Hawkins - The couple 3s he took didnt fall but he legit looked like an NBA athlete out there

[7774]

The 2009 FF team played a worse non-con schedule than we are right now, and they weren't even winning by 45+ points in those games. We've literally seen this same story before from our own program.

Have you watched some of the other ranked teams this year against cupcakes? Most of them look absolutely terrible. We look like one of the most polished teams already and we're only going to keep getting better and better

The 2009 team played a worse schedule than a team that is 355 out of 358 teams? That seems amazingly unlikely.

 

[inWV]

Cole is solid and Gaffney has surprised. At the least, Hawkins is a solid third guard. Potential upside is that he is able to fully utilize his natural talents in BE games. And then UCONN becomes really tough to deal with. Three guards, three wings and three big guys, all capable of playing high level ball against good teams.

 

[BigTenFan]

I was at the game and the kid was clearly the quickest player on the court by a wide margin. He should have a great UConn career

 

[KingAG]

The 2009 team played a worse schedule than a team that is 355 out of 358 teams? That seems amazingly unlikely.

But these 4 games aren't our full ooc schedule. It's just the first 4

 

[KingAG]

No because even the worst high major teams are never coming anywhere close to being ranked 250+. They could go 0-20 in conference and still be above these low majors

Good Point. I still don't know if differentiating between mid and low majors based upon their KenPom makes much sense. That means it'd change year by year

 

[Waquoit]

The confidence with which he took the first 3, was what coaches dream about from lead guards.

That was a jack without his feet set, my first thought was "Oh, brother".

 

[HuskyHawk]

There aren't a bunch of other teams steam rolling cupcakes. If you have been paying attention, power teams have been struggling against said cupcakes. Teams arent beating mid majors by an average of 45. We're taking that for granted in my opinion

I mean we aren't playing "mid-majors" if you want to get technical about it. We're playing some of the worst teams in all of D1. But you are correct that many teams are struggling vs bad competition. I think our depth, experience, and lack of transfers are really paying off right now. We essentially have 3 wins vs decent D2 teams... seriously.

I'm giving the staff a pass this year. These games have been planned for a long time, and maybe we just had bad luck. But our early-season schedule really should have some more challenges going forward.



Between Andre, Hawkins, Reese, and Akok we have some stupid athleticism on the wings right now.

I think it's a mix of things.
1. Staff has them prepared to go
2. Overall size, speed & athleticism just overwhelms inferior teams
3. Despite some young players, this team has four guys that are SuperSeniors from an age perspective. Loads of experience.

 

[KingAG]

I think it's a mix of things.
1. Staff has them prepared to go
2. Overall size, speed & athleticism just overwhelms inferior teams
3. Despite some young players, this team has four guys that are SuperSeniors from an age perspective. Loads of experience.

Agreed. I think I just think more will translate immediately than some others. Our size, speed, athleticism, depth and defensive intensity will over whelm high major teams. I think what we do well translates. We will have a couple of nights where we lay an egg shooting the ball. But even in those games I think we'll be right there because of our defense, depth and rebounding

 

[husky429]

Agreed. I think I just think more will translate immediately than some others. Our size, speed, athleticism, depth and defensive intensity will over whelm high major teams. I think what we do well translates. We will have a couple of nights where we lay an egg shooting the ball. But even in those games I think we'll be right there because of our defense, depth and rebounding

Defense and rebounding will keep us close in the vast majority of games, even vs. better or equally skilled opponents. A hot shooting night is what will get us the season-defining underdog win at some point. Maybe in Atlantis, maybe in the tourney, maybe Nova... who knows.

 

[navery12]

Good Point. I still don't know if differentiating between mid and low majors based upon their KenPom makes much sense. That means it'd change year by year

It may change slightly year by year for specific teams, but I don't think it'll vary as much by conference. Looking at the MEAC (Coppin State and UMES on our schedule this year) the conference is pretty consistent with the winner around 250 KenPom and about 4-5 ranked in the 340s+.

You might get a team like Norfolk State who was all the way up at 210 a few years ago and would move in these arbitrary cutoffs of 250. But it's pretty safe to say overall that's a different level of conference than something like CUSA or the MVC where the bottom of the conference is coming in around 250

 

[87Xfer]

The only thing lacking on the roster is a real KNOCK DOWN shooter. Polley, Cole, and Gaff can certainly hit them at a respectable clip and get hot any night. But maybe Hawkins can be that guy to consistently knock down shots, and if so, he makes this team THAT much better.

