With his European experience, Nigel Hayes-Davis now wants to establish himself as more than just a player. He wants to be a source of intelligence and leadership for his team.
The training camps are going well for him; he is where he wants to be. He knows that the game is different between Europe and the United States in terms of physicality and technique, but for him, despite these changes, the way to play basketball remains the same:
“Yeah, its a différent game between EuroLeague and the NBA […]
I think the way I play basketball on both of the ball works in either league on any continent. And I think it’s just for me to go cut there and do it with confidence, do it with speed, execution, enthousiams, and i’ll be just fine.”
NHD relies on this ability to think and be decisive — making the right decisions — to increase the number of good actions. And on his ability to be more than just a scorer, his basketball IQ will be important for the team; the staff knows it and trusts him. These are qualities that should serve as benchmarks for a team that lacks experience:
“The coach came up and mentioned me about getting more involved in ghosting action because I’m really good at reading screens, reading switchs, knowing how to play and the way I just like to play basketball. It helps create second, third, fourth option instead of one action and get stagnant and we say make a play and play hero-ball, i’m able to keep the possession going. So that’s the same thing i did in Europe.”
He continues by explaining that this ability to think and be decisive is also important in defense, especially in a league like the NBA that excessively uses switches. While continuing to relate his words to what he experienced in Europe, which in the end, has a game not so different:
“That was something I did a lot in Europe. Again, different player style, different talent obviously, but in essence, you still have guys who are smaller and quicker than you. You have guys who, so it’s the same thing more or less. But just going out there and going that, relying on my instincts, my intelligence of scouting reports and knowing who i’m guarding against, knowing our team défense and our goals.
And then the same thing happens on offense since it is a switching league […] I’m really really good playing in switches because I understand what people try to do and I have through my years of basketball around the world, I have tricks, instincts, triggers, and cues on how to how play through that.”
These remarks clearly illustrate the parallel he draws between Europe and the NBA. Essentially, the same principles apply, only the sizes differ.
Nigel Hayes-Davis and Jordan Ott have had quite a few tactical discussions internally. About what NHD could bring to the team, particularly in defense, drawing inspiration from certain European models:
“One of things I mentioned not for us, not to get confused is a way to guard ghost screens and slip screens. We had a system where I was talking with the staff last year and it’s like a way to limit the chances. In the NBA there’s a lot of first action didn’t happen and it’s just someone’s running by, try to cause confusion. Talked about ways to guard like the post off ball.
So, there’s a lot of things that, he’s asked me that we’ve talked about […] but all in all, there’s a lot of things you can extract from the European game and apply it to here.”
He concludes with an introspection of himself. On his role as a teammate and veteran, his way of being, his way of playing basketball. He wants to lift the team up, much like a PJ Tucker did 10 years ago:
“I feel I do a great job of making winning plays, trying to help the teams win, being a positive voice and influence in the locker room and just carry all that with my work ethic and character and showing up every day. I’il be fine.”
Nigel Hayes-Davis was not only recruited to play basketball. No, he was also recruited to share his knowledge, his experience, and his basketball IQ. The season hasn’t even started yet, and we can already tell that the former Fenerbahçe player will be a strong link in the team.
