Player Review: Tiffany Hayes

For Tiffany Hayes, the 2014 season was one in which the third-year guard took another step forward, establishing herself as an upper-echelon player in the WNBA. Serving as a full-time starter for the first time in her career, Hayes demonstrated that she will be a force in the league for years to come.

Although the season didn�t end as hoped, Hayes still felt the season as a whole was a successful one, as the team earned it�s first-ever No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

�Most of the games we lost this year we beat ourselves,� said Hayes. �We definitely had some adversity, but for the most part it was a good season despite the fact we felt we should have gone further in the playoffs.�

Hayes established career bests in scoring (12.9 points per game � 22nd in the league) and assists (2.5) while averaging a career-high 28.4 minutes per game. Her scoring picked up after a slow start in the season�s first four games, as she scored in double figures 24 times in the next 28 games, including five games with at least 20 points.

Impressively, Hayes increased her scoring average from last year�s 11.3 points per game, despite only a slight increase in her field goal attempts from 8.6 to 9.1 per game, while her free throw attempts per game remained steady (from 4.4 to 4.3). This was due to a significant increase in her shooting percentages, as her field goal percentage climbed from 40.6 percent in 2013 to 46.4 percent in 2014, which ranked fourth in the WNBA among guards. She displayed the ability to be one of the league�s best at slashing to the rim and finishing in traffic.

Another explanation for the scoring increase is that she took more three-point shots this season, increasing her attempts per game from 2.7 to 3.3, so although her percentage dipped slightly (from 37.7 to 35.7), she made more three-pointers per game than previously.

Another area where Hayes showed improvement was in ball security. While not particularly turnover-prone in the past, she was even better in 2014, averaging just 1.18 turnovers per game despite playing even more minutes. In fact, she decreased her rate of turnovers per 40 minutes from 3.12 in 2013 to just 1.65 in 2014, which ranked fourth lowest among guards in the WNBA.

Hayes� improvement in her assist rate and turnover rate also improved her standing to eighth in the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.2).

Looking forward to next season, Hayes feels like the one area where she could show the most improvement is on the defensive side.

�I think I could have been much better on defense, and that�s supposed to be my thing,� she said. �I think my defense was a little off this year, so I�m going to work on that.�

Already considered a solid defender, if Hayes makes improvements in that area, while continuing to make strides to her offensive game, she can elevate herself to an even higher level in 2015.