Height: 6'10"
Weight: 235 lbs
Strengths:
- Finishing around basket
- Length/Wingspan/Size
- Athleticism/Explosiveness
- Rebounding
- Shot mechanics
- Post-up abilities
- Decent passing out of post
- Intensity
- Unselfish
- Few bad habits
- Potential
Weaknesses:
- A bit mechanical on both ends of the floor
- Defense
- Strength
- Dribbling
- Basketball IQ
- Dominating smaller/weaker players
Summary:
I do not have many opportunities to watch many west coast college basketball games because I live on the east coast, but when I have the opportunity, I try to watch a few players I have heard a little bit about. Through the first three rounds of this year's NCAA Tournament, I watched Arizona play and was able to scout Jordan Hill. I did not know a lot about him as a player, so I decided to do some background research on him. I found out he had not been playing basketball for a long time, which can be good and bad. It is good because he has not developed any bad habits. It is bad because his peers have more experience on him. Needless to say, after watching several match-ups, I walked away impressed, but I must emphasize that he is still raw with a lot of potential.
On the offensive end of the floor, Hill demonstrated on numerous occasions that he was capable of fronting his defender and providing a big target to get the ball in the post. When he catches the ball, he did not necessarily look to score first; he felt the defense to determine what was given to him. If he was double teamed or an opportunity to get to the basket did not exist, he would pass out of the post and reposition himself (but he is not a good passer). If he was in position to score, Hill would take the ball to the basket. He finished well around the basket when he did look to score. He has some decent post-up moves (nothing advanced) that allowed him to create opportunities for himself and to create contact when he shot. His free throw shooting is not great (a career average of 63.6%) and clearly has room to improve. Hill has the tools to develop a nice mid-range game as well. He has excellent shot mechanics for a guy his size, which he put on display. He challenged himself and took several shots roughly 15'-18' out, making several of the shots.
Hill did not possess good ball handling abilities, nor did he dominate his foes in the match-ups I watched. As I mentioned before, he does not have many years of experience under his belt. Spending more time around the game should help polish his offensive abilities. Improving his strength is imperative for him to dominate on not only the offensive end of the court, but the defensive side as well.
Hill has the tools to be a very good defender in the pros. He is explosive, has a great wingspan and length, and hustle. On several instances I saw Hill dive on the floor for a loose ball and fight for the ball. His explosiveness and length allow him to be a very good rebounder and shot blocker. As far as rebounding goes, Hill will follow shots on the offensive end and box out on defensive end. He goes up for the ball with both hands, and once he grabs the ball, he quickly pulls it in to protect it. These same tools help make him a good shot blocker as well. This season he averaged 1.7 bpg.
Hill's overall defense is average at best though because of his lack of fundamentals. He tends to pick up cheap fouls, especially when the team plays man-to-man, because he'll either lose sight of his defender and try to recover, tries to make a play and go for a steal or block, is to slow to rotate or provide help defense. He is athletic enough to make up for these deficiencies; he just needs to improve his defensive awareness and his already average basketball IQ.
Overall, Hill is an unselfish player with a ton of upside. He is already a good rebounder and shot blocker, but needs to improve his overall defense. He shoots the ball effectively (career 57.8% from the field) around the basket and has demonstrated that he can step out and take a 15 footer. Even though he demonstrated his scoring abilities, his offensive game is not polished. He does need work both on and off the court to get a get return on your investment. Doing so will help Hill reach his potential.
Projection: mid- to late-lottery (7-13)
Best fit:
- Oklahoma City: the Thunder's front court is fairly thin, especially after the team traded away Chris Wilcox and rescinded a deal for Tyson Chandler. If this team wants to make a push for the playoffs (like I've heard), the team will need a deeper front court. Hill's unselfishness, intensity, ability to score and rebound will allow him to step in on a young team and provide solid minutes.
- Toronto: no one is sure if Bosh is staying in Toronto. Drafting Hill could serve as an insurance policy if Bosh decides to leave in free agency or is traded away. Hill is not as prolific a scorer as Bosh is, but he does have upside on this end of the court. He also will go after rebounds.
- Charlotte: the one area the Bobcats need to look at other than a scorer is a big man. The team may not resign May or Howard this off-season, resulting in a loss of front court depth. If the Bobcats looked to draft Hill, the team would be able to get a player who could provide solid energy minutes off the bench while they look to bring him along in development.
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