Calling his career a possible 'disappointment' does not have to mean that he has been terrible this year. X4 discussions do not all have to be black and white.
I don't disagree with much that you say but you leave out the passiveness, which is what is bugging me. You can see in spurts that he has it in him but is too often content to be a distributor, IMO.
I do agree 100% with you last paragraph although I hope he has bigger professional aspirations than becoming another Jon Crispin.
Dodging a bullet every week and surprised it took this long to catch up with them.
If you are going to be critical then Koenig and everyone's wonder boy (Happ) deserve some criticism as well. Koenig hasn't been hitting shots for a while now and Happ can be very one dimensional at times.
I do think Koenig isn't healthy and it's impacting his performance and Happ is a really nice player. However, they aren't perfect and neither is Hayes. Just seems like Hayes takes a pounding by the fans a lot more than everyone else.
Tschmack posted:If you are going to be critical then Koenig and everyone's wonder boy (Happ) deserve some criticism as well.
Definitely agree on how they are playing but at least they aren't disappearing.
Hayes is definitely the biggest disappointment considering his potential. I thought by this point in his career he would be taking over games all by himself.
Happ is Frank Kaminsky without the outside game. He's virtually impossible to cover one on one on the block, is an outstanding defensive player, and a decent passer.
The difference between being a first team All-Big 10 player (Happ) and a lottery pick (Frank) is obviously the outside shooting. As good as Happ is, he really hurts their spacing if he can't hit anything outside of 5 feet.
As I said in a previous post, Hayes should be on the block. He's a good college post player. The problem is that if Happ is in he has to be on the block. Then you have Happ's guy ready to come over and help on Hayes if he's also playing inside. Happ is not a good fit for the classic swing offense because he has no perimeter game.
So in response to the criticism that Hayes has played passive I would say that not only Hayes but many of the other players have looked passive on offense because the offense if basically throw into Happ and let him make some moves. He's struggled in the last week with the double teams. In the classic Bo Ryan swing offense, they'd move Happ outside at some points in the game and then post up Hayes (or even Showalter/Koenig/Iverson) to search for the best mismatch. There was lot more movement and flexibility. If you leave a guy like Kaminsky (or Dekker or even Berggren to a lesser extent) wide open for a 3 it was a losing proposition. If you are guarding Happ outside you can roam and gum up everything else. That's the dilemma Gard has. His best offensive player has to be on the block. If Happ's not on the block they are playing 4 on 5.
Tschmack posted:I can't believe all the Hayes bashing. If he wasn't so outspoken would he be receiving this level of criticism? I doubt it.
So let me guess, we're being racist for discussing Hayes' poor basketball games?
I agree somewhat with the Haynes in the post idea, but remember when he was supposedly working on his 3 point shot last offseason. He showed real improvement and now this year I just don't see it as much anymore.
Also he used to be able to take guys off the dribble and get to the rim or get fouled. This season he looks like he is trying not to get hurt.
I agree, Hayes best game is in the post, but unlike when Frank was his partner down low, Happ doesn't space the floor at all.
We were really so incredibly lucky to have Frank, his ability to be dangerous anywhere on the court made other players so much better.
Right now Bucky has no spacing, teams can focus on the post and you've seen the scores reflect that recently.
The blueprint. Double team Happ. Game over.
FreeSafety posted:I agree somewhat with the Haynes in the post idea, but remember when he was supposedly working on his 3 point shot last offseason. He showed real improvement and now this year I just don't see it as much anymore.
Also he used to be able to take guys off the dribble and get to the rim or get fouled. This season he looks like he is trying not to get hurt.
It's a lot harder to get to the rim when the big guy guarding Happ is camped out in the middle of the lane ready to help.
Even if Happ moves outside, they stay camped in the lane.
GBFanForLife posted:The blueprint. Double team Happ. Game over.
True, if no one else is making shots. the double is not near as efficient if the ousideshots are going in. Get that shooting percentage up to .500 and the double will not be nearly as effective.
BK, Hayes and company need to start hitting some open shots. The opponent then cannot double as much which leaves Happ one on one.
At times, it might be prudent to run a fast-paced game. Use the bench to run, run run.....get the offense set up before the defense can get set. It can't happen all the time, but I saw a few times where we got quick open shots and it worked. Of course, as mentioned earlier...it would help if our shooting FG % goes up a bit. 
I totally agree on pace- when the grind it out offense isn't getting good looks, open up the pace and find a rhythm.
