With the 26th Pick the San Antonio Spurs select George Hill

There is a Coach Pop and George Hill connection....the grew up about 2 1/2 hours from each other...hummm


Those Indiana guys always seem to stick together.

I was surprised at how GIDDY Pop was about being able to get Hill. Before the draft he said he didn't expect to get anyone that could help the team right away, and afterwards he said this was the first year since they got Tony Parker that they got exactly what they wanted( which to me is HUGE. )

ANALYSIS

Positives: Smooth open-court runner who might not have great ball-handling skills to play the point, but his quickness and leaping ability help him compensate for a lack of size playing the two-guard position ... Uses his lateral agility, explosive first step and good arm length to slip past traffic to elevate above the rim to feather the ball into the basket, doing a nice job of taking his man off the dribble, as he gets lots of his points off screens and catch-and-shoot situations ... Defenders need to pressuring him on the perimeter, as he can quickly turn and shoot once he secures the pass ... Frontcourt types struggle quite a bit to stay with him, as he has a nice array of spin/pivot moves with an explosive crossover to fly past his man on the way to the basket ... Uses his frame well to power his way past defenders trying to block his shot around the basket ... Quick to fade back or change directions in attempts to separate from his man to get a cleaner shot ... When given space, he can be very consistent shooting behind the arc ... High-energy type on defense, using his lateral skills well on rotations ... Gets good elevation and shows nice form executing his jumper ... Can create his own shot, working hard to get to the rim and finish ... Moves well without the ball, doing a nice job of coming off screens to get other teammates involved ... Has confidence in his shot selection to want the ball in crunch time ... With his natural ball-handling skills, he is efficient taking his man off the dribble ... Despite his size, he attacks the basket, even when big forwards collapse on him ... Has a smooth, quick release and a high release point, showing good range firing up his 3-pointers (made 40.4% of those shots for his career, including 45% as a junior) ... Gets good elevation and sets his feet well with his pull-up jumper ... Has very good balance moving through traffic and is a valid free-throw shooter who uses his body well to draw contact on the way to getting opportunities at the foul line ... Good passer with the vision to bounce the ball out from defensive rotations ... Has a tight handle on the ball and comes off the dribble with good elevation to flip in a quick jumper ... More comfortable shooting the ball, but knows his size will limit him to playing the point at the next level and worked hard this offseason to improve his handle, showing at the Orlando pre-camp that he can control the tempo of the game and create scoring opportunities for others (just needs reps to get comfortable in the point guard role) ... Has good strength and times his leaps well crashing the boards, showing good second jump ability for putbacks and rebounds (averaged 5.8 rebounds for his career, including 6.8 rebounds per game as a junior) ... Keeps his hands active, coming up with steals in the passing lane ... Times his leaps well trying to alter or impede the perimeter player's shot selection.

Negatives: Played mostly at the two-guard spot and while he showed the ability to play the point at the Orlando pre-camp, he has minimal experience at the position ... Will over-dribble and hold on to the ball too long, looking for an open teammate instead of creating his own shot ... Tries to be "too perfect" in creating his own scoring opportunities and is a bit too deliberate making a decision with the ball in his hands (this lets the quicker guards take him off his element, resulting in a high turnover rate (had a career-high 94 turnovers, most coming off the dribble last season) ... Must do a better job of pressing the perimeter shooters (gives too much space at times) ... Not really an explosive open-court runner, but compensates with good change of direction and lateral agility ... Does not have that long wingspan to alter shots and while he has good leaping ability, his reach is not good enough to make an impact as a shot blocker ... Has a tight dribble, but will get out of control and leave the ball exposed when trying to drive past traffic ... Foot injury suffered in 2006-07 might scare off a few teams (reports state that he might have screws inserted).

Compares To: JAMEER NELSON-Orlando ... Like Nelson, Hill will have to sacrifice some of his scoring duties and learn how to play the point. There are not many 6-foot-1 shooting guards in the league and he lacks the blazing speed to cover speedy point men, but he did show in Orlando that he is improving his ability to control the tempo of the game and create scoring opportunities for others. He certainly could have used another year of schooling, especially since he never faced good competition during his college career.

http://www.sportsline.com/nba/players/draft/1622391

he has some nice dunks in this video

3 pointer and alley oop dunk

interview with Hill

Thanks for posting the videos Ace. That wingspan is pretty impressive, most guys who are 6'2" can't jam like that.

I was surprised at how GIDDY Pop was about being able to get Hill. Before the draft he said he didn't expect to get anyone that could help the team right away, and afterwards he said this was the first year since they got Tony Parker that they got exactly what they wanted( which to me is HUGE.

My guess is that about 28 of the 30 gms in the league were acting like that after the draft. We will see how good this kid is.

Well, he sounds ok. Sounds like he has a good attitude and looks pretty athletic which is good. If Pop likes him then obviously there is something good about him. Personally I was rooting for us to get Mario Chalmers but oh well, I hope Hill works out and becomes a good player for us although I'd never heard of him

SpursFanInAK wrote:Well, he sounds ok. Sounds like he has a good attitude and looks pretty athletic which is good. If Pop likes him then obviously there is something good about him. Personally I was rooting for us to get Mario Chalmers but oh well, I hope Hill works out and becomes a good player for us although I'd never heard of him

No one had ever heard of Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili either and now most GM's would give a body part to have them............

Blondie wrote:

SpursFanInAK wrote:Well, he sounds ok. Sounds like he has a good attitude and looks pretty athletic which is good. If Pop likes him then obviously there is something good about him. Personally I was rooting for us to get Mario Chalmers but oh well, I hope Hill works out and becomes a good player for us although I'd never heard of him

No one had ever heard of Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili either and now most GM's would give a body part to have them............

I could still remember...."The San Antonio Spurs select Tony Parker from Paris Bicycle Racing "

I remember wanting to kill Pop...i have learned my lesson, Pop knows what he's doing

SpursNation wrote:

Blondie wrote:

SpursFanInAK wrote:Well, he sounds ok. Sounds like he has a good attitude and looks pretty athletic which is good. If Pop likes him then obviously there is something good about him. Personally I was rooting for us to get Mario Chalmers but oh well, I hope Hill works out and becomes a good player for us although I'd never heard of him

No one had ever heard of Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili either and now most GM's would give a body part to have them............

I could still remember...."The San Antonio Spurs select Tony Parker from Paris Bicycle Racing "

I remember wanting to kill Pop...i have learned my lesson, Pop knows what he's doing

I'm not going to lie when Pop picked Tony I was thinking is Paris Basket Racing?????

That's why I am so excited about Hill - because Pop is. The last time I remember him being that way was when he selected Parker.

The official press conference introducing George.

Blondie wrote:That's why I am so excited about Hill - because Pop is. The last time I remember him being that way was when he selected Parker.

Just now getting around to this topic LOL but I remember being the same way. I always trust Pop's judgment when it comes to his players and rotations etc, so when he was that happy I knew this kid had to have some potential....and well he's lived up to it.