Spencer, We Hardly Knew Ye

My reaction to Spencer Hawes' decision to turn pro after only one year in purple in gold can be summed up as follows: Fuck you, Roy Hibbert. Had the Georgetown man-child decided to make a similar decision as Hawes and top pivot Greg Oden, Spencer might have fallen out of the lottery and back into Lorenzo Romar's starting lineup. But because Hibbert is returning (admirably, actually) to school for his senior year to further refine his game -- something many pundits feel Hawes should have done -- we must bid George Bush's most outspoken undergraduate supporter adieu.

Hawes' short legacy at UW will forever be viewed as incomplete, largely on account of a string of strange mid-season ailments and Coach Romar's even stranger decision to bring him off the bench once he returned from said ailments. Common wisdom has him riding pine during his first year or two in the league, but I'm not so sure. Hawes' superb mid-range game and passing ability might make his game more suited to the NBA than to college, where mediocre guards like Justin Dentmon failed time and again to get him the ball whence Spence was wide open in the post. Will he be shoved around by the Etan Thomases of the world and get used on D from time to time? Sure. But after watching a proven yet snail-slow veteran like Zydrunas Ilgauskas almost singlehandedly torpedo his team's chances in the Finals, several teams are likely salivating over Hawes' rare skill-set -- and might be willing to throw him right into the fryer.