Here we go again,
the same bitch who ripped Beno Udrih makes a good-bad article about Spencer Hawes.
Hateful article about Beno Udrih
Ailene Voisin: Hawes continues to grow
Ailene Voisin: Hawes continues to grow</font>
Ailene Voisin
avoisin@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Apr. 12, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 1C
Last Modified: Sunday, Apr. 12, 2009 - 1:06 pm
Spencer Hawes turns 21 in a few weeks.
I know. It's hard to believe.
It seems as if the precocious center with the huge personality, the boy King who has something to say about everything from Sarah Palin's future (thumbs up) to the Seattle SuperSonics' relocation to Oklahoma City (thumbs down) has been around for years, not merely two NBA seasons.
"He's only 20?" a surprised Yao Ming asked the other night, his eyebrows arched. "Really? I think he has gotten much, much better. He recognizes who is open, sees the game. He runs the floor. And there are a lot of great shooters in this league, but not with that size."
Size. Skill. Smarts. No more doubts. Hawes has all the tools. He also has a nasty streak, a feistiness and a rookie sidekick to commiserate with (all those losses) while preparing for the future. The rumors are true. The insatiable work habits of Hawes and Jason Thompson, their intense, often heated one-on-one duels, are credible and chronicled daily.
And there is one element where the 6-foot-11, 22-year-old Thompson towers over his 7-foot teammate: physicality.
Hawes has some catching up to do. His skills are more advanced than his strength level, which is perfectly normal given his age and his rangy physique. That said, his progress between Years I and II is impressive by any analysis - statistical and anecdotal - so there is no reason to believe the Seattle native will suddenly morph into a couch potato, lose his passion for the game or pursue a job with Bill Gates, when he already has a nice gig working for David Stern.
In these final weeks of the season, Hawes' comfort level on the court has been particularly noticeable. There is both an ease and a heightened intensity in his demeanor. He no longer panics and forces shots, less often tries to thread bounce passes through a crowd of defenders. He contests shots and rebounds more aggressively. Against the 76ers on March 22, he missed a triple double by one assist. Perhaps most importantly, as he demonstrated Thursday against the Rockets by leaning, pushing and working the angles during his standoff with the 7-6, 310-pound Yao, he seems aware of his need to play with more force, offensively and defensively.
The next growth spurt, if and when it occurs, will include a critical mental component - a simple willingness to accept and absorb the nightly NBA pounding.
"Spencer has improved in every area," Kings player personnel director Jerry Reynolds said, "but the one weakness I see is that he does not draw fouls. He goes away from contact, and at the end of the day, as a center, you have to go in there where the contact is. Get guys up, go into them."
Longtime assistant Pete Carril, who is urging Hawes to master the hook or short bank shot as his go-to move this offseason, says, even more bluntly: "Spencer is going to have to learn to battle low-post players, to take the physical punishment and then return the favor. If he does that, he will not be an ordinary player."
My prediction is that Hawes, who reduced his body fat to 8 percent and added muscle tone last offseason, will not be an ordinary player. He has a chance. As his mother has revealed, he came out of the womb fighting. He came out of the womb arguing. He came out of the womb wanting to be special.
True, he gets annoyed at perceived slights and criticism, often counters with his own impassioned and contrasting opinion, but then he contemplates and analyzes, and always he moves on.
There is no woe-is-me, white-man-can't-jump attitude in Hawes. This is a former schoolboy preppy with fists. When he gets dunked on, he tries to get even. As Reynolds and Carril suggested, he simply has to respond with the physicality that rewards him with more than the occasional free throw.
"That definitely will be a point of emphasis this summer," Hawes said, nodding. "But the thing to remember is, we're not football players. My whole life I heard, 'You need to get bigger.' I tried eating crappy food to gain weight, and that didn't work. I finally figured it's a natural thing. When it comes, it comes. You can't force it. A lot of times it's not the buffest guy in the gym that's winning. It's the guy with the basketball strength."
Rockets assistant Jack Sikma, the former Sonics All-Star center who played with Hawes' uncle, Steve Hawes, and watched the younger Hawes during his Amateur Athletic Union and prep seasons, offered an interesting closing thought on a year when Hawes overcame an abdominal strain and struggled emotionally with the coaching change.
"
Spencer is never going to be power on power," said Sikma, an excellent rebounder who was known for his sweet stepback jumpers. "He has to be smart, three-quarter (defensive stance), move his feet. Again, you see so much growth. He wants to be the best player on the floor. Does he have the ability to do that? Who knows? But is he going to try to find out? Sure."
On April 28, Hawes becomes legal. He turns 21. Scary, but in a good sense.
Edited by: j41181