Former Arizona Wildcat Jordan Hill-Absence Felt on the Lakers

Jordan Hill was injured during his last game on Feb. 2 against the New York Knicks and has not returned since.

Jordan Hill is a popular former Arizona Wildcat basketball Player who many of us Wildcat fans in Los Angeles pay attention to because he is playing for the LA Lakers. He is a man of few words, but his style of play and the heart he puts into his game is true Wildcat red and blue as well as Lakers purple and gold.

Hill has kept his cool and pushed through the last 3 difficult years for his team to be a bright spot on the season. His Coach Byron Scott seems to trust and believe in him much more than the former MDA or Mike D’Antoni. Most recently, his teammate, former USC guard Nick Young has brought Hill out of his shell and you can find Jordan smiling when things are good on post-game interviews.

I have been a Lakers fan for decades, and I have never remembered a time when the team was struggling with injuries as much as they have this year. That said, it has been their story for the last 3 years: every time the team seems healthy and are starting to jell as a team, beating some formidable opponents, someone gets injured, and usually that person is a key player.

Asked what led to him having so much energy, Hill responded “We were just having fun!”

With Kobe out recovering from surgery on his torn right rotator cuff, Jordan Hill became the anchor of the team, and his teammates responded to him. On Sunday, January 29^th, Hill finished a huge game and beat Paul Gasol (former Laker) and his new team the Chicago Bulls. Pau was happy with his reception at Staples center, and one would think he wanted to put on a show for his fans.

Hill proved he could sustain performing while playing long minutes (41) by scoring a season high 26 points (average this season 12.1 points). In addition, he stacked up 12 defensive rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocks (one key block in double overtime-see video below), only committing two fouls in the process. Lakers fans had taken to Twitter and it was a festival of wondrous exuberance feeling like the Lakers had turned the corner and found a recipe for winning once again.

Asked what led to him having so much energy, Hill responded “We were just having fun!” That is the key to life, if you are having fun, you do a great job.

As Lakers luck would have it that was not to be the case, and once again in the next game against one of the other last place teams in the NBA, the New York Knicks, the Lakers suffered another a major injury in the first quarter. This time it was to our beloved Jordan Hill. Thought to be just a hip injury, it turned out it was grade 1 hip flexor strain. Hill is set to be out until February 20^th after the NBA All-star break.

The Lakers went on to lose the next 6 games before the break, losing Nick Young to a new ankle injury in the process following a 102-86 loss to the Trail Blazers. He said he thinks he will be able to come back as well after the break.

If you haven’t guessed yet many fans want the Lakers to tank so they can get a top ranked draft choice in the NBA 2015 Draft Lottery. Honestly, I don’t think that is what most fans want. They pay a ton of money going to the games, stands are still full, lots of Jeremy Lin fans attend, people just want to watch their Lakers put on a good show.

Looking to the future, there’s a lot of talk around fans wanting the Lakers to draft Jalil Okafur. I am partial to Arizona’s Stanley Johnson although I would like to see him stay with the Wildcats for another season, and possibly a trade with a Houston for Nick Johnson.