Keeping Tabs On: George Hill

George Hill surprised many fans in 2008 simply by declaring for the NBA Draft despite having a year of eligibility left at IUPUI. He then surprised the basketball nation when he was actually picked in the draft...in the first round. Hill could not have been picked by a better organization, the San Antonio Spurs, where he would spend the season backing up Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. When the international tandem went down early in the season, Hill even had the chance to start a few games and performed well on such a level. Needless to say, Hill has earned the right to be considered a torch-bearer for Summit League hoops.

Going into his second season, Hill once again finds himself on the summer league roster for the Spurs. Unlike Eric Gordon or Russell Westbrook, whose Summer League apperances may not have been altogether necessary, Hill's makes more sense as his playing time drained during the last few months of the season. He has certainly made the most of this endeavor, both facilitating and scoring on offense. In three games, Hill is shooting about 48% from the field and has gone to the line an average of 8 times per game. His most complete game came yesterday when he went off for 20 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, and three steals. Now that's some stat-line clogging a la Gerald Wallace or Josh Smith (save all the blocking).

Hill's contract is guaranteed through next year with an option after that for two more, so his effort right now is simply to continue to prove that he's got the talent, drive, and leadership skills to see this whole NBA career thing through. The Spurs are not getting any younger, so Gregg Popovich has got to feel good about what his young guard of the future is doing so far this summer. Look for the former Summit League Player of the Year two more times this weekend, Saturday at 10:30pm EST against Portland and Sunday at 8:00pm EST versus Memphis.

And to George Hill: Thanks for giving Summit League ballers and followers hope for pastures beyond the D-League and Greece. Here's a video of our man talking with TrueHoop.

Keeping Tabs On: Ben Woodside

Ben Woodside, the 2009 Summit League Player of the Year, is currently in Las Vegas, NV participating in the NBA's Summer League with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Although the T-Wolves drafted a slew of point guards a few weeks back, the only one who is participating on the Summer League team is Jonny Flynn (Ricky Rubio's fate is unknown and Ty Lawson was shipped to Denver). I had presumed this would be good for Woody, but after the first game it became apparent that it was not, at least at that moment.

In the Wolves first game, the former Bison did not get a single minute of playing time, most likely because it was Flynn's first shot to shine. Things started looking up, however, yesterday when Ben finally got some PT. In just over eight minutes, he went 0-1 from the field, 1-2 from the line, had 1 assist and 1 steal, and committed no turnovers. Not exactly a spectacular line for a guy who needs to make the most of all of his playing opportunities.

It is clear that Woodside will need to show a lot more in the coming games if he's to get the slightest sniff of a roster spot either with an Association or D-League team. Anyone who followed the Summit League last year knows that Ben has the skills to compete with NBA prospects (Sherron Collins anyone?), but the common complaint against him is his lack of size and strength. Whatever the result, it's great to see Ben getting the chance to represent himself, his alma mater, and his conference on such a level.

Minnesota has three Summer League games remaining:
Friday, July 17 at 8:00pm EST vs. Washington
Saturday, July 18 at 6:30pm EST vs. New Orleans
Sunday, July 19 at 6:00pm EST vs Chicago

Box scores and recaps can be read here.

Welcome to The Summit League Daily

Welcome to The Summit League Daily - the newest blog covering the ten hoops programs that make up The Summit League. The idea to create such a blog formed in a dorm room after some healthy prodding from a friend with a mutual interest in The Summit League's relevance. Over the course of the 2008-2009 season, a love of all things Summit began to form, namely around the interests of a certain team, but bound by the collective excitement that came from North Dakota State's run, Oral Roberts' end, and Oakland's constant nudging of the status quo.

Thanks in large part to continued visits to The Mid Majority, it was determined that there was in fact a market for blogs covering mid-major hoops, but we're just attempting to do it on a much smaller and more compact level for a league we feel is growing in quality and caliber of play.

It is our goal to cover the daily happenings of Summit League hoops. While we are restricted as viewers by location and lack of national television coverage, it is our aim to utilize the power of the Internet to keep tabs on all ten teams in an unbiased manner, although more poignant observations may be delivered to teams on the eastern side of the league due to our location.

We hope with the help of fans that we can make this blog the one-stop-shop for all things basketball in The Summmit League. We'll offer weekly analysis of teams on Sundays and/or Mondays in a feature we call "The Internal Audit." This has been strategically placed to follow league action which normally falls on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Tuesdays will be dedicated to shining some light on action in the women's realm, while Fridays will serve up a weekly "Game Of The Weekend," highlighting the best game featuring a Summit League team for the following weekend.

Other features may come and go throughout the year, including plenty of lists, but those outlined above will make up the basics. In-between weekly features will be regular updates and random blog posts that will hopefully make this a "daily" blog as we attempt to make the SLD a regular stop for readers looking for analysis, stories, links, and general coverage of the conference. As with any successful blog, we welcome any and all submissions, comments, tips, leads, and inquiries in order to make this a better place. Just e-mail at the address provided on the right underneath the RSS feed link (while you're there, please subscribe!).

Thank you for your interest. We hope to earn a place in your feed reader, bookmarks, or general site-checking circuit.