Hamilton signs with Sam Goldfeder

[David 76]

DHam's skills sure took a beating when he said he would hire an agent.

I think his decision is stupid. I am bothered by his (recent?) lack of scholastic effort but he was the player with the most potential on the team.

 

[JSM1970]

Draft Express just put out a new mock yesterday, DHam not drafted.

Not to say be can't have good workouts and move up, but the idea of declaring and signing with an agent when you're not even consider a late 2nd rounder is baffling.

I just think he wants nothing to do with college based on his spring semester course load. He seems to think he can work on his game and get to the league eventually.

 

[Towney007]

I think people can talk about his family until they're blue in the face. It's an awful move. And not to be the terrible human here, it also looks desperate. If his family needs financial help that badly - then an NBA team theoretically would use that against him. He's got no negotiating leverage even if he signs as an undrafted free agent. I'm literally astonished at his decision. Completely and totally astonished. There isn't a single, solitary reason this makes sense at all.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

As of right now I think he will get drafted. Good workouts could propel him to late first round because the draft is so weak, but bad workouts could make him
go undrafted. Either way he will make a summer league roster.

 

[intlzncster]

Good workouts could propel him to late first round because the draft is so weak, but bad workouts could make himgo undrafted.

I think this is an important point. Next year the draft is supposedly going to be strong, while this year is weak. That could be one of the factors driving his decision.

 

[willie99]

he played 5 good games down the stretch, that's it, he's not going in the first round

as for the draft being weak, look who they have in the 2nd round already, a lot of guys who've played a lot better and a lot smarter than Ham has thus far

I wish nothing but the best for him, I hope he's a lottery pick, but i don't see it and I'm obviously in the bewildered what is he thinking crowd

I think he's throwing away his NBA potential, I think he's accepting playing abroad

 

[superjohn]

The weak draft argument is funny to me. It would have to be a whole lot weaker to guarantee Hamilton a first round pick. Can't remember being this bummed out on a UConn kid in a long time, it's his life I just feel like he's ripping up a lottery ticket.

 

[Lefty2one]

DX now has him ranked as the 84th best prospect. Not that DX has never made a mistake but it's not an ideal starting point...

 

[Paesano]

The top of the draft is weak. The rest is the same as it always is. This is an incredibly stupid decision.

 

[Huskies2324]

Will be similar to what Deandre Daniels is going through. Drafted round 2 as a team will see potential but they will send him overseas for some seasoning and then some D-League time. If he grows as a player then that NBA team has something. If not they jettison him and DHam just becomes another forgotten man and draft casualty. Maybe we see DHam again in few years, or not. What a shame.

 

[dwalks93]

Ok I like everyone else on this board think Hamilton declaring is a terrible decision for his professional future. But the bottom line is it is his life and people make bad decisions every day.

As far as UConn next year it is hard to look at Hamilton's numbers and not think it is big loss. But one can make a case UConn this year was missing a critical "team" component and perhaps Hamilton was part of that problem. This years's team seemed to have more individual talent than its collective performance. Most posters attributed this to the lack of an experienced true point guard, or the lack of dominate 4/5, or the growing pains of 2 new Graduate transfers. But maybe the real problem was the players did not have the right chemistry and it was less a skill issue and more a personnel issue.

IMO the biggest predictor of success is desire and commitment. That desire and commitment needs to be "team first" and to winning. I am not sure the UConn men always played "team first" basketball this year. There is a reason the UConn women crushed everyone and won the NC (again). It because players like Morgan Tuck or Kia Nurse were willing to sacrifice their individual game and stats to win.

Daniel Hamilton leaving is unfortunate. But Daniel Hamilton coming back to a school he does not want to be at with the only goal being to highlight his professional capabilities/stats would be even worse. I'm not calling Hamilton a selfish player...only saying chemistry is sometimes more than the aggregate of the players' abilities...I guess we will see what Hamilton's departure does to UConn's chemistry next year .

I wish Daniel Hamilton the best and hope he succeeds. He may be making a mistake but I won't begrudge him for it. We all have to find our own way in this world.

 

[JSM1970]

The Daniels decision was terrible too but that was coming off a NC so no one was that concerned. We'll have to see if Daniels ever makes a roster either.

Will be similar to what Deandre Daniels is going through. Drafted round 2 as a team will see potential but they will send him overseas for some seasoning and then some D-League time. If he grows as a player then that NBA team has something. If not they jettison him and DHam just becomes another forgotten man and draft casualty. Maybe we see DHam again in few years, or not. What a shame.

 

[JSM1970]

Agreed. Hope he does well and gets a chance.

Ok I like everyone else on this board think Hamilton declaring is a terrible decision for his professional future. But the bottom line is it is his life and people make bad decisions every day.

As far as UConn next year it is hard to look at Hamilton's numbers and not think it is big loss. But one can make a case UConn this year was missing a critical "team" component and perhaps Hamilton was part of that problem. This years's team seemed to have more individual talent than its collective performance. Most posters attributed this to the lack of an experienced true point guard, or the lack of dominate 4/5, or the growing pains of 2 new Graduate transfers. But maybe the real problem was the players did not have the right chemistry and it was less a skill issue and more a personnel issue.

IMO the biggest predictor of success is desire and commitment. That desire and commitment needs to be "team first" and to winning. I am not sure the UConn men always played "team first" basketball this year. There is a reason the UConn women crushed everyone and won the NC (again). It because players like Morgan Tuck or Kia Nurse were willing to sacrifice their individual game and stats to win.

