Detroit Pistons: Killian Hayes on the hunt to score … finally

Killian Hayes began as a pass first, second and third point guard. However, the Frenchman has become much more aggressive looking for his shot. That is very good news for Detroit Pistons fans.

That coach Dwane Casey’s offense features a lot of isolation plays is no surprise to anyone who has watched the Pistons the past few years. But who he was running isolation plays for, in their game against the Philadelphia 76ers, was very surprising.

Time and again, Killian Hayes went against the Sixers’ Seth Curry 1-on-1. Fans at the Wells Fargo Center and on TV saw Hayes, who in his rookie year never found a shot he couldn’t turn into a pass,  trying to break down the smaller Curry.

Why Casey wanted his least offensive-minded player to be isolated to score, is something only he knows. But it is certainly something we never would have seen last year.

Hayes did not score much off of the iso’s, but he certainly kept up the attack mindset when it was needed.

In the fourth quarter, Hayes was instrumental as Detroit rallied from a 22-point deficit to cut the margin to just five with a little over a minute remaining, against a 76ers team that rarely loses at home.

Hayes even made a layup that would have cut it to just a three point game, except it was wiped out due to a TOTALLY BOGUS CALL on Kelly Olynyk by the three blind mice posing as referees in the game (Not that we are bitter).

The Philly game was Hayes’ 30th in the NBA. While officially a second-year player, fans must keep in mind he played just 27 games as a rookie due to a hip injury.  In terms of experience, he is more a rookie than a vet.

Hayes finished with nine points, five rebounds and four assists. Not a eye-catching number but solid, which is all the Pistons are asking of him right now.

What Detroit can not afford is for Hayes to be offensively like the 76er who did not play, Ben Simmons, and only shoots when it is a dunk or layup (and in big games, not even that). The Pistons simply do not have the firepower to play 4-on-5 on offense.

Hayes is still shooting just 27.2% from the field this season, but the trend is upward. He missed a lot of training camp with an ankle injury, so he is just starting to get back a feel for the game.

With Cade Cunningham finally playing, if anything, the burden to be more offensive-minded falls on Hayes even more. If the 6-foot-5, 195-pound guard is not looking for his shot, defense’s can double Cunningham more easily.

While the stats may not show it yet, Hayes  simply now ‘looks’ like a player not afraid to shoot. He no longer appears, like he did in his first year, as a point guard looking to pass as soon as possible.

And since he is now not forcing passes, Hayes’ turnover rate has improved, from a 3.2 game average last season, to 1.0 in the first four games.

As the No. 7 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Hayes has a lot of pressure to succeed. Defensively, he is already at a high level. Once he starts being able to score when called upon, like in the fourth quarter against Philadelphia, he  can become the player everyone expected.