Tag: Indianapolis

Hill set for a memorable return home with the Pacers

Who said you can’t go home again.

New Indiana Pacers guard George  Hill might beg to differ — at least if you consider what his new team has in mind for him early next week.

The Indianapolis Star reports that in his first public appearance the team has planned for him Monday at Canseco Fieldhouse.

It’s undetermined if the return of  “Indiana George” will excite the masses in his hometown like the did for long-suffering fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves last week.

But Hill is happy about coming back home to Indianapolis, where he played collegiately at IUPUI and set state scoring records at Broad Ripple High School.  

“It will be really fun. I’m back in my hometown,” Hill said. “I’m with my family and my friends. I’m playing for an organization I wanted to play for for many years in my life. I’m  thrilled to be there.”

Draft prospect: Kyle Singler

The Spurs own the 29th pick in the June 23 draft, one of the lowest slots of the Tim Duncan era. This year’s draft pool is considered to be uncommonly shallow, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Spurs either deal the pick or select a future prospect to stash overseas. Over the next few weeks, the Courtside blog will profile selected players who could be wearing silver and black, should the Spurs elect to keep their pick.

Kyle Singler was a four-year starter for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, and there was a time when that line on the resume would have been enough to make him one of the more highly regarded prospects in any NBA draft. With the growing multitude of early-entry candidates and foreign additions to the draft pool, however,  being a four-year Dookie isn’t enough to earn lottery consideration anymore.

Still, Singler — a 6-foot-9 forward — could slip into the bottom of the first round, at which point the Spurs might be willing to take a flier on his blueblooded pedigree. Singler isn’t exactly an athletic wunderkind, isn’t much of a defender and won’t help the Spurs on the glass.

What Singler was in college is what he is projected to be in the NBA: A smart, solid role player who can knock down an open jumper. The Spurs, who had Singler in for a workout last month, could do worse at the end of the first round.

Singler averaged 16.2 points over his four-year career at Duke, peaking at 17.7 per game as a junior. His Duke background doesn’t hurt his stock, either. Generally speaking, players who do a four-year tour of duty under Coach K tend to hit the NBA with an ingrained sense of professionalism (see Shane Battier).

Singler’s draft stock probably would have been higher had he entered following the 2009-10 season, when he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in Indianapolis. He returned for his senior season, which was solid but unspectacular as compared to the rest of his collegiate career.

Though in no way, shape or form suited for an NBA frontcourt, Singler could provide the Spurs with depth at small forward, an area of need. As the draft winds to the end of the first round, there are worst ways to roll the dice than on a four-year Dookie.

Draft prospect: Shelvin Mack

The Spurs own the 29th pick in Thursday’s draft, one of the lowest slots of the Tim Duncan era. This year’s draft pool is considered to be uncommonly shallow, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Spurs either deal the pick or select a future prospect to stash overseas. Over the coming days, the Courtside blog will profile selected players who could be wearing silver and black, should the Spurs elect to keep their pick.

Three summers ago, the Spurs took a combo guard from a mid-major Indianapolis college with the 26th overall pick. Based on his production, and the spot at which he was taken, George Hill has worked out pretty well for them.

In many ways, Butler’s Shelvin Mack comes with the same kind of resume Hill did in the summer of 2008. He’s 6-foot-3 combo guard from a mid-major school in Indianapolis.

Thanks to Butler’s appearance in two consecutive NCAA national title games, however, Mack comes with a bit more name recognition than Hill did coming out of  IUPUI.

Much like Hill before him, Mack has a nice build for an NBA point guard, but a game better suited to playing off the ball. He averaged 16 points for the Bulldogs as a junior last season, second to Matt Howard, along with 3.4 assists, but saw his shooting percentage dip to 40.8 percent.

Mack showed improvement in running the pick-and-roll game last season, which ought to boost his stock in the eyes of the Spurs, whose offense is famously pick-and-roll heavy.

The biggest thing that might keep the Spurs away from Mack at the tail end of the first round is what happened three summers ago. In Hill, the Spurs already have a 6-foot-3 combo guard from Indianapolis.

However, the Spurs do have a need for a third point guard behind Tony Parker and Hill, and if Parker at some point winds up on the trading block — as even Parker himself as speculated this summer — that need would only increase.

If Mack is still available at 29 — and he’s been projected to go anywhere from late first round to early second — the Spurs might take a look at him.