Gordon starting to turn the corner?

[csfansince60s]

It looks like Hayward can exorcise some demons tonight. He will probably be starting with Morris out. Hope his mental block will be gone after tonight and has a good game.

He's playing against a real crap team...he better.

In a way, it's a lose-lose for him tonite.

If he plays well, it's expected because of the lack of quality competition. If not, he looks more like a bum.

I think that Kyrie staying will depend a lot on whether Gordie gets his head together and man's up.

C'mon Gordie....we're all rooting for you....even those who criticize.


 

[bopna]

It looks like Hayward can exorcise some demons tonight. He will probably be starting with Morris out. Hope his mental block will be gone after tonight and has a good game.

He's playing against a real crap team...he better.

In a way, it's a lose-lose for him tonite.

If he plays well, it's expected because of the lack of quality competition. If not, he looks more like a bum.

I think that Kyrie staying will depend a lot on whether Gordie gets his head together and man's up.

C'mon Gordie....we're all rooting for you....even those who criticize.

If Gordy does a pedestrian 10/4/4
I'd be extremely disappointed. Means he really has not made any headway to any improvement at all since the start of the season...

[johnnygreen]

I think the second unit maybe holding Hayward back. Passing the ball to Hayward seems like a last resort to the guys on the second unit. Maybe Kyrie will make a point of trying to create opportunities for Gordon tonight.

[ozgod]

There probably should be more praise for Hayward that he isn't trying to jack up 12 shots a game and do too much. His team ball allows Brown freedom right now.  He is picking and choosing where to make an impact.  It will increase as we move into March/April.  He wants to be healthy for the playoffs.

Funnily enough that appears to be one of the biggest criticisms. People get disappointed because he's not jacking up shots and ending up with only 5-6 attempts a game. $30m man should be taking more shots seems to be the consensus. It always comes down to the contract, it's the lens by which everything he does is viewed.

If Gordon was being paid 16 mill per season for the next 3 years would you be happy with his current production on your team?

I wouldn't be happy with his production, even though it doesn't stack up too badly against other players who are getting paid $16m/year (incidentally not many players get paid $16m, I was surprised). He's a bit on the low side even for $16m but I do feel the bar would be set lower.

Code: [Select]

Name Team Per Game Per 36 Min
MPG PPG RPG APG PPG RPG APG

Derrick Favors UTA 23.1 10.9 7.1 1.1 17.0 11.0 1.6
Gary Harris DEN 29.9 14.8 3.0 2.7 17.8 3.7 3.3
Andre Iguodala GSW 23.6 5.8 3.1 3.8 8.8 5.8 4.9

Gordon Hayward BOS 25.7 10.6 4.5 3.4 14.8 6.4 4.8

I'm more accepting of him being bad because I'm realistic about what he has gone through, what I've seen from him and what he still has to go through, and the promise of how good he could become. It's going to probably take at least one more year for him to start feeling like he's consistently close to his best. I don't think he's going to turn the corner anytime soon. What good is slitting wrists over him constantly going to do? It's just going to ruin my enjoyment of watching the Celtics and I refuse to let one player affect how I view the team.

I also understand that no matter how many people want him to be traded it won't happen, because he's not getting paid $16m - he's getting paid $30m and he's not worth anywhere near that. Why would someone buy high for currently damaged goods? IT was damaged goods and the best he could come up with was $2m. Cousins market value was determined by the market to be $5m after his injury. This is basically a sunk cost for us. We can slit wrists till the cows come home but we're stuck with him. Maybe next year you'll get your wish and we'll trade him for Vucevic 

One thing I will say: he's probably the only $30m guy in the league playing less than 25m a game. And for good reason right now, but it obviously affects his numbers, his rhythm, all that stuff.

[Roy H.]

Obviously a very good night tonight.  I'm really starting to think the team should just bench Rozier and let Hayward completely run the second unit.

[gpap]

I must say I was impressed.

