food for thought: everyone commenting on the lack of coverage of media day by rockets.com should look at kings.com. The Kings had their media day yesterday also and there is nothing at all mentioned about it.
The Rockets lost their long-time web guy at the end of last season. He went to work for an NFL team. He was also the one that did all the video shoots and he really understood what fans wanted to see.
OK We have got to get to the bottom of this. First download the video: http://www.nba.com/media/rockets/mediaday.wmv Next look at the video at the 2:14 mark. You will see a fairly husky player with the #33 who looks like the name says "Hawkins" but it is blurry. You can also see this player at the 3:40 mark walking in the background of a Mo T interview. I am pretty confident that this is not Jauquin Hawkins because this guy is too big and also I found this article http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3088842&l_id=&t_id= that says Hawk signed 4 days ago with a ABA team. The question is: who is this player? I thought it could perhaps be David Hawkins a 6'5" 230 lbs undrafted player this year out of Temple. http://www.nba.com/draft2004/profiles/DavidHawkins.html Haven't read anything about us signing any players. Anyone know who this #33 is? Thanks.
The name on the back of #33 is definitely Hawkins. Could it be undrafted rookie free agent David Hawkins? He's a 6'5" 230lb. SG out of Temple that can play the point in a pinch & was ranked 4th in the nation last year with a 24.4 ppg average. After all, we do need a replacement for the injured Sura. Maybe, he's it. Here's the link to his NBA draft profile. DAVID HAWKINS
Hopefully it's Hawkins. I really liked this kid at Temple, even if A-10 BBall is only a step or two above Special Olympics. He reminds me a little bit of Willie Green. Strong, if slightly undersized two guard with some point skills.
Scouting report and articles about this David Hawkins: http://www.hoopville.com/draft/04/draft.asp?EntryID=10088 http://www.temple-news.com/news/2004/03/25/Sports/Hawkins.A.Bittersweet.Adieu-641681.shtml Stats (per game): 24.4 points / 5.1 rebounds / 2.8 assists Notes: Honorable Mention All-American. Named MVP of NABC All-Star Game at 2004 Final Four. First-Team All-Atlantic 10. Ranked fourth nationally with a 24.4 scoring average. Also ranked ninth nationally in steals per game (2.7 spg). The Skinny: Solidly-built wing was first known as an excellent defender, then became a big scorer. He uses his strength to score inside on post-ups of smaller players and on offensive rebounds, as well as some forays to the hoop. He doesn't have the quickness to drive much at the next level, so he'll have to use strength more than quicks to get to the hoop, and he's not a very good shooter from the outside, which will severely limit his scoring ability. He's still a good defender, but with his lack of quickness and athleticism, how well he can defend a wing in the NBA is a question mark despite his toughness, and he's not an undersized power forward.
Here's a link to his game by game stats last year. Notice that he gets to the free throw line a lot. GAME TO GAME STATS
And those were his only coaches in the NBA. Thus, he only had first year coaches since he's been in the NBA. He's never had a truly experienced coach running a team.
Yeah, I was down there at Media Day myself (although I didn't see myself on camera) - it was pretty loud in all of the different stations, so it would've been pretty difficult for the rockets.com camera (which was only a consumer level digital handicam, not a professional level camera) to really pick up a lot of the interviews due to there not really being professional sound equipment. I'm expecting to see more photos and/or videos from media day on rockets.com - remember it was 4-6pm Friday afternoon when everything went down.
