Hawkins Post
- Thread starter MINER.JAY
- Start date
Ezeagu commented on it, so makes me wonder he's thinking about leaving again. Lathon got more minutes in that last game. Think it's going to be a recurring theme between him, Lathon and maybe Stroud
Any friction on the team needs to be squashed right now before it blows up worse. I dont think it was a good idea for both guys to leave and then come back. It's not gonna work. If I'm Terry I want to know who is leaving now. If I'm Hawkins and I want to show myself off, then I better stop being tentative at times and step up the pace.
This team has gone half the season (minimum) with these issues, I don’t think this gets squashed. If anything he probably feels like he made the wrong choice returning to the team now that Lathon is back. That interview said it all.
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Start Tarke. He struggled coming out of the gate. Doesn't biatch on social media and his game has improved.
Agreed. I think this is what we all thought before the season too. Tarke and Archie can more than compensate for any rebounds we may lose by sitting Vila. I hope he gets back soon. I would like to see Williams, Tarke and Archie in there together.
Hawkins has earned the starting spot, in my eyes. I see Hawkins as the better player between he and Lathon.
I am sorry but in my opinion either stay committed to your team or shut up and leave... players are such babies these days (not saying that’s the case with hawkins) ... no one wants to earn anything anymore
I have tremendous respect for Coach Terry but he needs to sit the team down and tell them to cut the shit and focus on winning. I am sensing a lot of personalities on the team and he needs to end that.
Hawkins as with any young player is inconsistent. He sat during the last game because his first half was turrible. BUT, no one else on the team matches his intensity and his upside is huge.
Lathon shot 0-5, but he showed the most hustle on the team, leading the team with 9 rebounds. He also had an amazing assist to Boum for an open 3, just an amazing pass. If other players could just hit a damn shot, Lathon would have more assists.
What Lathon needs to get better at is driving to the basket. His FG% would go up, he would score more points with FTs, and he would get more assists by dishing it off (perhaps to Hawkins!). That's something Terry needs to coach him up on. A good point guard needs to do that. But I do like what much of what Lathon brings to the table, the hustle, the rebounds.
I don't see Hawkins as a point guard, so I don't see Lathon and Hawkins as an either/or situation. They should be working together, building chemistry, not competing against each other.
While I believe that most of the season Hawkins has shown more hustle than Lathon, the latter did display the energy we've needed from him on Saturday, despite his shooting woes. I really liked your last paragraph. I've been saying all season that we should use our bench more. Our four guards should be used interchangeably, all playing between 20 to 30 minutes a game. Archie and Stroud need minutes, too. Playing Lathon, Boum, and Edwards over 35 minutes a game each, as we did early in the year, and rarely having Hawkins and Lathon in the game at the same time, never made much sense to me.
Although I like Hawkins as the PG, I agree with some of this. Unfortunately, Terry seems to see them as either/or PGs. I wonder if Terry playing them as either/or PGs created a rivalry between them and ultimately hurt the team chemistry
Terry chalked up Efe's and Hawkins's seasons last year as just a product of not having enough players. He had no intention of keeping them in the starting lineup this year. Whether Likekele or Lathon, Terry thought he had his PG of the future. I would venture to say we were all confident before and during the start of the season that Lathon was the answer too, but then he stopped scoring and went into a turnover funk. If Lathon can snap out then great, but we still need to utilize our strengths and move forward as a team.
He had a horrible game against Hawaii with 5 turnovers, but other than that, he had 0 TOs vs. Boise St. and 1 vs. Ball St. and 2 vs. Houston and 1 vs. UCI, etc. He's had a total of 3 since returning to the team. I don't see a "turnover funk."
The scoring slump, though, is very real and I really wonder what's going on. He seemed so much better at the start of the season.
Much better last year as well. He was a scoring bright spot for us. He hit a late game winner last year and had a great winner agains UNM this year but his confidence has taken a hit. He just needs to shoot his way out of it.
No more Vila coming out of a time out late in the game. I want to see our guards handling the ball, not our forwards. Everone should know that composure and guards win games late.
Lathon has a terrible shot... he can’t shoot from outside so people sag off of him making it harder to get to the rim
He shot 35% from three last season (anything above 1/3 is good, equivalent to 1/2 from inside the arc). He's shooting 20% this season. Just saying that he has a "terrible shot" really doesn't explain it. He had a flat shot last season but it would still go in enough of the time.
The Hawaii game alone was a turnover funk, but based on the numbers you have provided that looks like an outlier. I hope he breaks out of his scoring issues and gets his scoring back.
BTW Lathon did hit a big 3 against LaTech when we were on as run. Unfortunately it was right after Bryson stepped OOB causing the UTEP bench to get a Tech. We had made 4 on a row before that and were on a 19-1 run. There was no pressure on that shot, but he made it.
