Would it really hurt things to give JJ some time on the floor? Can't say I was ever disappointed with the minutes he got last year... then again, I expected near-zero from him based on the way Knicks fans skewered him.
Remember, we're yet to see Hill play next to Yao. I don't particularly think the starting lineup should be changed. I just don't think we should rely so heavily on Yao. Just because he can play 24 minutes doesn't mean that we need to play him for exactly 24, especially when it comes at the high costs of poor cohesion between the other players on the floor. When Yao is in the game, they're force-feeding him as though he'll perform like he did against Portland in the playoffs prior to his injury. Don't get me wrong, I want to see Yao get back into his rhythm, but the way they're playing him is ruining the flow of our offense. Our players start to stand around and play lazily, and then when he's taken out of the game, they've got to get back into the rhythm of the offense (since Yao is our only player who can really demand the ball). Anyway, from what I've seen of Jordan Hill, he is a very mobile rebounder. Yao, at this point, isn't a mobile rebounder. He'll get the rebound if it's in his immediate area. Play Jordan Hill at power forward, and I think we'd do a lot to help on the boards. If Yao misses the rebound, Hill can grab it, and if he misses it, Battier should be jumping in. Last night, I recall seeing Jordan Hill and Shane Battier move in on the same rebound. Both players had to cover some ground to get the rebound. To me, I was really impressed with how mobile Hill was in this instance. Plus, with Jordan Hill, we have an excellent shot-blocking weak-side help defender for those situations when our backcourt is being porous. At any rate, I think the starting lineup should stay the same, but Jordan Hill should be the first big-man off the bench, backing up Scola. Then, depending on the situation, either Dampier or Miller should come in to relieve Yao. Chuck Hayes and Jared Jeffries shouldn't be in the regular rotation. They should only see spot minutes at the three and four as defensive specialists. Use Hayes against strong post-players and use Jeffries' length at the three to agitate scoring small-forwards. Our backcourt rotation is looking pretty good. Although, I've got to admit, I'm starting to see where the start-Kyle-Lowry-and-bench-Aaron-Brooks crowd is coming from, despite his occasional bad decision making. In our last four games, I've noticed a lot of mistakes from our players -- poor decision making on fast-breaks, poor perimeter defense (especially on the high pick-and-roll), and poor rotations on defense. Take away just a few of those mistakes and the outcome goes the other way. Sometimes it seems like our players think that their actions at the end of games are more important than their actions throughout the first three quarters. They need to understand that every basket, every stop, every defensive rotation, and every decision bare the same weight when it comes to winning the game. And that's all I have to say.
Scola is destroying the boards, but he is also probably the worst defender on the team when it comes to rotations. Our pace is so high, his rebound numbers are inflated. Its not as if he is tearing away rebounds from other guys, most of them are just falling into his lap. If Hayes or Hill were in there, they would likely get the same number. Hayes needs to be IN the rotation. I don't know if you noticed but we are last in the league in defense. Hill has been playing center, not PF. Pair Scola with Hill off the bench and I promise you will see a huge jump in defensive effeciency.
Hill needs more playing time, but he does not need to start. His situational awareness will improve, and so will the rest of the guys playing with him. He is the fastest big man we have and the other guys on the floor need to space out accordingly. Scola is a starter; he is the only starting PF we have. Hayes is a good value player and everyone loves him but if anyone looses minutes its going to be him. Yao is coming along, and looks better in every game. He is still having issues, but I think it stems from guys not knowing how to get him the ball. Budinger, Martin, Lee, have not played enough with Yao, and with some of the passes Brooks and Lowery seem to be re learning how to get him the ball.
Which is to my point... He has the basketball IQ equivalency of a HS sophomore, and that's being generous. There's a D-League for players like Jordan Hill. The problem is that it seems that anyone playing there over 6'7" has been tagged as a terminal scrubbini or BWS. So it would likely drain any spark of morale remaining in his cow-like eyes.
There are a lot of players (DeAndre Jordan, Serg Ibaka, JaVale McGee) that developed latter on without the D-League. He can develop in real NBA games just as much as in the D-league. The D League could actually hinder solid progress by installing false confidence if he dominates there (Dorsey). It just takes time.
Honestly, I do not know Jordan personally. I dont know his IQ. But him looking lost out there, especially on offense is not Jordan's fault. Its the coaching staff. They keep on putting him on the high post where he is forced to make a pass in the paint with traffic or take his man 1 on 1. I believe the coaching staff just is not utilizing him correctly on offense. Its almost like they just say ok Jordan "watch Brad and Chuck and do exactly what they do on offense." Thats not going to cut it. He isnt the same type of player, and hes not ready for the pick and roll until he can be TAUGHT how to put the ball on the floor and shoot in rotation off of the pick and roll. He's going to be a good player if the coaches have some patience and actually play to his strengths.
Jordan Hill is our best shot blocking big on the team. If we replaced Scola with Hill, our starting five's defense would immensely improve.
For everything that went wrong last night, Hill, when putting it into perspective had a good game. He defended the paint, attacking guys who drove the lane. He blocked some shots, and rebounded some. He got pushed out of position and forced under the backboard several times. Sometimes by teammates. He made some good passes to Chase. You play these two together and they play better on both ends of the court. Call Chase Hills crutch or whatever you want, but having Chase out there the same time as Hill definitely increases Hills confidence and comfort level on the court. Not really related to this thread but here is some more: The problem with the interior defense is the rockets chasing there guys through the paint getting halfway through and then stopped expecting someone else to pick their man up. Which didn't happen the other Rockets were getting pulled to the other side of the court. Over and over in the 4th you had 3 rockets jammed up in the paint out of position leaving half the court undefended, effectively leaving 2 hornets open. It’s not any one guy; our defensive switching sucks, and our guys are way to stationary when playing the motion offense allowing Lowry and Brooks to do their best Steve Francis impersonations. At the game last night Brooks looked incredibly frustrated, be it from the new kids, the contract or just the losing.
I dont think Hill should start, but he should definitely be in the rotation and getting good minutes in the 4/5 position he shows a lot of potential and i think he is gona be a key player in a trade if we want to aquire a super star,
Ding Ding. You win. I would rather see the athletic Hill and the slow footed Yao together, instead of the not so fast Scola and extremely slow footed Yao. Defensively it would be much better. I still think Adelman is going to have to tinker with the rotations and in the end we may end up seeing this.