Yep. Hard to swallow that our 2 "best" 3pt shooters went 3-13 against LIU.

 

[aburks41]

The 2009 team played a worse schedule than a team that is 355 out of 358 teams? That seems amazingly unlikely.

Our non-con will not be 355/358 by the end of it. The 2009 team opened with American International, UMass Lowell, Western Carolina, and Hartford. They then went to the Paradise Jam in the US Virgin Islands, played 5 more cupcakes and then @ Gonzaga.

This year we have the opening 4 cupcakes, Bahamas, @ WVU, and then the Bonnies. They are remarkably similar schedules.

 

[Husky25]

Hawkins played the final 8 minutes vs Kenpom #285.

Depth notwithstanding, the players to whom Hawkins is being compared were basically immediate starters or 1st guys off the bench.

Yes he looked good, but I'm choosing to pump the breaks for the time being.

 

[Get a Job]

Our non-con will not be 355/358 by the end of it. The 2009 team opened with American International, UMass Lowell, Western Carolina, and Hartford. They then went to the Paradise Jam in the US Virgin Islands, played 5 more cupcakes and then @ Gonzaga.

This year we have the opening 4 cupcakes, Bahamas, @ WVU, and then the Bonnies. They are remarkably similar schedules.

What are you even rambling about at this point? You said this year's team has shown that it is championship-caliber. I and a few others disagree*, on the basis that the opponents so far have been laughably inferior. Future games, past team's schedules and performances, and whatever other minutiae you are combing through have no bearing on the argument at hand.

*Note that I am not saying that this year's team is not championship-caliber. I am simply saying I haven't seen anything yet to show me this team's relative quality compared to, say, St. Bonaventure, let alone Gonzaga and the like.

 

[auror]

Hawkins played the final 8 minutes vs Kenpom #285.

Depth notwithstanding, the players to whom Hawkins is being compared were basically immediate starters or 1st guys off the bench.

Yes he looked good, but I'm choosing to pump the breaks for the time being.

Before he got hurt, it seemed like it was trending that he would've started.

 

[Waquoit]

Our non-con will not be 355/358 by the end of it. The 2009 team opened with American International, UMass Lowell, Western Carolina, and Hartford. They then went to the Paradise Jam in the US Virgin Islands, played 5 more cupcakes and then @ Gonzaga.

This year we have the opening 4 cupcakes, Bahamas, @ WVU, and then the Bonnies. They are remarkably similar schedules.

Whatever you do, don't compare them to 2006 team that won Maui to start then came home to face a murders row of: Army, Texas Southern, UMass, New Hampshire, Morehead, Stony Brook and Quinnipiac. Five of those were sub-300.

 

[aburks41]

Whatever you do, don't compare them to 2006 team that won Maui to start then came home to face a murders row of: Army, Texas Southern, UMass, New Hampshire, Morehead, Stony Brook and Quinnipiac. Five of those were sub-300.

Some people here either have bad memories or are still scarred from the Ollie years. You don't need to play a great OOC to realize how good the team is going to be. Being conservative in your expectations is so lame considering we have won 4 national championships. It takes all the fun out of it. We know what a championship team looks like, no one can tell me this team doesn't have the pieces to get it done.

I don't even care if we come out flat next week in the Bahamas. We're already looking great and we will continue to get better as the season goes on. No one will want to play this team in Feb/March

 

[J187Money]

He is one of those players that obviously has "it." He has an NBA skillset and athleticism... just needs the muscle to back it up.

The comparison to Bouk people make is way, way off base though. Hawkins isn't a 1v1 creator like Bouk nor is he a creative finisher. He's an elite shooter with fantastic defense.

"Elite Shooter" - music to my ears - has been a minute since we had one.

 

[Husky25]

Before he got hurt, it seemed like it was trending that he would've started.

Higher in the rotation maybe, but I recall Hurley implying on a podcast, pre-injury, that he was going to ease Hawkins in. In other words it was not a consensus. I think the starting 5 have established themselves for the time being, with Akok and Gaffney being the first to off the bench.

On the other hand, Polley's minutes are probably going down.

