Gordon Hayward: What — if anything — is holding him back?

[10610786d]

How has Paul George improved so much? Has he just been shooting better?

Paul George seems to have gone from a second tier star to a top one.

Hayward's mid-range game seems to have improved now. Might we expect a similar jump?

[bopna]

An increase in usage and FGA is what he needs.

Can't score 20 a game if you limit the number of shots you take.. The guy literally plays to pass and the Warriors will eat him up Saturday if he keeps doing that.. They will know that he comes in and he won't be playing to score.

I honestly feel the skill is there.. But his passive play sometimes is so frustrating that  I kept asking why on earth is he playing like Evan Turner when he can literally play like the James Harden of the bench... Oh well until he becomes the Gordon Hayward we signed then people will always see something to criticise.

Me personally I just hate it when he has games like he does nothing like the Spurs game.. A dud game for GH should be 12/4/3 instead of 3/2/4.
And even at this stage of his recovery he should still be contributing positively.

[Fierce1]

An increase in usage and FGA is what he needs.

Can't score 20 a game if you limit the number of shots you take.. The guy literally plays to pass and the Warriors will eat him up Saturday if he keeps doing that.. They will know that he comes in and he won't be playing to score.

I honestly feel the skill is there.. But his passive play sometimes is so frustrating that  I kept asking why on earth is he playing like Evan Turner when he can literally play like the James Harden of the bench... Oh well until he becomes the Gordon Hayward we signed then people will always see something to criticise.

Me personally I just hate it when he has games like he does nothing like the Spurs game.. A dud game for GH should be 12/4/3 instead of 3/2/4.
And even at this stage of his recovery he should still be contributing positively.

Not going to happen when he's on the court with Jaylen Brown.

[Androslav]

Declined athleticism, lack of confidence and extremely high expectations.

[ederson]

I don't know if something is holding him back and he is not playing as good as he can.

I ve never been in his shoes. I ve never seen my body shaped like he saw his leg. I just broke my clavicle +20 years ago and it still bothers me sometimes (of course i didn't get the same treatment as NBA players.)

There is a big chance he doesn't recover and never reaches even 80% of his former form. Maybe he gets even better like PG did. 

What i am saying is that we cannot know how his body and brain is recovering and se definately cannot make any estimations so soon. Even if he is physicaly ready doesn't mean that he is mentally too 

[SHAQATTACK]

How has Paul George improved so much? Has he just been shooting better?

Paul George seems to have gone from a second tier star to a top one.

Hayward's mid-range game seems to have improved now. Might we expect a similar jump?

its a safe shot injury wise,  and higher percentage than a three .  it something he feels confdence at.

[jambr380]

An increase in usage and FGA is what he needs.

Can't score 20 a game if you limit the number of shots you take.. The guy literally plays to pass and the Warriors will eat him up Saturday if he keeps doing that.. They will know that he comes in and he won't be playing to score.

I honestly feel the skill is there.. But his passive play sometimes is so frustrating that  I kept asking why on earth is he playing like Evan Turner when he can literally play like the James Harden of the bench... Oh well until he becomes the Gordon Hayward we signed then people will always see something to criticise.

Me personally I just hate it when he has games like he does nothing like the Spurs game.. A dud game for GH should be 12/4/3 instead of 3/2/4.
And even at this stage of his recovery he should still be contributing positively.

Not going to happen when he's on the court with Jaylen Brown.

Yeah, it's a bummer when a team's high end young player is taking a whole 10 shots per game. He is clearly what is holding Hayward back. 

I'll be interested to see what happens if/when we let go of Morris/Rozier this off-season. Morris has been a life-saver this season, but I think most of us would like to see his shots going to Hayward and Brown (with the same level of efficiency). Rozier, as we've seen, does great when he has more responsibility, but just hasn't fit in with the rest of the 2nd unit.

[mmmmm]

How has Paul George improved so much? Has he just been shooting better?

Paul George seems to have gone from a second tier star to a top one.

Paul George was, to put it simply, far longer removed from surgery when he came back to the game.   He was injured and had surgery in the summer, then came back in the following spring, looked pretty miserable, but then had all summer to work things out and looked pretty good the following season, a full year plus change removed from surgery.

Gordon was injured and had surgery in early fall, then had surgery again in the following May (of last Spring 2018) and came back to the NBA just a few short months later. 

Gordon won't be as far removed from surgery in time as George was when the latter started looking like his old self until this coming summer.  Hopefully during some late playoffs ...

[Wretch]

An increase in usage and FGA is what he needs.

Can't score 20 a game if you limit the number of shots you take.. The guy literally plays to pass and the Warriors will eat him up Saturday if he keeps doing that.. They will know that he comes in and he won't be playing to score.

