Let the Hawk fly now please!

[8893]

You must have missed him getting lost when the game was still competitive. Nice run at the end and if he improves just a little, he will be very good. If he improves a lot, he will be unstoppable.

Isn't a difference maker yet. As many pluses as minuses, just like AJ. Those two tighten up their games and next season will be better.

Nope didn’t miss that. He’s far from perfect and has a lot to learn, and he had some boneheaded defensive slips today. But I don’t see a better potential offensive option to develop and I think he has the best upside chance of any player on this year’s team. And we need more offensive options more than we need anything else.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Start Hawk and bring Martin off the bench. If you put Jackson on the bench for Hawkins the team is even worse with ballhandling and passing. Cole, Hawkins, Jackson, Whaley, Sanogo.

Or, go real small and make Martin the 4. Cole, Jackson, Hawkins, Martin and Sanogo.

 

[CL82]

He’s had rough patches for sure. One of his defensive lapses today was especially glaring. Still, I only think he’ll improve by playing more. There is some risk to playing a young guy, but also considerable upside. We also need to know what to expect from him next year.

We should be thinking more sets setting screens for him to open him up for three. He’s a streaky shooter, but it feels like he’s starting to get confident. The investment in him earlier in the season is starting to pay off.

 

[jibsey]

I don't discount his defensive liability but it's not just about playing the kid. Hurley has to make him the scoring option. He does not have the green light to take those shots, some forced like last 2 minutes today. But he will make some of them if allowed. In fact he may score better that way rather than wait for perfect uncontested jump shots.

 

[Huskygrad88]

We should be thinking more sets setting screens for him to open him up for three. He’s a streaky shooter, but it feels like he’s starting to get confident. The investment in him earlier in the season is starting to pay off.

He is the ultimate freshman. Looked good (offensively x dribbling) today, but went o fer in his last two games. He is one dimensional at the moment.

 

[Edward Sargent]

AJ isn't that great passing as for every highlight reel pass he makes a boneheaded one. AJ needs to work on his midrange jump shot so when he gets in the lane he doesn't always have to make that ugly floater he does. Now maybe AJ can play point when RJ is on the bench and you bring in Hawkins off the bench. I just don't want to see Gaffney out there again.

Need something besides the 15 foot underhand floater. One more point wasn't there a thread early on as to how many times AJ was going to posterize somone with a massive slam? I think his pregame was to try and take it to the hoop but after he got stripped it seems it was abandoned

 

[CL82]

He is the ultimate freshman. Looked good (offensively x dribbling) today, but went o fer in his last two games. He is one dimensional at the moment.

Yep, that’s why the best way to use him is let him take open threes

 

[AdamaNation]

I’m gonna accentuate the positive today and say it is time to let Hawkins play more and earlier—if not starting—from here out. It is the only thing that could change the dynamic this season, and it is sure to pay dividends next season irrespective.

Yes with 12more turnovers.

 

[AdamaNation]

He’s had rough patches for sure. One of his defensive lapses today was especially glaring. Still, I only think he’ll improve by playing more. There is some risk to playing a young guy, but also considerable upside. We also need to know what to expect from him next year.

We know he needs to only dribble a ball and stay in front of people until next October.

 

[Palatine]

When Hurley wanted Sanogo to develop, he put him in the starting line up, even whn he didin't deserve it. Perhaps, he should do the same with Hawkins.

 

[Jaker]

I think Hawkins earned some of Jacksons minutes today.

 

[3rdbass]

Need something besides the 15 foot underhand floater. One more point wasn't there a thread early on as to how many times AJ was going to posterize somone with a massive slam? I think his pregame was to try and take it to the hoop but after he got stripped it seems it was abandoned

You mean that one time were he try to posterize Daniels and got the ball shoved back in his face! Yeah, that was embarrasing.

 

[Conndog]

Ehh he still can’t dribble and has awful court awareness. Happy to play him over Polley since they are basically the same player. A streaky shooter who brings nothing else to the table.

