Grant Hill News

"Somewhere, Grant Hill must be wondering where it all went wrong. He just made yet another exit in the first round of the playoffs, he may need surgery yet again and now he sits at home and watches his two former teams -- the Magic and the Pistons -- play for the right to go to the Eastern Conference finals. What's the old song from Hee Haw? Gloom, despair and agony on me, Deep dark depression, excessive misery, If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all, Gloom, despair and agony on me-e-e!"

"Suns forward Grant Hill was with a winning playoff team for the first time in nine years but did not get to play in the game."

"You might have heard this before, only to see Grant Hill try to help while hobbling: The Suns forward might sit out Sunday."

"Suns forward Grant Hill never met the team's criteria of being at 100 percent, but he still was cleared to play Friday in a stunning turnaround from his "doubtful" status."

"At recent game-day shootarounds, Suns forward Grant Hill usually has felt like he had a good grasp of how much his body would allow him to do."

"Mike D'Antoni didn't fully realize it until he looked at the game film. The Suns coach saw it on a couple defensive plays. Grant Hill was hurting."

"Suns forward Grant Hill didn't do much in Game 1 against San Antonio, scoring just five points on 2-of-4 shooting. Now we know why. Hill reinjured his groin while taking a charge from Michael Finley 23 seconds into the game and the injury could limit his effectiveness during the series."

"Suns forward Grant Hill declared his health improved Friday after taking part in a full-fledged team scrimmage before the team's afternoon flight to San Antonio."

"But not only did the Suns rally to beat Golden State 122-116, the aggravation of the groin injury that Grant Hill suffered in the second quarter doesn’t appear to be too serious."

"Dubbed the “Young, Unorthodox Medical Staff,” by O’Neal, their work on forward Grant Hill this week paid dividends. After missing three games with a groin injury and a lingering wrist sprain, Hill looked rejuvenated with a 16-point, 10-rebound performance in 29 minutes as Phoenix steamrolled Minnesota."

"That was one look at the Suns without Grant Hill Monday night against Denver. Another comes Tuesday. Hill came to US Airways Center on Monday morning with news that surprised coach Mike D'Antoni. "

"Suns forward Grant Hill will sit out tonight's game at New Jersey due to lingering problems with a pulled groin and a right wrist sprain."

"Grant Hill missed Saturday’s 110-104 victory over the New Jersey Nets due to a groin injury the forward said he has been dealing with since the Suns’ March 19 game at Seattle."

"Suns forward Grant Hill was upset Sunday when Amaré Stoudemire substituted for him with 10:30 to go. Hill had left Friday's loss with 7:07 to go and did not return. This time, Hill came back to defend Spurs guard Tony Parker for the final 5:55."

"Grant Hill had a lot of time to think about Sunday’s game with the Spurs. There was the off-day Saturday ... oh, and those last seven minutes of Friday’s loss to Utah, when he was benched in favor of Leandro Barbosa after scoring just seven points in 21 minutes."

"Come July, say there is an NBA free agent who is a classy pro. Say he is as healthy as he has been in many years. Say he makes half his shots, provides versatility and is coming off a season with averages of roughly 15 points, five rebounds and three assists per game. How much money would that player command? It probably would be more than $1,976,400, but that is what Suns forward Grant Hill sounds willing to play for next season to remain with the Suns. "

"Two games after Raja Bell went scoreless against the Lakers, the goose egg landed in Grant Hill’s column against his former team."

"Do you know when Grant Hill knew that coming back to finish his career in Detroit would not be in his best interest? It was during the playoffs last spring when the Pistons were sweeping free-agent-to-be Hill's Orlando team. "

"Last summer, when former Piston Grant Hill became an unrestricted free agent, there were two possible destinations on his mind -- Phoenix and Detroit."

"While several media outlets billed the Boston-Phoenix game as a battle of "The Big Threes," Celtics coach Doc Rivers wondered if someone was getting shortchanged."

" This isn’t Doc Rivers’ first chance to coach a really good team. He did have Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady in Orlando, though the former’s famed foot problems derailed that train before it ever got on track."

"Hill scored 26 points Wednesday at Golden State and his 15 rebounds were the most he's had in a game since Christmas of 2002, when he had 15 against Detroit while playing for Orlando."

"As soon as coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters that Grant Hill was starting over Boris Diaw Monday night against Charlotte, he quickly added 'and don't ask me why because I really don't have a reason.'"

"Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said that who starts between Grant Hill and Boris Diaw is not a big deal. Hill and Diaw have said they don't care. "

"Grant Hill is ready to return when the Suns host the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. Hill, whose appendectomy caused him to miss seven games this month, missed Sunday's game at Chicago because of back spasms but said he felt strong at Monday's practice."

"After two days of doing nothing in order to rest his aching lower back and an encouraging practice Monday, Grant Hill will be back on the court tonight when the Suns host the Atlanta Hawks."

"Suns coach Mike D'Antoni is considering a temporary starting lineup change, but he wishes he did not have to do so. He is considering starting forward Boris Diaw Sunday instead of forward Grant Hill, who might not be able to play. "

"Suns forward Grant Hill’s back spasms were less of a bother Saturday, but he was held out of practice and is questionable for today’s game against the Chicago Bulls. If he does play, it would be in a reserve role with Boris Diaw starting at his forward spot."

