with JT down... and the team needing him more than ever... Hawes failed
Hawes plays like a sissy... HE IS PURE FAIL
21 years old or not.... Hawes is an embarrassment... unacceptable... who was guarding him tonight?
This is just TOO MUCH. Hawes was never touted as a defensive/rebounding specialist. In a VERY WEAK BIG MAN DRAFT, HE WAS REALLY ALL THERE WAS AVAILABLE where the Kings drafted. I dislike Hawes as much as the next guy on this board. I am not giving the guy a pass for his lack of effort either like some here do. But we can NOT expect this kid to be something he never was and never will be! Hawes will NEVER BE:
1) A DEFENSIVE PRESENCE IN THE PAINT - he is too frail and is allergic to weights.
2) A REBOUNDING MACHINE - he doesn't seem to have the instinct or attitude to rebound like Brockman and he never will.
3) A DOMINANT SCORER IN THE PAINT THAT DEMANDS DOUBLE TEAMS - Hawes will never bulk up and be the inside bruiser we need to compliment our other players. He is sort of a wuss in that regard.
Fans need to see Hawes in a REALISTIC view. He is one of the new breed of Stretch Forwards that can hit from the outside and force the other team's bigs to play outside the paint and out of their comfort zone. Unfortunately, playing outside the paint means few rebounds and no help defense. That is Hawes in a nutshell.
Petrie KNEW WHO HAWES WAS and selected him anyway. Hawes has NOT bulked up, and his outside the paint offense is iffy at best. He is a pretty good facilitator from the top of the key, but teams leave him open to take outside shots and pack the paint anyway to stop Evans.
So I say lets STOP HATING ON HAWES FOR NOT BEING WHAT HE WAS NEVER GOING TO BECOME ANYWAY!! He isn't a power player, so enough of the testosterone patch jokes (funny but unfair). Hawes is a wing player. If he is missing his outside shot then he isn't doing his job. BUT that is ALL he is!! NOT a tough guy inside. NOT a tough rebounder. NOT an inside force. He is none of those things, never has been and never will be.
The Kings Organization needs to draft a real center if they want a real center. This summer Petrie will be looking for a player that has all the attributes that Hawes does not. Then Hawes can come off the bench as a forward who can score and make good passes. Lets not blame
Hawes for being who he is, place the blame on
Petrie for drafting a center
who's game is unorthodox based solely on his ability to hit 3's and make passes like a 7' tall guard. When Petrie drafted JT the following year, it was to draft a player that would make up for what Hawes lacked and would never develop. JT is the Anti-Hawes. Mixes it up in the paint, gets tough rebounds, and plays interior defense (as well as he can anyway).
I think we need to stop blaming Hawes for being the 7' guard he is and start asking WHY Petrie drafted a 7' guard. There is really no use in our offense for a 7' guard that jacks up 3's and plays point forward. I don't think Hawes fits in ANY OFFENSE on any team. So lets put this blame where it belongs, squarely on Petrie. Now we have no Center in the real definition of a center (ie rebounder, inside scorer, putbacks, blocked shots, and goalie). Now we need to get a center through free agency or draft (more like free agent because centers take a lot of time to develop). Hopefully, we can pry a real center away from a team with our cap room, and pair that center up with Landry at the 4, Casspi at the 3, Beno at the 2, and Evans at PG. So:
New Center - 5
Landry - 4
Casspi - 3
Beno - 2
Evans - 1
That would be a GOOD starting lineup. And then you have a good bench with:
Greene, Dorsey, JT, May, Brockman, Hawes playing 4/5
Greene, Dorsey, McGuire playing 3/4
Garcia, Nocioni playing 2/3
Garcia, Udoka who can play the 2
And Garcia is a good backup pointguard who can rotate with Beno and Evans.
So Center is our area of need. But we knew that going in this year. We all thought that Hawes was going to fill that need, but he isn't a center and we put too much expectation on Hawes to fill a need that he doesn't have the ability to fill. At least not as a starter. Off the bench for a few minutes maybe with the right group around him, but not as a featured big man in the middle. He just can't fill that position. We as fans need to stop bashing Hawes for not living up to OUR expectations of a center. He is an unorthodox perimeter player who just happens to be 7'1". It is NOT HAWES'S FAULT that
Petrie drafted him to play center. He doesn't have the skill set to play center as a starter,