But if Polley gets playing time, is he going to improve very much? I think probably not. But I definitely think Hawkins will improve considerably, so he has much more upside. If he can work on his handle, and learn how to go around a screen with one or two dribbles, and develop that quick jump shot more, he'll be so valuable. I also think he has good defensive potential as I feel he can move his feet quickly. He'll develop that court awareness if he gets playing time and targeted instruction.

 

[Fatroony5]

Start Hawk and bring Martin off the bench. If you put Jackson on the bench for Hawkins the team is even worse with ballhandling and passing. Cole, Hawkins, Jackson, Whaley, Sanogo.

Or, go real small and make Martin the 4. Cole, Jackson, Hawkins, Martin and Sanogo.

There are 3 guys that should always start and that’s RJ, Tyrese, & Sanogo. I’m fine with playing around with the other two, but those guys deserve to start. They’re the best players.

 

[Deleted at users request]

He's one of the very few guys who can create his own shot and create for others... Get him more minutes and let him play through mistakes. I swear Jackson plays better with him on the court since they actually look for each other and feed off each other. With as good as Martin is he is TERRIBLE at finding others. Like so bad. Him and Sanago are black holes with the ball. We need more guys like Hawkins out there who can offset that.

I would like to see more of this lineup going forward... Cole, Hawkins, Jackson, Martin, Sanago. Let Whaley play more 5 coming off the bench (because that's where he played his best over the years) and let the rest of the lineup shake out from there. Our size is not an advantage when we can't create open shots for anybody worth a damn. At least with this one we have 3 capable passers and 3 capable shooters. I don't see Jackson coming off the bench being a good thing because he doesn't score. Guys like that aren't good coming off the bench typically. He does the little things (rebounding, passing, and defense) that you need in the starting lineup. Just need to put more scorers around him in the meantime.

 

[UofCT]

But if Polley gets playing time, is he going to improve very much? I think probably not. But I definitely think Hawkins will improve considerably, so he has much more upside. If he can work on his handle, and learn how to go around a screen with one or two dribbles, and develop that quick jump shot more, he'll be so valuable. I also think he has good defensive potential as I feel he can move his feet quickly. He'll develop that court awareness if he gets playing time and targeted instruction.

That’s fine and all but we are trying to win games now and you can’t win games when your shooting guard turns the ball over every time he dribbles. His turnover today was terrible. Zero court awareness

 

[Deleted at users request]

That’s fine and all but we are trying to win games now and you can’t win games when your shooting guard turns the ball over every time he dribbles. His turnover today was terrible. Zero court awareness

Not for nothing but if Polley isn't knocking shots down he's pretty much useless. Which happens too often nowadays and at this point he's too old not to be consistent. At least let Jordan play through his mistakes to get better. He can have a way bigger impact than Polley and at the least is a good passer.

 

[UofCT]

Not for nothing but if Polley isn't knocking shots down he's pretty much useless. Which happens too often nowadays and at this point he's too old not to be consistent. At least let Jordan play through his mistakes to get better. He can have a way bigger impact than Polley and at the least is a good passer.

Yeah at this point might as well roll with Hawkins and hopefully more playing time increases his confidence and eventually decreases the mistakes.

 

[cohenzone]

Jackson as a 2 or 3.usually a scorers position, I think is a drag on our offense. Yes he makes some really good passes and yes he rebounds and can block shots. His role is a little odd for what a scoring guard is usually expected to do. Nearing the end of his second year he’s only had a few really good scoring nights and has a bunch of either turnovers in his rush to create or bad drives into traffic. He’s sort of both fun and a pain to watch in an “oh brother” kind of way. Whaley scores better overall, defends and rebounds. Martin is a much better scorer although also prone to bad drives into traffic. I don’t know if Hawkins will ultimately bring us more, but it won’t hurt to find out and let him get more of Jackson’s time. That would be my choice.

