UK’s Ashton Hagans played like a ‘pro,’ but he can get so much better
One of these days, Ashton Hagans is going to be one whale of a basketball player.
“There may be better point guards out there,” Kentucky Coach John Calipari said on Saturday. “I’d have to watch closely.”
“He’s a first-round draft pick,” echoed Georgia Tech Coach Josh Pastner.
Cal’s Cats had just beaten Pastner’s Yellow Jackets 67-53 before 20,111, including members of the United Nations Security Council, in Rupp Arena. And Hagans had played a starring role, scoring 21 points, grabbing seven rebounds, dishing seven assists and collecting a pair of steals as eighth-ranked Kentucky improved to 8-1.
“He was a pro tonight,” Pastner said.
And yet you couldn’t help thinking that the 6-foot-3 sophomore from Cartersville, Ga., has yet to approach his ceiling.
“Now he can still get sloppy,” Calipari admitted. “He can get sloppy on both offense and defense.”
Indeed, Hagans ended up with six turnovers on a night where he did a little bit of everything, much more good than bad, mind you, but just enough bad — especially when handling the basketball — to believe there are things in his game that could use some tightening.
Cal’s point guards are going to turn the ball over. He doesn’t want them to turn it over, of course, but a point guard who isn’t turning the ball over is a point guard who’s not taking chances, who’s not pushing the envelope. The key is to know when to take that chance and when not to take the chance.
And Calipari knows his point guards. From John Wall to Brandon Knight to Marquis Teague to Andrew Harrison to De’Aaron Fox to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — just at Kentucky — there are no peers to Cal when coaching point guards.
That ramps up the expectations, of course. And as a freshman last season Hagans met those expectations defensively. If he wasn’t the best on-the-ball defender at the position, he was in the conversation. Offensively, however, he averaged 7.7 points per game, shot just 27.5 percent from three-point range and had a tendency to get loose with the ball.
An indelible memory of the 2018-19 campaign was a red-eyed Hagans in the UK locker room after the Midwest Regional finals loss to Auburn, blaming himself for the defeat after turning the ball over seven times. “On me,” he said.
Declining an opportunity to check out the NBA, Hagans took the summer on himself. Summer of improvement. And we’ve seen it. His defense has remained the same, if not better, as his offense has improved. He’s up to 12.8 points and seven assists per game, compared to 4.3 assists per game a season ago.
He scored a career-high 26 points in the win over Utah Valley. In a three-game stretch against Mount St. Mary’s, Lamar and UAB, Hagans compiled 27 assists compared to eight turnovers. And after starting the season 0-for-9 from three-point range, Hagans was four of his last seven heading into Saturday.
Against Tech, he was 8-for-10 from the floor, including two of three from three-point range and three of four from the foul line. And, yet, those half-dozen turnovers.
“I wouldn’t say I get bored,” Hagans said afterward. “I just see a lot of things and probably just try to force it. I just was trying to attack, attack — I thought I had that, but it was turnovers. You know, that happens.”
“He was a first-round draft pick the way he played tonight,” said an admiring Pastner. “From where he was as a junior and senior in high school, because we had recruited him, I think he’s continued to get better and better which is a great credit to Coach Calipari and his staff. I thought he was a big difference today.”
“He knows what to expect,” Calipari said. “He has no anxiety about what he’s doing. He knows game-planning. He’s so far advanced.”
Ah, but what of those six turnovers?
“He’s starting to master his skills,” Calipari said.
Emphasis on starting. Just wait until he does.
This story was originally published December 14, 2019 at 8:52 PM.
