Stepping Back on Spencer Hawes
by Tom Ziller on Jul 15, 2009 7:11 AM PDT
in Commentary
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PrintWhen the Hawespocalypse hit last week -- when Geoff Petrie and Paul Westphal expressed disappointment that Spencer Hawes pulled out of Summer League at the last minute without even telling them personally -- the sound and the fury were quick and violent. Honestly, I think few of my opinions have ever resulted in so much disagreement, even if the subject isn't quite as important as some we'll broach in November-February-June. That doesn't matter entirely, but what does matter is that I remain fair in my assessment of situations and personalities.
I crossed the line by stating Spencer Hawes doesn't love the game -- I, honestly, have no way of knowing that. My mind is a bit foggy on this particular subject for two central reasons. Last month, I read Playing for Keeps, David Halberstam's incredible Jordan bio. (Highly recommended.) In it, Halberstam goes into deep detail about how much harder Jordan and Pippen work compared to everyone else. The way it's written, those who aren't working like Jordan and Pippen -- and there are plenty -- come off as enjoying basketball as a job and not as their existence. And lo! Jordan and Pippen end up as two of the greatest players in the game.
The second reason I jumped straight to the accusatory tone with Spencer has to do with a player closer to home.
We've seen Kevin Martin go from anonymous stringbean to sneaky scorer to three-time 20-ppg scorer. Every November, he has a new trick, a new piece of himself that we have never seen before. I hate to harp on this, but no Sacramento King works as hard as Kevin Martin works in the offseason. And it's paid off gloriously.
During the Finals, we heard about Kobe -- reigning MVP Kobe Bryant -- waking up at 6 AM last summer to work out. Every day. Kevin heard that, too. And Kevin's at the gym at 6 AM this summer. Every day. Like clockwork. If team management asked Kevin to play a couple games in Vegas to start to build a relationship with Tyreke and Omri, is there any question in your mind Kevin would be there two days early with bells on? And this is a three-time 20-ppg scorer. A near All-Star. The highest paid King.
But just because someone's work ethic isn't as obvious as that of Kevin doesn't mean that person has no work ethic. Spencer came to camp in great shape last year, and he had a strong season. He works, and I've since heard about the workouts he's doing daily up in Washington. He works, and he wants to get better, and he loves the game, people around him tell me. And I have to believe them. I have no reason not to, besides this foray into bad decisions (at worst) or bad communication. I stepped over a line by questioning Spencer's heart because of this incident, because I've never seen Spencer's heart, I don't know what exactly it is he has been doing, and I'm not in a position to make definite, defiant statements about such.
I'm still disappointed, because this would have been a great opportunity to begin building for the future, and because it is really not hard to pick up a phone and dial your boss. I expect Spencer will make it up to the fans by showing up to camp in the best shape of his life, and by having a great season as a full-time NBA starting center.
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Spencer not showing for the summer league is way over blown.
Sure it would have been nice to see him but I’m not losing any sleep over it and neither should anyone else. I know he’s working on his game and he’s getting better. I know that what happens in the summer league means absolutly nothing to how he’ll perform next season. I know that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
me too
this would have been a great opportunity to begin building for the future
something we sort of, just a little bit need right now;p
Remember what happed to the Sonics Spence?
’nuff said
So imitate the action of the tiger!.
Lend the eye a terrible aspect
- and teach them how to war!
Henry V iii
by lietothegirls on Jul 15, 2009 8:29 AM PDT up reply actions
Ghosface Zilla caves to Hawes camp pressure?
I don’t think so. You slam a guy, then you need to give him a chance for redemption, put him in a position to succeed.
Quality motivational technique, TZ.
Life is every mammal's journey from very very wet to very very dry.
I am sure he'll be in great shape, but if I forget to call my boss
I get fired, or at the very least yelled at to the point I wish I was fired. Obviously professional sports its not that simple, but it boils down to respect for your job as it pertains to your fellow employees, boss, and organization.
There are a ton of jobs I had where I could care less about my boss and organization, but I still communicated because I didn’t want to leave a fellow employee high and dry.
There now I've met the 75 word count. -pookeyguru
Yeah, really. So much for that tight relationship with JT.
Life is every mammal's journey from very very wet to very very dry.
No Doubt that common decency comes into play here
… Spence should have picked up the phone. All true. But it’s Summer league. Not Practice. Not training camp. Not a game. Summer league. It’s not a fundemental part of the job. It is encouraged, and it’s a good idea to go to keep management/coaches/teammates happy, but is it a requirement? No.
Using your “my job” analogy, this is like missing a day’s team building outing at a white water rafting resort or something. It’s not like he blew off a meeting with the company’s biggest client.
