Analyzing Killian Hayes and Abdoulaye N’Doye
I decided to take the opportunity to watch 6-5, 2001-born guard, Killian Hayes play in a French League basketball game that took place on December 15th, 2018, between Cholet Basket and JSF Nanterre, as I was able to see this with thanks to YouTube via BG. Hayes is a very talented prospect that could be a potential lottery pick in 2020, so this was a chance to get a glance at his skill set, as well as his to watch his then teammate, 6-7 swingman Abdoulaye N’doye play. Here are my thoughts on how Hayes and N’doye fared on this day, as well as how their skills may translate to the NBA.
Killian Hayes is a very talented combo guard that has a variety of skills that could prove to be useful in the association. He is a smart, cerebral playmaker that tends to make sound decisions when he is on the floor, and he also does a good job of scoring on smooth, patient drives to the basket.
Hayes is a patient player that tends to favor going to his left, but he has good speed, agility, and body control to regular finish plays around the basket off the dribble. He can swiftly get to the rim to garner scores as he has a solid first step and handles the ball well, and he also can make a floater from around the elbow. Sometimes, he can struggle with his shooting touch, which can lead him to miss on floaters.
He also took several three-point shots, but he struggled to make them off the catch or dribble. He did utilize a crossover and a quick side step move to take a pull-up three late in overtime, but he was unable to get it to fall. Hayes did do a very good job of making his free throws, and he seems to have a repeatable stroke that could allow him to improve his three-point shooting ability if he works hard at that skill over time.
Hayes is a solid playmaker, as he is a tall point guard that has good court sense and sees the floor well. He excels at dribbling off screens to find the open man, as he will throw sharp interior passes to find roll men on the move, and he also can kick balls out to shooters to set up scores. Hayes has very good agility and ball handling skills, and he can push the ball up the floor to create transition-scoring opportunities for his team. At times, he can be inaccurate with his passes, as there are times where he may not always put his teammates in a prime spot to score the basketball.
Hayes also was able to chip in to get his fair share of defensive boards, as he would leap up to get them, and he would also bring the ball up the court.
He also played good defense in this game. Hayes is an active, agile help defender that can make numerous plays on the ball, as he will run in to intercept passes to get steals, and he also hustled back to swat a shot off of a drive in transition due to possesses solid athleticism, awareness, and anticipation skills. He will actively contest threes as well as shots in the post to force misses, and he also has good footwork to quickly go around screens to stay with opposing ball handlers.
However, he tends to commit fouls, as he can be prone to be called for hand-checking and reach-in fouls at times. Other times, he may sag too far off his man as he may give up too much space, which can lead him to allow his opponents to score on jumpers.
In general, Killian Hayes is a smart, skilled basketball player that could end up being a lottery pick in the 2020 draft. He is a gifted scorer off the dribble, has a knack for making solid passes with the ball in his hands, and he also is a good defender that can make big plays when his team needs him to. He will need to improve his jump shot, but if he can continue to hone his game, he could end being a very good player in the NBA.
6-7, 1998-born swingman, Abdoulaye N’doye had a fairly good game to help Cholet Basket get the overtime win over JSF Nanterre. He is a very athletic basketball player that can play the point or off the ball, and he is a player that may possess fairly solid playmaking and defensive skills.
He is a very good athlete that excelled at scoring on hustle plays. He was able to get a steal, as he was then able to score on a high-flying dunk off of a fast-break drive afterwards. He also ran the floor to score off the glass in transition late in this contest.
He struggled more to try to score in the half-court, however. He attempted to score on a right-handed drive off of a dribble handoff as he used a spin move to his left, but he ended up missing a contested jumper off the glass. He was able to draw a non-shooting foul when looking to score from the high post.
He also was able to make a wide-open three-point shot, and N’doye can make threes when given the time and space to do so. However, he rushed his outside shots quickly other times, as he was trying to beat the shot clock to avoid a shot clock violation on a couple of instances, which led him to speed up his release and to miss those shots.
N’doye did display solid playmaking skills. He is a quick, agile playmaker that can quickly drive the ball to the basket to kick it out to open shooters, and he is a very good ball handler that assortment of dribble moves that enables him to create separation between his man and his defender. But he also had some trouble getting all the way to the rim when he would look to score off the dribble, which can lead him to commit some turnovers. On one play, he ended up committing an offensive foul by pushing off of a drive, and he had the ball ripped away another time when looking to score off the dribble.
He also would leap up to get plenty of defensive boards in this game, and he also managed to tip a ball to a teammate to help his team get a defensive rebound.
He also may possess decent defensive skills. N’doye is an active help defender that will play passes, as he can quickly intercept and tip passes to get steals and deflections, and he is a rangy defender that can run in to haul them in for his team. He also was able to actively contest a three-point shot to force a miss another time.
However, he can tend to have lapses defensively, which can lead him to commit fouls and allow scores. Sometimes he will over-help in the paint or be caught ball watching, as he may sag too far off his man and end up being late to rotate back, which can lead him to allow three-point baskets to his opponents. Other times, he may be out of position when defending around the basket, which can force him to commit fouls. He also can be undisciplined at times, which can lead him to get beat on moves to the basket.
Overall, Abdoulaye N’doye is a very athletic point forward that has been a solid role player for Cholet Basket. He will need to improve his jump shot and focus in games, but still, his skill set could potentially allow him to thrive in the NBA, as he could project into a defensive specialist role in the association.
