I have not been able to see him plus I never took the news guys seriously. My mistake, I guess. I am looking forward to seeing him play. Probably the matchup that scares me the most is the one with Kobe. I hope he is not like Mario, since the he was just not athletic enough for what we need against Kobe. I am hoping he is more like the Keon Clarke of the 2 spot - long arms, quick feet, jumping ability.
Today's totally uncalled for below the belt shot... ...I heard Tierre Brown cried when Juaquin made the team. Damn that was rough. I LOVED Tierre's intensity. On a distantly related note...any shot we can start calling Hawkins "JUAQUIN.....THE DREAM......HAWKINS!!!"
Naw! His nick is so totally obvious. Matter of fact, it's already being used in pbp in chat... The Hawk! btw..great job on the Ming song chance..it even got mentioned in the piece about Eddie/Yao Ming..didja see that?
It lists him as number 29, but he's really going to wear number 1 in honor of Scotty Brooks and whatshisname in the NBDL who got him the chance to try out with the Rockets. That #29 was just the jersey the Rockets assigned him when he first showed up like they do with any player who they don't expect to make the team. Oh, and seeing a picture of him up close for the first time makes me see where someone was coming from when they posted a pic of Jamie Foxx and said something like "Anybody see the resemblance?" Who was that? Good call whoever it was.
Good to see Juaquin make the team! Most of you don't realize this, but Hawkins was a former teammate of Moochie Norris for the Fort Wayne Fury in the CBA, right before Mooch got called up by the Rockets. I got a chance to spend time with him while I was in Fort Wayne writing a thesis on the CBA. He is a genuinely nice guy! The book on him then was that he was a marvelous defender but that he couldn't shoot a lick. I'm glad he's been able to work on his shot the last 2-3 years. I wish him the best of luck. P.S. I actually played him one-on-one before a Fury practice. I wasn't wearing basketball shoes, and I still played him to a 3-3 tie before the coach called him in to practice. Sure, he gave me a couple of my baskets, but I took him to the hole on one occasion. Maybe Rudy should sign me up!!!
Me too. Mario had some other NBA experience though. I am not saying same playing skills, just hope that he is as successful with the Rockets as Mack and Brown were.
When we were at the practice, you could clearly hear the Rocket players calling him "Hawk" so that seems the appropriate nick. Plus, the guy is a ball-hawk, so that fits. I'm really pulling for him.
Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait, just ONE DAMN MINUTE here. Hawkins is a good defender and we kept him? Times they are a-changin'. And, GOOD. I'm sure that's why Hawk and Mickeal made the team. Finally, some defense.
Rudy made a HORRIBLE coaching decision. Why did he have Hawkins be in inbound passer vs the 76ers?? He's a FREAKIN' FORMER GLOBETROTTER!!! Hasn't Rudy ever seen those dudes hit those half court hook shots???? They should have passed the ball into Hawk and let him throw one up. They never miss. I can't wait to see him throw a bucket of confetti in Jordans face when the Wizards play here.
No offense to anyone especially Hawkins but I think it is an insult to Olajuwon to call Hawkins "THE DREAM"
Yeah we should call him: Juaquin "Stick" Hawkins or Juaquin "the Dog" Hawkins or "Dead Man" Juaquin Hawkins Somebody shoot me.
Seems those are the spots where we need backups...for the moment. They'll be on IR if Rice and T-Mo are both healthy at the same time (and KT).
There is only one problem. If the Hawk is in there stopping the Kobe Bs of the world, where is Cat -- on the bench?
He had that nick right from him first moment on the Rockets court. I was at the Orlando game when they put in this guy wearing number one. A couple of times Rudy yelled out "Hawk" and knew why when I saw him on defense. He still has somethings to learn about playing in the NBA, but he really impressed me that game.
