Report: Hayward favouritism caused issues

[Fafnir]

Just seems like a bunch of finger pointing all around for why the team was struggling.

I mean Terry was on ESPN basically saying this despite him getting quite a lot of minutes. Just a loser team where everyone was blaming everyone else.

[PhoSita]

Just seems like a bunch of finger pointing all around for why the team was struggling.

I mean Terry was on ESPN basically saying this despite him getting quite a lot of minutes. Just a loser team where everyone was blaming everyone else.

Yup.

What stands out to me is all the people pointing fingers on the way out the door.

The guys you want are the ones who take responsibility for their own stuff and shut up about the rest.

[BringToughnessBack]

Always easier to blame someone else when things don't go your way. So many people can stare into a mirror yet see nothing in the reflection about themselves. Those are the kinds of people I do not enjoy or ever want to work with in real life. Those are also the kinds of people I prefer not to be friends with in real life. The blame game is a sign of a very weak individual. They will never truly reach the pinnacle of greatness until they focus on making themselves and others around them the best possible.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Some of us have been placing alot of blame firmly on Gordons shoulders. So this is no surprise to me.

I only hope gordon gets moved this offseason in some sort of sign and trade.

I don't think Gordon favoritism has anything to do with Gordon making the call to play before he was ready.   I think it was CBS and Ainge, trying to boost his fragile confidence and it back fired.   If it worked we would be a lot stronger team in the playoffs, it did not, we tossed the dice and came up short on this one.

A lot if being made about Gordon's play. Yes, it wasn't as consistent as we would've hoped, yet he put up on of his most efficient seasons of his career, albeit in less minutes and a year removed from the gruesome injury.

I don't know what the real complaint in all of this is, for someone who wasn't "ready"...

[celticinorlando]

This is a make or break (no pun intended) year for Hayward. Cannot use the injury as a crutch anymore. It is time for him to mentally and physically be the guy he was in 2016.

[GreenEnvy]

I still don’t understand why there were issues regarding this.

Do our young players not know who Gordon Hayward is?

If they had any aspirations of winning a title this year, they needed Gordon Hayward.

The only way to get Gordon Hayward back is to play him. Mentally and physically, he needed to get his minutes. As a starter.

The team had too many egos emerge after that playoff run and it was absolutely fool’s gold. We would have been much better off losing to Milwaukee in 6 in the first round than make the deep playoff run that didn’t get us into the Finals anyway.

[gift]

Just seems like a bunch of finger pointing all around for why the team was struggling.

I mean Terry was on ESPN basically saying this despite him getting quite a lot of minutes. Just a loser team where everyone was blaming everyone else.

Yup.

What stands out to me is all the people pointing fingers on the way out the door.

The guys you want are the ones who take responsibility for their own stuff and shut up about the rest.

Agree with both of you. When things go wrong you can always find an excuse. Doesn't mean that excuse was necessarily a cause. Without that excuse, you'd just find another one anyway.

[celticinorlando]

I think this is why you cannot bring back Rozier. He was a cancer.

[SHAQATTACK]

This was obvious to me since training camp.

agree.  I feel so too.   Not really Gordons fault ,  he is being paid a crazy amount of money and he wants to play ...earn it .   CBS and DA wanted him back up to speed .  Makes sence .

But ....those young guy ARE young , were successful the year before , and I really thought they would resent being benched or taking less play n time.   Their body language and suttle comments said so.

Irving was devastated at Haywards injury early on .  He hopeful and all in acting .

But when Haywards progress was soooo agonizingly slow , Irving and The young guys just lost the patience with it all.  Maybe in a perfect world with older wiser  people this would work out for Gordon . 

Gordon needed to prove he was deserving the attention and time.  He just came up short way too,many times .

The Gordon Hayward leg drove a wedge between most of the rest ofmthe team and CBS i think. 

I wondering if the ill feelings can be put aside ...EVER ?

Mentally Gordon needed to play like crazy and rewin the respect and help of the team .   He was TOO in the mind it seemed to take reins and play like he is an alpha.  They would have rallyed around him , had he played like he had something to prove .   

Not his fault , the chemistry was destroyed from the previous year.

[MaxAMillion]

I have made this point repeatedly. Thank God for Jackie having the guts to go against the media and fans who only want to blame Kyrie and give Hayward a pass. I am sure it caused resentment. Again the team who got the one seed two years ago had Irving playing 60 games. Hayward played zero games and the team got along fine.

[Rosco917]

This is silly. Trying to get an all star player back in form is not favoritism, it's common sense.

TP

[footey]

Whatever resentments, I would absolutely love to be in the floor with Gordon Hayward now if I were Jaylen Brown or Jason Tatum.  Hayward is very unselfish, and goes out of his way to get those guys going.  Once his shot returns (and it will), he will be able to create space for them to operate.

