One of the nice things of having Furphy coming in and now County is that we are going to be able to have 4 years of Cam Spencer and watch them fully develop. Maybe not the fire, but BBIQ (and after their Hurleyization over that time, I am going to bet much of the fire is there, too).
I think the process of watching a kid come here first as a freshman and get better over time is super satisfying. Especially when they go lottery like Hawkins.
Cam is a case I can agree with. But was it not fun watching Hassan Diarra grow from a guy who was stuck on the bench to a leader on a tournament team? Or Tristen Newton becoming an All American? Or Tyrese Martin go from a guy at URI to an NBA draft pick?
The truth is somewhere in the middle here. Watching freshmen grow is probably more satisfying than a transfer, but watching a transfer hit strides for us that he never hit at his previous stops still hits hard.
How about taking a beast like Tarris out of a totally dysfunctional situation and seeing him potentially grow into a game changing 5? Or giving a talented kid like Silas an opportunity to make a run for a championship. Reality is kids develop at different rates and it's highly variable in that 17-19 age range, so why not grab a kid that worked hard enough to upgrade their platform or development to get to that next level. Just as satisfying in my book. Whether a freshman or an incoming junior is irrelevant.
It depends on the player, not how he got here. Tristen was such a clutch player and winner, leaving a lasting impression in my mind. As for Hawkins, I can barely remember he played at UConn. Does that answer your question?
And I have a running loop in my head of Jordan getting fouled on three point attempts lol. love both
I've added consideration of a single year of Stephon Castle and Cam Spencer, and it brings a nice smile from deep inside to my face.
Looking at some of the posts after mine, I don't know how it turned into enjoying one player over another based on how they got here. My post had more to do with the HS recruiting ecosystem not being as exciting and fun as it once was. Once they get here, however they got here, doesn't matter. They're all Huskies that I root for and root for them to succeed.
The back end is equally frustrating. Hawkins left a very unfinished product and has struggled mightily. I suspect his nba career would have been more successful with an additional year of seasoning. Unfortunately, you have to take life changing money if handled correctly. Clearly, castle was ready but hawikns, andre and even donovan would have benefited from staying another year.
I mostly agree. I wish Hurley would focus more on making guys complete offensive players here and not just teaching them to shoot. That’s the main pattern with our perimeter guys.
Wow. It almost sounds like you'd be willing to propose something crazy, like trying to turn Ball into a point guard.
I’ve seen crazier. Like trying to make Mahaney one and thinking he’d be an All-American doing it
I'll be the first to acknowledge I haven't watched the NBA much for the past 5-6 years. So perhaps I'm missing something. But I don't understand why some people speak of Hawkins as if he's a bust already (not saying that's what you're doing, just talking about the general sentiment.) He's shown flashes of being a really productive scorer, but he's streaky. That's exactly who he was at UConn his sophomore year. It's crazy to look back at his stats and see he shot a tick under 41% overall that season, because he is such a sniper when he's on. But there were some games he was just off, as well as some games where he was off most of the game but was able to shoot himself out of it towards the end. The numbers reflect that. I get that his shooting splits are even lower in the NBA, but he is still just under 35% from deep through 2 seasons and was over 36% his first season. The potential as a shooter is still there, as he's only 23.
247sports.com
@RuffRuff, we need a Ruffball here. 😂
I know you're working off your schtick here to a large degree, but anyone who claims to scrutinize game tape, practice tape posts on social media, and your exclusive fly-on-the-wall hidden camera video of practices as much as you do knows darn well that sophomore Hawkins did more than shoot 3's off screens. He was starting to develop a drive/mid/dribble penetration game.
Jordan Hawkins total FGA% that year.
👀 Louisville: "I love Louisville. Louisville has a great program, and they have just been recruiting me hard. Ever since they saw me for the first time, they have been on me nonstop."I think we batted 100% with announcements on 247Sports (now owned by CBS) last year. Hope that continues. If Finkelstein is doing the show then we're good.
In an interview with 247Sports, Landrew broke down each of his final schools before he makes his decision.
UConn: "I like UConn. Coach [Dan] Hurley runs a good team, he's a great coach, he coaches his kids hard. I like that."
No. 21-ranked Colben Landrew sets to announce college decision on CBS Sports College Basketball Channel
One of the biggest stock-risers this spring and summer, Landrew is one of the most versatile players in the country.
Any Ruffball here would be only teal leaves and logic only. I have no sources in Georgia!
Is it Dan Hurley's responsibility to ensure your continued development once in the league or is his responsibility to get you drafted as high as possible? I'd opt for the latter. Dan Hurley is not the G League. His priority is to build winning rosters, to the program, the fans and the university.