On O, our team really doesn’t have a player that the opponents have to worry about taking over games and scoring from all 3 levels and going off for between 20-30 points a game. Cole comes the closest but he’d be a lot more effective as a complementary threat. Hawkins shows a hint, but is a terrible defender like a lot of young guys. We are a team right now of pretty good role players so we are no pushover, but a team that can lose some maybe we figure to win but also win some we don’t figure to win.

I know there’s a lot of Hurley trashing but his record says he knows how to coach despite some overreactions on the BY including some ridiculous takes like they don’t practice enough foul shooting. All I know about Hawkins and his playing time to date is that maybe it could be more, and maybe it could be some of Jackson’s time or less of Gaffney. Not so sure about Polley. I’m sure there would be people here who would be yapping for more Polley if Hawkins was inconsistent and whining about too much playing time for Hawkins if his defense cost wins. We’ll see if Hurley thinks there is a trigger to pull for Hawkins.

 

[AdamaNation]

That’s fine and all but we are trying to win games now and you can’t win games when your shooting guard turns the ball over every time he dribbles. His turnover today was terrible. Zero court awareness

It’s alarmingly bad. I cringe every time he gets the ball. He’s like amidships always falling down or dham spin moving into a defender at the foul line.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Jackson, Martin and Whaley bring too many overlapping qualities and all lack enough offense to justify keeping all three on the court together, much less starting.

Martin can score its just a coin flip on which Martin will show up.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Hawkins has no handle. He is a turnover waiting to happen. There is no magic combination thats going to turn this team around. I said February would tell us the truth about this team and so far no bueno.

 

[Stinger92860]

Hawkins has no handle. He is a turnover waiting to happen. There is no magic combination thats going to turn this team around. I said February would tell us the truth about this team and so far no bueno.

We need his scoring, plus teams have to know where he is on offense. With AJ you dare him to shoot becuase he probably won’t.

 

[jibsey]

Hawkins has no handle. He is a turnover waiting to happen. There is no magic combination thats going to turn this team around. I said February would tell us the truth about this team and so far no bueno.

Correct. But he’s a scoring threat and can get hot. We also need a scoring option inside to go with Sanogo like Nova had. They pump faked and made layups all day. Is that so hard to teach?

 

[TheChamps990411]

They pump faked and made layups all day. Is that so hard to teach?

Im not the coach. Ask Hurley.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I’m so on the fence about this. If you bench Whaley for Hawkins, you’re accepting the defense taking a significant step back for the sake of theoretical offense. Jackson is too good to be benched, the way this board flip flops on him is bizarre. Hawkins also can’t create his own shot, so every shot he gets would have to be created by cole or Jackson.

But at the same time, can we afford to keep running this same lineup out there that goes through so many dead periods offensively? My hope was cole and sanogo could carry them, but that’s not reliable enough.

I don’t think there’s an answer on this roster. Hawkins has not earned a starting spot, and he’s had opportunities Sool could only dream of. This is a team that needs to win lower scoring games sometimes.

We also lost to Nova because of defense, which normally wouldn’t be the case.

 

[August_West]

Yeah at this point might as well roll with Hawkins and hopefully more playing time increases his confidence and eventually decreases the mistakes.

Except Polley isnt ever really direct competition for Hawkins playing time. If you pay attention to rotations, Hawkins is Jacksons direct replacement 90% of time.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Hawkins has no handle. He is a turnover waiting to happen. There is no magic combination thats going to turn this team around. I said February would tell us the truth about this team and so far no bueno.

Hawkins should play over Polley or at least get more minutes. He should also start over Martin IMO with Martin first off the bench.

His handle isn't good but that's why you play him with Cole and/or Jackson. All he has to worry about is defense and to catch and shoot

 

[UConnSwag11]

Except Polley isnt ever really direct competition for Hawkins playing time. If you pay attention to rotations, Hawkins is Jacksons direct replacement 90% of time.

Which makes no sense.

 

[uconngb]

Jackson, Martin and Whaley bring too many overlapping qualities and all lack enough offense to justify keeping all three on the court together, much less starting.

Could not agree more. Just can’t keep starting games w such an offensively challenged lineup. We get into an early deficit seemingly every single game.