After missing the whole start of this season, Grant Hill is finally approaching his debut with the Los Angeles Clippers uniform. He was pursued by many teams during this off-season, after his contract with the Suns expired and the Clippers were the most fortunate of all, managing to land the 39-year old veteran to their roster.
Despite his age, Hill is considered to be one of the best veterans in his position and can surely help our team off the bench. His numbers last year proved that he can perform really well, even at the age of 39 and the surprising stat is that his minutes didn’t drop last season. Our up to now reserves performance has been terrific and it’s a fact that Coach Vinnie Del Negro has managed to balance the minutes between the bench and the starters perfectly. We are getting the most out of our bench players and it’s getting better game by game. Just imagine the power we will have when Hill and also Billups return. You can even say that the slow improvement of Odom is noticeable.
Well, of course, with Grant Hill stepping into the power rotation, some of the other players will see some minutes cut off, but I am not at all worried about that. Coach Del Negro has proven to us that he can handle this exceptionally and I am sure he will find the best solution as soon as Hill feels comfortable with his game again.
Hill participated in the Clips practice after a really long time and answered with a “maybe” when asked if he was going to dress up for tonight’s game against the Mavs. The normal thing for him is that the coaching staff will utilize him step by step, most probably letting him play only a few minutes these first games. The last thing we need is getting him injured as we approach the playoffs. However, he should see some minutes and get the feeling back because he can be a great solution during the tough matches at the playoffs. His experience and understanding of the game are superb and he can also play bigger than his position. We will have to see how he responds, but he has proven that he can defend even opponents playing the 4. That should give our Coach the opportunity to mix the rotations as he judges better.
Either if we see him today or not, Grant Hill is a valuable piece in our roster and I think he will prove it come playoff time.
