AJ Hawkins Highlights

[The Mad Hatter]

It is really too bad that AJ couldn't have played with Matt and PJ. AJ and PJ on the same line would have really been good, I think.

I don't know if you can have two "go-to" guys without problems. AJ and PJ are both slashers with AJ looking to be a MUCH better candidate. Who would you want to take the ball to the hoop?

I would want AJ on the wing (or 3), a point guard, shooting guard, power forward (JT) and a big nasty center (Orupke -still dreaming). To me that leaves very little room for PJ. Now, if PJ had a consistent outside shot that would be really nice because he could be the shooting guard and then really shine on the defensive end.

I wonder if AJ is a legit 6'5"? I know that there were rumors that PJ was actually more like 6'3.5". If true, an inch and a half could be a monster improvement and appears to be so when AJ goes for a dunk. It could be that his vertical is just that much better than PJ's but I think it might be his height. I know his arms couldn't be proportionately that much longer. PJ was quite "long-armed".

P.S.

I'm starting to develop a moderate man-crush on AJ. Watch out!


T


...8)

While I'm as excited about AJ as anyone, let's not fall into the trap of calling every new player better than who he is replacing. The fact that the last two years were disappointing should in no way denigrate how good PJ was. I hope that AJ is better than PJ, but at this point to assert that he would have taken PJ's spot is unfounded.

PJ did about a million things well on both ends of the floor and even if AJ is a better scorer (and he has still yet to do it against Valley defenses) that doesn't make him a better player than PJ.

I hate it when fans try to downplay the effect of losing a player to graduation by only focusing on their weaknesses and only focusing on the strengths of the player replacing them.

[shockar25]

It is really too bad that AJ couldn't have played with Matt and PJ. AJ and PJ on the same line would have really been good, I think.

I don't know if you can have two "go-to" guys without problems. AJ and PJ are both slashers with AJ looking to be a MUCH better candidate. Who would you want to take the ball to the hoop?

I would want AJ on the wing (or 3), a point guard, shooting guard, power forward (JT) and a big nasty center (Orupke -still dreaming). To me that leaves very little room for PJ. Now, if PJ had a consistent outside shot that would be really nice because he could be the shooting guard and then really shine on the defensive end.

I wonder if AJ is a legit 6'5"? I know that there were rumors that PJ was actually more like 6'3.5". If true, an inch and a half could be a monster improvement and appears to be so when AJ goes for a dunk. It could be that his vertical is just that much better than PJ's but I think it might be his height. I know his arms couldn't be proportionately that much longer. PJ was quite "long-armed".

P.S.

I'm starting to develop a moderate man-crush on AJ. Watch out!


T


...8)

While I'm as excited about AJ as anyone, let's not fall into the trap of calling every new player better than who he is replacing. The fact that the last two years were disappointing should in no way denigrate how good PJ was. I hope that AJ is better than PJ, but at this point to assert that he would have taken PJ's spot is unfounded.

PJ did about a million things well on both ends of the floor and even if AJ is a better scorer (and he has still yet to do it against Valley defenses) that doesn't make him a better player than PJ.

I hate it when fans try to downplay the effect of losing a player to graduation by only focusing on their weaknesses and only focusing on the strengths of the player replacing them.

I'm very excited to see AJ become an integral part of our team. He appears to have a lot of skills to bring to the table, not the least of which is his slashing ability and ability to get the ball to the hoop.

However, PJ brought something else to the table that I haven't heard anyone say (yet) about AJ.... DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE! PJ backed down to no one and while his outside shot was not always there, his effort on defense more than made up for it. Last year was tough for him because our offensive weapons were limited (by injury, etc.) but in our recent successful seasons he didn't help us by providing tons of offense (though sometimes he did--particularly when other teams keyed in on other players like Miller, Ogirri, etc.) but rather he did what was needed.

Most importantly I hope AJ can find a place in the current team, which obviously is very different from any team PJ played on. Simply put, there isn't a real comparison.

The future is bright though no matter what. With 20 days left until Shocker Madness, the start of the season couldn't come any quicker!