Rookie has Up-Hill Battle

by Tommy Dee on November 8th, 2009 at 8:30 am

Point guards and other first-year players around the league are making impacts early this NBA season. Meanwhile Jordan Hill of the Knicks, the eigth overall pick from Arizona, can’t get off the bench.What a horrible draft choice by Donnie Walsh!

It is a sentiment that many Knicks fans are echoing, and on the surface it seems valid.

That’s if you are in the habit of overreacting and defining a player’s career after two weeks.

Mike D’Antoni, who has told me that Hill is “close” but “needs to get better” recently told reporters that Hill isn’t better right now than the players ahead of him.

What did you say? But this team stinks! He can’t play over Jared Jeffries!

Yes, I understand the dismay, but what fans should understand is that it takes much longer for big men to develop. We are talking about someone with great physical gifts who just needs more seasoning. He’s a big part of the team’s future.

Sure, Ty Lawson is playing well in Denver and, of course, Brandon Jennings is lighting it up (and losing, too) in Milwaukee. Fans believe that Mike D’Antoni’s high-octane offense desperately needed an upgrade over Chris Duhon in a point-guard heavy draft. Several teams selected one in the first round, and that has many fans infuriated that Walsh missed out on one. Throw into the mix that the team’s 2008 lottery pick, Danilo Gallinari, spent most of last season out with a back injury has many fans wondering, for the first time, if the Walsh/D’Antoni combo has what it takes to turn this franchise around.

I think it’s safe to say that it will take more than just over a year and that when the team sits down at the table on July 1, they will be happy with what they walk away with as it relates to 2008 and 2009.

But let’s look at this logically. Two weeks does not a career make, on either end of the spectrum. Channing Frye was a stud early in his career and had an All-Star ceiling. What happened?

Point guards, since birth, have the basketball surgically attached to their hands and have the foot speed to play right away, so expect them to move to the head of the class. A class, by the way, that has a can’t-miss in Blake Griffin atop it, who is light years ahead of Hill. That’s why he was taken seven spots ahead.

I’ve seen Hill in practice, and, at his best, he’s exciting to watch. He still floats and doesn’t have the polish on the block that you’d like, but he can knock down shots and finish around the rim.

He’ll be fine. More.

I liked Hill’s fluidity against Cleveland, and he’s not afraid to pull, that’s for sure. Last night was a step back. He’ll be getting more minutes soon. Interesting that Hahn mentioned that Walsh didn’t have enough feel for Jennings to draft him, but he’s still very happy to have Hill.
  • Magik_Trick

    I like his J, should of taken it inside a bit more often though

    We need to develop him, give him JJs minutes…JJ is useless to us, and no ones gonna trade for him

  • Bob

    what would you expect DONNIE WALSH to say?”i made a huge mistake in drafting Jordan Hill”? not in this lifetime

  • Its The Kid

    When you read stuff like this, you need to put what is being said into perspective…

    1st off, Jordan Hill was a Junior in College on a team that underachieved, every year… Brandon Jennings would’ve been a Freshmen… So Hill has 2years of high-level development on Jennings… This is not the Channing Frye and Bynum scenario… Unless Hill is Frye and Jennings is Bynum… And if thats the case, judging by how Jennings is already playing, passing on him was really a mistake… By the way, Frye was a FA who signed we Phx for 2mil… He was perfect for MD’s system, you pick a pg and pay Frye 2mil we are way better… But I digress…

    2nd Ty Lawson was the “straw that stirs the drink” on a championship team… A proven winner, from a winning program and we passed on him… He was also the best pure point in the draft, by far… Keep in mind that we havent had a winning culture here since the early 2000… So couldnt we have used Lawson more than Hill?

    3rd On draft night we traded for Darko, so did we really need Hill… Can you develop both at the same time? I can go on, but why beat you in the head… You know where all this is going…

  • itzyung1

    dude what the hell are you talking about.

  • Its The Kid

    Its very clear, either you get it or you dont…

  • Section 40

    I don’t understand the “(and losing too)” written after brandon jennings in the story above. The bucks are 3-2.

    A few days ago, this blog wrote a whole story before the Indiana game which implied that we should be happy with a 2-3 record, which is ridiculous btw…why are you criticizing a rookie starting pg for being 3-2? It’s a winning record.

    Can one of the writers on this blog explain that? It’s getting harder and harder to read this blog as it gets more slanted toward the knicks. Let’s be fair people, come on…

  • Its The Kid

    I felt the same way, when I read the post…

  • HaS

    That’s Tommy, you gotta love him. He either hates Jennings or he just loves Walsh to much to question him. How about _’antoni who was a player and coach in Italy, couldn’t get a feel for this guy’s work ethic and willingness to listen from his contacts over there? He has to know someone who could at least get 2nd hand information on the kid. He shouldn’t have been a surprise to him.

    Isn’t he the scout?

  • itzyung1

    Somethings Very Clear Alright……especially after reading that mess.

  • Its The Kid

    “Deep Thoughts” from a guy who spells It’s with a Z and young without an O ha…

  • HaS

    Hill seems like he has bad hands.

  • Mucha

    He does have bad hands.