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“I’m trying to take away his right shoulder and make him go [to his] right,” Hayes says after the Raptors loss. “I don’t want him to go to his right shoulder for the left-handed shot. I want to keep him off of the glass. You have to put in a plan for the second move, kind of what Chris Kaman used to be like. [Monroe] has great footwork for a big man. You play him for his second move. When he goes one way, keep him going that way.”

Hayes plays just 77 seconds against the Pistons, and that possession plus a missed floater are likely all Raptors fans notice — if they even notice those plays — of the veteran. He does not play again this week. From the practice court to the bench to his home, the life of the team’s resident old head is vastly more complicated than that minute and change. Check that: older head.

A game day at home starts off with a trip to Sunset Grill for Hayes. He orders an omelette and French toast, and goes unrecognized. He then heads back to his 18th-floor condo near the Air Canada Centre, to send a good-morning text to his wife, Rochelle, and his seven-year-old son, Dorian, who live in Houston. After some rest, he will head to the arena to do a cardio workout and watch film before the team’s 4:45 p.m. walk-through. (Since last year, the Raptors have eschewed the normal NBA practice of morning walk-throughs at home, opting instead to do them three hours before game time.)

“It’s kind of like it’s the last thing you see, you remember,” Hayes said. “At 4:45, when we go to film, we’re locked in, instead of coming in, coming here, going over everything at 10 o’clock in the morning, leaving, and coming back and going through your pre-game ritual. This way, it’s fresh in your head.”