Detroit Pistons: Don’t Worry About Killian Hayes’ Shooting

Through 2 preseason games Killian Hayes has had trouble finding the bottom of the hoop. But the poor shooting shouldn’t concern Detroit Pistons fans.

Detroit Pistons rookie Killian Hayes is a super-young point-guard which means there will be some growing pains. With very few exceptions young point-guards are terrible.

That said, his initial poor shooting is not something to be concerned about. At some point the shots will need to start falling, if he finished the season with Stanley Johnson shooting numbers of 38/29/60 it would be concerning, but that’s a long way off.

Hayes shot pretty well in Europe before coming to the NBA, 38 percent from deep on good volume last season, and his shooting form is sound. Obviously some guys have all that and still never figure it out at the NBA level, but there’s good reason for confidence.

The thing Pistons fans should be watching for early in the season is Hayes ability to beat guys off the dribble and penetrate into the paint.

One of the main concerns of scouts regarding Hayes is that he isn’t a super-explosive athlete. As great as it is that Hayes is so comfortable with a Reggie Jackson-style arsenal of floaters, hooks, and flip-shots, its not great how often he had to use them in Europe.

You can be a solid point-guard without high-levels of penetration in the NBA. Just look at post-injuries Jackson, but it puts a cap on how far you can go. To be an elite ball-handler in today’s NBA you need to be able to collapse defenses with penetration.

Hayes may end up having to do this in creative ways, with hesitation moves and ball fakes instead of an explosive first-step, but this is where he needs to show abilities.

Hayes has shown great vision out of the pick and roll through 2 preseason games, but once the games count and teams are making at least basic adjustments each night, teams will not respect his drives until he forces them too.

That means that even being as brilliant a passer as Hayes looks to be, if the defense isn’t bending to his drives he simply won’t have the lanes to make good passes.

This can be known as the Ish Smith effect. Where despite being able to shake guys with his quickness, his total inability to finish at the hoop often resulted in a choked up half-court offense. Smith could occasionally bust out by hitting a string of mid-range jumpers, but on nights where he missed it often go ugly.

The good news is that Hayes should eventually start hitting jumpers but his will be pull-up threes which will loosen up defenses in a major way. But to fully unlock a high-powered offense he needs to get into the paint.

This does also mean that through the season, expect some ebbs and flows with Hayes where he has stretches of great passing but low scoring, and others of good scoring but less assists. That would actually be a good sign that Hayes is adapting to what defenses are throwing at him.