In the first few months of his Bucks tenure, George Hill was underwhelming me. The underwhelmment was due to a combination of factors, chief among those being that the construction of the roster didn’t really allow for a place where Hill could shine. Sure, he was the backup point guard, a prestigious position on the best team in the league, but Eric Bledsoe and Malcolm Brogdon had it on lock. Hill didn’t really solve any problems, he was just a good player getting added to a good team. It didn’t help that Hill didn’t exactly play up to his standard in the minutes he did get.
Now, having recently had several good games recently in the absence of Brogdon, my attitude towards Hill is changing. I wouldn’t say I’m overwhelmed by his play, because I’m not (he would have to score thirty PPG for me to be overwhelmed), but I will say that this play has left me simply…whelmed. This is what I expected when the Bucks got him, no more and no less.
Hill is showing enough in the month of April that I’m feeling slightly more confident about the Bucks’ chances to go deep into the playoffs. In the playoffs, there’s no more time for “finding your rhythm” or “figuring out your place on the team” or “catching up on episodes of Park & Rec instead of going to practice”. Everything needs to be clicking by the time the playoffs roll around. And for Hill, his body is now emanating a series of increasingly loud and steady clicks. ClickclickclickCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK