Hill winning battle to overcome off-court problems

"I was having problems," Hill, 23, said of his improved play and focus. "I've overcome those problems, tried to focus on basketball while I'm on the court, stay mentally ready to go out and play."

Hill, a 6-10 center-forward, has been ambiguous about the problems, even with those he has credited for helping him through them. But he has said he has dealt with family and friends expecting his financial support and demanding more than he has given.

"Man, everything, you name it, it's what I deal with," Hill said. "It's just being in the league, the NBA, coming from nothing, becoming something. People will have their thoughts and feelings about you. It can be anybody, friends, family. It's going to hurt.

"It's wanting what I have. I never thought it would happen to me from the people that I'm really close to."

When it did, Hill's mood deteriorated, his focus slipped and his play declined to the point he was out of the rotation. Teammates and coaches noticed even before he took the floor and struggled. He welcomed their counsel but knew it could go only so far.

"You can tell when he's down," said forward Chase Budinger, Hill's teammate for three seasons at Arizona. "I can tell when he's having a tough week. That's when I try to take him to lunch, just talk, not about basketball, not about anything, just talk about life and things like that. I think it helps him out.

"He has a lot of family pressure, a lot of outside influences that get to him. It's tough for him. He came from nothing and made it big. He has a lot of family pressure. He's such a nice kid, it's tough for him to tell people 'no.' I feel for him. He wants to help everybody out, but sometimes it gets to the point you just can't. It's tough to say no to people close to you."

Hill has long dealt with such challenges. His mother, Carol, died of breast cancer when he was 3 years old. With his relationship with his father often rocky, he and his three older siblings were raised by his grandmother, though he had six primary caregivers before finishing high school in South Carolina and moving to one year at a prep school.

"Family has always been most important for him," said Rockets director of player development Shawn Respert. "You are talking about a young man who lost his mom at an early age, who is starting to patch up a relationship with his father and who has two kids he's trying to raise. That's a lot for a young man.

"Now, he's not worried about some things. He has things pointed in the right direction."