 

[bolt34]

Some people here either have bad memories or are still scarred from the Ollie years. You don't need to play a great OOC to realize how good the team is going to be. Being conservative in your expectations is so lame considering we have won 4 national championships. It takes all the fun out of it. We know what a championship team looks like, no one can tell me this team doesn't have the pieces to get it done.

I don't even care if we come out flat next week in the Bahamas. We're already looking great and we will continue to get better as the season goes on. No one will want to play this team in Feb/March

So true, where's the fun in talking about how there might be some problems in creating in a half court setting? I'd rather talk about how Andre Jackson is the best player of all time and not much else.

 

[RedStickHusky]

1. Hawkins passed the initial eye test. Looking forward to seeing more.
2. How do you shoot 60% on four attempts? (as an earlier post attributed to Gaffney)
3. I always figured mid-majors were the teams in two-bid conferences.

 

[J187Money]

The competition was bad. We were supposed to beat them like rented mules. And we did. Doing what you are supposed to do isn't a bad thing. And we looked good doing it.

 

[KingAG]

Some people here either have bad memories or are still scarred from the Ollie years. You don't need to play a great OOC to realize how good the team is going to be. Being conservative in your expectations is so lame considering we have won 4 national championships. It takes all the fun out of it. We know what a championship team looks like, no one can tell me this team doesn't have the pieces to get it done.

I don't even care if we come out flat next week in the Bahamas. We're already looking great and we will continue to get better as the season goes on. No one will want to play this team in Feb/March

Everybody wants so bad to be an objective analyst. Go apply to espn lol. We're fans, have fun.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Limited sample size but Gaff is hitting 60% of his 3's on 4 attempts per game so far. He'll come back down to earth but he has great shot mechanics. He was a 36% guy last year, I can see him hitting 40% this year which is approaching that 'very good to elite' territory

enlightenment
[inˈlītnmənt, enˈlītnmənt]

NOUN

1. (the Enlightenment)
   a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It was heavily influenced by 17th-century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, and Newton, and its prominent exponents include Kant, Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Adam Smith.
   imma patient sort....
   

 

[aburks41]

Everybody wants so bad to be an objective analyst. Go apply to espn lol. We're fans, have fun.

Literally a bunch of Jeff Goodmans in here lol

 

[Husky68]

The step back, or pull up would be all he needs with a defender in his face. He looks taller than 6’4”.

Funny, I remarked that I thought he would be taller. Old age eyesight must be setting in.

 

[JB75]

Incredibly obvious that he has it. Glides similarly to Ray.

I’m Obviously not saying he’s going to be ray ray but the way he moves on the floor reminds me so much of him —- just my initial eye test

 

[polycom]

That was a jack without his feet set, my first thought was "Oh, brother".

Watch more nba basketball then.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

The excitement police are by far the worst part of this board. Let fans be excited

I'm mindful that the popularity of this comment is double that if the one quoted directly below, but I still find it hard to accept that so-called "excitement police" would be considered worse than "haters," if I wanted also to use an exaggerated characterization. I consider an equal degree of criticism level against individual players at a formative stage of their basketball careers worse, which makes "by far the worst" not simply excessive, but just wrong.

And yes, let us be excited, especially by what we've seen thus far: a rotating cast of blocking, stealing, sharing, running, jumping, dunking Huskies is fun fun fun to watch.

Only if yall promise to stop hating on guys when they inevitably fall short of being Bouknight or Allen. It was annoying sifting through posts about how Jackson sucks because his first 2 games weren't lottery pick worthy. There's a difference between being excited, and being unreasonable.

Seems quite fair.

But these 4 games aren't our full ooc schedule. It's just the first 4

Your valid perspective (that "these 4 games aren't our full ooc schedule") fully applies to considering the POV of those who would extend their speculations about this team to include the upcoming, elevated competition, and currently withhold some measure of excitement accordingly. It need not be considered "policing."

Again, I'm delighted by the best of what I've seen so far. Who could ask for more?

Go Huskies!

 

[Seamus84]

He is one of those players that obviously has "it." He has an NBA skillset and athleticism... just needs the muscle to back it up.

The comparison to Bouk people make is way, way off base though. Hawkins isn't a 1v1 creator like Bouk nor is he a creative finisher. He's an elite shooter with fantastic defense.

Where they seem comparable/similar is their instinct for where the ball is going and make an athletic play.