The sudden emergence of Brad Miller does not sway me in my thinking one bit. Yeah, Hill had a couple of turnovers. Yeah, he had his shot blocked rudely by Hibbert, but what i didn't see was that he only played 11 mins. in the game. With his involvement last night, it seemed like so much more. He was very active in those 11 minutes. 4 points, 2 rbds., 2 blks. which is like his usual in that amount of time. The other night against Washington, he played 9 minutes got 4 points and 3 rbds.. These are not the type of minutes that i was talking about, but i guess it's still early, so they will come. When he plays 26-30 minutes, he contributes either with good points, rebounds or blocks. He won't get you 23 pts. a night, but you know what, neither will Brad Miller. Way to go Brad!!
Chuck Hayes should be reserved for Dirk Nowitzki, Rashard Lewis and other jump-shooting and soft big men. You can also put him up against really slow, back to the basket beasts like Chris Kaman. That's about it. You don't make him the default backup, this is just either laziness or stupidity on Rick Adelman (and his entire staff)'s part. Patrick Patterson should be developed and fed 10 mins game no matter what. Line up should be: Yao/Miller Scola/Hill/Patterson When Yao sits down, Hill should be the primary backup C and that's when you either increase Patterson's minutes or insert Hayes/Jeffries. You'd think coaches and his staff who are making millions of dollars should know how to be competitive while developing rookies but I guess not. Patterson could be Landry 2.5, but we don't know since he hasn't stepped on the court in 7 games. Other teams are playing undrafted big men, we have a lottery pick chained to the bench smh.
You don't just hand someone 10 mins a game because of their draft status. If someone else can get more out of those 10 mins, you give those minutes to that someone else. It's not like Rick has a history of gluing rookies to the bench for no reason. If a rookie can contribute, then he's gonna get an opportunity to play. If he thrives in that opportunity, he gets more minutes, just like every other player. That's how it should be.
Yeah and Rick won't bench a rookie/sophomore/young player the second he does something wrong--like t/o or bad defensive sequence or questionable foul like gundy which only screwes their confidence and development.
Chuck Hayes should NOT be reserved for Nowitzki. Nowitzki is the exact type of big that gives Chuck trouble, the long, tall faceup big man that turns, faces, and either shoots over the top or drives. Chuck is simply not long enough to either effect the shot or the drive. Chuck is at his best working in the paint against classic post up big men. He is absolutely one of the best post up defenders in the NBA because: 1. They can't move him. He's got an extremely low center of gravity and they can't root him out, once he gets position. and 2. He has the quickest hands and feet of the big men in the NBA. When post up players attempt to turn, Chuck scrapes the ball away before they can get it up to shoot or pass it. Once they go into their move, he can move his feet faster than they can turn to get into position to scrape the ball away. Chuck should be reserved for post up players that are working in the interior successfully against us. He is the designated post up stopper on this team.
Pretty much my thoughts as well. Jared Jeffries would probably bother Dirk's jumpshot more and he is also quick enough to draw charges against his, how should I put it, slightly Brad Milleresqueish drives.. And it's hard to fault Adelman too much for playing Hayes with the defense as bad as it is right now. Hill will get his minutes increased if he keeps performing and improving, and Patterson has still plenty of opportunities of learning in practice before hitting a plateau in his improvement. Even if you are touted NBA ready by the pre-draft scouting reports, there is still much to learn about playing against top competition in daily basis. (Something about Hilton effing Armstrong destroying draft prospects in competitive workouts comes to mind right about now...)
Size doesn't beat you from the perimeter very often, and Chuck has the lateral quickness to stay in front of Nowitzki and force him to take off-balance jumpers. Yes, off balance jumpers is something Nowitzki is pretty good at, but Hayes defends him better than any other player we have. Dirk's pet move is to pump fake, get his defender to bite, and then sink the jumper before they can recover and contest. Length helps, but so does timing, and Chuck's timing defensively is very good. I could reference a number of games versus Dallas where Chuck was put in specifically to guard Nowitzki and he did a solid job. I think you overrate Chuck's effectiveness as a post-defender against size, and you underrate his effectiveness guarding face up players away from the basket.
