Killed Hayes 2.0 Final Edition

Regardless of how he finishes the season I owe you an apology Killian Hayes I am sorry I wrote you off. There i said it all your haters happy now! Man I absolutely ripped this kid from top down as a person, as a frenchman, as a basketball player you name it. I was done with him he was just so god awful to start this season and had never really shown flashes going into this third season of his. Wow!!! has he proved me wrong in every single way imaginable I have to make sure it is known I was wrong and you can play basketball lol. So their you have it, I don't want to hear it from anyone saying he's trash anymore. Now I have said in the last week already, and i'm not going to take any sort of credit for this rise in pay. But, man did he get the message one way or another. 

This kid had seemingly found his way and I am ecstatic for him and hope they don't trade him anymore. Please don't trade him Troy, I am apologizing! Where do we even start with the praise for Killian Hayes? This kid had completely changed his game and is getting it all right all of the sudden. I did not see that coming not one bit. I figured it was over for him averaging 2 points a game and basically the same in turnovers. Historically bad in fact for the Pistons organization and for his Lottery Pick status in general. Just a horrid pace to start this season so sure i'm not the only one that thought his carrer may be over in Detroit. Yet I might be one of the few fully apologizing. Because he has completely changed that narrative so much so people are now saying he is untradable and the future again. Right now that is a no brainer decision with Cade out for the season. This kid is your starting Guard for the rest of the year barring any injuries. While two months ago he was an afterthought and a disgrace. So just how has he broken out into the player we thought he could be? I have not freaking clue to be honest, its like he just woke up one day and alright its time. That light clicked on in his head and its was all over. He just stepped up huge and became great, that is not something that happens in this league. Man oh man does he seem like a kid who has a big chip on his shoulder or what. Rightfully so with so many people like me writing him off and saying he is done. Well as Lee Corso would say, not so fast, Killian Hayes has arrived and he brought it all with him. Most people have turned to his 3 point shooting has the big bright spot and that has been a huge plus. His draft profile showed this as well if he could get that part of his game, lookout!!! 

Though that is not what has impressed me the most. Yeah that's right its the be at part of his game that has seemingly clicked together for him. 

If you just took his assist rate alone and matched that up from what he was at for the first month and a half of the season compared to the second. You would seriously think I was talking about a different player like the numbers are just absurd in that category! So lets just use the first and last 8 games for example. Since passing and court vision is his number one attribute. The month of October in 8 games he was averaging 3.4 assists per game. For a guy whose entire game has always been predicated on passing that's really really bad. In his last 8 games he is averaging nearly double that at 6.9 per game, almost double! Without having Cade around at all either, that is eye popping! Some of you might say only 7 a game that's not very good what are you talking about. That is double if we were saying 7 to 14 a game were talking about All Time great status if you could even flirt with that. Take into consideration this Magic Johnson you know the All Time leader averaged 11.19 all time. 7 per game sounds a heck of a lot better now. Add in that the Pistons are barely averaging 22 assists per game that means he is about a third of their assists. So yeah that is incredible and a massive improvement in what is recognized as the best part of his game. This just shows you that he may just be for real, he can be that true D&D (defense&distribution) style guard that is so often over looked in a modern NBA all about size and shooting. There is no coaching for basketball IQ, Court Vision, and Intangibles. Certainly there is no replacing it either. If Hayes keeps playing this way for the rest of the season and can build on it even more going forward look out! 

Oh hey and I didn't even mention his shooting percentage, steals, 3 point shooting, free throws, points per game, fouls taken, and turnover ratio have all drastically improved. Like I mentioned every single category is better for him and not just a little better a lot better. One can only hope that this is the kid we have been waiting on and if so what a beautiful thing to witness. That is the big question here for anyone who loves or hates Killian Hayes can he continue to perform at this torrid pace and if so can he improve on it even more?

Drop a Comment let me know your thoughts!