Hawkins makes a splash in L.A.

[murdoch@exo.com (Hank Murdoch)]

Well, I got my annual chance to see a Celtics game live at the L.A. Sports
Arena against the Clippers.  It was also my chance to see Michael Hawkins
play in his first game for the Celtics.  He's listed as 6' 0", but he looks
smaller than David Wesley - more like Dana's size.

But if his first game isn't a flash in the pan, he may be worth keeping
around for a while for a much needed backup for David.  At least in this
game he looked pretty sharp.  He certainly shot the ball well and plays
with a lot of energy on defense too. (I should note that being at the game
live, and without the benefit of television and slo-motion replays to prod
my memory, my impressions may not be completely accurate.)

He did shoot 4 of 5 from the field, made 4 of 4 free throws, was 2 of 3
from three point range, had one rebound, 2 assists, a steal and a turnover. 
The assists weren't a lot but part of the time he was in the game with
Wesley in at the same time.  Looked pretty good on his shots.  If this
wasn't just an unusually good shooting night for him, and he can keep it up
in future games he could be handy to have even if he doesn't get a lot of
assists in some games.  Too early to tell, but not a bad start !

Some stats for the "Hawk" :

                                   Min  FG M-A  FT M-A  RB O-T   A  PF   TP
Hawkins                             17     4-5     4-4     0-1   2   2   14

By the way, I got to sit in a section with a lot of Celts fans (as usual
there were about as many Celts fans as Clippers fans at the Arena).  I got
a kick out of a guy sitting right in front of me who whooped and yelled
whenever Marty Conlon entered the game or got a point or did anything. 
Marty's fan club has reached national proportions !

Hank Murdoch (Celtic fan in Orange County)