That figure ranks third to last in the league, per NBA.com. Gay makes it almost impossible to play good team ball because his presence on the court means the rock invariably stops moving.Īs evidence, consider the fact that the Raps register assists on just 50.1 percent of their field-goal attempts. Maybe Jonas Valanciunas, Toronto's best prospect, would get more than scraps on the offensive end. Maybe Kyle Lowry would look to dish more often on the pick-and-roll. Maybe DeMar DeRozan wouldn't be so shot-happy if it weren't for Gay. Not only do they hurt their team with their own individual play, but they also stunt the development of their teammates. That's the problem with players like Gay. When you're standing around, idly watching someone pound the dribble, you're definitely going to be more inclined to shoot it on the rare occasion you get a touch. This isn't a new concept if you've ever played pickup hoops with a ball hog. He makes life difficult for himself and he's making his teammates less effective. Gay isn't the only one eschewing team basketball, but he's by far the worst offender on this roster. You move the ball around, get opponents scrambling, you generally will get far better opportunities to make baskets. Gay's stubborn, selfish play has infected the rest of the roster, killing ball movement and creating me-first players all over the place.īasketball is a pretty simple game. Ugly numbers-and a broader understanding of their damaging effects-have led to growing restlessness in Toronto.
His startling length, quickness and athleticism would have defined him.
In the past, the aesthetic appeal of Gay's pull-up shot would have shrouded its awful inefficiency. Because Gay is so unabashedly in love with precisely those kinds of shots (long two-pointers and jumpers off the dribble, for instance), he's become a pariah. One of the easiest concepts to understand is that low-percentage shots are a sure way to kill a team's offensive productivity. It's just that there are some change-resistant holdouts who like to pretend the numbers aren't important.īut as we get smarter, players like Gay become victims of that growing intelligence. It seems silly to talk about the "rise of analytics" these days that's an outdated term-mostly because statistics have already risen. It's hard to resist the glut of information that now populates every NBA website, and unless you're actively trying to avoid statistics, you can't really read about or discuss the league without referring to them.
What's really happening is that observers of the Association are simply getting smarter. The fact that so many fans and analysts are seeing Gay for what he really is could be viewed as a sign of the rampant cynicism that marks a lot of NBA discourse. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca has recently piled on, damning Gay as " the $19-million shadow of superstar on the roster that is choking out the sun and making the rest of the team ill." Phoenix.The humor of the league's worst high-volume shooter wanting to exclude evidence of his inefficiency wasn't lost on the NBA community: Wilkins' feedback: "You can get back from this." t.co 04/11 04:35 am Įric Walden FINAL: Jazz 137, Thunder 101. Mark Medina ICYMI: Klay Thompson consulted w/ various players that nursed Achilles injuries, including Dominique Wilkins, Kevin Durant & Rudy Gay. Hardwood Paroxysm Caveat: no injury context here Tony Jones Juancho Hernangomez instead of Rudy Gay in today’s rotation 04/16 05:35 pm Nick Crain I’m surprised Rudy Gay hasn’t played yet. Getting playoff minutes over Rudy Gay for the Jazz?! 04/16 05:50 pm Why isn't Rudy Gay in Utah's rotation? 04/16 07:33 pm Tim Kawakami Know there must be a simple answer to this, but I don't know it:
Man that Rudy Gay signing didn't work out. He remained ready to play, but Quin and the coaching staff decided Juancho and Danuel were better options vs. Eric Walden Zanik, on Rudy Gay: If we had advanced further in the playoffs, it's conceivable he would have had a role in some of those matchups.