Does Gordon Hayward deserve more patience?

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/does-gordon-hayward-deserve-more-034305426.html




Does Gordon Hayward deserve more patience?




Chris Forsberg,NBC Sports Boston Mon, Feb 4 7:43 PM PST




Fifteen months after his horrific ankle injury, Gordon Hayward is back at the scene of the crime on Tuesday night. Even with three months of game action under his belt now, Hayward is still searching for a consistency that has been fleeting since his return and left the former All-Star visibly frustrated at times this season.

Given the amount of time that's passed, it's fair to wonder if the Celtics should be getting more out of Hayward. Maybe that's why it was so interesting to hear Paul George plead for continued patience with Hayward in the aftermath of Oklahoma City's visit to Boston on Sunday.

George, a sympathetic ear during Hayward's recovery, needed just eight months to return from a gruesome leg injury. George got six games under his belt at the tail end of the 2014-15 season and then seemed to hit the ground running the following year, posting a career best in scoring while earning All-Star honors during the 2015-16 campaign.

The natural instinct is to look at the timelines and suggest Hayward should be closer to the player he used to be in Utah and not the one that saw half of his six shot attempts blocked by Oklahoma City on Sunday.

What that ignores is the follow-up procedure Hayward endured in late May. He didn't return to full basketball activities until right before the start of training camp and didn't get the sort of ramp-up that a typical NBA offseason might afford.


George was staunch in his declaration that Hayward can't beat himself up over the lack of consistency to this point.

"Honestly, just don't be so hard on yourself," said George. "I was fortunate when I got hurt. The following season I got to play six games and that kind of helped me into the transition. Fact of the matter is everyone is expecting Gordon to be Gordon from Utah and he's not. He has to take strides, take steps along the way."

Complicating matters is that Hayward has shown glimpses of turning a corner. He's had a couple of loud performances - like a 30-point outing in Minnesota in early December - and strung together maybe his best stretch of games at the start of January.

Each time, Hayward hasn't been able to harness the momentum. He's fought his shot at times - although it should be noted that George's shooting percentages dove in his first season back as well - and Hayward has shown obvious frustration, even as he's told himself not to get too high or too low about his performances.

George encouraged Hayward to ignore those in a rush to point out how his play isn't commensurate with his team-high $31.2 million salary.


"Fans can't be too hard on him and he can't be too hard on himself. The game is different," said George. "When you sit out a year and you try to come back, the game is totally different from where you left it. He's got to adapt, find his game, find his rhythm, block out the noise that people are expecting him to be himself right away.

"It takes time. When I got hurt, the doctors told me it would be two to three years before I would feel the way I feel now. Despite them saying I would make a full recovery, it wouldn't be until two or three years. It's a long marathon for him. He'll be alright."

Watching George play his way into some MVP chatter this season should be an example of how a player can not only find his form but even go to another level with enough time. Even though George has been excellent the past three seasons, his scoring average is up more than six points per game this year and he's shooting the ball as well as he has his entire career.

It'd be fascinating to know where Hayward might be without that second surgery in May to remove nagging hardware. Even if he hadn't been able to get back on the court before Boston's playoff run ended, maybe having the summer to ramp up his basketball activities would have allowed him to enter the season with more confidence.

It didn't happen. He's been forced to work through the bumps with everybody watching and questioning whether he'll get back to the player he used to be. The Celtics have preached patience to Hayward, hoping that he'll find more consistency as the year goes on.

"Hopefully he'll continue to get more comfortable. And by game 60 and 80, he'll feel better than he does at 40 and 20," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said last month.

A glimpse at the box score Sunday suggests a rough day for Hayward, who missed five of the six shots he took and got swatted three times (including once by George). But Hayward was also aggressive going at the basket, an encouraging sign that he's trying to be more assertive. He's had a propensity to avoid contact at times early in the season and settle for perimeter shots. To get back to the old Hayward, he has to be fearless going at the hoop.

When the Celtics were in Cleveland in November, coach Brad Stevens made it a point to run an alley-oop lob almost identical to the one Hayward was injured on back in October 2017. Stevens has run similar actions a few times this year and it wouldn't be a surprise to see it come out again this trip (in part because these rebuilding Cavs don't put a heavy emphasis on defense).

But anything that can get Hayward out of his own head and playing with more confidence would be a good thing for these Celtics.

For all his individual woes, Hayward still owns a net rating of plus-5.2 this season. That's a solid number; it's simply diminished by how good the team has been when he's off the floor, the Celtics posting a plus-9.4 net rating without Hayward (though that might simply reflect on a bench unit that's struggled to find consistency as a group).

