George Hill and the Case of the Missing Jump Shot

Breaking down George Hill’s shooting struggles — he has shot an ugly 5-of-29 from the field — in the three Indiana Pacers games since the All-Star Break.

The All-Star break is a time for most NBA players to relax. If a player hasn’t been chosen to participate in any of the events — and to a degree, even if they have — it’s an opportunity to rest. They get their legs back and generally come back strong for the stretch run. It’s common to see players, like Paul George this year, come back shooting better than they had been.

While this might be the “rule,” George Hill has proven to be the exception to the rule.

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Since the break, George Hill’s jumper has been MIA. The Pacers three-game road trip went well — they went 2 -1, including an impressive victory over OKC — but George Hill’s shooting has not been exactly helpful. Hill is a combined 5-of-29 from the field since the break, an ice cold 17%. He’s 3-of-11 (27%) from deep (including 0-for-5 outside of the Thunder game0, and 5-of-8 (62.5%) from the line. He hasn’t been able to buy a bucket, and most of the Pacers other starters lack legitimate 3-point range.

There’s been quite a bit of handwringing on Twitter about George Hill’s struggles after a trade deadline that saw him involved in quite a few rumors. Many fans were of the sentiment that the Pacers should (and, you know, actually could) get Jeff Teague or Ricky Rubio or Mike Conley or the Easter Bunny at the deadline in a trade centered around George Hill and flotsam from the end of the Pacers roster.

It’s unlikely that the Pacers actually could’ve acquired either player without giving up major assets (which they either don’t really have and are unwilling to part with), but that’s an another story. George Hill’s recent box scores have given loud voice to this idea, but there are a few mitigating factors to go along with that.

First, the Hometown Hero has had a tough slate of point guards awaiting him after the break. He’s come out of the break to the trio of Russell Westbrook, Elfrid Payton, and Goran Dragic awaiting him. Westbrook and Dragic are both tough covers defensively (an understatement when it comes to Westbrook), and all three played Hill physically all over the court. That alone would make all but the best point guards struggle. Compounding this is the fact that Hill injured his elbow against the Magic, and clearly looked uncomfortable shooting against the Heat.

He also had his first child just weeks ago. I won’t portend to know the man’s baby care and sleeping habits, but I think we can presume that he was more focused on his family during the break than his jump shot. A close friend of his also died about a month ago, within days of his child being born, so that type of thing can also weigh on the mind as mortality hits you at the same time as the blessing of a birth. None of this is to make excuses. It’s just to note that life is more than employment and that few people’s work performance would be unaffected by having a child.

Additionally, outside of the shooting department, two of Hill’s post-All-Star box scores have looked nice.

Thunder: 9 points, 11 asssists, 9 rebounds
Magic: 8 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds

Presumably, this is a guy in a shooting slump, not a guy who forgot how to make jumpers. And George Hill will get a bit of a break tonight gainst the Knicks, a defensive lightweight with no point guards who can guard much of anyone. He should have a bit more space to operate.

This assumes that his elbow is ok, of course, but I would expect him to keep playing regardless. Until C.J. Miles and Rodney Stuckey return from injury, the Pacers backcourt is thin, and they need whatever George Hill can give them.

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I expect his shooting to pick back up to his ever steady numbers, but Pacers fans might have to suffer through a bit more struggle until Hill is fully healthy.