Oh I saw the game, Jordan's still developing and it was kind of obvious a much more polished player in LA was going to outplay him. Thats why experience is so valuable.. Hill will learn from this game and will only get better.
You mean after the turnover? He didn't swipe at anyone geesh!, he snatched a towel and kinda threw it down. Lee was talking to him quickly after that. I like the fact he showed emotion and some fire, Jordan is normally very even tempered and that showed he was really competing out there.
What was he doing that was such an embarrassment? He got a couple of offensive rebounds, missed a layup and dunk(where he was fouled)...it sucks but crap happens. What bothered me was the missed free throws but Ray Allen missed two free throws during crunch time tonight so it happens to EVERYONE. Defensively, he had no chance against a superior player. NO ONE on the team stops LA at that point except Chuck and that might not even work. You are WAY to hard on essentially a rookie, who EVERYONE knew he was VERY raw. Not sure what you saw but all I saw was a frustrated kid who wants to improve.
He had some good moments, and some bad. He is a capable rebounder, but for some reason his effort is not always there. He needs to hit the weight room this summer, I think that has A LOT to do with it.
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There is nothing wrong with Jordan. Aldridge was simply to quick with his moves. I think Jordan is still adjusting to his playing time, that and his rotations on defense need work. He's still raw, so people calling for his head after two bad games need to be patient with him. He's essentially a rookie going against who many think should be the starting 4 at the All-Star game. Let him sink or swim. Hopefully he'll start picking it up soon again because we really need him.
To be perfectly honest, I don't even remember. My defense mechanism has already blocked that nightmare from my memory. BUT, in respect to your concerns, I am willing to go over the tapes again and relive the experience, just to make sure I am not missing something. However, you will be responsible for any mental trauma that I suffer henceforward. Okay, stream of conscience style, lets start up the tapes and go over the sequence together in real time. This has the feel of an exorcism already... Lets start at the 5:00 mark in the fourth quarter, Rockets up 1: 5:00 Pick and roll with Fernandez and Aldridge. Hill does not hedge NOR stays on his own man, caught in no man's land, giving Fernandez a wide open free throw shot. This has happened throughout the game and just another example of his inability to cover the PnR. A missed rotation, what else is new? 94-93 POR 4:30 The ball is swung to Hill the next possession. He fails to give it up, holds on to it for 10 seconds until shot clock runs down, forced to drive into the teeth of the defense with a dipsy do spinning hook that clanks off the rim. Rockets get the ball back but turns it over. 94-93 POR 4:15 POR goes down low to Aldridge. Scores easily over Hill. When I said "embarrassing", I was actually not talking about his one on one defense. He is usually effective by using his length and height to bother post ups, but when matched up against an equally Long Tall Dude who is actually skilled, he had no chance. This is because he does not play any position defense, relying purely on his physical gifts. Meaning he allows the opponent to establish position where ever he wants, and is too weak to hold them off the block. A good defender makes his opponent uncomfortable, making him do things he is not accustom to. Aldridge was so comfortable it was as if there was no one else there. I am not going to harp on this any further since no one else on the team could stop him either, and Hill did at least try. 96-93 POR 3:58 Martin draws foul. 2 FTs. 96-95 POR 3:38 Houston plays GREAT defense and with the clock down to 5 seconds Scola blocks the shot. As the ball bounces right in front of Jordan Hill and is on its way out of bounds, he inexplicably just stands there and stares at it. Lowry sees this and dives out of bounds in attempt to save it, but is too late. Announcers are incredulous. Apparently Jordan didn't know it was blocked, and when a ball is right smack in front of him he would rather watch it bounce than simply pick it the **** up. POR ball, thankfully they miss. 96-95 POR 3:25 Martin draws foul. 2 FTs. 97-96 HOU 3:10 POR misses 3. 97-96 HOU. 2:51 Nice lob from Battier to Jordan Hill. He misses the wide open alley oop. But is fouled. And then misses both FTs. Somehow I expected this. Call it intuition. 97-96 HOU 2:35 Aldridge down low. Draws Jordan Hill's 5th foul. Please God just let him foul out and end the misery. But nay, in an ironic twist of fate, the most foul-prone player on the court does not pick up another foul for the rest of the game. God is a cruel God. We play good defense and get the ball back. 97-96 HOU 1:50 Lowry shoots a desperation 3 as the clock runs down. Hill is in PERFECT position for a wide open put back. He does not go up strong to dunk it, but rather tries to lay it up as it clanks off the rim. Instead of keep going after the ball which is loose right next to him, he turns to the refs to complain. While before it was just generally bad play, the nightmare is about to get very real. 97-96 HOU 1:40 Great D by HOU packing the paint. 