Bear Down Wildcats

Wrote for Player's Tribune Today:

Nice piece on Solo's big game the other day.

http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/where-lo ... ll-took-it

Thanks for sharing that article. That's a game that none of us will ever forget, plus it was Sean Miller's "I have arrived" moment.

Didn't the Pacers say they would not use his option so Sol is a Free agent next year?

azcat34 wrote:Wrote for Player's Tribune Today:

Figured you might have noticed this one first :

He just hit a huge pair of threes to tie Game 5...except the second was on his fingertips when the buzzer sounded.

Edited for the non game winner.

https://youtu.be/rWWHkUChg1U" target="_blank

Statistically, game 6 was no big deal for Solo. But he was +32 in his 24 minutes on the floor. Must've been doing something right.

Puerco wrote:Statistically, game 6 was no big deal for Solo. But he was +32 in his 24 minutes on the floor. Must've been doing something right.

What's interesting is that Solo was maligned last year because he got tons of playing time and made all those starts when there were so many injuries but his stats were deemed to be not good enough to warrant a spot on the team when everyone came back.

Fast forward to this year and he's gotten more and more floor time on a playoff team. He's out there doing all the things that don't show up on your basic stat sheet and he's carved himself a nice role on that team. Way to Bear Down Solo!

Chicat wrote:

Puerco wrote:Statistically, game 6 was no big deal for Solo. But he was +32 in his 24 minutes on the floor. Must've been doing something right.

What's interesting is that Solo was maligned last year because he got tons of playing time and made all those starts when there were so many injuries but his stats were deemed to be not good enough to warrant a spot on the team when everyone came back.

Fast forward to this year and he's gotten more and more floor time on a playoff team. He's out there doing all the things that don't show up on your basic stat sheet and he's carved himself a nice role on that team. Way to Bear Down Solo!

*eyeballs a certain bench player for the Warriors. . .*

Only guy on the roster who was positive in +/- last night. I don't like +/- much, but it's interesting to look at the anomalies. I mean, how does that even happen? Everyone else is negative and he's a +6 in 34 minutes.

The Pacers played 14 games over the last month of the season (regular and playoffs). Solo averaged 28.6 minutes of playing time over those 14 games, averaging around 10/5/2.

The Pacers at the beginning of the season declined Solo's team option for 16/17 so he's a free agent on July 1st. I'm guessing he can parlay being a solid bench presence with instant effort and defense into a nice little deal with a pretty good team.

Puerco wrote:Only guy on the roster who was positive in +/- last night. I don't like +/- much, but it's interesting to look at the anomalies. I mean, how does that even happen? Everyone else is negative and he's a +6 in 34 minutes.

It's not a meaningless stat. It just needs a very large sample size to really be meaningful. Single game level, it has very little relevance, but if someone is consistently a plus over time, it ceases to be accidental.

I was impressed with Solo. He cemented that he's a rotation level player on a contender, IMO. I hope that is the role he pursues long term instead of trying to cash in with a bad team. I see him as an ideal 7th-8th man on a championship level team.

Chicat wrote:The Pacers played 14 games over the last month of the season (regular and playoffs). Solo averaged 28.6 minutes of playing time over those 14 games, averaging around 10/5/2.

The Pacers at the beginning of the season declined Solo's team option for 16/17 so he's a free agent on July 1st. I'm guessing he can parlay being a solid bench presence with instant effort and defense into a nice little deal with a pretty good team.

Maybe Luke will pick up Solo on the Lakers.

Zero wrote:

Chicat wrote:The Pacers played 14 games over the last month of the season (regular and playoffs). Solo averaged 28.6 minutes of playing time over those 14 games, averaging around 10/5/2.

The Pacers at the beginning of the season declined Solo's team option for 16/17 so he's a free agent on July 1st. I'm guessing he can parlay being a solid bench presence with instant effort and defense into a nice little deal with a pretty good team.

Maybe Luke will pick up Solo on the Lakers.

I don't see that as a good fit. The Lakers need stars, not role players.

Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
LA Clippers

Feel like those would be good fits. But then again, I don't watch a ton of NBA games.

Chicat wrote:

Zero wrote:

Chicat wrote:The Pacers played 14 games over the last month of the season (regular and playoffs). Solo averaged 28.6 minutes of playing time over those 14 games, averaging around 10/5/2.

