Umm this isn't his first at bat. He's been in the league three years and hasn't shown anything. You can't teach toughness and that's the major thing he lacks.
Well he hasn't been in the league three years. This is the beginning of his third year. He missed so much of his first year, that this year is more like the beginning of his second year. I'm not making excuses for him. Quite the contrary. I'm saying that this is normal. Frustrating yes, but normal. I could spend days making comparisons to other players the went through the same process. There have been people that would like us to trade for Chris Kaman. So lets take a look at him..
Exact comparisons are difficult because of games played and minutes played. So I'm just going to use total minutes, points, and rebounds for the first two years.
Kaman: 3.475 minutes played. 1,071 points scored, 884 total rebounds.
Hawes: 3,187 minutes played. 1,210 points scored, 778 total rebounds.
Hawes played fewer minutes and scored more points but had fewer rebounds. All in all though, pretty similar stats. Kaman improved a little more in his third year, but became the player we now know in his fourth year. But looking at just his first two years, a lot of people on this fourm would have traded him away.
Nowitzki: 3,896 minutes played, 1,820 points scored, 694 total rebounds
Dirk's first year was a total failure. The fans wanted him gone and thought he was a total bust. All after just one year. Now Hawes may never become the player we all hoped he would. But you have to be completely sure before trading him away. He's on his third coach and third system in three years. He's been in the starting lineup and out of the starting lineup. He's played with a never ending change of players. So I'm willing to cut him some slack. Doesn't mean I won't point out bad play. But I also won't overreact to it.