Tianna Hawkins starts for Mystics a month after claiming the pressumed final roster spot
Tianna Hawkins starts for Mystics a month after claiming the pressumed final roster spot originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
A month ago Tianna Hawkins was fighting for one of the Washington Mystics roster spots at the end of their depth chart. A competitive training camp with an influx of young talent had the coaching staff considering a lot of different factors on who would fill out the 2023 Mystics squad. Do they go with a proven, system-ready veteran or a younger, moldable player who the team could use to build to the future?
Flash forward to Sunday and the team's presumed final roster selection got the call to start. Hawkins was put into the starting lineup against the Seattle Storm on Sunday in place of Elena Delle Donne who missed the contest due to neck tightness.
It was the first start for the 10-year veteran since 2021 when she was on the Atlanta Dream. It was also just the 20th start of her 264-game career.
Her stat line was very Tianna Hawkins-esque. There was nothing flashy about her performance, but she's perfectly content with that. She posted a modest nine points (3-for-8 FG) with six rebounds, an assist, two steals and a block. But most importantly, the loss of the franchise's star didn't see Hawkins as an impediment by taking Delle Donne's spot in the rotation.
She did her job and did exactly what was needed from her in the team's 71-65 victory.
"It's just about just being ready," Hawkins said postgame when asked about her mentality when getting the start. "I mean, I'm not thinking of anything outside of that, it's just play within myself and just do the things that I've been doing all season long and all throughout my career. Not trying to be a superhero, just make sure I run the floor hard, make sure I get on the boards, just be wherever my team needs me."
During training camp, her teammates and coaches could not stop campaigning for the work that the 6-foot-3 forward had done to be ready for the season. She was coming off an impressive season in Australia playing for the WNBL, averaging 17.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. General manager Mike Thibault said that Hawkins had a "terrific camp" and when paired with her experience, it proved to be the difference as to why she made the roster.
For Washington, it's more than just lauding their teammate when speaking glowingly of the 32-year-old. When Hawkins has success, those general good vibes permeate down to the remainder of the roster. Players feed off of Hawkins as the "mom" of the team, as she has been described.
"Man, Tianna. I'm so proud of how Tianna's come into this season," Natasha Cloud said postgame. "She has her body in the best shape that it's ever been, her skill set is probably the best it's ever been. She's a vet that just understands how we play, understands spacing and timing. She goes hard every single time that she's on the court. You're literally gonna see her bust her [explective] on defense, try to get a rebound, once the ball gets outlet, she's gonna rim-run as hard as she can. And she just does all the little things that might not necessarily show up on a box score but because she does them we are better."
The minutes prove it's not just positive rhetoric surrounding her either. Hawkins entered Sunday's contest with the seventh most minutes per game (12.1) on Washington, essentially the second player off of the bench. That's coming off her not playing in 10 games last year based on the coach's decision.
Under normal circumstances Hawkins might not see those numbers remain that high even with her elevated play. Myisha Hines-Allen is on a minutes restriction after missing the first five games of the season. Once Hines-Allen is back, it's fair to assume she would leapfrog Hawkins on the depth chart given her contract and impressive play from the 2020 season.
Still, when the situation was dire in Seattle on Sunday, it was Hawkins who the coaching staff called upon. A 28-point lead was cut down to seven with less than five minutes to go in the game. The offense couldn't score in over the previous seven minutes of game time.
Hawkins was substituted into the game and played her role to thwart the Storm's final run and to help get the Mystics out of their offensive rut.
"Tianna was good. She followed a great game plan defensively," head coach Eric Thibault said. "... what I was most happy with Tianna in the last two or three minutes (was) we ran an action a couple times and we didn't get our first look, and it kind of put her in the position to play the next one and she kept us moving. I just thought it was great poise from a vet in that in that situation of not feeling the clock pressure, not feeling the crowd pressure. Let me just go play one more action."
Again, just playing her role and being what the team needs her to be.
Once Delle Donne comes back, Hawkins will retreat back to her bench role on the team. But for this game, she proved why the coaching staff made the right decision in keeping her over others at the end of camp.
"To be able to start and us not feel like we lost anything on offense, that's that's a huge attribute to how much she's prepared for this moment," Cloud said.
