Message sinking in for Rockets’ Hill Center turns in solid effort after talk with Adelman http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/7258610.html
Yes! Jordan Hill has got me excited for the future! He may not be a complete beast THIS year, but he is taking steps in the right direction. He was FAR better on defense than Luis and Brad Miller last night. If he can become a defensive force, his offense will be the icing.
It's a bad sign that the coach has to have a talk with a player and ask him to play harder. I would have thought that Hill, or any other young player looking for more minutes would already be making a supreme effort as we prepare for the regular season. I don't see the coach having to ask Lowry, or Battier, or Jeffries, or Hayes to play harder. Hill has some talent and I think Adelman wants to play him, but if Hill isn't fully committed when he is on the court, we have other options.
Physically you can tell that Hill definitely has it. Anytime he actually wants it he is easily quicker than any player he is matched up against (except Blair I suppose when rebounding, that guy is a loose ball hound and will do everything in the realm of physicality and fouling to get the ball). In addition to that he is showing a much improved shooting touch both on the court and on the FT line. I really feel like the tools are all there for him to dominate, he just doesn't have the mindset nor confidence yet. The odds remain against him to simply "put it all together", but you gotta ride out his growing pains because if he does, watch out.
It really is. Whether Jordan takes that essential step of bringing it on the court consistently remains to be seen, but the guy clearly has the physical tools needed to be an impact player, IMO. Also, what Spacemoth said.
Unlike many on this board I haven't been very high on Hill, But I did like what I saw out of him lastnight. Long, athletic, nice little jumper and nice running skills and hops. Not a bad option behind slower players like, Yao and Miller, taller than Chuck, but not as good defensivly as JJ. IMO, Patterson will see the least minutes. What I like most are all the options and different styles each player brings. Great for creating match up problems.
He has a massive quickness advantage on almost every other PF/C in the league. He needs to build confidence and understanding of how to be successful. DD
What I loved the most about Hill's game was 4 TO's. lolwut? No but really, the fact that he is making mistakes means he's putting out the effort. His skills will fix themselves if we see effort like that day in and day out.
