot of threes doesn't necessarily mean you're going to become a better three point shooter. Some people are just better than others and I think that after playing ball a certain way for 20 some odd years, it's a difficult adjustment to make for a guy like Hill... or anyone else put in that position.

Youre right cheese hill is not a big threat from three, I cringe when I see him line it up. Two things why I dont mind for now:

1) let him convince himself, he'll make his own decisions in the playoffs he's a real vet hill.

2) SHooting 3's during the regular season should limit his exposure to injury going to the hoop and save his ankles for the playoffs.

Hill will be there and he's too much of a pro to heave a shot that is not going in during the playoffs. I like his effort and fundamentals on D, he's a great pickup, he'll be going to the rack come playoff time.

My concerns are with limiting his and Nashs minutes, bringing amare back slowly and keeping everyone healthy for the end of the season. This means Banks and DJ must play, hope DA gets these guys some quality minutes. I almost think a few minor injuries to someone else are needed to make DA play them. I keep wondering if Sarver is somehow involved with this stupid short rotation. I just get the feeling he's pressuring DA to win every game.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Youre right cheese hill is not a big threat from three, I cringe when I see him line it up. Two things why I dont mind for now:

1) let him convince himself, he'll make his own decisions in the playoffs he's a real vet hill.

2) SHooting 3's during the regular season should limit his exposure to injury going to the hoop and save his ankles for the playoffs.

Hill will be there and he's too much of a pro to heave a shot that is not going in during the playoffs. I like his effort and fundamentals on D, he's a great pickup, he'll be going to the rack come playoff time.

My concerns are with limiting his and Nashs minutes, bringing amare back slowly and keeping everyone healthy for the end of the season. This means Banks and DJ must play, hope DA gets these guys some quality minutes. I almost think a few minor injuries to someone else are needed to make DA play them. I keep wondering if Sarver is somehow involved with this stupid short rotation. I just get the feeling he's pressuring DA to win every game.

I agree with most everything here that you've said and hope your right in regards to Hill. However, I think the short rotation is ALL on DA. I may not like Sarver and his financial decisions at the cost of what I think is necessary talent, but I don't think he's middling with DA, and if he is, he's an even bigger buffoon than I already give him credit for being.

 

[Errntknght]

Arizonas Finest,

Here is the situation with Grant Hill's three point shooting - it's funny because this is the biggest crisis in NBA history all of a sudden - and why we shouldn't worry.

The SF in this offense being able to take and make a 3 is what really puts this offense to another level. Notice why DA likes to go small and put Marion at the 4 - he likes to have his 1 -3 guys be able to drain the Whata -shot.

So with Grant hill they want him to develop that at the beginning of the season when everyone is rounding into form as it will make our offense that much better. And for everyone killing DA for it - it is absolutly the right coaching move to make.

I don't have a problem with Hill developing a three point shot but I think DA's move to bury him in the corner is absolutely the wrong coaching move to make - here's why you should worry about it.

With Hill taking over Bell's corner we have Raja out front trying to help run the offense while Grant is getting very little opportunity to work himself into that role. Bell isn't doing much and even what he does do isn't a help.

With this offense finding your place as the secondary playmaker is a long process, so Mike is wasting valuable time with Hill shunted off to a corner. Part of the appeal of getting Hill was that he would take some of the playmaking load off Nash - Steve wouldn't tire as fast and he'd be able to play the role of a part time spot up shooter. Personally, I'd much rather have Nash taking three's than Hill - assuming the latter developed into a passable shooter from that range.

Add to that the fact that Hill's ability as a slasher and driver is not being utilized, nor much of his midrange game. Out front he'd also have much more opportunity to effect a defender switch with a guard, then post up the way Boris does.

Sheesh, if he turns into a super shot on the corner three, we'll be right where we are with Raja shooting them. For that he's going to play two guys out of their natural positions? Only a warped mind could think that way.

 

[azirish]

Tonight Hill was 3 of 4 for three - all from the corner.

IMHO Hill has needed time to get into Suns condition. In the early games he was consistently short on his shots (including his mid range stuff) which is typical for guys whose legs aren't at full strength.

 

[LV-Suns]

That was a great game for hill

 

[Cheesebeef]

Tonight Hill was 3 of 4 for three - all from the corner.

IMHO Hill has needed time to get into Suns condition. In the early games he was consistently short on his shots (including his mid range stuff) which is typical for guys whose legs aren't at full strength.

it's also typical for guys who don't have 3 point shooting range. In his last game (read: not an early game) he was 2-8.

we played the Knicks, one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Let's not make too much out of this game. Was it nice to see? Yeah. Is it the beginning of a trend? Who knows.

 

[azirish]

it's also typical for guys who don't have 3 point shooting range. In his last game (read: not an early game) he was 2-8.

we played the Knicks, one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Let's not make too much out of this game. Was it nice to see? Yeah. Is it the beginning of a trend? Who knows.

I doubt he'll take half his shots from the three point arc, but I don't see any reason why he can't be effective from the corner. It is a lot closer to the basket than some wing two pointers and is typically open whenever Nash or Diaw drive the basket. Hitting those shots force opponents to limit their help defense, which means it is a lot more valueable than the one or two three pointers he will hit.