George Hill’s Shortened, But Prolific Season Could Be A Sign Of What’s To Come

The Indiana Pacers season turned out to be a slow, injury-plagued, funeral march that ended at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 82, but what may have been lost on the casual fan was the production George Hill had after returning from injury. He carried the team’s offense and played at a near All-Star level.

That sentiment isn’t just coming from Pacers sympathizers either. Chris Towers of CBS tweeted out a comparison of Hill and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving. The numbers are pretty close.

Per 100 Possessions

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/11/2015.

Hill played almost half the amount of games, but when you look at their per 100 possession stats, the two played on the same level. That says as much about how good Irving already is and the perception of George Hill. The shortened year put him at No. 14 of Bleacher Report’s Adam Fromal’s point guard rankings, but much better than I expected after all of the talk about how bad he was considered last season even as Indiana made their way to a second straight conference championship.

Those circumstances Towers mentions were sharing the court with Paul George and Lance Stephenson a season ago. He’s going to have to defer to Paul George this upcoming season, but this is more of the “Aggressive George Hill” that fans had hoped for before the season began. Can it carry over into 2015-16? It is entirely possible depending on the lineup. There wasn’t enough stability and almost no Paul George this season, so it may be better to look back at the 2013-14 season for perceptive. If the center position is still filled by Roy Hibbert or another player that doesn’t demand the ball often, then what were possessions that went to Stephenson can get divided among C.J. Miles, Hill, and George. Miles usage rate from this season was somewhat inflated from all the injuries but not far from his career averages. I’d expect that to go down with Paul George and George Hill around for a full-season. Perhaps more importantly, he doesn’t have the same personality as Stephenson had. Miles seems likely he’d be content to make it rain from the corners and make the best of his possessions he gets. For better or worse, Stephenson needed the ball and needed to feel like he mattered to the offensive plan. Throughout his career I have never had the same impression of Miles. He seems to know how to make the most of his possessions and doesn’t have the same sort of alpha-dog demands Stephenson had. He’s gonna let the big dogs eat, because he knows there is plenty to go around.

We haven’t really seen how Miles, Paul George, and George Hill will work together, but there aren’t as many flags to think that they can’t work together. We know Miles is a better shooter with George Hill on the court than when he’s not. We’ll see a few less possessions of George Hill going full 100% “Aggressive George Hill”, but I imagine he’ll have more space to work with once PG is at 100%. All three fit into an idea of a smaller, faster style of play that Larry Bird and Frank Vogel hinted at during the end-of-season press conference.

George Hill and Paul George will have to work out the possession-sharing more than their teammates, but in most cases it is to the benefit of two talented players to allow their counter-part to get their shots as it will open up the floor for everyone involved. It will be a work and progress and will take time to come together, but there isn’t anything with the styles of play or personalities that immediately makes you question if it is possible.

If Indiana can do that, then there may be more “Aggressive George Hill” in the Indiana Pacers future.

Next: Solomon Hill Clowns George Hill's Blonde Haircut

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