I honestly feel the skill is there.. But his passive play sometimes is so frustrating that  I kept asking why on earth is he playing like Evan Turner when he can literally play like the James Harden of the bench... Oh well until he becomes the Gordon Hayward we signed then people will always see something to criticise.

Me personally I just hate it when he has games like he does nothing like the Spurs game.. A dud game for GH should be 12/4/3 instead of 3/2/4.
And even at this stage of his recovery he should still be contributing positively.

Not going to happen when he's on the court with Jaylen Brown.

I actually think the issue is Rozier looking for his shot too much. All of them average between 9-10 FGA per game and Rozier's overall shooting percentage is awful. GH isn't great but he's recovering from a major injury so a slow start was to be expected.  The second unit needs a pass first PG to feed Hayward and Brown.

[ferguson]

We must remember the length of time it took Paul George to get completely back.  It may take 2 or more years for him to get back to form.
I also feel we should use him in his old role as point/forward on the 2nd unit.  Let him be the facilitator, he needs the ball more

[Moranis]

How has Paul George improved so much? Has he just been shooting better?

Paul George seems to have gone from a second tier star to a top one.

Paul George was, to put it simply, far longer removed from surgery when he came back to the game.   He was injured and had surgery in the summer, then came back in the following spring, looked pretty miserable, but then had all summer to work things out and looked pretty good the following season, a full year plus change removed from surgery.

Gordon was injured and had surgery in early fall, then had surgery again in the following May (of last Spring 2018) and came back to the NBA just a few short months later. 

Gordon won't be as far removed from surgery in time as George was when the latter started looking like his old self until this coming summer.  Hopefully during some late playoffs ...

Paul George was injured on August 1, 2014, his first game back was April 5, 2015 (he played the last 6 games that season), so he basically missed 8 months, though then had another 6 months off before starting the next season.  Hayward basically sat out a full year before returning to actual game action.  So he sat out longer initially, but had about 2 less months before the start of the full season. 

[PhoSita]

I think the key here is that George had a full summer to work himself back into shape, whereas Gordon wasn't able to return to full participation in practice, games, etc until a few weeks before the season began.

Gordon is known to be a very hard worker.  Give him a full off-season without an injury to hinder him and he'll come back looking much improved.

[gift]

Don't know if it's mental or physical but he can't get by anyone right now. That's his number one problem. He either can't physically do it, or doesn't feel comfortable enough to try.

[mmmmm]

How has Paul George improved so much? Has he just been shooting better?

Paul George seems to have gone from a second tier star to a top one.

Paul George was, to put it simply, far longer removed from surgery when he came back to the game.   He was injured and had surgery in the summer, then came back in the following spring, looked pretty miserable, but then had all summer to work things out and looked pretty good the following season, a full year plus change removed from surgery.

Gordon was injured and had surgery in early fall, then had surgery again in the following May (of last Spring 2018) and came back to the NBA just a few short months later. 

Gordon won't be as far removed from surgery in time as George was when the latter started looking like his old self until this coming summer.  Hopefully during some late playoffs ...

Paul George was injured on August 1, 2014, his first game back was April 5, 2015 (he played the last 6 games that season), so he basically missed 8 months, though then had another 6 months off before starting the next season.  Hayward basically sat out a full year before returning to actual game action.  So he sat out longer initially, but had about 2 less months before the start of the full season.

You are correct on George's timeline - which is what I already stated.  But you are wrong on Hayward's.  Hayward had a second surgery last May, 2018.     The relevant time isn't from the original injury.  The relevant time is how far you are removed from the trauma of the last surgery.

[nickagneta]

How has Paul George improved so much? Has he just been shooting better?

Paul George seems to have gone from a second tier star to a top one.

Paul George was, to put it simply, far longer removed from surgery when he came back to the game.   He was injured and had surgery in the summer, then came back in the following spring, looked pretty miserable, but then had all summer to work things out and looked pretty good the following season, a full year plus change removed from surgery.

Gordon was injured and had surgery in early fall, then had surgery again in the following May (of last Spring 2018) and came back to the NBA just a few short months later. 

Gordon won't be as far removed from surgery in time as George was when the latter started looking like his old self until this coming summer.  Hopefully during some late playoffs ...

Paul George was injured on August 1, 2014, his first game back was April 5, 2015 (he played the last 6 games that season), so he basically missed 8 months, though then had another 6 months off before starting the next season.  Hayward basically sat out a full year before returning to actual game action.  So he sat out longer initially, but had about 2 less months before the start of the full season.

And Hayward had a second surgery just five months before returning to game action which obviously held back his recovery. While George was using the following summer to work on his game after returning to action, during that similar time in Hayward's recuperation, he was set back months by recovering from a second surgery. So the time frame of recovery is a bit different than what you are painting it as.