bajaden
Hall of Famer
keflanag, is it that he is too young to bulk up? Is it possible that he has another year or 2 to grow vertically and yet he can't bulk out horizontally. His needing to toughen up mentally and work on his defense are both byproducts of his lack of physical strength. Hawes is a Bean Pole. He was a beanpole the day they drafted him and he is exactly the same today as the day they drafted him. I am of the belief that Hawes has not grown physically stronger in the 3 years he has been with the team. I don't want to think that he is lazy, but he has been accused of that. I believe that is why skipping out on Summer League last season was a sign to the fans that he wasn't at all serious about getting into shape or being a better teammate. He was all about Spencer. AND he came into camp OUT of shape last year, which was a HUGE turnoff. That was why Sean May started the season last year, because his BFB was in better shape that Hawes was! Totally unacceptable for a 3 year veteran who acts like he has already made it in this league, yet doesn't seem to get the fact that he has NOT made it in the NBA. He should have attended summer camp last year and he better be in the best shape of his career this summer when the team gets back together. No more free passes for this kid. Suspend him or somehow get his attention to the fact that working out in the off season isn't voluntary!!
It is a requirement for anyone seeking a job as a NBA Player to get into shape and improve parts of your game from season to season. If you dont do that you become stagnent and get moved to free up money for someone who IS serious about their career. Hawes has not been serious about his career to this point. You hear reports that he is working out but there is no physical evidence to bear this out. Hawes is Fragile and Wafer thin. He will never be a starting quality center in the NBA if he doesn't put on a minimum of 30 lbs of muscle upper and lower body. He gets pushed out of the lane by guards. He is weak. But if EVER there was a time for Hawes to come to life and turn his career around, it is this year. The PG just won rookie of the year, and there is a good chance that Evans could feed Hawes in the post to increase his scoring totals over last season. Hawes NEEDS that going into a contract year. He needs to transform both his body and his game to get a good contract. I don't think at this point that Hawes in going to get a contract from the Kings, but he might sign on somewhere else as a backup. Petrie rewards those that give outstanding effort with contracts and raises, but not to those players who fail to live up to the lower end expectations. Hawes has failed to live up to the lower end expectations, which is sad because the only thing that held Hawes back from being competitive is Hawes! Please understand, I have nothing against Hawes as a person, I just think he never grew up. He has had 3 years, which amounts to 3 chances to really put his mark on the NBA and show the league what a center that can drain 3's can do, but he failed 3 times to bulk up so that he could play defense in the NBA and he failed miserably to bulk up all 3 years. He has never played any real defense while on the Kings. He is too weak to guard any other center in the league. He is outplayed by guards in the paint, and gets pushed around in the paint by small forwards and guards.
That about says it all.Every complaint I ever heard about Hawes has been for the most part valid due to his lack of strength. You can't play NBA Basketball in the paint and be weak. It is not possible. So, Hawes either thinks he knows better than all the other basketball minds on the Kings and wont bulk up or he knowingly goes against all the advice of the Kings coaching staff gives him and refuses to bulk up. Either way, this is his last year with the Kings because he has not proven he is an NBA player and has maintained a track record of under performing due to physical weakness. When the time comes to draw up a contract request, what is Hawes's agent going to point out in the positives column that Hawes does for the team? I can't think of even ONE positive! He is a below average rebounder who only gets rebounds that a 7 footer automatically gets just because they are standing there. But a measly 5 rebound average for a Center is pathetic! If you cant play defense, you cant rebound, and you score less than the points you give up in the paint, you are a liability. Hawes is a liability on the basketball court. That will not get you a new contract at season's end. Even if Hawes comes out this year and really improves defensively, the coaching staff must be wary of Hawes and his lack of dedication to the team and lack of motivation the past three seasons to improve his game and help his team win. In fact I would be very surprised if Hawes were to get any kind of extension, even a 1 year contract for the following season. Hawes just hasn't earned anything like that in the 3 years he has played for the Kings. He really just isn't worth the trouble at this point. If anyone can point out what positives that Hawes brings to the team, please point them out because I have not seen them. His stats for his career do not bear out any improvement or potential that has not already been tapped. The time has come and past for defending Spencer. It would appear that he is another 7 foot stiff who made it into the NBA on size alone. The potential that the front office had hoped for has not and probably will never materialize. Hawes has been a total failure at the Center position for the Kings, and for as high a draft pick that he was (10th overall pick in a very weak big man draft), must be considered a BUST at this point in his career. He is getting 3 million this year to basically stand in the paint and run interference! If Hawes does somehow become a decent center 3 or 4 years from now, I seriously believe it will be on some other team. Hawes needs to go to a team that already has an inside presence (ie a dominant power forward) in order for him to be effective and limit his exposure on defense. Utah would be a good place for Spence, because they have good power forwards in Millsap and Boozer who can help lessen the defensive liability that Hawes causes. Maybe the Kings can work out a trade to get more draft picks for Spencer. However it works out, I don't think Spencer will be back after the 2010/11 season. The team holds a 4 million option for Spencer for the 2011/12 season and I can not see any reason WHY the team would exercise that option. He just does not fit what the Kings are doing right now and doesn't seem able to adapt to the game plan for the Kings. The Kings need an athletic Center who can defend the paint. The Kings have plenty of scoring power, so the center they need is a defensive minded one.
Spencer is still young however and some team will give a 7 footer who is young a chance. There is no way to teach height. So some team will think it can get the most out of Hawes and take a small risk on him. But it wont be a 4 million dollar risk! And I seriously don't think that team will be the Kings. I believe they have seen enough. I know the fans have. Brad Miller 2.0 has been a failure.....
Brevity is the soul of wit!