[bdm860]

It's interesting if there's resentment towards Hayward that he still gets the Gatorade showers.

Here's one with with what looks like Yabusele, Horford, Wanamaker, Ojeleye, Rozier, and Morris.

Here's another with Yabusele, Theis, and I believe Morris (due to only the arm wrap that's visible).

Of course it seems like mostly the bench guys that are happy for him.  Maybe Morris didn't have a problem as he's in both videos (I think).


One thing I've always wondered about though is I wonder how many guys on the team know how good Hayward actually is, at least the guys thought to have a problem with him.  How much did he show them in training camp that first year before the injury?  Because when you think about it:

Jaylen Brown only played 2 games against Hayward, and looking at the details I think Brown was only on the floor <12 minutes total with Hayward.  Both Celtics wins.

Terry Rozier also played 2 games against Hawyard, and again it looks like he only played <10 minutes at the same time as Hayward in one game which was a Celtics win.

Tatum being a rookie last year, obviously never played against Hayward in an NBA game.

Marcus Smart, while he played significant minutes against Hayward, enough to see the skill, was still 5-1 against him.  (Though I wouldn't guess that Smart was one of the problems with resentment).

Hayward only being a one time All-Star, only averaging 20+ once, never being All-NBA, playing in a poor media market like Utah, maybe having more of a nerdy personality with video games, seems like he has a soft spoken/non-confrontational personality, the connection with Stevens, not an alpha, being a pretty white boy, etc, I can see how a guy like him doesn't instantly command respect when he walks on the basketball court (unlike say Kyrie), and the young guys with the expectations of minutes (Brown, Tatum, Rozier) have never seen first hand how good he really is, and maybe didn't think he was that good to begin with.  I can see how that could easily lead to resentment, not knowing how good he really is.  Why does Chandler Parsons here automatically get minutes, I'm better than him...  Would there be the same resentment if it was Jimmy Butler on the C's coming of that injury instead: similar ability but bigger name, more swagger, no Stevens connection, etc.  I actually don't think so.

[gouki88]

It's interesting if there's resentment towards Hayward that he still gets the Gatorade showers.

Here's one with with what looks like Yabusele, Horford, Wanamaker, Ojeleye, Rozier, and Morris.

Here's another with Yabusele, Theis, and I believe Morris (due to only the arm wrap that's visible).

Of course it seems like mostly the bench guys that are happy for him.  Maybe Morris didn't have a problem as he's in both videos (I think).


One thing I've always wondered about though is I wonder how many guys on the team know how good Hayward actually is, at least the guys thought to have a problem with him.  How much did he show them in training camp that first year before the injury?  Because when you think about it:

Jaylen Brown only played 2 games against Hayward, and looking at the details I think Brown was only on the floor <12 minutes total with Hayward.  Both Celtics wins.

Terry Rozier also played 2 games against Hawyard, and again it looks like he only played <10 minutes at the same time as Hayward in one game which was a Celtics win.

Tatum being a rookie last year, obviously never played against Hayward in an NBA game.

Marcus Smart, while he played significant minutes against Hayward, enough to see the skill, was still 5-1 against him.  (Though I wouldn't guess that Smart was one of the problems with resentment).

Hayward only being a one time All-Star, only averaging 20+ once, never being All-NBA, playing in a poor media market like Utah, maybe having more of a nerdy personality with video games, seems like he has a soft spoken/non-confrontational personality, the connection with Stevens, not an alpha, being a pretty white boy, etc, I can see how a guy like him doesn't instantly command respect when he walks on the basketball court (unlike say Kyrie), and the young guys with the expectations of minutes (Brown, Tatum, Rozier) have never seen first hand how good he really is, and maybe didn't think he was that good to begin with.  I can see how that could easily lead to resentment, not knowing how good he really is.  Why does Chandler Parsons here automatically get minutes, I'm better than him...  Would there be the same resentment if it was Jimmy Butler on the C's coming of that injury instead: similar ability but bigger name, more swagger, no Stevens connection, etc.  I actually don't think so.

Really good post. I do think you're onto something. TP

[gpap]

If what MacMullen is saying is true, this is pretty pathetic.

I'm not one to defend Hayward, but if you have a $30 million player coming back from an injury, of course you're going to give him his shot to start and see how his body responds. And he didn't play well, so Brad benched him in lieu of Tatum and Morris.

So, what's the big deal?

And if Rozier and Brown are the two who started this commotion, then I want nothing to do with EITHER of them!!

Honestly, if I'm Ainge (and actually had brains), I'd blow this team completely up and totally re-shape the roster.

Grown men acting like children.