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By: LARRY VAUGHT
Kentucky junior guard Dominique Hawkins said it was a “freak accident” that resulted in a broken hand in practice and will cause him to miss several weeks of preseason practice.
“I went in for a steal, and I don’t remember what happened, but people say my hand got caught on (Isaiah) Briscoe’s jersey, and it just pulled it back,” Hawkins said.
Kentucky coach John Calipari said Hawkins was “probably our leading 3-point shooter” when he got hurt.
“Think about that from a year ago where he wasn't guarded, where they wouldn't -- just left him open,” Calipari said Wednesday during UK’s Media Day.
Calipari said Hawkins had three pins put into his hand and the cast prevents him from going through practice.
Hawkins agreed Wednesday that he was having his best practices in his three years at UK when he was hurt.
“I’m definitely feeling more confidence in myself. Every shot I put up I was thinking I’m going to make it. That’s what gave me motivation to play well,” Hawkins, who played less as a sophomore than he did as a freshman, said. “Basically, my role right now is to just be a leader and help people out. It’s harder to do it when you’re not playing with them, but basically I can help them with off-the-court situations like school work, fans and how to take care of all of that.
“Basically I just tell the freshmen to be ready for a long practice. You never know how long coach Cal is going to keep you. During the drills, he wants you to compete, so don’t slack off in the drills. Always be competitive. What I’ve learned the most is, you’re going to learn a way to fail fast. That is what Coach Cal says. He wants you to fail fast, so don’t be scared to fail as well.”
He said he got a smaller cast Tuesday that allows him to move his fingers more now.
“Next week I get to go back to the doctor and see if I can get the cast off for good and be able to do some dribbling drills just to get my hand back to it’s strength,” Hawkins said.
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