Jaxson Hayes Discussion: He's Back

I just asked this in the Kleber thread, but also want to ask it for Hayes.


If Jaxson comes in for backup minutes in the late 1st/3rd Q's and/or early 2nd/4th Q's, what is the best lineup you can make around him + only 1 of the Big 3 and no Ayton?

I'm thinking Luka, Smart, LaRavia, Rui, Hayes.

But I don't think putting Vando in works for this lineup bc I don't see how to space Vando and Hayes together.

Curious if anyone sees anything better than the above.

 

Jaxson Hayes working on his jumper. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever seen him make a shot beyond 15 feet.
https://youtube.com/shorts/59_0bWM_AR4?si=xc8BO26F-PI4_mMC

 

he keeps it higher on the catch than vando, which bodes better for in-game situations. but we're seeing an edit of his makes here rather than the larger sample we saw from vando that i think included a big enough continuous sample to say he was hitting a high percentage.

feel like i can remember hayes attempting some corner threes, but i looked it up and he's 0-11 with us over two years, lol. in 2021-22, he was 20-57 from three in NO (35%). dropped to 3-29 the next year, then just basically quit altogether.

hey, if he and vando can knock down 40% of their wide open corner threes, that's a nice bonus that makes it possible to run some different offense when they're in the game. that and being able to dribble twice and either finish or make the right read in the middle of the floor would also do wonders for their game and the team.

 

If he retained his athleticism for finishing, it’ll be welcome on the defensive end. For all the flack he gets, Hayes can be a decent backup.

 

He was excellent for a vet minimum.

 

the 20lbs of muscle stories always seem fake to me, tbh. hayes could probably use a little more beef, but if he loses agility, i'm not sure it matters too much. he's not going to be a bruiser, so press your advantage.

whatever, it's his career, and if he and the trainer believe this is the path, who am i to disagree?

i do agree that hayes is a perfectly fine backup center and certainly worth the vet min and more.

 

It always shocks me how light some basketball players are. I'm 198cm (6'6) and 112kg (245lb) - I feel slim. Hayes at 100kgs at 214 cm is wild to me.

 

Your serve must have been frightening if you got your size in your prime behind it. Boom! Amirite?

 

I’m hoping he is behind Kleber because what he really needed was a brain transplant.

 

one of my college roommates was 6'5" 240 and kind of looked like a regular dude, just blown up. basketball players are skinny. i remember thinking jose juan barea looked short and stout on the floor, and then i realized he was like almost exactly my size, lol (though i think they fudged his height a bit).

 

Haha, yes being tall with long levers helps a lot. My main goal when serving was percentages, placement and variety.

Sure I could launch a 130-140 mph serve, but the quality of returning is SO high these days, that unless you have placement and variety, it's usually not good enough for an automatic point. I was a much more dangerous server with accurate placement and relying on mixing up my serves between a slice, kick, body & outright fast ball. So usually I served around that 190-205km mark and raising the speed in key moments. I actually think the greatest strength in my game (apart from being a good mover at my height pre injuries) was my second serve. I was pretty automatic serving 175-180km and my placement was solid, you couldn't really attack my second serve.

But to be honest, I wonder a lot whether I could even play in today's game if I was starting fresh as a young player in today's generation. Everyone hits the ball SO hard and everyone is SO athletic. I was a good mover for my size, but I think some of these young guys wouldn't give me enough time with their aggressive baselining. Like Sinner, even at my best, is destroying me. I could hold a few games, but I'm not breaking him and he is SO good at returning.

It's always interesting to me when I see old players in basketball say how player x couldn't make it in their time. I mean, are you joking? Sport as a whole just continues to get more competitive, everything from tactics, to athleticism, to training and recovery, to diet, to learning from the past greats. It's not to say great players wouldn't be great today, but saying great players couldn't cut it in the 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s is a joke.

 

Great stuff thanks

 

good to hear jj was on board and recruiting here. i got the sense that rob and jj liked hayes more than lots of fans do.

not that he's not better, but i'm just not sure nic claxton is 25 million dollars per better than hayes.

 

Was “souped up” enough for probably the lob dunk of the pre-season from AR and a couple nice blocks. Shot his FTs well.