Our Rookies

[lukeridenour]

Heres to hoping our rookies work out.

Hill- initially (like everyone else) i was furious with this pick. but to my surprise, even though he was a consensus reach on most mock drafts, analysts gave us fair reviews saying that they trust our ability to scout, and that you slap KU over Hills chest and its a different story.

After axeing down trees to blow off stream, ive come around to this pick completely and i am confident that pop made the right move, and hes just as confident too so thats good.

Gist- nice athletic find, most mocks had him going earlier in the 2nd, says the right things in interviews and im really pulling for him to contribute somewhere down the line.

Hairston- dont know much, feel free to fill in.

Mahinmi (not a rookie but close enough)- hopefully this guy comes with defensive and rebounding intensity. 18 points in the dleague is decent, hopefully his post game is still being refined and will continue to improve.

[Ballings7]

If we can get "not too young" play where 1 or both of Mahinmi/Hill are enough of factors, that'll be nice.

[lukeridenour]

yea i agree, i made this thread because after we signed mason, its clear that we are going to rely on some youth next year. hopefully we can get some sort of discuss going about expectations.

[bmw42690]

Back in '03 we kind of had a youth movement with Parker, Ginobli, and Jackson all being young and inexperienced but logging major minutes. That year started off sloppy but ended pretty well. That team also had lots of veterns too. I think this year could start a little sloppy if these young guys are given chances but could turn out nicely as the season rolls on if they are able to build their confidence.

[Blame Rasho]

Back in '03 we kind of had a youth movement with Parker, Ginobli, and Jackson all being young and inexperienced but logging major minutes. That year started off sloppy but ended pretty well. That team also had lots of veterns too. I think this year could start a little sloppy if these young guys are given chances but could turn out nicely as the season rolls on if they are able to build their confidence.

I was suprised that Pop had the balls to sit down Smith infavor of Jackson and his TO prove game.

I think Pop needs to really trust Ian for us to had the type of season that end with a smile in June.

I don't expect much from Hill, but he should be our backup. I am going to question the pick until he can prove me wrong.

Harrison seems like that active swing player but honestly if White couldn't cut it I don't have much hope for him.

[Ballings7]

I think Hairston's a smarter player than White.

[lukeridenour]

I think Hairston's a smarter player than White.

overall basketball skills seem to be more refined too.

[HarlemHeat37]

I think the success of this year is going to be up to Mahinmi, Hill and the 2 other rookies..we need them to give us something that we aren't expecting..2003 was a good example from bmw..

hopefully we don't have Horry or Finley on the team, so Pop won't be stubborn enough to play them too much out of loyalty..

[Ballings7]

Well he wouldn't play Horry much, if he's back he'd have something like his usual season cycle. Which was really not there at all for him this past season because of other things that prevented it from being there.

[lukeridenour]

he'll likely play finley and keep him in the active rotation though... could present a problem if the rookies are ready to explode.

[lukeridenour]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/r ... od=1&set=2

espn has hill ranked at 21.. not usually an espn fan but worth a look.

[MUpacersSIC]

I think Hill will be great for you guys. He can definitely get to the line, and with the guidance of Tony Parker (which is game resembles a little) I think he could end up being the top backup point guard in the league (and maybe eventually a starter, but with Parker that may not happen). Even if he isn't scoring that much he is a rebounding machine and has great court vision and can find his teammates. I remember in high school him torching teams averaging around 36 pts per game which is incredible even at the high school level. And his defensive game is great as well. I'm definitely going to be watching more Spurs games (pacer fan here) and I hope he does great.