Despite the fact that Gordon Hayward of the Boston Celtics returned to the floor after a severe injury, it seems he has some problems of adjustment to the fast-paced basketball.
In three preseason games, the 28-year-old forward is averaging 7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. But the biggest problem is his shooting – he went 5-of-20 from the floor and 1-of-10 from the 3-point range. Overall, it is just 25.0 percent from the field.
Speaking about his challenges of becoming a full-fledged player, Hayward said, per ESPN: “Physically, I feel pretty good, but I don’t feel comfortable on the floor yet. It’s one thing to be physically able to do everything. It’s another to be a basketball player – the timing and the rhythms.
When you’ve been playing a long time, you just know. But not after you take a huge break, and come back to a new system. The second surgery was such a setback. I was really looking forward to playing 5-on-5 the whole summer. What I’m going through now is what I wanted to do in the summer, but it didn’t work out that way”.
Hayward missed the last preseason game with the Cavaliers due to a sore lower back. Last summer he signed a four-year, $128 million contract with the Boston Celtics. As the Utah Jazz player, Hayward averaged 15.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.0 steal per game, while shooting 44.4 percent from the field.