Daniel Hamilton leaving is unfortunate. But Daniel Hamilton coming back to a school he does not want to be at with the only goal being to highlight his professional capabilities/stats would be even worse. I'm not calling Hamilton a selfish player...only saying chemistry is sometimes more than the aggregate of the players' abilities...I guess we will see what Hamilton's departure does to UConn's chemistry next year .

I wish Daniel Hamilton the best and hope he succeeds. He may be making a mistake but I won't begrudge him for it. We all have to find our own way in this world.

 

[Rico444]

IMO the biggest predictor of success is desire and commitment. That desire and commitment needs to be "team first" and to winning. I am not sure the UConn men always played "team first" basketball this year. There is a reason the UConn women crushed everyone and won the NC (again). It because players like Morgan Tuck or Kia Nurse were willing to sacrifice their individual game and stats to win.

Do you have any evidence of this? The team played great defense, and Hamilton lead our team in assists as a small forward. Teams that are selfish don't usually play great D because that requires great communication between everyone on the court. And Hamilton being a "me" player doesn't make sense when you look at how unselfish he's been his whole career. To be honest, this team lost by 12 to a much more talented team that was much bigger than us and killed us in the paint as a result. THAT'S why this team lost.

 

[intlzncster]

Do you have any evidence of this? The team played great defense, and Hamilton lead our team in assists as a small forward. Teams that are selfish don't usually play great D because that requires great communication between everyone on the court. And Hamilton being a "me" player doesn't make sense when you look at how unselfish he's been his whole career. To be honest, this team lost by 12 to a much more talented team that was much bigger than us and killed us in the paint as a result. THAT'S why this team lost.

Yeah, you don't lead the team in assists from the forward spot by being unselfish. If he had come back, and worked-on/improved his shot, I don't think anyone would have brought it up. Sometimes, players are dubbed 'selfish' if they miss a lot of shots. When they make them, everybody calls them a stud.

 

[Rico444]

Yeah, you don't lead the team in assists from the forward spot by being unselfish. If he had come back, and worked-on/improved his shot, I don't think anyone would have brought it up. Sometimes, players are dubbed 'selfish' if they miss a lot of shots. When they make them, everybody calls them a stud.

Especially since most of us were screaming for Hamilton to start taking more shots halfway through the season.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yeah, you don't lead the team in assists from the forward spot by being unselfish. If he had come back, and worked-on/improved his shot, I don't think anyone would have brought it up. Sometimes, players are dubbed 'selfish' if they miss a lot of shots. When they make them, everybody calls them a stud.

Wanted him to be more selfish at some point when he was thinking lob too much earlier and used to adjust too late and get off bad shots. Then he did run into a wall for 10-12 games where he was shooting 20-25% and taking some ill-advised shots. Think he found himself end of the regular season by making shots and then the tourney he did a great job. He will be missed, but we have the answers maybe different style answers but they will work I believe. And they're not done yet finding more.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Especially since most of us were screaming for Hamilton to start taking more shots halfway through the season.

I think "most of us" is a stretch. I think when looking at the numbers, myself and a lot of others were hoping he'd take less shots while more efficient scorers like Miller took more. Through his horrid stretch, DHam was attempting 3 shots per game than Miller, despite Miller shooting 59% to his 38%. Daniel Hamilton the overall player was valuable but Daniel Hamilton the shooter was a drain on the offense a good part of the year. I don't think he was selfish, I just think he was overly confident in his shooting ability.

 

[aceboon]

Especially since most of us were screaming for Hamilton to start taking more shots halfway through the season.

I felt that way earlier in the season, but when he was shooting like 20%-25% in close loses I was wishing for those shots to go Miller.

 

[Rico444]

I think "most of us" is a stretch. I think when looking at the numbers, myself and a lot of others were hoping he'd take less shots while more efficient scorers like Miller took more. Through his horrid stretch, DHam was attempting 3 shots per game than Miller, despite Miller shooting 59% to his 38%. Daniel Hamilton the overall player was valuable but Daniel Hamilton the shooter was a drain on the offense a good part of the year. I don't think he was selfish, I just think he was overly confident in his shooting ability.

He definitely started taking too many shots, although I think it was a function of our poor offense. I was talking about earlier in the season when he would pass up open 12-footers because he was trying to make something happen. I wasn't talking about the games where he put up 15+ shots; we're all in agreement that's too much.

 

[intlzncster]

I felt that way earlier in the season, but when he was shooting like 20%-25% in close loses I was wishing for those shots to go Miller.

I can't argue with that, as I thought the same thing. But I didn't view it as DH being selfish per se. More that he felt responsibility to carry the load, but was just not doing it very well.

 

[aceboon]

I can't argue with that, as I thought the same thing. But I didn't view it as DH being selfish per se. More that he felt responsibility to carry the load, but was just not doing it very well.

Yea I agree with you, never felt DHam was selfish at all, just didn't operate well trying to be a primary scoring option.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Hamilton wasn't selfish. If anything, he was a little timid. Nothing against him, that just always seemed to kind of be his make up.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

I would love to know if dham started taking more shots and trying to be "the guy" on his own or if KO encouraged him to do so. I've thought it had to be KO, but certainly don't know.

 

[UconnPT2007]

Forgive me if this has already been answered (too many pages in this thread to scroll back through) but... which agent/agency has Hamilton signed with? I know he was reported to be all in and is taking online coursework back in California... but has he actually put a pen to paper?