Jordan Hill Still Struggles On The Block

[Erick Blasco]

Hill is going to have to earn his minutes, and if Summer League is any indication, he might not be seeing the court too much this year. Jordan Hill’s biggest problem offensively seems to be his inability to get a good look after he receives the ball in the post with his back to the basket. He was so raw offensively coming out of college, and it seems (at least to me) that he still hasn’t done any back to the basket work. Hill doesn’t know how to use his combination of size and strength in the post to his advantage just yet:

 

Here, Jordan Hill makes the catch in a pretty good spot. Defending him is the Suns’ second round pick, Gani Lawal. Lawal probably is equal to Hill in terms of strength, but when it comes to quickness/athletic ability, that favors Hill. Hill doesn’t exploit this advantage, and instead he tries to improve his position by muscling Lawal with two shots to the body. He doesn’t get anywhere, and instead of trying a spin move to the baseline (which is there, and with Hill’s quickness advantage it would work) he settles for a fall-away hook over his left shoulder. Not a high percentage shot.

 

Another thing that I noticed when watching Jordan Hill in the post is he tends to settle for jumpers a little too much. Here, Hill makes the catch and faces up. The face up works for a player like Hill because he can turn, survey the situation, and decide what to do next. After the face up, Hill turns his back to his man as if he is going to make a move, then quickly turns around and takes a forced jump shot. If you are going to face up and take the jumper, that is fine, but that little spin doesn’t really give Hill an advantage, and it makes the shot attempt harder. Especially when he has a guy he can bully defending him.

 

 

http://nbaplaybook.com/2010/07/16/jordan-hills-post-up-struggles/#more-3516

 

 

 

 

 

[YugoRocketsFan]

I agree, his back to the basket game isn't so great. He seems more like a player who can score on easy buckets and if he gets it down low he can finish around the rim and his jumpshot is still raw. I still like his potential though.

 

Heres a vid of him in his 1st game with significant action

 

Edited July 17, 2010 by Yugodamus

[Nitro]

I haven't seen a ton of him, but from the few games (and highlights) I've seen, he doesn't change his tempo at all. He always looks like he's playing at full-speed and very anxious to make a play. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's not good either. Against some teams this will translate into a few easy buckets and maybe a spark off the bench. Against other teams they will make him look like a D-leaguer. At this point it isn't a big deal if he doesn't have a post game, but he needs to learn how to change speeds if he wants to be effective on the NBA level.

[Jenneral]

I think Jordan Hill has a lot of potential. He'll develop all those things in the next year or two and should be a real solid player in the NBA.