Hurley: “I think [Hawkins] is going to be a first-round draft pick at the end of the year”

[HuskyHawk]

In before the hype train leaves the station:

Terrible for the rest of the Big East, yes, but great.

 

[navery12]

I found that quote kind of frustrating to read. He’s the reason for that issue taking him out for every little mistake. Of course someone’s confidence is going to be shot that way. I would really like for Hurley to own some of his own coaching mistakes instead of putting everything on the player.

I personally liked Calhoun’s style of pulling somebody, chewing them out, and throwing them back in the game to correct it. I know it’s a high bar but it’s not like we can’t learn from that.

Doesn’t matter this year anyways because there should be no obstacle for him getting minutes.

It's almost like Hurley knows what Jordan Hawkins needs to develop more than a random message board poster...

 

[Inyatkin]

Quite a phenomenon. Beat writer gets paid to write about UConn men's basketball, finds something to write about UConn men's basketball.

The point is that Hawkins' emergence, like the need for UConn to win some NCAA games, has been chewed on endlessly for months. Everyone just needs some games to start.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

It's almost like Hurley knows what Jordan Hawkins needs to develop more than a random message board poster...

You can watch and see without Hurley needing to tell us. Lol

It’s obvious he needs to work on his handle. He didn’t have confidence issues at the beginning of the season though. I blame that on Hurley. Which is why I’m so optimistic on Hawkins this year now that he’ll get PT unabated and be the go to guy.

As a hooper, the biggest thing that leads to confidence issues is a lack of minutes, inconsistent minutes, or quick hooks. That’s what Hawkins suffered from last year. Even though he come out hot and definitely deserved minutes to start the year. That’s really all there was to it.

 

[navery12]

You can watch and see without Hurley needing to tell us. Lol

It’s obvious he needs to work on his handle. He didn’t have confidence issues at the beginning of the season though. I blame that on Hurley. Which is why I’m so optimistic on Hawkins this year now that he’ll get PT unabated and be the go to guy.

As a hooper, the biggest thing that leads to confidence issues is a lack of minutes, inconsistent minutes, or quick hooks. That’s what Hawkins suffered from last year. Even though he come out hot and definitely deserved minutes to start the year. That’s really all there was to it.

What I'm saying is you're objectively wrong about this. He not only had confidence issues early in the season last year, Hurley gave him ample opportunity to play through those mistakes for the majority of the season

 

[HooperScooper]

I believe that Hurley also needs to have a few scholarships open up for next season

Does anyone on here believe that UConn won't lose at least 2 players to a combination of transfers and guys leaving early for a professional career? I'd go with an over/under of 3. I'm sure fitting in the 5 recruits for next year is not on Hurley's list of things he's worried about.

 

[NotADime89]

You can watch and see without Hurley needing to tell us. Lol

It’s obvious he needs to work on his handle. He didn’t have confidence issues at the beginning of the season though. I blame that on Hurley. Which is why I’m so optimistic on Hawkins this year now that he’ll get PT unabated and be the go to guy.

As a hooper, the biggest thing that leads to confidence issues is a lack of minutes, inconsistent minutes, or quick hooks. That’s what Hawkins suffered from last year. Even though he come out hot and definitely deserved minutes to start the year. That’s really all there was to it.

Did you watch the same games I did last season? You absolutely love to blame DH for things that aren't even true. Delusional...

 

[HooperScooper]

Is there a way to read past the paywall?

Just a refresher for anyone still wondering how to do this. There are 3 sites I know about for getting around paywalls. Some work on some papers but not others. None of these work on some papers. For example, the Hartford Courant doesn't work on 12 Ft Ladder but does on Print Friendly & PDF. I can't get the Waterbury Republican-American to work on any of these.

Bookmark these 3 sites:

12 Ft Ladder: 12ft – Hop any paywall

Print Friendly & PDF: Print Friendly & PDF

Webpage archive: archive.ph

 

[Waquoit]

He didn’t have confidence issues at the beginning of the season though. I blame that on Hurley.

This comment is so inane, I can't understand while anyone would help this guy steal content. I think it's a tribute to Hurley that we all forgot about that early game Hawkins tried to blow. It took some coaching to get him out of that funk.

 

[8893]

Does anyone on here believe that UConn won't lose at least 2 players to a combination of transfers and guys leaving early for a professional career? I'd go with an over/under of 3. I'm sure fitting in the 5 recruits for next year is not on Hurley's list of things he's worried about.

I agree 100%. I'm not saying he's worried about it. But I do think that it's part of his built-in assumption.

 

[8893]

This comment is so inane, I can't understand while anyone would help this guy steal content. I think it's a tribute to Hurley that we all forgot about that early game Hawkins tried to blow. It took some coaching to get him out of that funk.

If that comment is inane, what do you call suggesting that "Hawkins tried to blow" that game?

 

[REB1094]

Not getting into the best method to build his confidence because I have no idea, but I saw it start to fade after the Auburn game. He was a huge reason why we won that game, but I feel like that bad turnover in OT shot his confidence in himself.

He just looked different after that. But hopefully after a summer of getting buckets on everyone in practice, he’s coming in feeling better about himself

 

[Waquoit]

If that comment is inane, what do you call suggesting that "Hawkins tried to blow" that game?

He didn't do it on purpose. If we lost, woudn't it have been fair to say he blew the game?

 

[RipCity]

It’s nice of Hurley to give boneheads something to quote and complain about every time Hawkins has an off game.