At times this season it's felt like Hayward's emergence might be the key to just how far the Celtics might surge this season. If you think that's an overstatement, consider this: Basketball Reference tracks a metric called Game Score that attempts to quantify a player's game performance based on box score stats. It's noisy but, ultimately, a score south of the teens is average at best (while a score in the 40s is a dominant effort)

This season, when Hayward has posted a Game Score of 14.5 or better, the Celtics are 9-1 and that includes two wins over Toronto and another over Milwaukee - the only two teams that currently sit ahead of Boston in the East standings. In the 35 other games, in which Hayward's Game Score was 11.9 or lower, Boston is 21-17.

Boston's success doesn't hinge on Hayward, but it certainly could go a long way to making these Celtics look more like the East power that was expected. Even as Boston starts to play more consistent ball and surge up the standings, having a confident and consistent Hayward in April and May would go a long way in helping the Celtics make up any homecourt advantage they might lack.

Maybe it's not fair to expect that sort of consistency from Hayward until next season, but it's clear from his frustration that he, more than anyone, wants to find it sooner.



bob




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That was a very easy yes vote for me.

After watching Hayward all year you can see how good he still is. He has a good game followed by multiple bad games. As that gap closes he should approach a level of play that is more indicative of his UTAH days.

So yes we need more patience but this is a tricky situation for Brad and the Celtics. They are pushing toward another playoff run and anything other than a trip to the finals will be a disappointing year. Lose that opportunity and the AD situation becomes more likely. Win and there can be no reasonable upside to gutting a significant part of your young core and future including draft assets.

When GH comes on the floor you can see almost immediately if he is fluid or stiff. Brad needs to recognize that and adjust his playing time accordingly. The Celtics can ill afford to screw around during their push for playoff positioning and especially in a long and grueling playoff run.

Having another reliable offensive weapon increases our chances.

The Celtics have sufficient talent to play well and win without GH but the most important guy will be Al Horford. His ability to play at a high level and not drop off as more games are played is the difference between winning the title this year or falling short.

Why not? It isn't as if he isn't trying. Patience, grasshopper.

I have been saying since we watched his early struggles that I expect him to be better after the all star break. If not then definitely by the start of next year. He can get a few days off to rest and reflect. He is smart enough to figure out how he can help the team. I think we have already seen the start of his getting better. He has been pretty good 4 out of last 6 games with two stinkers.

He has really struggle with the 3 ball but I could see that turning around quickly. He is a good shooter, always has been. Maybe he is going thru the same as Tatum, Rozier, and Brown, having trouble playing to their potential with Kyrie. While Kyrie can get his, we have to have others get theirs. Guys need touches.

No doubt he deserves more patience, 100%. In addition to recovering from one of the most gruesome sports injuries most of us have seen, he has also had to adapt to a new role on a new team. These last two challenges tend to get overlooked. Maybe he isn't a great fit for his given role even if totally healthy. If so, it will be on Brad, Gorden, and the rest of the team to figure how to make the most of his talents.

Yes. As i have posted before, it took over a year for Tony Allen to come back to full strength, even though he was released to play.

TA's injury was no where near as bad as Gordon's.

It just took a while to get his mojo back.

wow, a rare 11-0 yea vote

dboss wrote:wow, a rare 11-0 yea vote

Make it 12.

[quote="NYCelt"]

dboss wrote:wow, a rare 11-0 yea vote

Make it 12.[/quot

13

.exactly my point from a heated thread a few weeks back

Great news, just read for the month of February GH is avg 14 ppg on 56% fg....last game was first time on a b2b that he played well and bigly.

Hi,
Yes, patience with Gordon.
Also, I believe his mental recovery is ahead of the physical.

AK

This month GH is up to around 27 MPG.  Right now he is just playing basketball.  There is less hesitation.  As he continues to reach a comfort level the Celtics need to adjust his utilization percentage.  Remember when he was really struggling to make his deep ball? He could not buy a basket now he is getting cash back rewards.  This month he is shooting 52% from deep, 90% from the line and 57% FG percentage.  

I think this improvement should be understood in the proper context.  GH is not some guy that is still developing his offensive portfolio.  He is a player that came to us after having averaged around 20 PPG for 3 years in a row.  

Hats off to Kleen.  I think he may have seen this coming before the rest of us.

Gordon Hayward

...................................mpg.......fga/gm......fg%.......ppg.........3pt fgas/gm......3pt fg%......rpg..........apg,,,,,,,TOpg.....OffRtg.....DefRtg.....NetRtg
Career---------------------30.8-----11.6--------44.4-----15.2-------3.6--------------36.5---------4.2--------3.4------2.0------111-------108--------+3
All-Star Year 2017--------34.5-----15.8--------47.1-----21.9-------5.1--------------39.8---------5.4--------3.5------1.9------118-------106--------+12
Season to Date-----------26.0------9.0---------43.8-----11.2-------3.6--------------33.7---------4.6--------3.5------1.5------112-------107--------+5
Last 5 games-------------29.2------9.8---------61.2-----17.0-------3.6--------------50.0---------5.2--------4.8------1.8------N/A-------N/A--------N/A


bob


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