Could Jordan Hill Actually be a Key to the Pacers Success?

I’ll admit it – I personally thought that Jordan Hill was the furthest thing away from a key to the Indiana Pacers success. After his extremely disappointing play the first three games I almost became resigned to the fact that he would provide more comical theatrics than impressive plays.

I wrote just last week about the early takeaways from the Pacers experiment with small ball and in that I bashed on Hill pretty badly: “There is a light at the end of tunnel. Now, that light is not anything that has to do with Jordan Hill — but there is promise in the new style.”

Maybe I — and many Pacers fans — jumped the gun on putting the noose around the neck of Jordan Hill’s Pacers existence. In his last two games he is averaging 13.0 PPG and 8.o RPG on 52% shooting.

The biggest factor in his success is he seems to gaining a comfort and effort level that were non-existent in the the first three games. Against the Boston Celtics he grabbed four offensive rebounds and had yet another quick put-back before the halftime buzzer.

I was also blown away by Paul George’s comments about Hill and his impact this far.

It is amazing to consider that PG thinks he was one of the biggest pick-ups of the off-season and that he has been more then he expected. I may be coming around to his style of thinking.

Let’s face the facts: The Pacers front court is somewhat anemic.

Myles Turner is efficient but still really young, LaVoy Allen is unproven, Ian Mahinmi has never been a full-time starter, and Hill can be a question mark. If he can provide the type of energy and presence on the glass that he has the past two games — this team will be a whole lot better.

Especially if he can maintain his uncharacteristically relatively solid defensive play. That is something that caught me off guard the last two games: he was not a complete defensive liability. He is starting to learn the defensive system and Frank Vogel is working his magic yet again. Vogel has an uncanny but great ability to take a below-average defender and turn them into at least a marginally okay defender.

His first impression was horrific, but after making numerous clutch mid-range jump shots against Boston he has remedied that awful first taste in the mouth of Pacers fans. If that jumper becomes reliable and not something he completely dependent on – he could become a true under-the-radar key throughout the course of the season.

As the season progresses and injuries take their toll, he will see a lot of time on the court and if he gives the team what we have seen the last two games, the Pacers hopes have to be a little higher. Knock on wood or do any kind of ritualistic superstition you know of — but let’s hope this guy’s good performances continue because the Pacers are leaning on him.