Hawkins defense has really improved | The Boneyard

Hawkins defense has really improved

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dogpause

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No doubt that everyone was please with Hawkins scoring, but what really stuck out to me was his defense. He played stronger, bodying-up his man and fighting for loose balls and rebounds. While he was much was much more aggressive overall, I like how he anticipated where the opposing player was going, and beat him to the spot.
 
dogpause said:
No doubt that everyone was please with Hawkins scoring, but what really stuck out to me was his defense. He played stronger, bodying-up his man and fighting for loose balls and rebounds. While he was much was much more aggressive overall, I like how he anticipated where the opposing player was going, and beat him to the spot.
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Yeah, I mentioned that in another thread that I was really impressed with his defense in the second half. I loved how he stayed in front of his man and didn't let get past. I guess he fed off his offense from the first half and played within himself all game. He didn't force anything on offense except once trying to go in the lane which he stripped. My favorite play from him was him diribbling inside the 3 point line for a pull up jump shot. He can really help us become a lot better if we see this Hawkins on both sides of the ball like we did in the Marquette game.
 
That is what I noticed most. His on ball defense was very good last night. Hoping that builds his confidence to continue shooting on the other end.
 
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It's fun watching Hawkins start to believe in himself at this level. I thought he did a very good job of staying in front of his man tonight. Yes, his defense has improved significantly. A few pounds of muscle would go a long way though. He is still very slender and somewhat prone to getting stripped or tied up.
 
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Bodying up a ball handler or cutter to limit where he can go, without fouling is a tough skill to learn, and has more to do with footwork than anything else. Hawkins was night and day better at it last night than just a few games ago. Not sure how he could make that big an adjustment that quickly. But glad as heell that he did.
There were times last night that his body and footwork (not his hands - yet) brought to mind Ricky in his prime.
 
Lefty2one said:
His defensive effort last night was by far his best of the season and I'm sure a big reason why he was on the court more (that and Whaley's two first-half fouls). Love to see growth from the young kids.
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Defense is what gets you on the court at UConn. Hawkins wasn't exactly good, but the effort was there and he moved his feet. He got abused physically, and the refs letting a lot go didn't help him. He needs 10-15 pounds of muscle. But it seems the message was received, if you want to play, put in the effort on that end.
 
I saw improvement from Hawkins but I guess I need to watch again and I may just do that. I noticed effort and rotation that was smoother than other games, but the couple of times I focused on his defense he hadn't cut down a passing angle, anticipated the movement of the opponent, or stayed in front of his man. On certain Marquette scores by open players, it seemed to me he was the most likely culprit allowing the guy to be open. Based on the observations in this thread, I guess I'm not giving him his due. (I did think he played much better D).

As an aside, Jackson was all over the court challenging shots and made that steal in the last minute than put the game away. Last year as a freshman he was racking up fouls and couldn't stay in the game being that aggressive. I give him and the staff credit for learning how to play so hard without fouling. I think that is a real important improvement he has made.

Given the effort he is showing on that side of the ball, I expect defense will be an area Hawkins improves big time as he gains strength and savvy
 
HuskyHawk said:
Defense is what gets you on the court at UConn. Hawkins wasn't exactly good, but the effort was there and he moved his feet. He got abused physically, and the refs letting a lot go didn't help him. He needs 10-15 pounds of muscle. But it seems the message was received, if you want to play, put in the effort on that end.
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I don't agree about him not being good. In the first half he was getting abused a little by a bigger player but the second half he really didn't let anyone get by him and was active with his hands getting deflections and one block at least. I hope we continue to see these contributions from Hawkins with his upward trend in his offensive game. If he keeps it simple and doesn't try to dribble too much into crowded lanes on offense and keeps up his D he will definitely continue having a positive impact on this team.
 
Great post OP. I remember 3 specific possessions where Hawkins did a really good job of staying in front of his guy and defending. He also boxed out pretty well on the boards.

A handful of times he even held his own vs a forward or bigger guard after a switch on the perimeter. As another poster mentioned, I think Shaka gameplanned to get switches against him with hopes of creating a mismatch. Jordan picked the right time to show up on D, his best game defensively all year.

I think Jordan is breaking out of his mini-slump as he's acclimating himself to the speed/size of the college game. He can really be a X factor for this team, especially if he starts knocking down some midrange shots like he did at the end of the first half.
 
I think Hawk has figured out there might be a connection between PT and D with this particular coach. His O will take care of itself.. An offseason with a commitment to SnC will do him wonders

Edit-Imagine his body type evolving into more of a Morsell body type than freshman Hawkins
 
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Umami Zen said:
I think Hawk has figured out there might be a connection between PT and D with this particular coach. His O will take care of itself.. An offseason with a commitment to SnC will do him wonders
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Also, working on getting that handle tighter. It has helped Jackson for sure and he looks a lot better dribbling this year than last.
 
I saw an increased effort but frankly he is still very below average. His lack of anticipation combined with a lack of lateral quickness is really holding him back. Fortunately, both things can be worked on in the off-season and if he continues to make shots the effort on D will stay at the level we need it to be at.
 
ThabeetDown said:
I saw an increased effort but frankly he is still very below average. His lack of anticipation combined with a lack of lateral quickness is really holding him back. Fortunately, both things can be worked on in the off-season and if he continues to make shots the effort on D will stay at the level we need it to be at.
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His lateral quickness is fine.
 
