NEW YORK –Mike D’Antoni says he likes to play rookies, just not “bad rookies.”
D’Antoni became defensive Sunday when told that former Knick and current Houston Rockets rookie Jordan Hill said he wasn’t given “the opportunity” to play during his tenure in New York. Hill was dealt to Houston by the Knicks during a three-team deal Feb. 18.
“I don’t like to play bad rookies , I like to play good rookies,” D’Antoni said before Houston beat the Knicks, 116-112, Sunday at MSG.
Hill was the No. 8 pick in last June’s NBA Draft but was constantly compared to Milwaukee rookie Brandon Jennings, who was chosen 10th and is in contention for Rookie of the Year honors. The Knicks needed a point guard more than they appeared to need another frontcourt player.
“Jordan was in a position where we had Al [Harrington], Jared [Jeffries], David Lee, I tried to go with [Darko] Milicic for a while,” D’Antoni said.
“He didn’t get a great chance, I agree. But at he same time we’re trying to thread the needle and make the playoffs. There was no reason to say, ‘Jared, you don’t play. Let’s play Jordan.'”
He added: “It’s hard to do that. Until he has proven that he can beat the veteran out. Because you start putting rookies in and you got veterans sitting over there and the veterans [are] playing better. That’s not good for anybody.”
Speaking to the Houston Chronicle earlier this week, Hill said he understood the situation but wasn’t given an “opportunity” in New York.
“D’Antoni, he relies on his veterans more than rookies,” Hill told the Chronicle. “He feels like his rookies need to learn more their first year so they could get everything down pat. I understood. I just wanted to wait patiently until my time was coming. My chance was here [in Houston], and I’m making the best of it.
“Fans there, they know what I can do. I just didn’t have the opportunity to show it.”
In the three-team deal that sent both Hill and Jeffries to Houston, the Knicks cleared salary-cap space and got Tracy McGrady’s $23 million expiring contract. They now have more than $30 million in cap space to pursue two max-contract free agents this summer.
“Under normal cirumstances you would not do that [trade a rookie],” D’Antoni said. “This is not normal. This is where we are and we’ve gone through the last two years to put us in a position where we could get to where we wanted to go. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and do what you think is best. I think what [Knicks president] Donnie [Walsh] did was definitely the best thing to do.”
As for the loss of Hill, D’Antoni didn’t sound broken up.
“I do like Jordan,” he said. “I think he’ll be a nice player in the league, but that’s as far as it goes.”
BENDER TO HAVE SURGERY
Jonathan Bender wore a cast on his left hand and will have surgery Monday on his fractured fourth metacarpal. He broke the finger during Friday’s win over Philadelphia.
“The next thing I’m thinking about is getting this hand fixed and just rehabbing from there,” the 7-foot Bender said.
He said he estimated his recovery time at “four-to-six weeks, something like that.”
Bender averaged 4.7 points and 2.1 rebounds after joining the Knicks in December. Before that, he hadn’t played in three years because of chronic knee problems.
Bender said he wasn’t sure what his plans are for next year and beyond.
“My goal was to get back, I made it back,” he said. “After I made it back, I was satisfied. Where it goes from here, it’s up in the air.”
(Photos courtesy NBA.com)
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Cat in the Desert / March 21, 2010
LOL, D’Antoni is gonna eat his words! Hill is already showing what he can do in Houston. When he was in Phoenix he consistently traded away our draft picks and when we drafted players he just let them sit on the bench. Look at what Gentry has been able to do with Lopez and Dragic last year and Clark this year. D’antoni would of never played those guys. Its New Yorks problem now!!
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AGinNYC / March 21, 2010
Read between the lines: D’antoni doesn’t like rookies that play defense and don’t jack up 3 pt shots. That’s his offense and it doesn’t really work for a player like Hill. It’s pretty sad that David Lee is the Knicks’ force inside.
Yep, that’s why Hill is a bad fit here in NY. It was the Knicks that chose Hill in the draft, not the other way around. That said, Jordan may fit in much better in Houston, especially if they play a little faster. I don’t what so many teams were thinking passing on Jennings though. He just needs to add some strength and work on his jump shot and he’ll be a top 5 NBA PG by the time he would have been graduating college. Maybe they have some sort of plan to move up in the draft to get John Wall.
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UofA BJ / March 22, 2010
Like what having David Stern rig the lottery again?
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