I know it's the Cavs and all but Hayward seemed confident tonight, something he's lacked.

I'm also noticing he needs the ball in his hands more to be successful, which makes me wonder if Brad should consider putting him back into the starting lineup. I like our current starting unit of KI/MS/JT/MM/AH as much anybody, but at I feel it's inevitable that Hayward is going to return the starting lineup. It just doesn't look good having a 30 million dollar player come off the bench (unless he's not even trying, and Hayward's issue has never been lack of effort.)

[ozgod]

He played 31 minutes tonight instead of the usual 24, which meant more touches, which helped his production (18-6-5) and being able to get himself in rhythm. Liked how he was able to create shots for other players with his passing which he usually doesn't get to do when Kyrie and Terry are running the point as then his role is to stand in a corner and shoot 3s (which he hasn't been able to do very well anyway).

In his post game interview he said that before the game he was actually quite anxious about going out on the floor tonight, all the memories came back, not so much about the event (which he has probably tried to suppress) but about the aftermath, sitting in the x-ray room and then the locker room, the people who were there with him, and him thinking if he was ever going to play again. He was ok after the first few mins but was anxious during the shoot around and pregame. Hopefully he exorcised some of his demons.

There will be more ups and downs though, particularly when Kyrie and Mook come back, the minutes and the FGAs will drop. I'm sure there will be a few more single digit games in his future. But if he can maintain his efficiency then he'll continue to be on the right track.

[trickybilly]

Obviously a very good night tonight.  I'm really starting to think the team should just bench Rozier and let Hayward completely run the second unit.

x1000000000000000000000

I love Rozier. Dude has heart, but I'd take Milwaukee's second round pick for him at the moment

[Irish Stew]

Obviously a very good night tonight.  I'm really starting to think the team should just bench Rozier and let Hayward completely run the second unit.

1) So many of Gordon's good games have come against dumpster fire defenseless teams or gross under achievers like Minnesota. I'm not sure that these games have much relevance to the elite defenses that we will encounter in the playoffs.

2) I don't know how serious this issue of Gordon's minutes vs the minutes of the younger players is, but such a move can only exacerbate any tension.

3) It's not hard to create a reasonable scenario where Terry is our starting point guard next season, I want to continue his growth as a player.

[Roy H.]

3) It's not hard to create a reasonable scenario where Terry is our starting point guard next season, I want to continue his growth as a player.

What growth are you seeing?

[gouki88]

Obviously a very good night tonight.  I'm really starting to think the team should just bench Rozier and let Hayward completely run the second unit.

I couldn’t agree more. Wanamaker would complement GH much better too

[Chris22]

Hayward won the game tonight.

[mobilija]

Obviously a very good night tonight.  I'm really starting to think the team should just bench Rozier and let Hayward completely run the second unit.

Totally agree. Trade Rozier for something we can include in AD trade. Even if it’s an end of the bench player it would be addition by subtraction. More minutes for Brown and Hayward.
I like Rozier and think he can contribute as a starter somewhere but it’s not happening here.

[SHAQATTACK]

3) It's not hard to create a reasonable scenario where Terry is our starting point guard next season, I want to continue his growth as a player.

What growth are you seeing?

what appears a formidable sized ZIT on the end of his nose.

[RodyTur10]

Obviously a very good night tonight.  I'm really starting to think the team should just bench Rozier and let Hayward completely run the second unit.

Not just bench him. Trade Rozier and Morris.

Both players don't really fit in the team. Morris has been shooting very well and Rozier is a good back-up starter, but they take shots away from the guys that need it. They're both ball stoppers and aren't as good on defense as they theoretically could.
 
Rozier could go to Orlando (with Yabusele) and Morris to Utah and get Vucevic in return. I'm getting worried about Baynes his injuries. So another starting center would be a good addition to the team. We also have to keep up with our competitiors. Philly adds Harris, we take Vucevic.