Kyrie Irving gave his unfiltered thoughts on what the Boston Celtics need to start making a push for the Eastern Conference crown, recently calling out teammate Gordon Hayward and his passive approach coming back from injury. Hayward has been a shadow of himself since returning to the lineup, recently taking a role off the bench in hopes to get more comfortable with his new team.
“Honestly, I think that he’s passing a little too much for Gordon’s potential and his talent,” said the Celtics guard, according to Brian Robb of The Boston Sports Journal. “I think, coming up in the next few games, he’ll be able to show some different things that he’s been on for the start of the season. Just being more aggressive offensively and looking for his shot more.
“We had practice yesterday and I told him, ‘Look for your shot more. Get aggressive and get yourself going because you are a great talent in this league and I don’t want you to ever forget that.’ Of course, he does a great job of coming off the pick-and-roll and making those passes, but I want him to be aggressive and score the basketball for us as well because we are going to need it down the stretch.”
Hayward is averaging a pedestrian 10.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game at the quarter mark of the season for the Celtics, shooting a disappointing 40 percent from the field and 29 percent from deep while taking less than nine attempts per game.
The former All-Star is trying to slowly reincorporate himself into this team, but the Celtics are way past the point of trial and error and will need to start climbing up the East's standings if they hope to stake a claim at the throne.
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