Ashton Hagans reminds me of...
- Thread starter jameslee32
- Start date
Hope he's better.
Took me awhile to make that comparison but it works the more I see him play. Especially how he moves.
Quicker also perhaps than Bledsoe. Eric was more of an athletic bull and slightly shorter.
He really reminds me of a less quick better defensive John Wall, but I don't want to set the bar to high. Bledsoe was an athletic specimen, Hagans just has that same aggressive mentality.
Yeah he's built more like Wall or Minniefield and just as quick.
If he can be that kind of playmaker, he will leap past Quickley who is no slouch at all. But I'd feel safe in saying he has a ways to go with his shooting touch. Most of Quickley's shots look like they could easily go in.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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I was there that night and will never forget it. Dirk was one of my all-time favorite players and it was kind of sad that we didn't even make a FF while he was there. He played hard every game and never took a play off. I recall Coach Hall making the comment "I believe if you woke Dirk up at 2 O'clock in the morning he'd be ready to play". Used to see him on campus quite a bit and he would always speak.
I love hearing the old stories of coaches and players from people on this board. Honestly that's my favorite thing.
Pittbull attitude and deep south background. His game reminds me more of john wall, but i don't like to compare ppl to him. Plus AH is playing besides other great guards.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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Growing up I would hear stories about Rupp and other players such as Cotton Nash, Louis Dampier, Cliff Hagan, etc. Just goes to show that our program has a lot of tradition which is carried down through the years.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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OK, here's another one; I used to see Jack Givens quite frequently at the old computer lab on campus in 1977-78. I would get there late in order to beat the crowd and I'm assuming he had just gotten off practice. Very personable and friendly but what impressed me the most was that this was a high profile athlete actually going to class and doing homework and taking a computer class at that. In those days it was a struggle doing anything with a computer as it was not like today with Dell, Mac, etc. He was probably taking a class in Fortran which was a totally different language at the time.
I don't think we know enough yet to compare Hagans to anyone, but I think the comparisons to either Minniefield or Wall are a bit off. As far as Wall is, he's in another class than other point guards as far as quickness, speed and athleticism. If Wall was a good outside shooter, he'd arguably be the best player who ever lived. As far as comparing Hagans to Minniefied, if Ashton can shoot 35% from 3 and 75% from the line, I'd take him over Dirk any day of the week. My recollection is that Minniefield just couldn't shoot - period. I also don't think he was the defender that Ashton is and he will only get better. I think if Hagans can shoot in the 35% range from 3 and 70% or better from the line, he is hands down better than Dirk. That's no disrespect to Dirk. He was a tough player with great physical assets who gave his all every second on the court. In his era he was very quick too, but he just wasn't great at any one facet of the game, IMO.
Cliff Hawkins defensively, absolutely. He’s even quicker though and has more upside if you ask me. Can’t wait to watch him develop as the season goes on.
incredible potential! Quick as a cat, phenomenal hands, and the heart of a lion. Shooting will come in time with hrs in the gym.
Who's to say where Ashton goes from here but at a glance, I see all the similarities I mentioned. Nothing more. None were statistical in nature because we don't really know anything basketball related yet. He's also younger and likely more sober than Dirk admitted he was in his time.
Minniefield was a good player, but he had more limitations than a lot of people remember. He wasn't a great shooter (good FT shooter, though- you're off on that), and beyond his personal problems, I just think he sort of played in the wrong era. College defenses in the late 70's early 80's were incredibly compact, and you just didn't see a lot of aggressive penetration from guards. The game was also slowing down, becoming dramatically more halfcourt-oriented.
Minniefield probably would have fit better in today's game.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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Are you sure you're not thinking of Dickie Beal who couldn't shoot his first few years at UK? Dirk was a career 52% career FG shooter and shot 77% from the FT line. Not a long range bomber like Jay Shidler, Jim Master, etc., but he was very good from 10-15 feet. Also scored 1069 career points. Dirk has to be one of the most athletic guards we've ever had at UK. I watched him in practice one day and he could dunk the ball standing flat footed under the rim.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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I think this is a very good analysis of Dirk. Always thought he would have flourished in a system like Pitino ran at UK due to his athleticism. In all fairness, the college game was in a bit of a crisis during the time period you mentioned as games were getting very predictable and boring. No shot clock during this time and when UK played in the SEC it got to the point where one just knew that the other team was going to play a deliberate, slow paced game. The style of play didn't allow much for players like Dirk to really show just how athletic he was as it was near impossible to drive the lane. I don't know how many times we played Alabama and the score was in the '40's due to that style of play. One of the worst games I ever watched was when Kentucky lost at Tennessee during the 1980 season. UT won on a last second shot by Howard Wood and I believe the score ended up 49-47.
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anon_q409idbs5m40a
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I see some similarities to De'Aaron Fox in him with his defense and offensive skill set at this moment.
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