Mike D assigns Jordan Hill as stretch 4

[tugs]

Entering the offseason, Jordan Hill received an assignment from Mike D'Antoni: Become an outside threat to stay on the court next season.

“He talked about what I need to work on for this coming summer,” Hill said. “My jump shot -- he definitely wanted me to work on my outside jumper.”

“That’s mostly what I’ve been focusing on this whole summer, not so much the post work because I know I can go down to the block and easily get an offensive rebound and putback. We got Pau Gasol that can focus on the paint and we got Chris Kaman that can focus on the block. So I just want to be a stretch 4. Just try to spread the floor a little bit, just show a little range. I’ve been working on it the whole summer, trying to focus on that, on my 3-ball. It got a lot better. I’m just ready to put it all together and showcase it.”

http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/lakers/post/_/id/37069/jordan-hills-summer-assignment-become-a-stretch-4

Hill has range but it's kind of alarming that he's also working on his 3. him taking outside shots takes away some of his chances of rebounding and that's his major strength.

I'm good with it as long as he's open I guess.

[tugs]

“Jodie’s not him telling me I need to follow through, but we always have competition shooting,” Hill said. “He’s definitely going to win a lot, but I’ve definitely won a couple. So when I do competition shooting with him and I win, I get the confidence that, ‘OK, my shot’s falling now. I can shoot better now.’”

I hope Jodie's not missing a lot.

[ROballer]

Jodie Meeks has shot under 30% from 3 in the last 2 months of the season while playing 30 mpg and shooting mostly wide open

When Hill beats Nash,now that's an accomplishment


As for the assignment,I would have blasted the move if we had any resemblance of expectations for the season, but hey,it's my "don't give a **** about anything" season since we're not gonna be competitive enough for our standards so might as well see Hill shooting 3's
Anything that helps us going from mediocre to bad

[ak7]

Should we just ask Steve Blake to become a center too?

[semi-sentient]

Did anyone expect anything different? Hill played well with Gasol last season and it only makes sense that he improves his outside game. We've had spacing issues for years so this is good to hear. Hill's biggest impact will still be on the defensive end so if he can hit his outside shots more consistently (and stay healthy) then it's a big plus for us.

[Durins Baynes]

It will be a good day for Laker fans when this guy is fired. He needs to go back to Europe. This ought to be his last stop in the US.

[hazy_01]

Why does he try to make everyone 3pt shooters lol? First Pau and now Jordan Hill? I don't understand why he can't manage to tailor his offense to the personnel we have instead of trying to force new habits to players in order to cope with his "system". Yeah, it will be a sigh of relief when this nut job is gone.

[EArl]

If Bynum was with us still he would have been a three point threat by now.

[dAdo dA dEvil]

... hey ... MDA is turning Jordan Hill into a Kevin Love ... ^_^

[Kobean]

It makes sense for Hill to improve his shot since it will give Pau more room to work with inside but I hope he isn't going to be too far away from the hoop too often since we really need his offensive rebounding....

[dockingsched]

typical overreaction to a coach simply asking a very raw offensive player to develop a reliable skill.

[Slava]

If he can play with more finesse and less recklessness he might as well stay less injured and improve on his longevity.

[semi-sentient]

If he can play with more finesse and less recklessness he might as well stay less injured and improve on his longevity.

That thought had definitely crossed my mind.

I think some people might be concerned that his offensive rebounding suffers, but I actually think it's in our best interest to focus less on offensive rebounds and get back on defense to limit transition opportunities. With Jordan being further from the basket he can get back sooner and that's a good thing, in addition to limiting his injuries.

[ArC_man]

Kevin Love can get 15 rebounds and still shoot a bunch of 3s, I don't see why Hill can't stretch the floor and still crash the boards at the same time. Hill came in last year with a much improved jumper, will be interesting to see him this year.

[Levity]

Kevin Love can get 15 rebounds and still shoot a bunch of 3s, I don't see why Hill can't stretch the floor and still crash the boards at the same time. Hill came in last year with a much improved jumper, will be interesting to see him this year.

Hill can still certainly pull down almost 8+ rebounds a night for us while playing as a "stretch 4" but one of his greatest assets, offensive rebounding, will definitely take a hit if hes forced to play around the perimeter more. he had a decent 15 footer last season. i dont know what his 3 pt shot will look like. we'll just have to wait and see

[stunnar0b]

I've said numerous time that hill should be putting up hundreds of jumpers to effectively space the floor when he's out there. I just don't want him shooting threes, maybe if he's wide open from the corner but that's it.

He just need to work on that 15-17 foot J and stay healthy

[Durins Baynes]

Jordan Hill is 26 years old. The idea he will suddenly develop a jump shot (which he has never had), or be a decent 3pt shooter (he's never hit even one in the NBA) is naïve. It's not like nobody will have tried to teach him to shoot before. This isn't a clever plan by Mike D to space the floor, it's just him forcing a square peg into a round hole... again.

[NOODLESTYLE]

Mid-range I agree, since Jordan was showing some of that last season. 3pt range is kinda odd since we haven't seen Jordan Hill takes those shots, but I'll wait and see. Just like I want to see what a healthy Ryan Kelly can add to this team.

[Danny Darko]

MD would have asked this guy to try out some more threes.

[AllzGudInDaHood]

There was a stretch last season, albeit very small, where Jordan Hill, spurred by getting benched, came back into the rotation with a nice midrange jumper. Of course, he got the season ending injury not long after. Point being, his jumper improved dramatically in what was probably a few days of drilling; working on it this whole summer could mean it becomes somewhat reliable.

The problem is that Jordan does follow through well: his shot is much more of a sling-shot type. Players who shoot like that tend to be much streakier, often in a bad way.