Sports Spotlight -- Apt404's first glimpse of young Spencer Hawes.
Hawes, the heralded seven foot freshman big man for U-Dub up in Seattle, torched one of our favorites, Big Baby Davis, and LSU last night. Wow.
Hawes, if healthy and progressing like he should through the season, will be the second pick in this June's NBA Draft, behind Mr. Oden.
Mark it down.
Hawes has that much going for him. The freshman with the great bloodline has Pistol Pete's build (not so good, but it didn't stop Maravich from performing magic on the court) and a simply unstoppable offensive game. Perfect form from up to twenty five feet. Can move while staying under control. Can shoot with either hand in close. On defense, the kid does not overdo anything, isn't leaping through the roof on every upfake, plays solid and heady. Just a great awareness for the game, as he lets things come to him at either end of the court.
Hawes appears to have all the physical skills, and with the thousands of hours it took him to perfect those post moves and jumpshots, he looks like the real deal both in terms of tools and desire. Kind of a Nowitzki type, but maybe even more aggressive in taking it to the hoop instead of settling for the jumper.
And his on court attitude appears to be just right. We saw him talking trash to the LSU guys; good trash talk in fun and without malice. Just enjoying himself, the game, the fans, just the whole damn thing. Cool.
Abrasive cocky is bad (think Aaron Gray of Pitt, for example), but fun, playful cocky is good.
That's Hawes. Here's what he said after the game about the matchup with the large and luvable Glen Davis: "Man, games like that are so much fun. That's why you sign up to do this. I mean, if I'm correct, Davis was a first-team All-American. These are the matchups you live for." Did you see what he did? Did you see what he did there? That was so cool. No "I'm great, this is my team." Just playfully pointing out that, yes, he can play, and yes, he had a ball.
Hawes shows a real joy of the game. The "Beautiful Game." Awesome.
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In contrast, tonight on ESPN2 fifth year Pittsburgh senior big man Aaron Gray put HIMSELF on his own 1st team A-A squad prior to the Ok State - Pitt tipoff.
You gotta be kidding us, Aaron. Sorry, but a Patrick O'Bryant flamed you last year in the Dance, and he hasn't scored a point yet for the Warriors.
It's great that Gray blew up last year, and that the hard work paid off. But get real, Aaron. There's a hundred guys on this planet who can do what you do.
And there aren't ten young players alive who can do the things that we saw young Hawes do last night.
Not to jinx the kid, and it's only one game, but we here like to go with our gut and our eyeballs. Both were poppin' and we can't wait to see what happens next for Spencer Hawes.
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Oh yeah.
Washington has got to be THE dark horse to win it all. Young team, but they have some real players. Some nasty ones. Probably won't lose a game at home the rest of the season, as so often happens with young college teams, but if they get hot, with all those scorers and athletes, we can see them winning six straight in March.
Hawes, if healthy and progressing like he should through the season, will be the second pick in this June's NBA Draft, behind Mr. Oden.
Mark it down.
Hawes has that much going for him. The freshman with the great bloodline has Pistol Pete's build (not so good, but it didn't stop Maravich from performing magic on the court) and a simply unstoppable offensive game. Perfect form from up to twenty five feet. Can move while staying under control. Can shoot with either hand in close. On defense, the kid does not overdo anything, isn't leaping through the roof on every upfake, plays solid and heady. Just a great awareness for the game, as he lets things come to him at either end of the court.
Hawes appears to have all the physical skills, and with the thousands of hours it took him to perfect those post moves and jumpshots, he looks like the real deal both in terms of tools and desire. Kind of a Nowitzki type, but maybe even more aggressive in taking it to the hoop instead of settling for the jumper.
And his on court attitude appears to be just right. We saw him talking trash to the LSU guys; good trash talk in fun and without malice. Just enjoying himself, the game, the fans, just the whole damn thing. Cool.
Abrasive cocky is bad (think Aaron Gray of Pitt, for example), but fun, playful cocky is good.
That's Hawes. Here's what he said after the game about the matchup with the large and luvable Glen Davis: "Man, games like that are so much fun. That's why you sign up to do this. I mean, if I'm correct, Davis was a first-team All-American. These are the matchups you live for." Did you see what he did? Did you see what he did there? That was so cool. No "I'm great, this is my team." Just playfully pointing out that, yes, he can play, and yes, he had a ball.
Hawes shows a real joy of the game. The "Beautiful Game." Awesome.
-------------------------------------------
In contrast, tonight on ESPN2 fifth year Pittsburgh senior big man Aaron Gray put HIMSELF on his own 1st team A-A squad prior to the Ok State - Pitt tipoff.
You gotta be kidding us, Aaron. Sorry, but a Patrick O'Bryant flamed you last year in the Dance, and he hasn't scored a point yet for the Warriors.
It's great that Gray blew up last year, and that the hard work paid off. But get real, Aaron. There's a hundred guys on this planet who can do what you do.
And there aren't ten young players alive who can do the things that we saw young Hawes do last night.
Not to jinx the kid, and it's only one game, but we here like to go with our gut and our eyeballs. Both were poppin' and we can't wait to see what happens next for Spencer Hawes.
--------------------------------------------------
Oh yeah.
Washington has got to be THE dark horse to win it all. Young team, but they have some real players. Some nasty ones. Probably won't lose a game at home the rest of the season, as so often happens with young college teams, but if they get hot, with all those scorers and athletes, we can see them winning six straight in March.
posted by joe sweeney at 8:38 PM
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