| | Grant Hill's hurting. Do you think they're not winking in Detroit?
|  | | Grant Hill's last days as a Piston weren't pleasant, and his injury lingers. |
The Pistons are throwing darts at Hill's back as they try to dig out of a big hole with fans who gave up on them even when the ex-Dukie was gliding along the Palace floor.
And while that end of the soap opera plays out, the Magic are trying to pretend there's really no long-term damage associated with Hill's ankle problems.
The operative word is trying.
Hill is not practicing. The left ankle is still sore months after surgeons attached a plate with four pins to repair a fracture. Hill himself is saying he may not be 100 percent the entire season. The chances are real that he may not be ready to play opening night.
"After the second day [of camp], I really felt it, and I'm still feeling it," Hill said over the weekend. "I didn't really think things would go this slowly. It's frustrating for me. I want to play, but everyone keeps telling me to take it slow."
In a warning that could shake the organization to its foundation, the team's $93 million man said so much it says here he won't duplicate last season's 25.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 6.3 assists. "I kind of feel like I'll have to deal with the soreness all season long. If there was a scale of 100 percent, I'll probably have to be 90-95 percent all year long. It won't be something I like, but it's something I'll get use to."
Putting the best face on it, Magic coach Doc Rivers said, "The doctors told us this could happen. We just have to be very, very careful. But it's [training camp], so who cares right now that he's not out there? He's in great shape. We know he can play. It's not like he's trying to make this team. I'm more worried about his mental shape. I know it's been difficult for him."
There are some who question Hill's dedication to rehabilitating his ankle during the offseason, as he was on a long international endorsement tour.
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| Stackhouse |
This goes back to Jerry Stackhouse's shot at Hill a few weeks ago after Hill praised the Magic for turning out en masse for voluntary workouts, something he said he never saw in Detroit. He never saw it, Stackhouse said, because he wasn't among the more than a dozen who showed up at the Pistons' training facility on a daily basis.
The Pistons feel Hill basically lied to them last season and that when he had said he had not made a decision, he had already decided to leave Detroit. They point out that when they played in Orlando last January, Hill took a five-hour cab ride to explore the city. While he was recruiting Tracy McGrady to go to Orlando, he was telling everyone in the Pistons organization that he was committed to staying.
Hill and his wife Tamia went househunting in Orlando last May, but he told his friend and retired teammate Joe Dumars he was staying the night before he made his famous visit to Orlando with pal Tim Duncan in July.
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He won't tell the truth, because he just wants to play, but when I see him limping, he's coming out. ” |
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— Doc Rivers on Hill |
"He's soft and I just look at those comments as soft," Stackhouse said. "He just wants to pacify whoever he is speaking with. That's why a lot of people I meet in the city never could relate to him. He's not a straight-shooter."
From a distance, former Pistons top assistant Gar Heard laughs at all this. "It's a North Carolina-Duke thing. Stack has to take his shots, but Grant, I bet Grant never responds to him because that's the way he is."
Stackhouse, the most combative Piston since the Bad Boys era, was furious that Hill said now he's finally enthusiastic about playing. Said Hill, "I know I can play better, and I'm ready to do that now. This is the first time since my rookie year that I am genuinely excited about the start of training camp."
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Down Hill?
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If Grant Hill can be labeled as soft, it's his playoff performances that would back up the claim. Hill's numbers decline in every major category during the playoffs, and he failed to advance Detroit past the first round in any of his four playoff appearances with the team.
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Reg. season
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Playoffs
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PPG
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21.6
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19.6
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FG Pct.
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47.6
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46.0
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RPG
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7.9
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6.9
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APG
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6.3
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5.6
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Of course, the Magic see Hill differently. Rivers says he's a warrior. "He won't tell the truth, because he just wants to play, but when I see him limping, he's coming out."
Hill's ankle was bad all spring, worsening after he sat out the final three regular season games, then tried to play in the playoffs.
"People were telling me not to play. I was hardheaded. Being dumb last spring is what got me in this position now. I became a walking pharmacy last season, taking all kinds of medicine so I could try and play. You try to be a hero, and sometimes you're just being dumb. I was a little of both, probably more dumb than anything."
Around The League
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| Miller |
Reggie Miller says he will try to make the best of the dramatic changes in Indiana. "The situation is what it is," Miller said as camp started. "As players, you have no control over that. As successful as we had been over the
last six, seven, eight years, it would have been nice to chase [a championship] again. We had six free agents. It was going to be tough to hold on to all six. But it's tough. Dale [Davis] and Mark [Jackson] and Rik [Smits], I kind of grew up with those guys."
And Miller makes this poignant observation: "Last year we used to laugh at teams like we have now. They were athletic, but after four quarters we would have our way with them. We're the team we used to beat up on."
If he had to, Dikembe Mutombo could play for the Knicks. "I think I could make the adjustment. It wouldn't be as bad for me as it was for Patrick [Ewing], because he is a guy with a much different approach when it comes to the media than I do. Each one of us is a little different. Patrick is a great guy. He is my brother, we are so close, but we are different people in how we respond to people."
He said he does not blame the Knicks organization for trading his pal. "I'm happy for Patrick that he is away from there. But it was the fans and the media that did that to him, so it's a pity. They look at the last two years when he was hurt and they forget about all the rest of his career when he was such a great player and all of his accomplishments."
Jeff Van Gundy named Marcus Camby as the Knicks' starting center [like he had a choice] with Larry Johnson, Latrell Sprewell, Allan Houston and Charlie Ward around him. Let's see how long Glen Rice accepts the role of sixth man.
Chris Crawford will be the starting small forward in Atlanta, winning by default, but he is playing well in camp.
Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. | |
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