 

[gtcam]

Hawk, if he can stay injury free, will be the Hawk - no doubt in my mind. However, he is still a very young man and Hurly needs to be somewhat careful on how much pressure he puts on his shoulders - especially at the onset of the season.
CP3 sees a huge upside in AH's game and ability to translate the skills he has at the next level but he needs to work on a few things. I'm sure CP3 gave Hurley the lowdown and I hope DH handles it correctly but most importantly - positively
I see big things happening in Storrs this coming winter

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

What I'm saying is you're objectively wrong about this. He not only had confidence issues early in the season last year, Hurley gave him ample opportunity to play through those mistakes for the majority of the season

He quite literally got above 20 mins in a game twice during the year outside of when Tyrese Martin was injured and it was 21 and 20 minutes. In his first 3 games he shot 50% from 3 and averaged almost a point a minute.

5 points in 8 mins
11 points in 13 mins
16 points in 15 mins

In the Auburn game he got pulled for very little mistakes though despite being red hot, hence him only getting 15 mins. He wasn’t the same after that. Saying Hurley let him play through mistakes is just not true at all outside of him being forced to because Martin was out. Like he was forced to start Bouknight because Gilbert got hurt.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

He quite literally got above 20 mins in a game twice during the year outside of when Tyrese Martin was injured and it was 21 and 20 minutes. In his first 3 games he shot 50% from 3 and averaged almost a point a minute.

5 points in 8 mins
11 points in 13 mins
16 points in 15 mins

In the Auburn game he got pulled for very little mistakes though despite being red hot, hence him only getting 15 mins. He wasn’t the same after that. Saying Hurley let him play through mistakes is just not true at all outside of him being forced to because Martin was out. Like he was forced to start Bouknight because Gilbert got hurt.

To add to this, Whaley didn’t start until Akok got hurt even though he put up great numbers anytime he was on the floor. He probably should’ve been starting over Carlton. We saw his minutes decrease significantly once Whaley was in. Hurley has just not shown that he knows who he should be giving minutes to so far throughout his time here.

 

[bmayuc]

I think the question is what does Hawkins have to do to be a 1st round pick, and the answer is be an absolute knockdown shooter.

In some ways he reminds me of a bradley Beal type. A bit undersized at the on the wing, didn't have great handles coming into the league, but had a gorgeous jumper. Obviously Beal cleaned up his handles and became a multi-dimensional player that allowed him to thrive - think Hawk would do well to model that approach.

 

[superjohn]

I think the question is what does Hawkins have to do to be a 1st round pick, and the answer is be an absolute knockdown shooter.

In some ways he reminds me of a bradley Beal type. A bit undersized at the on the wing, didn't have great handles coming into the league, but had a gorgeous jumper. Obviously Beal cleaned up his handles and became a multi-dimensional player that allowed him to thrive - think Hawk would do well to model that approach.

Beal is undersized height wise but he's stacked compared to Hawkins and was at Florida. Jordan is frail just like Bouknight, Bouk is still really frail and sticks out like a sore thumb in the NBA. Jordan will have to keep beefing up his body and his game off the bounce.

 

[navery12]

He quite literally got above 20 mins in a game twice during the year outside of when Tyrese Martin was injured and it was 21 and 20 minutes. In his first 3 games he shot 50% from 3 and averaged almost a point a minute.

5 points in 8 mins
11 points in 13 mins
16 points in 15 mins

In the Auburn game he got pulled for very little mistakes though despite being red hot, hence him only getting 15 mins. He wasn’t the same after that. Saying Hurley let him play through mistakes is just not true at all outside of him being forced to because Martin was out. Like he was forced to start Bouknight because Gilbert got hurt.

It is truly impressive the lengths you will go to to try and justify your objectively stupid opinions. Yes if we discount all the times Hawkins played big minutes for various reasons he did barely play. Very astute point

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

It is truly impressive the lengths you will go to to try and justify your objectively stupid opinions. Yes if we discount all the times Hawkins played big minutes for various reasons he did barely play. Very astute point

Lol yeah Martin being hurt is various reasons.

 

[SubbaBub]

If this is even a little bit true the tournament expectations just went up a whole bunch. Hope Hurley realizes this.

If we have a dominant perimeter scorer/shooter to pair with good defense, the inside game of Sanogo and the rebounding of Jackson, the we've won natty's with less. The scoring was the big ?

 

[HuskyHawk]

I think the question is what does Hawkins have to do to be a 1st round pick, and the answer is be an absolute knockdown shooter.

In some ways he reminds me of a bradley Beal type. A bit undersized at the on the wing, didn't have great handles coming into the league, but had a gorgeous jumper. Obviously Beal cleaned up his handles and became a multi-dimensional player that allowed him to thrive - think Hawk would do well to model that approach.

I think he's that already. They are going to look at his strength, his defense, rebounding and toughness around the rim, and his ability to attack off the dribble. There are loads of shooters who can't make it in the NBA. That's what I'll be looking at as well.

 

[bmayuc]

I think he's that already. They are going to look at his strength, his defense, rebounding and toughness around the rim, and his ability to attack off the dribble. There are loads of shooters who can't make it in the NBA. That's what I'll be looking at as well.

If he shoots 33% from three he will not get drafted because I agree with you about the deficiencies that are in his game(handle, toughness, etc) - that was my point. We need to see him be a knockdown shooter, he did not prove that last year in game settings for him to take the leap.

 

[bmayuc]

Beal is undersized height wise but he's stacked compared to Hawkins and was at Florida. Jordan is frail just like Bouknight, Bouk is still really frail and sticks out like a sore thumb in the NBA. Jordan will have to keep beefing up his body and his game off the bounce.

Yea I mean nothing is a perfect analogy - hawks got a few inches on beal and beal is sturdier - my point was more that he needs to figure out how beal really knew what his game was about and maximized it to fit into the modern NBA and the way they project/draft talent.