"Suns forward Grant Hill's abdomen had felt so much better after his first two games back after an appendectomy that he could take a shot to the midsection."

"Grant Hill wasn’t expecting to hit the ground running, playing for the first time in two weeks following an appendectomy. "

"Ask anyone around Grant Hill — coaches, trainers, even Suns general manager Steve Kerr — and they look at the sunny side of last Wednesday’s appendectomy, which will keep him out of action for at least two weeks."

"Players don't like to see each other hurt, Kings swingman John Salmons said following a light practice Saturday at the team's practice facility. That includes players on other teams, which is why Salmons said he is happy for Suns small forward Grant Hill, who is averaging 16.1 points and 3.7 assists in his first season with Phoenix."

"Grant Hill said he didn’t watch the Suns-Spurs playoff series last spring and when he was peppered with questions by both Arizona and Texas media about the rivalry leading up to Monday, he let everyone know he hadn’t been a part of it."

" That's when Grant Hill, as he threatened to do once before, got in the Spurs' way. Hill said he didn't watch a minute of the Spurs-Suns series last spring."

"During Steve Nash's recent remarkable run of assists, Suns teammate Grant Hill is creating like he did during the point-forward days earlier in his career. During the first four games of this trip, Hill is averaging 7.5 assists per game."

"Tonight against the Timberwolves, Grant Hill will play his 21st straight game for the Suns. That might not sound like anything extraordinary. But for Hill, it will represent the longest regular-season run of health since he was a Detroit Piston eight years and a half-dozen surgeries ago."

"They were Phoenix’s two significant offseason veteran acquisitions — the two biggest reasons why the Suns felt like they were a better team than the one that walked off the floor in San Antonio last May feeling close, yet still short, of a title run. And while they will cost Phoenix less than $3 million this year, Grant Hill and Brian Skinner have proven in the first 17 games their value will be far greater."

"Suns forward Grant Hill noted Sunday what Suns fans have seen for three years. 'We're almost like two different teams when Steve (Nash) is out there and not out there,' Hill said. The difference Sunday was that Suns fans liked the looked of it in a 115-104 victory over the New York Knicks. "

"In his best game with Phoenix, Hill scored a season-high 28 points Sunday, including the first nine of the fourth quarter, when the Suns turned a one-point lead into a boat race and ran away from the embattled Knicks 115-104 at a very testy Madison Square Garden."

"Grant Hill only can shake his head at the sad state of the Knicks. Rejuvenated in Phoenix after a nightmarish, injury-filled stint in Orlando, Hill took time out to sympathize with his Knicks counterparts last night. It was the least he could do after roasting them in the fourth quarter of a 115-104 Suns victory at the Garden. "

"When you think of the Phoenix Suns, you think of run-and-gun point guard Steve Nash sprinting up and down the floor, throwing alley-oops to a spry Amare Stoudemire or finding one of the Suns' young sharpshooters for an open jumper. But it was a 35-year-old, 13-year veteran with a history of chronic ankle injuries who outran the Knicks Sunday night. "

"The game program handed out to fans entering U.S. Airways Arena on Friday night featured a doctored picture of Phoenix forward Grant Hill pulling back his suit and shirt to reveal an orange Suns jersey."

"It was a rare day off from basketball, but there was no rest for Suns forward Grant Hill. On a recent Saturday morning, Hill had seen his mother off to the airport and visited the barbershop. Now he was seated at the kitchen table, thumbing through the latest issue of Vanity Fair while cradling his crying 3-month-old daughter, Lael, in his lap."

"Booed mercilessly almost three weeks ago when he returned to Orlando and faced a Magic franchise he left last summer for the Suns, Hill said the fans' reaction neither surprised him nor bothered him. Then again, he's the same player who often gritted his teeth when he had a cracked bone in his ankle so no one would know just how much pain he was in."

"With Raja Bell hurting and the rotation again tightening, D’Antoni’s preseason projection of 30-35 minutes for Hill has gone out the window. He’s played no fewer than 36 in the five games leading up to Saturday, and he played a season-high 43 Saturday, contributing 18 points to Phoenix’s 115-105 win."

"Before Grant Hill was informed where that star-spangled banner yet wave, he was informed of his spot in the hearts of Magic fans. "Hill!" one fan screamed during the national anthem, and then proceeded to tell him a few choice words. Hill's return to Orlando one week ago was speckled with displeasure, fans angered that Hill's injuries kept their team from thriving. Then he had signed with the Phoenix Suns. "

"The Bulls' coffin had yet to be sealed Thursday when Suns guard Steve Nash offered the final nail for forward Grant Hill to drive in."

"Suns swingman Grant Hill said he was not shocked by the barrage of boos he received from Orlando fans upon his starting-lineup introduction and every time he touched the ball."

"Any confusion about how Grant Hill would be treated in his return to Orlando was put to rest during the national anthem, when one disrespectful fan felt compelled to get the first volley in early."

"This was not the kind of homecoming Grant Hill was expecting. Back in Orlando early Saturday morning after his Phoenix Suns had won in Miami hours earlier, Hill returned to his southwest Orlando home rather than stay at the Phoenix Suns hotel. He has since moved his family to Phoenix, so Hill was all alone in his Orlando mansion."