The Good Kind of Mentally Twisted

An article by Mike Monroe in yesterday's San Antonio Express News points out that George Hill has missed "nearly every shot he attempted in the three games he played in the Las Vegas Summer Pro League this week."

Coach Popovich used the term "mentally twisted," to characterize Hill's shooting slump.

But, in what seems like a diliberate flaunting of his own mad genius, Popovich thinks this is great: because Hill has shown he can defend at an NBA level, and seems to recognize the amount of work it's going to take to start putting the ball through the hoop at this level.

Lafayette Lever was a similar style of 1-2 combo guard in the 80's, and averaged 18.9 points. 8.9 rebounds and 8.0 assists one season with the Denver Nuggets, despite coming into the league without much of a shot. Laver agrees with Pop:

“I made a bet with a bunch of scouts in Orlando (at the pre-draft camp). Some of them said George wouldn’t even get drafted. I told them I was sure he’d go in the first round. I’m just as sure he’s going to be fine for the Spurs, because he’s a basketball player and he knows how to play and he competes and he defends.”

There you go. You heard it from Lafayette first.

Vegas Babies

This week in Las Vegas, Nevada, a bunch of NBA teams will suit up their youngest, least proven players--along with a lot of players who may or may not ever make a roster spot on any NBA squad--in very plain versions of their team's uniform to compete in something called the NBA Summer League. Last week some teams met in Orlando to do the same thing, but the Spurs weren't there. We played our first game of the Summer League yesterday against the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Spurs won 78-76 (recap here). Ian Mahinmi scored 18 and pulled down 8 rebounds; George Hill debuted as a Spur with 17 points, 8 rebounds.

At the end of the first quarter, O.J. Mayo, the high school sensation and rookie guard out of USC, hit a last second 69-foot two-handed heave to score 13 of the Grizzlies 17 first-quarter points.

Darrell Arthur, whom I talked about getting the draft day shaft and falling all the way to the Hornet's 27th pick (before being traded to Memphis), made me look even smarter, and led all scorers with 23 points in this game.

These games don't mean anything. It's just a good chance to see some of these lesser known players get some burn against each other. Sometimes players will rule the Summer League, and fall completely flat in the NBA (Marco Belinelli was a perfect example last year--37 points in his Summer League debut, breathless comparisons to Larry Bird by respectable NBA journalists...then a total flame out in the regular season [source: True Hoop]). The same goes for a team's record; the Knicks went undefeated last Summer, but were one of the worst teams in the league this year [from same article].

In less interesting news, the Spurs have evidientally done some realligning of their front office. A guy named Rick Pych has been promoted to "President of Business Operations," while Greg Popovich will take over as "President of Spurs Basketball," while, of course, remaining the head coach. R.C. Buford will likewise remain the General Manager, but will also take on the role of "President of Sports Franchises." This means he'll be in charge of the WNBA Silver Stars, the American Hockey League San Antonio Rampage, and Austin's own Toros of the NDBL.

Like I said, not all that titilating, but if you consider how many guys in other front offices and head coaching positions around the league came from the current Spurs system (Danny Ferry in Cleveland, Steve Kerr in Phoenix, PJ Carlisimo in...Oklahoma, and Avery Johnson...well, nowhere at the moment, to name a few), it's a name worth taking note of. Pych will probably be a GM for some other team in a few years. Which will also barely be blog-worthy. But give me a break, it's the Summer.

Oh and now Manu says he thinks he'll be able to play in the Olympics. I'd be surprised if he didn't to be honest. I mean, it's Manu. Come on.

The Man from Ooey-Pooey

So it turns out IUPUI (Spurs rookie, George Hill's alma matter, for those just joining us) stands for Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Evidentally it's a little like UTSA, except two major Universities share the same regional campus. Sort of like those Pizza Hut/KFC stores.

Actually I shouldn't compare this place to those blights on humanity. IUPUI, and especially their basketball program, sounds like a pretty classy operation. The S.A. Express-News did their homework on the place and offer a basic rundown, including the fact that the name is informally pronounced "ooey-pooey."

Express-News also has an article lauding Hill as a player whose NBA-ready skills flew right under the radar of many teams in the first round because of his lack of exposure at Mid-Level Division I school, IUPUI.

Ron Hunter, Hill's coach at the obscure Indianapolis college, has this word of advice for Spurs fans when it comes to their new rookie point guard: Remember the name, if not the school.

“I've always said some guys have ‘it' and some guys develop ‘it,'” Hunter said. “This guy was born with it. People have no idea how talented this kid is.”

It also presents Hill as a player whose personality is perfectly suited for the Spurs system, and illustrates how these two details are not mutually exclusive, as Hill actually passed up opportunities to play for powerhouse programs such as Temple, Indiana and Florida, for a chance to play closer to his ailing grandfather. Unfortunately his grandfather passed away only two months after Hill signed his letter of intent with IUPUI.

Coach Popovich often uses a term to describe the kind of player personality that makes the Spurs work so well. He looks for individuals who are "over themselves." When you take stock of the range of personas in the NBA, and consider how delicate the function of a championship caliber NBA squad must be, it makes sense that pop would value this quality so highly. It suggests a selflessness, and a lack of unneccessary distraction in a person.

In my opinion this is the quality that allowed the Celtics to be so great this season. The talent of their three superstars is undeniable; but we've seen plenty of teams stacked with superstars fall short of doing what the Celtics did. The '04 Lakers are probably the best example. Kobe and Shaq, along with Karl Malone and Gary Payton failed to do what Shaq and Kobe did three times with far inferior supporting casts. Shortly after that series everyone started to realize just now not "over themselves" those guys were--especially Kobe.