Fair point
But if my boss felt the “team building outing” was important (due to the state of the company at the time), I’d still make sure I attended or notify him/her well in advance if I had something else going on.
It’s part of being a professional, regardless of the profession involved.
I'd need to know more to make a decision
From the article , it sounds like had already made prior commitments. So if they did want him to come to camp—which was not a given as a third year player—when did they let him know? As far as him not calling his boss, is that a lack of respect on his side or poor team communication? I don’t know the NBA well enough to know if a player typically picks up the phone to call the GM. Clearly he didn’t get a call from Westphal or Petrie. At least it didn’t sound like they had talked to him in person from their comments. Maybe a staff member invited Hawes and he let teh staff member know he couldn’t come. Then the lack of communication would be the team’s fault.
I’m disappointed he isn’t there too, but it mostly for personal reasons. I honestly don’t know how much he or the team misses from not having him there other than not winning more meaningless games. I suspect there will be plenty of practice time together before the season starts.
"Shut up and Coach!"
Vfettke
Yep, there is more to be known here
But in my opinion Spencer lost a bit of the benefit of the doubt after the conditioning issue last season. And you rarely hear Petrie say anything negative about a player – this was pretty rare for him.
So I may be wrong, but with only those few pieces of data to go on, I have to think Spencer was remiss in the situation.
I agree
GP rarely critizes players in public. I think for him that was about as vocal as he gets.
"Shut up and Coach!"
Vfettke
by SavageBeast on Jul 15, 2009 10:00 AM PDT up reply actions
How much does summer league really benefit?
I understand it’s beneficial to some rookies and 1 year “vets” to get some playing time during summer league, but I don’t think it’s vital to a player becoming successful during the regular season. J.T. and Spence have played with each other a full year, 6 summer league games (with most of the players not even making the team) will not make or break their cohesiveness together.
Anthony Randolph vs. J.T. = whoops, I think we guessed wrong on that one. Sometimes it does pay to pick the player with the greater potential.
Ba-da
Let's see how Randolph
does in real games against real defense and under real pressure. I’m still not convinced he’s a better all-around player than JT.
by Kusian on Jul 15, 2009 9:58 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
tearing it up
in the summer league doesn’t mean jack s**t. Examples = Donte Greene and Bobby Brown from last year.
Sugar ... water .... and, of course, purple.
Robin Lopez went for 24 pts and 16 boards in his first Vegas game
what the f is up with JT?
Life is every mammal's journey from very very wet to very very dry.
I like J.T., but I think his ceiling is lower then Randolphs.
I wonder how many back-up power forwards in the league given the same minutes J.T. received would have put up similar numbers. Jason has proven he will be a good player, but there are many good players. I think when drafting you need to take chances to find potentially great players because they are few and far between. Randolph given enough playing time I believe has the chance to be a great player. Time will tell . . .
Ba-da
I agree that his ceiling is lower
but his basement is higher. Randolph could still be boon or bust. JT will be steady though probably not spectacular.
SACTOWN ROYALTY - Try our thick creamy shakes!
+1
At the end of the day, if Randolph turns into the best player good for him. Maybe JT will turn out to be the “right” player for this Kings team.
The future begins now...
After watching the first 3 games
Summer league doesn’t build anything…its playground basketball. Shoot first, ask questions later. The only thing it really does is tell you if a player is probably going to be crap. After viewing I think Evans has excluded himself from that category. As for Hawes, we already know he’s not crap.
Randolph has potential, sure...
…but so did Tim Thomas. Randolph has to prove he can do it against real NBA players instead of summer league garbage. Thompson put up very solid rookie year numbers against the NBA. Let’s see Randolph do it when it matters before making statements like that.
Also, I don’t think you can say we “guessed wrong” if the player you select turns out to be a very good player. If you pass on Danny Granger to draft Carlos Boozer, did you make a poor decision? I would argue that how good of a pick Thompson turns out to be has nothing to do with the players passed over for Thompson; it only has to do with how good Thompson himself turns out to be.
Formerly Gallagher's Watermelons, until Beane gave up on Gallagher. It makes sense though...Gallagher = Player To Be Named Later = me!
by CaliforniaJag on Jul 15, 2009 1:26 PM PDT up reply actions
To add on to your comments regarding Randolph
Dude was an emotional wreck working with Nellie last season. Looks fine here, but what happens when Nellie starts jerking his minutes around again? My guess is another decline.
Never forget: I am a complete idiot
if you don't think
that AR has proven that he can “do it against real NBA players,” then you haven’t been paying attention. It’s not hating on JT to say that Randolph has the goods.
Not worried
We still have pre-season. You’ll definitely see Hawes there. Summer league is more of a chance to check out prospects than it is a team building exercise. Only a few of these guys will be on the team come October.
