Zach Lowe gibt jede Saison seine 'Marc Gasol Allstars' zum besten (wer es nicht kennt, im verlinkten Artikel nachlesen:
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14924135/a-guide-most-watchable-players-nba)
und als SF Starter hat er Gordon Hayward zu dem er folgendes schrieb:
__________
Gordon Hayward, F, Jazz: Paul Millsap just appeared in his third All-Star game, so it's official:
Hayward has seized the mantle of Most Underappreciated NBA Player. He does everything well, with the same combination of change-of-pace craft and straight-line explosiveness that makes Walker so magnetic -- only Hayward has perhaps the league's most stylish hair. Seriously, the guy is like a gelled-up, modernized Don Draper out there.
Any ball handler navigating the forest of
Rudy Gobert and
Derrick Favors needs to squeeze through tight spaces and handle with enough guile to create space where none exists. Hayward can bounce it in either direction, and he has become an expert at scooting around a pick, pausing
Chris Paul-style with a defender on his hip, and reading the floor with a live dribble until an anxious enemy commits one way or the other. Hayward in the that moment is a puppet master, the game in his hands, and when he sees an opening,
boom, he strikes.
Utah's trees can obscure the path to the rim, so Hayward has developed a deep bag of midrange tricks -- step-backs, up-and-unders, and leaners where he's almost literally falling out of bounds. How many guys would even think to try this?
Hayward can manufacture a decent look from thin air, and that should serve him well as a crunch-time scorer. Utah has struggled in the clutch this season, but that has been due mostly to awful defense; Hayward is 13-of-28 on shots within the last three minutes of close games. When
Rodney Hood and Favors are rolling, Hayward skulks around for scoring chances off the ball.
__________
Interessant auch der letzte Abschnitt über die Clutchfähigkeit von Gordon und den Jazz. Was Gordons Wurfquote und Freiwurfrate zum Schluss eines Spiels angeht können wir nicht meckern, jedoch wird nicht angeführt wie es mit den Turnovern aussieht. Das wäre interessant zu wissen. Kann man das herausfinden und irgendwo Statistiken in 'Clutch-Momenten' selektieren?
"Hayward has seized the mantle of Most Underappreciated NBA Player" - da könnte er Recht haben, sogar unter Jazzfans ist das so.