Spurs' Hill makes date to fix his wayward shot

Mike Monroe - Express-News LAS VEGAS

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_Hill_makes_date_to_fix_his_wayward_shot.html

Spurs first-round draft pick George Hill believes it is his destiny to be a solid, contributing point guard for the four-time NBA champions.

He also believes strongly that players forge their destinies through hard work and resilience.

It wasnˇt fate that made Hill miss nearly every shot he attempted in the three games he played in the Las Vegas Summer Pro League this week, but it will be his resoluteness that puts him back in a gym in Indianapolis next week, putting up hundreds of shots every day.

Making the transition from being the featured scorer, mostly from the big guard position, at Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI), to playing point guard for the Spurs messed with Hillˇs head in his first competitions in silver and black.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich put it best after Hill followed an 0-for-10 shooting game with an 0-for-6 outing.

¨Heˇs mentally twisted right now,〃 Popovich said.

Hill is determined to untwist himself as soon as he is back home again, in Indiana.

¨Iˇm going to get up a lot of shots and find my shooting touch back,〃 Hill said before leaving Las Vegas with the rest of the summer Spurs for Salt Lake City and the annual Rocky Mountain Revue, where the summer team is to play four more games. ¨Iˇll also watch a lot of 冭 film, watch how Tony Parker picks his spots, just to help me become a point guard and learn from him. Iˇll run more to get in shape and Iˇll be in the best shape I can possibly be in when I come to training camp.〃

Hillˇs horrid shooting  he went 2 or 9 in his first summer league game  had some observers in Las Vegas questioning the wisdom of the Spursˇ use of the 26th pick in the first round to select the 6-foot-3 combo guard from IUPUI.

Other experts, though, counseled patience, including Lafayette Lever, one of the best combo guards in the 1980s. Like Hill, Lever was a 6-3 point guard who was a first-round pick because of his all-around game, but not because he was a great shooter.

Now director of player development for the Sacramento Kings, he recorded 16 triple doubles for the Denver Nuggets in the 1986-87 season, when he averaged 18.9 points. 8.9 rebounds and 8.0 assists.

¨I made a bet with a bunch of scouts in Orlando (at the pre-draft camp),〃 Lever said. ¨Some of them said George wouldnˇt even get drafted. I told them I was sure heˇd go in the first round. Iˇm just as sure heˇs going to be fine for the Spurs, because heˇs a basketball player and he knows how to play and he competes and he defends.〃

The most important expert still firmly in Hillˇs camp: Popovich.

¨Heˇs shown us two things,〃 Popovich said. ¨One, that he is a legitimate NBA defender. Heˇs done a very good job on some very high draft picks in this (Las Vegas) camp.

¨The other thing that is obvious about him is that heˇs overwhelmed offensively, with running the point in the NBA and understanding pick-and-roll defenses and that sort of thing. Itˇs affected his whole game offensively, to where heˇs unsure and unconfident about his shot, and about delivering the basketball.〃

Having Hillˇs offensive game completely break down, Popovich said, is not entirely a bad thing.

¨Now he knows exactly what he needs to do to build himself back up to be a contributor for us.〃

Hill isnˇt happy about his lost shooting touch, but is certain he can regain it.

Popovichˇs reassurance helped.

¨He told me itˇs a learning thing,〃 Hill said of a talk he had with the Spursˇ head coach after his 0-for-10 outing. ¨He said, ˉWe didnˇt bring you out here to average 30 and 10 all the time.ˇ He said itˇs OK to bump my head while Iˇm learning.

¨Itˇs great when you know your head coach thinks that highly of you and just wants you to be the best you can be, and not worry about if youˇre in a shooting slump.

¨Itˇs bad, but at the same time itˇs a good thing to get it out of the way now, in this learning point.〃

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George Hill

Full name: George Jesse Hill Jr.

Position: Guard

Size: 6-foot-2, 180 pounds

Born: May 4, 1986

High school: Indianapolis Broad Ripple

College: Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis

College averages: 17.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists per game

Summer League: Average of 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists in three games

Highlights: Named Summit League Player of the Year and earned Associated Press All-America honorable mention last season as a redshirt junior. .億.億. Strengths, according to his NBA.com draft profile: ¨Extremely quick and athletic and gets to the basket in a hurry. Handles and passes the ball well and plays unselfishly.〃