GAME 5: Celtics @ Pistons 7pm

[edmunder_prc]

Hayes just looks uncomfortable handling the ball against the defensive pressure.

Quote me on this later;

When the Pistons play a team that doesn't scout him properly on his complete lack of a right hand, he will look great.

Hayes has a ton of work to do on his right hand. It has to be a priority of the utmost importance. He has the skills, and the vision. What he is lacking is a basic tool; the ability to go right, or at the very least trust himself to go right.

It is crippling his game.

Yup. In that sense, he's the second coming of Brandon Jennings.

Jennings scored 60 points as a rookie.

He was actually pretty good on the Pistons until he tore his Achilles, then he was traded for Tobias Harris. Let's hope for Jennings second coming.

[flow]

Hayes was also a game day decision with an injury. I'm not really worried about a 19 yr old point guard struggling 5 games into his NBA career with no summer league and minimal pre-season camps.

Not directed at Kilo specifically-

It's time to stop throwing around "only 19 yrs. old" like it's 17 yrs. old. 19 is the average age of a lottery draft pick. Everyone selected ahead of Hayes was also 19 yrs old. I thought this guy was ahead of his age because he's played professionally? That's why we were so insistent that he start right off the bat, as I recall.

Now that he's looking like he was taken a round early, we're flipping the script and babying his age? I'm all for giving him time, but let's not change the narrative. These struggles were not expected.

[bstein14]

Too frustrated last night to be a good sport, but slept on it and got over myself.

Good win, y'all. After the crazy start, we kept putting runs on you all game, and you had a reply every single time. That's good effort, coaching, and mental toughness.

See you in the next one.

No chance the Pistons win two in a row against the Celtics. Pistons needed an incredible start to win this one, Celtics are the better team and they won't sleep on the Pistons in this next game. I hope the Pistons can keep it a single digit loss but it might get ugly. Pistons have competed in most games this season but this might be their first 20 point blowout loss.

[tmorgan]

Hayes was also a game day decision with an injury. I'm not really worried about a 19 yr old point guard struggling 5 games into his NBA career with no summer league and minimal pre-season camps.

Not directed at Kilo specifically-

It's time to stop throwing around "only 19 yrs. old" like it's 17 yrs. old. 19 is the average age of a lottery draft pick. Everyone selected ahead of Hayes was also 19 yrs old. I thought this guy was ahead of his age because he's played professionally? That's why we were so insistent that he start right off the bat, as I recall.

Now that he's looking like he was taken a round early, we're flipping the script and babying his age? I'm all for giving him time, but let's not change the narrative. These struggles were not expected.

Flow, I generally respect your posts, even when you are really, really negative. But these struggles WERE expected, and if you think otherwise, you’re just wrong. He’s a young PG, switching leagues and switching countries, that had known weaknesses. As incompetent as we may look as an organization at times, we obviously knew he had a very weak off hand, a suspect shot, and a lot of adapting to do.

I absolutely knew he would struggle, and I wanted him anyway. He has size, floor awareness, and (until now) confidence. I don’t like seeing Killian look overwhelmed, but it was pretty much inevitable. Now the question is... do we keep feeding him minutes, hoping he breaks through that way, or do we try to build him up a little confidence-wise, playing more against backups and/or giving him some time off. I don’t know the right answer to that question.

[buzzkilloton]

I don't think anyone expected him to be a all-star right off the bat. I get why people are concerned though. Hes averaging 4pts on 23% shooting so far. I looked over every rookie pg drafted in the past decade in the top 10. This would be the worst season of any if this was a full year of what hes doing the only two I caught that could compare are D.Exum and Frank N who both had better numbers. I don't care about pgs not drafted top 10 as they werent considered high level prospects or pgs before this period as players are overall more NBA ready these days.

Luckily for us its only been 5 games so the sample size isnt that relevent yet. If we start crossing the half way mark and hes still playing this bad then the "hes only a 19yo rookie, played in Germany" no summer league" excuses start losing merit to me. He surely cant be this bad all year.

I expect he will improve a ton. He showed some flashes in the 4th quarter of game 3 that really impressed me. Hopefully he just needs some time and can play like that 4th quarter more often. Also would Casey really start him if hes looked this bad during practice?

[JohnReese]

I like his passing and defense but he need to find a way to score or his future will not be bright at all.

It is a pitty that we cannot send him to play a couple games in the G League so he could come back with more confidence.

Bey looks a solid role player at least with potential for more and Stewart has found a way to contribute which is more than I could expect. With Stewart it will be more about to see if he is able to grow and expand his game.

Finally, I would like to see more Jackson plays. He has potential to be a primary scorer in this team.

[tmorgan]

Eh. It’s actually really important we finish with the worst record if possible. If it’s a 5 star deep draft, guaranteeing a top 5 pick is important. That said, we can’t destroy Hayes in the process, so if he needs to sit some or play less, so be it.