[NBA.com] The Magic of Chuck Hayes

Interesting quotes there at the end:

[rquoter]
“When Shane was here, I kind of just piggybacked whatever Shane said,” Hayes said. “His leadership and just the respect he demands in the locker room, I was able to be Robin to his Batman as far as team leadership. When we traded him, I just took on everything he’s ever taught me and tutored me on and tried to apply it to these young guys. I had a great mentor.
“Now it’s my turn to be the voice in this locker room and along side of me I’m gonna need some help from Kyle, Luis (Scola) and even Kevin (Martin). Right now, I’m doing what my job has entitled me to do. That’s be that veteran, that glue guy on the team on the court.
“I like to think they’re responding to me. I get a better sense of appreciation when they come in and ask questions. When they ask questions, it means they’re here to listen to me and my voice is being heard.”
It also means Hayes has moved over from the passenger seat to take his spot driving the Batmobile.
“I guess,” he said laughing. “I ain’t touching the steering wheel just yet. I’ve got it on auto-cruise and we’ll see where it takes us.”
[/rquoter]

 

Best stat of the article:

 

That was a really good read.

Not only do we get to see some respect paid to one of the hardest working men in the NBA, but we got a little tidbit of behind the scenes in the Rocket's locker room.

Nice that Lowry got the triple double, but now that two players on our team have done that, I wonder if more people are sitting up paying attention to us and taking us more seriously as a team - and as potential playoff contenders.

 

Chuck's so good he can get a triple double on auto-cruise.

 

What does he mean by "even Kevin"

 

Kudos! A great find. The quote about Battier's influence and leadership in the locker room confirms what I've always suspected, but didn't know from a solid source like Chuck. I'm sorry we lost Shane, but we're lucky to have the Chuckwagon pulling the team in his stead. It's so easy to be proud of this team and the coaching staff.

 

Because martin is a self-confessed 'lead by example' type player, but now he is forced to be more vocal.

 

Chuck is a class act seems like an honest man doin the dirty work for the team good to see him take over some of what Battier did for the team. Battier is well respected in my book wish he could have stayed a rocket but its whats best for the right team now. And the team is playing pretty darn good ball right now.

 

Interesting how he was the "Robin" to Battier ebing "Batman". Anw with Shane gone he is apllying everything his mentor taught him. I miss Shane. He bought so much to this team. Really sad to see him go and reading those lines make me miss him that much more.

Not trying to hijack this post but theres been some Battier hate since he left. Do you guys remember the horrible start we had? Who do you think held this team together from giving in? Who kept enouraging everyone? Who was the guy not letting this teams spiirt break?

 

I just love this.

 

Magic Hayes?? Love it!!

 

That kind of annoyed me, perhaps in light of Lowry's complaint about being called an overachiever. They want to make out like Hayes is a complete scrub, at least on offense, and that the trip-dub came out of nowhere. It didn't. He's been putting up good assist games and good rebounding games for a while, and he actually has some scoring abilities this season too.

And -- while I'm complaining -- why compare him to point guards? It isn't usually the PGs who get the triple-doubles, it's the do-it-all forwards who usually get them. Chuck Hayes has as many triple-doubles as Kobe Bryant this season. Not too shabby.

 

That one flinging pass he made from 30 ft out to Patt in the paint was as good as any pass Magic ever made.

 

Chuck wants nothing to do with the steering wheel. He just doesn't have it in him. He is a backseat kind of leader .

 

How has this car not crashed yet with all our players being in the backseat???

 

I just think it's so refreshing to see a guy like Chuck, who had one above average skill when he got to the NBA (rebounding/toughness), and that skill got him a guaranteed contract, but he didn't rest on that. He has spent every season and offseason developing other facets of his game.

First it was his defense... learning to become an expert at drawing charges and establish low post position on defense. By TMac's last real season, he was an elite low post defender, but a liability on offense. We all cringed as he would miss a layup that TMac gift-wrapped for him with one of those whip-fast passes. So he improved his touch around the basket over last season and this season, worked on his low-post moves and quite obviously worked on his horrendous free-throw shooting. It's also apparent that over this and last season, he's worked on his high-post passing skills so that he could be the "Rick Adelman Center" and we could actually run plays through him.

In all honesty, I think this guy is a free-agent priority. I mean, would you really be surprised if in 2 seasons he's developed a 15-17 foot jumper? I wouldn't say that there's anything the guy can't do because I said last season "there's no way The Chuckwagon will ever hit over 60% from the foul line."

Last thing: I remember when I was a kid and athletes were role-models to me. This is a guy that I would love if my kid (if I had one) looked up to. He's the personification that you can achieve any goal if you work hard enough.

Can't give enough kudos to Chuck Hayes. Morey... make sure this dude retires in Rockets Red.

 

Chuck's chuckwagon has auto-cruise? Damn...that's one bad-ass chuckwagon.