‘They’re going to have to guard me’: Hagans now daring opponents to let him shoot it
After one of his long jumpers fell through the basket, Ashton Hagans ran back on defense and flashed his go-to celebration for such shots: an air guitar with three fingers extended.
There was only one problem.
“You know that was a two?” UK assistant coach Joel Justus told him.
Hagans laughed about it after the Wildcats’ 80-53 victory over Auburn at Rupp Arena on Saturday afternoon. He acknowledged that he’s developed a bit of a habit of hitting long-range shots with one toe on the three-point line — something that happened again against the Tigers.
The difference between two points and three won’t much matter to this Kentucky team if Hagans can keep it up from outside. That type of shooting — toe on the line or not — makes these Cats even more dangerous. And that’s why John Calipari hasn’t said a word about the long twos.
“He’s told me if I have an open shot, just shoot it,” Hagans said.
The freshman point guard was 2-for-4 from three-point range Saturday and added a couple of more long jumpers to his tally, scoring 14 points, his highest total since a season-high 23 more than a month ago against Georgia. Earlier this week, Hagans was 2-for-4 from deep against Missouri, finishing with 12 points and reaching double digits for the first time in seven games. Before that, he’d never made more than one three-pointer in a college game.
In fact, over those first 25 games, Hagans was 5-for-27 from long range. Over the last two games, he’s 4-for-8 with a few more long jumpers.
“I’m not worrying about whether it’s a three ball or a two. Just, if it goes in, that’s helping the team out more,” Hagans said. “They’re going to have to guard me, so I can either blow by and try to find somebody a shot or get to the rim. For me hitting the big-time shots, it just opens the lane more. And it’s just going to make us a better team.”
Hagans’ improvement as a player throughout the course of this season has arguably been as impressive as any Wildcat on the roster. He emerged midway through the non-conference schedule as an elite defender. By the beginning of league play, he had harnessed his offensive ability to become a serious blow-by threat from the perimeter. Now, he’s making outside shots.
That evolution hasn’t come by accident.
“I’m in the gym way more than I was at the beginning of the year, working on my shot,” he said. “That’s just what I need to do to become a better shooter and become a better basketball player and also to help this team as the season goes along. The guys are on me hard, ‘Stay in the gym. Stay in the gym.’ If I’m slacking, they’re on me. And that’s why I love this team so much. They’re not letting nobody get away with no freebies. And I’m just trying to get better.”
Getting better means getting more confident, says his coach.
“He’s been working. He’s been in the gym at night. He’s staying after practice. He’s not a bad shooter,” Calipari said. “But confidence, you have to build it yourself, and the only way you do that is get in the gym and build your confidence and then — you ready? — got to make a couple in the game.”
Before these last two games, opponents were more than willing to give Hagans those outside shots. At times, defenders would just stare at a wide-open Hagans standing on the perimeter with the ball, daring him to put it up. And, some of those times, he wouldn’t even attempt the outside shot, choosing instead to pass it around or reset the offense.
“I’m just more confident than I was a month or two ago,” he said. “A lot of people say I can’t shoot, but I don’t really worry about that. The coaching staff keeps telling me I got a good shot, so just keep shooting when I got the opportunity. And that’s what I’m trying to do to help this team be at another level and help me be at another level.”
Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl noted after Saturday’s game that he recruited Hagans for years. He said the UK freshman didn’t come to college as a three-point threat because he never really needed the skill. Not only was he an unselfish player in high school, but — when he wanted to score — he could just drive by whoever tried to stand between him and the basket.
Now, he’s seeing a different caliber of opponents on a regular basis. He’s learning how to deal with that. As he learns, he gets more comfortable. And as he gets more comfortable, UK’s offense gets harder to stop.
“He knows teams are going to go double in the post on PJ (Washington) and he knows where he needs to go, and he’s not even thinking twice about shooting it,” Pearl said. “Ashton is such an unselfish player and always has been. He’s always gotten off more at empowering his teammates and giving his teammates points, and he’s always been able to go by anyone and finish at the rim. He never really had that work on his three-point game much. And, now, here he’s bringing all that stuff, because they’re coming off of him. Why would you be surprised? He has just worked on it and he needs to go and make open shots, and he is.
“Like he does everything else, he does it with confidence.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2019 at 6:09 PM.