The Pacers at the beginning of the season declined Solo's team option for 16/17 so he's a free agent on July 1st. I'm guessing he can parlay being a solid bench presence with instant effort and defense into a nice little deal with a pretty good team.

Maybe Luke will pick up Solo on the Lakers.

I don't see that as a good fit. The Lakers need stars, not role players.

Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
LA Clippers

Feel like those would be good fits. But then again, I don't watch a ton of NBA games.

Chicago and Dallas might be rebuilding soon. I could see him hop into RJ's role in Cleveland or be a steadying influence for a young team (Minny). Boston, I could get behind. If Manu is done in SA, I'd love that role for him.

I still maintain if Harrison Barnes gets a big offer and the Warriors decline to match, that they could turn to Hill, who is a similar type of 3/4 with better passing, but less athleticism, but a nice 18-24 mpg role on the Warriors for 3-5 million per isn't unrealistic.

Do that for 2 years, build value, and explore the market again before age 30.

I've said I think he has a Danny Green type upside, minus a bit of athleticism.

JMarkJohns wrote:I still maintain if Harrison Barnes gets a big offer and the Warriors decline to match, that they could turn to Hill, who is a similar type of 3/4 with better passing, but less athleticism, but a nice 18-24 mpg role on the Warriors for 3-5 million per isn't unrealistic.

Do that for 2 years, build value, and explore the market again before age 30.

I've said I think he has a Danny Green type upside, minus a bit of athleticism.

Warriors would be a good fit. He isn't selfish and would fit nicely with any team that plays an offense that emphasizes passing and movement.

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

Puerco wrote:Only guy on the roster who was positive in +/- last night. I don't like +/- much, but it's interesting to look at the anomalies. I mean, how does that even happen? Everyone else is negative and he's a +6 in 34 minutes.

It's not a meaningless stat. It just needs a very large sample size to really be meaningful. Single game level, it has very little relevance, but if someone is consistently a plus over time, it ceases to be accidental.

I was impressed with Solo. He cemented that he's a rotation level player on a contender, IMO. I hope that is the role he pursues long term instead of trying to cash in with a bad team. I see him as an ideal 7th-8th man on a championship level team.

Not meaningless, but too many other dependencies to be useful much. The oddities are what make it interesting. Solo being the only guy positive in a decisive loss. Stanley being -20 in 22 minutes on the floor. I mean seriously, how are you the only guy on the entire roster who outscored the other team when you were in? There are some weird things that have to happen for that to come true. How do you even get -20 in 22 minutes? That means that basically every pair of possessions your team loses a point. That's astonishingly bad. Makes me wonder what the best worst single game +/- numbers would be...

It was something that was happening with Rondae a lot this year. I always take +/- with a grain of salt for obvious reasons, but like Space said, if it becomes a theme to see a "quiet" player frequently have better +/- nights than his teammates, it is telling you something. If it is happening often, it makes me think that guy is playing defense, rebounding, and doing all of the little things to help his team be better. You aren't taking the ill advised shot. You are the guy who isn't giving up an easy bucket. You are the guy who understands and executes their defensive responsibility and maintains position integrity, so your teammates do not have to leave their man or make themselves vulnerable defensively to cover your ass. You are the guy who is passing up the 50/50 jumper to get the ball to the guy with the 70/30 shot, or passing up the 50/50 jumper to give the ball to the 70/30 guy who gives it to the guy with an easy dunk but he gets the assist. You are the guy who puts his ass on a man when a shot goes up to limit second chance points. You are a guy who adds the right balance to the unit you are out there with.

I say this endearingly, Solomon is a C-grade swiss army knife. He can do everything on an above average level. Sometimes, that dull swiss army knife will get hot and encounter butter slice right through it, but for the most part, you know what you are getting. Add to the fact that he is extremely unselfish and a very smart basketball player, you have a guy who is a very valuable piece to the right playoff team. He just earned himself a nice job with someone based on how he played for Indiana down the stretch.

JMarkJohns wrote:I still maintain if Harrison Barnes gets a big offer and the Warriors decline to match, that they could turn to Hill, who is a similar type of 3/4 with better passing, but less athleticism, but a nice 18-24 mpg role on the Warriors for 3-5 million per isn't unrealistic.

