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A few statistics on Gordon Hayward may help critics "come to their senses"

I am not about to hop on the anti-Hayward bandwagon! He has had too many solid, even great, games this season to do that. By the numbers, this season Gordon Hayward has set career highs in field goal percentage (51.6%), free throw percentage (86.0%) and rebounds (5.9 RPG). I took the liberty of mathematically adjusting his stats this season to mirror his minutes (34.5 MPG) from Gordon's All-Star 2016-17 season with the Utah Jazz. He averages 31.6 minutes/game for 2019-20.

2016-17 Season (Utah): 21.9 PPG - 5.4 RPG - 3.5 APG - 47.1% FG - 84.4% FT

2019-20 Season:(Boston) 17.6 PPG - 6.5 RPG - 4.4 APG - 51.6% FG - 86.0% FT



It is amazing to see how quickly Celtics fans turn on Hayward after one bummer of a game, such as last night's 128-123 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Gordon scored only seven points in 32 minutes of action and was missing almost every shot he took. He came away shooting a putrid 1-of-10 from the field and 1-of-9 on treys. But I quickly remind my readers that he is at 51.6% FG - a career-high - for this season. Erratic shooting can plague any NBA player - at any time - even the true marksmen.


Don't totally believe in your senses. As Scrooge said in A Christmas Carol, "a little thing affects them." The eye test may be flawed. Poorly-based bias can set in. I go to numbers in these matters. They don't tell the whole story, but numbers don't lie.

Gordon Hayward is having a fine season, but the naysayers come out of the woodwork after a bad game. The numbers tell us that Gordon's present season in Boston is damn close to what he had in his 2016-17 All-Star campaign in Utah. With the trade deadline 20 days away, many fans would send him away in a heartbeat. The Ghost of Christmas Past took Ebenezer Scrooge back in time to bring him back to the fine realities of the world. I have brought my readers back several seasons - and hopefully helped them "come to their senses".



Follow Tom at @CelticsSentinel, @CausewayStreet and Facebook

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