George Hill Injury: Stephenson, Price Move Up In Rotation With Hill Out Indefinitely

by Tom Lewis on Feb 2, 2012 12:59 PM EST in Indiana Pacers News

Indiana Pacers guard Geoge Hill went down in a heap on Tuesday night with what was reported as a small chip fracture in his ankle.

So while G3 takes care of his ankle back home in Indiana, the Pacers turned to Lance Stephenson and A.J. Price to fill step up in the playing rotation last night in Minnesota. Stephenson struggled early trying to do too much with the extended opportunity but did get back to basics later in the game, focusing more on defense and less on trying to make game-changing plays.

Price struggled to find his shooting rhythm during his 14 minutes of burn, his first significant playing time in about three weeks. After knocking down his first shot, Price went on to miss his next six field goal attempts. The pair of backup backcourt players also combined for five turnovers.

George Hill's ankle continues to be evaluated with an update expected on Saturday so Price and Stephenson will have to continue to bring it off the bench. According to Frank Vogel in Mike Wells' story, he expects to play Price as Collison's backup for 12-16 minutes which is exactly what he did last night.

While it is nice to see these guys get a chance to play, the Pacers will be happy to have Hill back and ready to play. The sooner the better.

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Comments

Time to sign Arenas

Gilbert would play his spot til Hill returns, if he returns this season which I dont see that happening. Who the hell else is there???? Wait on JR Smith to get back from China…Wilson Chandler is my 1st guy to grab but its true where will he spend time at…especially with Paul starting to show life and Danny turning it on now. So, a descent back up wing player like JR Smith for a 2-3 yr deal….

***Forever Grunge...Man!***
*Hill with the steal, he drives the lane and finger rolls. COUNT IT aaaand put'em on the line...A magnificant display of defense from George Hill*

by rockguyinindy on Feb 2, 2012 1:16 PM EST reply actions

Bird would put his balls in a vice and hit them with a sledgehammer before signing Arenas!

by FortWayneKarl on Feb 2, 2012 4:44 PM EST up reply actions

J.R. Smith jacks up threes like crazy

he’s not exactly the smash mouth basketball type that fits Vogel’s system. I think this problem might eventually have to be addressed by trading Hansbrough at some point this year or next year for scorer or a higher draft pick to select a scoring guard.

by latrell spreewel on Feb 2, 2012 6:33 PM EST up reply actions

If Price gets more minutes, he needs to stop shooting so much. He’s just not a good shooter. 13 min and 7 shots compared to Lance 15min and 1 shot. Lance needs to be more aggressive finding his shot. AJ needs to be more aggressive at setting up his teammates.

And it's now my sig
by Bronn on May 17, 2011 4:56 PM EDT

by Sparhawk on Feb 2, 2012 1:59 PM EST reply actions

I remember thinking A.J. Price was a good shooter coming out of college.

Don’t know where I got that impression, because even in college he sucked at shooting. 43% is the highest he ever got.

"A champion is someone who gets up when he can't."
- Jack Dempsey

by infinityzero.systemerror on Feb 2, 2012 4:10 PM EST up reply actions

He's a very pure point guard.

His passing is awesome, and he has excellent handling skills. I like the way he sees the floor, as well. But I wouldn’t want him taking the last shot in a close game by any means. I’m okay with him facilitating an offense as a traditional 1, so long as he doesn’t call his own number as often as he did last night against Minnesota.

by Jmahoney on Feb 2, 2012 4:42 PM EST up reply actions

Stephenson

With the immense talent I have seen and the flashes of maturity, do you think Lance the Chance will keep us consistently strong at guard during bench minutes? It’s hard to see

by bpfalvey on Feb 2, 2012 3:38 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

***Forever Grunge...Man!***
*Hill with the steal, he drives the lane and finger rolls. COUNT IT aaaand put'em on the line...A magnificant display of defense from George Hill*

by rockguyinindy on Feb 2, 2012 4:37 PM EST up reply actions

Whatyadoin - rooting against these Pacers???

C’mon Lance step up every night and shut this guy up!!!!

by FortWayneKarl on Feb 2, 2012 5:39 PM EST up reply actions

I thought Lance and Price did ok.

It’s going to hurt, but PG stepped up when he was on the court, Lance and Price did ok. DJ did a great job defending the point and was pretty solid on the offensive end only forcing a couple shots, but mostly taking good shots. And of course, Danny went OFF.

As I said recently the Pacers success right now is largely based on synergy. Playing above the average talent level of the personel. 100% effort every night. When someone is struggling, someone else steps up. That’s a tough balance to maintain. Hill was providing huge minutes most nights.

We’ll see. Lance has looked pretty good on the ball, but gets completely taken out of the play when the ball moves around the perimeter or people set screens on him. Price is not a good defender or shooter, but he’s just good enough to keep opponents from completely sagging off and this allows him to set up teammates or settle for his own shot if it’s a good look. I’m ok with that.

I’m predicting .500 or better during Hill’s absence (if it’s not too extensive) as long as we don’t suffer too any more major injuries or have a couple key starters get back into a major shooting slump.

peac.e

by trucutter on Feb 2, 2012 10:24 PM EST reply actions

That sentence about Lance is related to his defense....

…but, his offense isn’t much more well roundecd. He’s making strides. If had anything reseambling a reliable jump shot he’d be a very nice compliment to have right now. As it stands, he’s what we got and we just have to cross our fingers that he does more right than wrong.

peac.e

by trucutter on Feb 2, 2012 10:26 PM EST up reply actions

I don't think...(no cracks, please)...

…that the loss of Hill will cause the Pacers to go into a downward spiral, as many are predicting, or even to cause them to lose many games, at all.
Every team must deal with injuries, an just because we are not a superstar-oriented team does not mean disaster when one of our parts goes down. We’ll deal with it.
This is a better team, with more talent than it’s fans are willing to give it credit for.

by Manfred James on Feb 3, 2012 7:37 AM EST up reply actions

Agreed.

But, you must admit, we’ve been winning games in a team fashion that’s rarely seen in the NBA, and Hill has been a big part of that in most games. I said we’d stay above .500 during his absence. We’re already 1.000 with him out. I think we’ll overcome, but it’s easily conceivable, with Hill, and especially without him, that we could slip into a bit of a funk. If Lance and Price don’t continue to step up and play as solid or better than they did against a very mediocore T-wolves team and one or more of our starting players goes into a funk (between this season and last, aside from West we’ve seen them all have extended stretches of poor play/shooting) we could end up losing some more games.

peac.e

by trucutter on Feb 3, 2012 8:02 AM EST up reply actions

I'm not saying...

…we won’t miss him, and even conceivably lose a game or two by his absence. I just don’t think Hill’s temporary loss is as epic a tragedy as some on this board are making out.

by Manfred James on Feb 4, 2012 10:40 AM EST up reply actions

Lance just needs steady minutes to learn from his mistakes......

Lance will be a good defender and another tough guy to bring off the bench when matchups dictate that he should be on the floor……like against the bigger NBA PG’s in the Eastern Conference like Deron Williams and Derrick Rose and John Walls who would score 35pts on 6’0 PG Darren Collison and defend him better than a smaller PG.

Yes, Vogel will put Paul George on the bigger PG’s but their SG’s will be matched up against the much shorter Collison as we’ve seen over and over again. I’d LIKE to see Lance mature much faster and become a more steady PG because I know that he can do it but he’s still has too much HAM in him at age 21.

by Pacerman on Feb 3, 2012 11:36 AM EST reply actions