<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-in-reply-to="265813201093005314"><p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/johnhollinger">johnhollinger</a> Hayes' defense has been amazing. He might be starting within a few games.</p>— Tom Ziller (@teamziller) <a href="https://twitter.com/teamziller/status/265813566693720064" data-datetime="2012-11-06T13:51:07+00:00">November 6, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> http://www.modbee.com/2012/11/05/2442666/kings-notes-hayes-raises-his-game.html [rquoter] No one was more disappointed with Chuck Hayes' first season in Sacramento than Hayes himself. Health scares, injuries and coaching changes contributed to a down season for Hayes, who was brought in for his leadership, defensive acumen and basketball IQ. This season, however, Hayes showed up for training camp in better shape and has looked like the player the Kings expected. "I know my role. I know what to expect," Hayes said. "Last year, it was hard to figure out with a new coach, new teammates. Going into Year 2, I knew what I had to do." That meant working to improve his overall fitness, which was set back after the lockout and limited when he dislocated his shoulder early in the season. Now the 6-foot-6 forward/center is more active on the floor and playing aggressive defense. "You've seen the lift come back," coach Keith Smart said. "His basketball IQ is off the charts. He understands the game and has the winning mentality. Now you see him getting in better shape and you see the things he's able to do that can help our basketball team." Hayes continues to strive to get in even better shape. He regularly works with Kings strength and conditioning coach Daniel Shapiro on top of what he does in practice. "I just get in extra cardio just about every day," Hayes said. "I just want to stay healthy and try to extend my career by being in the best shape as possible." On the court, Hayes has been productive to start the season. Hayes grabbed 11 rebounds in Friday's loss to Minnesota. He guarded Indiana standout forward David West for most of the fourth quarter and both overtimes in Saturday's loss. Hayes has also been valuable with his passing and help getting the offense organized. "He understands the game," Smart said. "He's like a point center. When you have a guy that may not be as vocal, he's able to share and put people in place. He does the same thing in practice that he does in games. A guy with that kind of understanding is a huge positive for our team." Hayes, 29, said he's feeling as good as he has in a while. He's not claiming to have found the fountain of youth but does see the results of his work. "I'm slowly getting there," Hayes said. "You'll never be what you used to be, but you can get as close as you can." [/rquoter]
Chuck needs to play for a winning team instead of the Kings. Excellent role player. Good guy. Stuck on a bad team *sigh* What a waste.
I was enjoyed watching Chuck play last night, he was always good! Watch Chase last night also, his defense seems to be improving.
I'd love to get him back. How cool it is to have a 7-ft Chuck Hayes and the real Chuck Hayes manning the defense!
Remember that Chuck makes $5.7M next season and that the Rockets are now projected to have around $15.2M or so in cap room. The $5.7M could be the difference between having the cap room to sign a "max guy" outright and having to get help in a S&T type deal arrangement to make it happen. I would love to get Chuck back, but doubt that the Rockets will get him back until they obtain that 2nd max player and turn their attention to filling out the rest of the roster and when extra cap room is not as relevant (especially if they traded one or more of Patterson, Morris, Jones, Motiejunas, etc. on their way to the next max guy).
I don't know if y'all got a chance to watch the Kings game against the Warriors last night, but ol Chuckwagon was pretty much the reason they won. He put on a very Rockets-era Hayes performance, doing a lot of things that don't show up in the box score. That and I guess, Curry getting possessed by the ghost of Iverson and cranking up bad shots at the point instead of setting up the offense. That DOES show up in the box score. Dude is turrible when his shot isn't falling.
I don't know what people see in that kid, but then again people love those fools gold 3point shooters.