Yeah, out of Chuck, Miller and Hill; Chuck is the best defensively. Hill is taller with a bigger arm span and more athletic, but Chuck holds his ground in the paint better, can stay in front of his man, has quicker hands and has a hardnose attitude. Hill does some great things and I've been impressed with Hill but he takes alot more chances defensively and still has alot to learn. Brad is better for this team on the offensive side with his passing and veteran leadership, but lacks on defense. I like Hill's flow in the offense, but needs to work on his 18-20 jumper to help create spacing. Personally I can't see Hill starting over Miller or Chuck at this point. Hill needs to earn his stripes and should earn a right to start, not just given it. or even given time for the sake of developing players. Last I checked we are still trying to win now, and our defense is sorely lacking. So for now, let Hill come off the bench, be a spark plug, learn his role and gain experience. If he continues to earn his play, then so be it. For now we still have Yao and Scola and anyone that thinks he should start over those two is smoking crack. Quick drinking the Hill kool-aid. He's good and I've been impressed, but at this time and on this team he's not a starter. Yao/Miller/Hayes Scola/Hill/Hayes I have Chuck 3rd at both positions because you put him in at either spot where every you need him defensively. Hill when you need some shot blocking and speed. Brad teaching and directing on the offensive side. If you want Hill as a starter, your probably aready thinking of tanking.
I've seen Dirk beat him time and time again from the perimeter. Chuck can't guard him on the perimeter. Dirk can step out to the 3-point line. If Chuck tries to crowd him out there, Dirk goes by him because he can outstride him to the hole. The best thing that happens to us defensively is when our opponents think they can iso Chuck on the blocks. He disrupts down there just like Lowry disrupts from the perimeter and drives down the offensive efficiency of our opponents.
I think he's better suited to come off the bench. Come into the game with energy and be aggressive on the boards. Much like Landry.
Would agree with most of that. The issue is this particular team has a problem with consistent team chemistry and lacks an identity. They might have been playing too MANY players. When you're trying to win, you'd don't just all of a sudden turn to young guys. You don't win championships with 1st and 2nd year players, thats just the truth of it. Though if you're trying to insure yourself for the future, might be better to temper the expectations and give younger players on-the-job training.
I'm no basketball expert, but it really does appear that Jordan Hill lacks some awareness out on the court. In situations where he's in obvious position to score, he for some reason doesn't expect to receive the ball and passes deflect off his hands. Or he catches a pass and has no suddenness to go to the rim with the ball. He has to receive the ball with a clear look to the basket, or he'll pause and gather himself to make a "basketball move" which 4 out of 5 times is a drop step into a hook shot. Chuck Hayes isn't offensively skilled but there's at least some fluidity in his offensive involvement. He knows his limitations and what he CAN do to get open looks. Hill is a bit out of sync in the offensive flow, though what he does works to some effectiveness cuz he has juuuuust enough physical ability to do them in spite of his basketball IQ not yet up to standard
John Hollinger agrees, at least in part. Free Jordan Hill! Houston has been among the league's worst defensive teams in the early going, primarily because plodding big men Yao Ming, Brad Miller and Luis Scola can't protect the rim or force turnovers with quick switches and traps. Enter Hill. By far the Rockets' most athletic big, he's played only 90 minutes so far this season. He's been marginalized, it seems, by coach Rick Adelman's past familiarity with Miller. Alas, Hill is both the better player and the better player for this particular roster, as his game compensates much better for Scola's weaknesses. With Yao sidelined for the next few games, it's an opportunity for Hill to establish that fact well enough that the Rockets have no choice but to keep him in the rotation.
Can't get too much of a feel for the game in just 11 minutes. They took him out twice and put him back in after every single mistake he made. Can't play like that.
Thats how it goes with raw prospects, gotta play the rawness out. Good thing the problems aren't too insurmountable. Perhaps his college career shows he'll start slow but gradually get himself acclimated to the game. That 1 game aside, I thought Hill has been more a little more effective than Brad Miller this season. Similar to couple years ago with Von Wafer being better than Brent Barry despite one player being the skilled veteran and the other an unproven young raw player.