Also, in regular season games, nobody brings the intensity and heart like Hawes does. That guy gets pumped.
by DirtyDribblers on Jul 15, 2009 10:02 AM PDT reply actions
maybe just maybe
i was a little harsh on young spence but i wont still hesitate or take back saying beno has no heart, YOU CANT TAKE THAT FROM ME!!
by allbenji's on Jul 15, 2009 10:11 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
Once
Spencer comes out this year and starts getting double doubles …. this will all be forgotten.
Sugar ... water .... and, of course, purple.
Would have been nice to see Spence....
It does bring up questions of how this team is going to solidify as a unit. Will they become a team with defined roles, and how long will that take? Which brings me to a question/concern…… Evans is individually skilled, but can he get the ball to players where/when they need it? Lots of young players..JT/Donte/Spence all need to keep growing. Will the pick of a stud athlete/non-pg stymie to growth of these individuals and the team?
He bailed on his teammates
Yeah, it’s just summer league, no big, but while the Kings team is taking its lumps, Spence is enjoying an easier summer instead of helping the team that obviously could do with his services.
If the Kings finish 0-5 in summer league, yeah, it means nothing, but all players still hate to lose. I hate to lose, and I’m just a weekend player. If it were my teammate, I think he bailed. Sure, you’ve got your personal shit to do, and I’m down with that, but if you can’t bother to let us know, well, that shows how much (or little) you care about this team.
If Westphal doesn’t come down hard on Hawes when he comes back, aren’t we just giving every player on our roster a free pass to not show up at Summer League next year?
I want Hawes to be good, I really do. I think, I know he’ll realize his potential here at Sacramento. But it sickens me that these guys bail on their teammates, and not lose any sleep over it. Because it shows, you really don’t freakin’ care.
Physical ability + tireless dedication = success
Well, at least it offers a good chance for success, anyway
No guarantees in this world for nothin’.
But there is one thing that Sports Gawds like Jordan, Bird, Gretzky, Jerry Rice have in common, and that is that they all worked their asses off at an almost absurd level relentlessly pursuing an impossible Holy Grail (i.e. perfection), in the sport they’d devoted their lives to.
And other NBA players, guys like Steve Nash, Ben Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Joe Johnson, etc. have more or less willed themselves to higher levels of play largely through sheer hard work and dedication.
These types are relatively rare, and maybe it’s unrealistic to expect anything approaching that kind of attitude in someone as young and raw as Hawes. (I’d hate to think that because he comes from a family where the impossible dream of playing in the NBA had already been achieved that Hawes came into the league with even a whiff of a sense of entitlement.)
But the fact is that because of his various physical limitations (not very quick, relatively un-athletic) Spencer’s best chance for success in the NBA is through improving technique and game fundamentals, plus getting as strong as possible.
Those things require desire and repetition more than anything, so he’s not helping his chances by not grabbing after every opportunity to better himself at this stage of his career.
"When the going gets Weird, the Weird turn professional."
(Hunter Thompson)
Just how much better are JT & Donte for playing in the Summer League
5 games against NBA wantabe’s with no real offensive or defense scheme’s. Games that have no similarity to preseason or regular season NBA games.
Yea, he should have told the Kings he wasn’t coming sooner. But, neither JT or Hawes have anything to gain from being in the Summer League. The only reason the Kings needed Spencer & JT there at all is because the Kings couldn’t draw any talented Bigs to join their team. Why is it that the only bigs on the team other than JT, are Bryant (a 7fter who hasn’t gotten into a game yet), Battle ( a 28yr old who’s probably going back to Europe), and our 2nd round pick.
Probably the only reason we have a team is to show off Evans. Otherwise, we’d be better off not even being there. We are 0-4.
"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
It's not so much what he gains...
as it is the fact that he doesn’t jump at the opportunity to compete.
Let me re-phrase that; he might actually learn something playing this summer. Hawes is only 20 years old after all, and there are some talented players out there on the court to compete against and with; not to mention Coachie and Westphal and the rest of the staff, (who theoretically could teach Spencer a bit more about Pro basketball).
But the larger point is that it might point to simply not having that much fire in the belly. Hopefully not.
"When the going gets Weird, the Weird turn professional."
(Hunter Thompson)
Certainly he's not a street baller looking for a way to get out
He’s staying at home because he’s trying to get his degree. I’m sure he has other asperations besides basketball. Politics, business, or some other lofty careers. If you really want to know if he has a fire in his belly when it comes to basketball, I suggest you watch his demeanor on the court. I do. And, I see a fire. Out of control sometimes and with a lack of direction, but definitely fire.
"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
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