Hawkins

[imno1]

How about Taliek to coach him?

You don’t think he’s getting coaching? He just needs to work harder on improving his handle. Hopefully he will become at least adequate with his dribble. Maybe not this season but over the summer.

 

[NJHusky]

I've got to believe this is an issue with many highly ranked but not top 20 kids that aren't playing at an elite prep place like IMG. They are far and away the best player on the court, so they just get the ball and score. Here, he's playing against lots of great athletes...some better than him and he needs to improve/refine some skills. He's learning to play against a level of play he's never experienced before. It's like being the smartest kid in your HS class and going to MIT where you realize...holy crap

 

[Conndog]

To shoot? I'm thinking no.

LOL!

 

[Deleted at users request]

Are you cool with him playing through his mistakes if it means we lose to St. Johns? Because he was making a lot of mistakes, and not making wide open jump shots.

And to me Akok is a better perimeter scorer than Tyrese is.

I would like him to have the same rope everyone else has. Since the beginning of the year he’s been on a tight leash.

Sorry when I said perimeter scorer I just meant being able to create and score out there. Not just shooting.

 

[freshler40]

I was really tired last night, and had to get up early this morning to freeze one of my left ones off on the river, so this didn't get into the "ThoughtZ" post, but I've noticed over several games where Hurley's trying to give Hawkins minutes. that he has the same issue with ball handling that AJax and Gaffney have. When pressured -- or even in close proximity to a defender -- they all tend to dribble far from their body, with an extended arm. And it leads to loss of control and eventually loss of possession.

Good observation! Watch Cole or other good ball handlers, they don't dribble with arms fully extended. Gaffney needs to drive more, finish, doesn't seem to have a good idea of what he wants to do but can finish well at times.

 

[uconnseth]

He's a good spot-up shooter (though last night he missed in some big momentum spots), but he's so weak with the ball that he can't take anyone off the dribble without losing it or getting blocked at the rim.

I actually don’t think he’s that good a basketball player - he’s just a shooter.