Do that for 2 years, build value, and explore the market again before age 30.

I've said I think he has a Danny Green type upside, minus a bit of athleticism.

https://twitter.com/KENfolk_/status/729191747578826753" target="_blank

more athletic than I thought he was, but nontheless would love to see him as a role player on the warriors.

catinfl wrote:

JMarkJohns wrote:I still maintain if Harrison Barnes gets a big offer and the Warriors decline to match, that they could turn to Hill, who is a similar type of 3/4 with better passing, but less athleticism, but a nice 18-24 mpg role on the Warriors for 3-5 million per isn't unrealistic.

Do that for 2 years, build value, and explore the market again before age 30.

I've said I think he has a Danny Green type upside, minus a bit of athleticism.

https://twitter.com/KENfolk_/status/729191747578826753" target="_blank

more athletic than I thought he was, but nontheless would love to see him as a role player on the warriors.

Solomon's not a bad athlete, he's decent...for the elite NBA world. It's another area where Solo is the classic good at everything, great at nothing, type guy. He has a lower ceiling but higher floor, and that works out well for good teams that need a solid, developed, versatile guy off the bench. Sign him, put him out there, watch him patch the holes you need patched.

52 million. 4 years. Not bad...

Thats incredible

That's a sweet deal.

And to think that Indiana could have had him for pennies in comparison.

He's getting destroyed on Twitter...let the haters hate, he's going straight to the bank.

And OJ Mayo loses $60M.

Nice work Solo! Way to represent Arizona.

Hell yeah solo! That marquee money and face of the team branding!

Stay four years develop into a a great all-around player and stick in the NBA for a long time. Solomon Hill should be a great tool when recruiting

Olsondogg wrote:He's getting destroyed on Twitter...let the haters hate, he's going straight to the bank.

Proportionally, when you look at what else happened today, Solomon isn't out of line. Mozgov for 64 mil, Delly for 9 mil a year, Solomon is in line with that.

It's just a weird new world. Good for Solo, though. Nice to see him setting himself up for life.

Simple way to look at things.

12.5 is 8 million last year.

Gentry pushes tempo.

Hill's per-100 averages over his last two years are 14.5 PPG, 7 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.5 APG on 42% shooting.

You can find a number of 15-7 guys who made more than 8 million this year.

So deal is market equivalent.

The hardsell is that Hill is only theoretically a 15-7 guy.

But Gentry helped max out Dudley's value in Phoenix, and I see Hill and Dudley as very similar.

I would not be surprised if Solomon donates some money to the UofA basketball program.

ESPN

Last fall, the Pacers declined the $2.3 million option on the last year of Hill's rookie contract. Whoops! After he showed promise during an impressive playoff series against the Toronto Raptors, Hill was priced out of Indiana's range because the team was not allowed to offer him any more than the amount of the option they declined.

Instead, Hill gets a contract for more than five times more per season than he was scheduled to make. That's a lot of money for a player who was out of the rotation much of last season. However, I like it for New Orleans because Hill is the rare unrestricted free agent who at 25 is just coming into his prime. He can grow with Anthony Davis.

The Pelicans have also been in desperate need of two-way role players, and Hill might fit the bill -- particularly if he plays power forward. That's where Hill primarily played during the playoffs. Though just 6-foot-7, Hill is strong enough to defend most power forwards, and his quickness becomes an asset going against bigger, slower defenders.

Hill's shooting also becomes a plus at power forward, particularly if he's making better than half his 3s as he did in the playoffs. That's not sustainable, but Hill's 32.5 percent career 3-point shooting is adequate as a power forward. At small forward, it's not good enough, so if New Orleans views him primarily as a 3 the team may be disappointed.

Very happy for Solo. You will be hard pressed to find a better example of a guy who was given opportunities and made the most of them by working hard, doing things the right way and showing perseverance when obstacles got in the way. And now he has been given a contract that provides both security and enough money to be set for life. I know someone who is very close to him, so I have gotten to see and hear how he has continued to honor himself, his family and friends, and Arizona basketball. Very humble dude.

Just terrific of Solo. Couldn't be prouder of this man.

From Freshman at UA to here, Solo's story is stunning . As catinfl says, this is a development story which should help us recruit.

If he wishes, I see So as shining prospect for coaching in the future.