Too many of the late rotations started with Whaley biting on a pump fake or overextending on a hedge. The Wrench still plays a mean D but he's been susceptible to pump fakes lately
 
Lateral quickness is the least of Hawkins defensive deficiencies concerns. He did a great job last night moving laterally to stay in front of his defender and stop penetration. Strength is what he needs to focus on. A bigger guard will have a day with him by just bullying him.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Defense is what gets you on the court at UConn. Hawkins wasn't exactly good, but the effort was there and he moved his feet. He got abused physically, and the refs letting a lot go didn't help him. He needs 10-15 pounds of muscle. But it seems the message was received, if you want to play, put in the effort on that end.
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The dribbler blew by him a few times last night but definitely improvement.
 
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Amazing what a little P/T will do for some players

Hawk needs to bulk up a bit more so he can have added confidence guarding the grown men he ends up facing. As in every D1 contact sports, for the most part, the 17/18 yo freshman has a really hard time defending someone who outweighs them but 20 plus pounds.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Defense is what gets you on the court at UConn. Hawkins wasn't exactly good, but the effort was there and he moved his feet. He got abused physically, and the refs letting a lot go didn't help him. He needs 10-15 pounds of muscle. But it seems the message was received, if you want to play, put in the effort on that end.
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Agreed but why does Polley get the PT? He is the worst defender on the team and has been for years.
And Gaff sure isn't a shutdown specialist.
 
gtcam said:
Agreed but why does Polley get the PT? He is the worst defender on the team and has been for years.
And Gaff sure isn't a shutdown specialist.
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He shouldn't. Hurley has some irrational belief in him because he's a super senior. He doesn't turn the ball over and shoots 90% from the line. So he is a decent late game/foul sub. Last night Hawkins got 20 and Polley got 17. The Nova game before it was Hawk 17 Polley 18. Creighton was Hawk 6 and Polley 21. Paolley 19 and Hawk 9 vs Depaul. So last night was the first time Hawkins got more minutes than Polley. I think we will see that trend continue.
 
HuskyHawk said:
He shouldn't. Hurley has some irrational belief in him because he's a super senior. He doesn't turn the ball over and shoots 90% from the line. So he is a decent late game/foul sub. Last night Hawkins got 20 and Polley got 17. The Nova game before it was Hawk 17 Polley 18. Creighton was Hawk 6 and Polley 21. Paolley 19 and Hawk 9 vs Depaul. So last night was the first time Hawkins got more minutes than Polley. I think we will see that trend continue.
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One of the best things I saw last night was Polley genuinely congratulating and encouraging Hawkins in the first half; I think it was after either his second three or the elbow jumper.
 
Definitely a much improved game from Hawkins on the D side, box score shows 1 block but I swore I saw two. Hopefully that performance can be his baseline going forward, if so the future looks bright.
 
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8893 said:
One of the best things I saw last night was Polley genuinely congratulating and encouraging Hawkins in the first half; I think it was after either his second three or the elbow jumper.
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He's a UConn Husky. However critical I am of his play at times, he made a five season commitment to UConn. It is appreciated. He bleeds blue for sure.
 
MTBingNinja said:
The dribbler blew by him a few times last night but definitely improvement.
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This is what I meant by the combination of a lack of anticipation and lateral quickness. He doesn't have the lateral quickness to make up for a lack of anticipation. I'm not saying his lateral quickness is bad, but not good enough to make up for his anticipation issues. Defenders blow by him way too often or he fails to take the correct angle, the latter partially due to his lack of strength (he just gets out-muscled). He did manage I think 2 blocks yesterday to make up for that, so he's at least learning that from his expert-at-blocking teammates.

I think he will see a ridiculous improvement next season. You can see things slowly starting to click for him.
 
Ricker said:
I saw improvement from Hawkins but I guess I need to watch again and I may just do that. I noticed effort and rotation that was smoother than other games, but the couple of times I focused on his defense he hadn't cut down a passing angle, anticipated the movement of the opponent, or stayed in front of his man. On certain Marquette scores by open players, it seemed to me he was the most likely culprit allowing the guy to be open. Based on the observations in this thread, I guess I'm not giving him his due. (I did think he played much better D).

As an aside, Jackson was all over the court challenging shots and made that steal in the last minute than put the game away. Last year as a freshman he was racking up fouls and couldn't stay in the game being that aggressive. I give him and the staff credit for learning how to play so hard without fouling. I think that is a real important improvement he has made.

Given the effort he is showing on that side of the ball, I expect defense will be an area Hawkins improves big time as he gains strength and savvy
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I think these 2 guys really show how Hurley teaches man to man defense.

The techniques I saw from Hawkins last night are the same I started seeing in Jackson by the middle of his freshmen season. You could see them start sliding their feet and using their chests to wall off the driver, instead of hands/arms. I don't know if Hurley makes them run laps if they use their hands in practice, but they both were aggressively keeping their hands behind themselves. They were still often not anticipating a drive and their man might get a step, but sometimes they were able to deter the offensive player with their bodies.

Refs are definitely less likely to call a foul if you don't use your hands, but even then it wasn't always effective for Jackson, as he was so aggressive with his chest that he'd get called for bumping and crowding guys a few times a game last year. This year he plays a bit more freely but has also greatly cut down his fouls (foul rate more than halved).
 
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