97-96 HOU 1:20 Martin misses and Hill grabs the rebound. Again, instead of going up strong, he starts spinning himself in circles until he somehow loses the ball on his own as he goes up for a shot. Ball is again RIGHT IN FRONT of him but he is too busy throwing his hands up to complain. Battier dives on the floor but cannot come up with it as there are 3 Blazers around. POR calls timeout and as Hill approaches the bench he clearly makes an aggressive move at something/someone. Brad Miller was in the way so I can't tell. Someone said he was just throwing a towel. There was no towel. Keith Jones comes over and knocks on Jordan's head, as if to try to knock some sense into him. Unfortunately all that reverberates back is the hollow ring of an empty melon. 0:52 PnR between Fernandez and Aldridge, and just like the sequence that we started here with, Jordan is caught in between nowhere. Martin is picked off and can't quite catch up. Fernandez throws up the go ahead bucket as Jordan watches with his hands to his sides. 98-97 POR 0:35 Martin misses on drive. 98-97 POR 0:13 With the game on the line, POR goes down to Aldridge. He drives into the paint and spins around Jordan like he is not even there. Wide open layup. No contest. If Aldridge simply made a hook or fadeaway over Hill like he has all game long, I would have accepted that. Giving up a wide open layup, with his feet stuck in quicksand? Just pathetic. Embarrassing. He is yanked from the lineup, and the game comes to a close. Not long ago, we were a great team at home, and what made us so good was our ability to close the game with excellent execution. Although we had no single "closer", we relied on our discipline and hard work. That is very hard to accomplish nowadays, as no matter how cerebral the other 4 players on the court are, it is nearly impossible to overcome when 1/5 of the lineup is mentally handicapped with a brain the size of a peanut. Thank you for giving me the opportunity for this cathartic experience. Now allow me to go throw up and then gauge my eyes out with an ice pick. ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX!!! ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX!!!!11 ARGHHHH
if only Hill had a good strength trainer to train him against getting manhandled or pushed to his coffin. Everything is there, he is just to weak to hold a player away from the basket.
Before the season started, I thought Hill should be at the end of our bench. I thought he had a poor showing in the summer league games, and I had no expectations that he would have a rapid improvement. I have been pleasantly surprised to see him show a few offensive moves I didn't know he had. However, it's clear to see he will probably never be a dominate player. And that's OK, not everyone can be a superstar. At this point I would be happy if Hill could develop into a solid player that comes off the bench. Asking Hill to be a potent offensive weapon is asking too much in my opinion. Hill does not have good hands, and he doesn't have the natural offensive instincts to be a big part of the offense. I see Patterson as a much more complete player, and I expect him to move ahead of Hill as the primary backup to Scola at some point. Hill looked bad trying to defend a bigger and more talented player in last nights game. But that's a problem everyone else on our team has had this year also. Hill has looked much better playing with Miller on the second unit, I'd rather see Patterson start with the first unit until Chuck comes back, and let Hill go back to playing with Miller.
I wasn't able to watch the second half yesterday. I understand Hill got frustrated/upset in the 4th quarter. For a guy who displays such a stoic demeanor, that show of emotion is actually welcome. While Hill has shown improvement from last year (I think you got to discount yesterday's game a bit for Aldridge is a tremendous player, at this stage MUCH BETTER than our own Scola), what will be telling about Hill and his future career as a NBA player is how he will use his off season. Hill has to use these humbling experiences against Aldrige and Nene as a motivation tool. If Hill comes back with 15-20 lbs of added muscle, with more offensive skills, then it will have meant that he really wants to improve. Otherwise, he will always be a bench player, not much better than a scrub. The jury is very much out on Jordan Hill.
Tell me why everthing is blamed on DD. you guys are just lost anddont know who to blame so u blame him. I mean come on do u really think its a curse?
Of course it isn't an actual curse. DD is just like your typical clueless stock trader who invariably always seems to buy at the very top, and pike out at the very low. Not because there is some grand conspiracy against him, but simply because all his decisions and evaluations are based on pure emotion. This is why when applied to watching basketball, when a player is so "overbought" where even DD is jumping on board and making threads about him, it is time to fade the **** out of that soon-to-be sinking rock. Very predictable, really.