It's obviously not the only factor: Kobe and Shaq have one a hand-full of titles while being distractions from the purpose of their team. But it's not easy. And I agree with one of Travis's comments earlier--it helps when they don't call fouls on your 400lb player.

Anyway, it's great to hear that George is a Pop sort of player. And even more encouraging to hear how ready the Spurs and Hill's former coach think he is to come in and contribute basketball-wise.

One NBA scout, after watching Hill up close for much of the year, said he thought the guard could have started for any college team in the country...

“He's a freak of nature,” Hunter said. “He's a guy that could play three-straight NBA games, then go out and run a mile — and run it in five minutes.”

He should come in very handy if the NBA ever switches to a triple-header / foot race playoff format.

The Last of the Millionaires

The amount of money a rookie makes from his first NBA contract is dependent on the order in which he is drafted. The number one draft pick makes the most of any rookie ($4,822,800 for Derrick Rose this year), and every player selected after the first pick makes less by increments that decrease from about $500,000 between the first and second pick (Michael Beasely will make $4,314,960 per year in his first contract) to about $7000 between the 29th and 30th pick (Indiana will pay DJ White $964,080 a year, while the Celtics owe JR Giddens $957,120).

So when you see some of these guys who expect to be drafted very high fall a bunch of spots (Mario Chalmers, for instance, was predicted to go in mid to late first round even in the latest mock drafts, but he fell all the way out of the first round to Miami by way of a trade with Minnesota--at 34th overall). It's a big deal for them, and not only because of pride. It could mean a difference of several hundred thousand, or even several million dollars.

Hoopshype.com has a chart that lists every salary for the players taken in the first round.

For what it's worth, our man George Hill is the last player in the draft to earn a million dollar payday at $1,006,200.

Please Don't Call Him a Soufflé

I've started my digging to see just who this George Hill cat is. The more I turn up the more exciting the pick seems.

Mike Monroe of San Antonio Express-News has an encouraging report on how excited the Spurs are about this guy:

All you need to know about George Hill, the player the Spurs drafted in the first round of Thursday's NBA draft, is this: There was a celebration in the Spurs' draft night war room when the Houston Rockets made Frenchman Nicolas Batum the 25th selection of the first round, leaving Hill to the Spurs.

He also picks up on the quote from Pop I referenced yesterday about some players needing to be left "baking in the oven" for a while before joining the team, and claims the Spurs think Hill is, as Mike Monroe puts it, a "perfectly risen soufflé."

Another Express-News piece by Jeff McDonald inflicts yet another food metaphor (Hill isn't big on Tex Mex yet), but gives even more detail on how stoked Pop and the other Spurs brass are on this guy.

A 6-foot-2 scorer who played both guard positions in college, Hill is projected as a point guard in the NBA. The Spurs expect him to compete with Jacque Vaughn for the backup position behind Tony Parker next season.

“He's a really solid player at both ends of the court,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “I honestly believe he will make our team better right off the bat.”

No D-League? No 4 years playing for an Eastern Block European team? If you believe Pop, then this is a very un-Spurs kind of draft. And in this case that's actually a good thing.

UPDATE: I may have been a little hard on the Express-News guys for their food analogies, especially considering some of the silly content of my writing so far. I just really, seriously, don't want "The Soufflé" to catch on as Hill's (or anyone's) nickname.

In the Room with George Hill

Here's an interesting blog that gave a live update of how tonight progressed for George Hill and about 50 of his closest associates. It's interesting to get a glimpse into what a huge and somewhat surreal event this is for the people involved. He was hoping to be drafted by Indiana, but seems pretty happy to be a new Spur.

Is There a Draft in Here?

With the 26th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, the San Antonio Spurs select George Hill a guard from IUPUI. I'll find out more about this character (along with what exactly IUPUI stands for) tomorrow.
Other notable draft events that I've caught on ESPN in the last few minutes:

*** The Heat did indeed draft Michael Beasley. That sneaky Pat Riley.

*** The Pacers are making a bunch of trades. Jermaine O'Neal is going to Toronto for T.J. Ford. They're also going to have both of the Rush brothers--Brandon and Kareem--after a trade with Portland.

*** The crazy fans at the draft keep chanting "Silver! Silver!" every time Adam Silver, the NBA Deputy Commissioner, comes to the podium to announce a pick. He looks like he's getting a real kick out of it.

With the 45th pick, the Spurs select Goran Dragic, a point guard from Slovenia.*** The Mavericks just selected Shan Foster with the 52nd pick. The commentators are making a big deal out of how he looks just like Usher and that he even plays the piano. Then they showed a clip of him singing a song that he wrote just for draft day. He was sitting in front of a keyboard while it was playing a preset song (or maybe he had recorded it--but he wasn't playing it at that time), and singing about how "no one shoots the 3 like me / I can't wait to play in the NBA.") It was awesome.

*** The Portland Trailblazers have like 20 picks in this draft.

*** 5 Kansas Jayhawks were drafted this year.

Okay, the Spurs have one more pick at 57 in the draft. That's 4 picks away. Hurry up Houston. You know who you're going to pick, just pick. OK. here comes Adam Silver. Maarty Loonin (Maarty with two a's).

OK, Spurs on the clock. It's the 57th pick overall. That's almost exactly where the Spurs got Manu Ginobili.

And...aw, crap. They made a pick during a commercial. I didn't see who they got. Here we go: James Gist, a Forward from Maryland.
Okay, there we go. That's a draft for me. I have beers that need drinking at Don's with my man Matt Cross.

UPDATE: The Spurs have traded Goran Dragic to the Suns for Malik Harrison, a 6-6 Small Forward from Oregon.