via hereFrom the land of basketball obscurity we have Rudy Gay, a terrific wing player who has really started coming into his own as a dynamic NBA player. Gay's nightly highlights and impressive numbers are often lost to the average basketball fan. But for those who follow closely he is highly regarded as one of the league's best young talents. Unfortunately, it looks like he'll be swimming in the waters of the Bermuda Triangle for some time, because he signed a 5 year deal with Memphis this past off-season.
Growing up in Baltimore (quietly becoming a basketball hotbed - Gay, Durant and Melo all from that area) Gay was considered one of the best young talents in the country. He was a national AAU standout, the Baltimore area player of the year and a McDonald's All-American as a senior, averaging 21 points 9 boards and 3 blocks per game. From there he went on to play ball at UConn under coach Jim Calhoun. This was not very well received in college basketball circles, after Gay had expressed an interest in playing for Maryland but ultimately chose to go with the Huskies. There was some degree of connection between his AAU coach and UConn, and the school even paid $25,000 to play his old AAU team. That's neither here nor there.
Gay had a tremendous career at UConn, becoming Freshman of the Year, both in the Big East and nationally. As a sophomore he was a Naismith Award finalist and led UConn to a 30-3 record. You may remember that team as the one who lost to George Mason on their way to a miraculous Final Four run. Following that season, Gay entered the draft and was taken 8th overall by Houston and then traded along with Stromile Swift to Memphis for Shane Battier. (Even though Battier is a jack-of-all-trades, I think Houston might like that one back.)
His rookie season was a bit of a struggle, as he only scored 10.8 points a game. But as a 2nd year player he took off putting up a gaudy 20 points a night to go with 6 boards, as the Grizzlies best player. He was runner-up to Hedo Turkoglu for Most Improved in the NBA that season. Since then, Gay has been one of the best small forwards in the NBA, putting up consistent numbers right around 20 points and 6 boards a game. He is a very effective shooter, and has even improved on those numbers this season. Currently he's shooting at a 47% clip from the floor and just a hair under 40% from three. He's not necessarily a one-sided player either, bringing nearly 2 steals a night to go with just over one block per contest.
He has also proven to be pretty clutch when it matters.
Gay is the 5th best power forward in John Hollinger's efficiency rankings. But he is in tremendous company behind Lebron, Durant, Melo and Pierce, and ahead of Danny Granger. Among leading forward scorers he's the top three point shooter.
It is a shame that such a talent has to be wasted on a joke of a franchise like the Grizzlies, and doesn't get to play for Boston where he belongs. Ok...I'm joking, but seriously, Gay is a player that doesn't get the national recognition he deserves. His list of accomplishments isn't long, but when you play on such a bad squad that is understandable. Much like other players on this list, I wanted to shine some light on a very bright young talent that doesn't get much love.
When you play the same position as Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant you're not going to get much love in the All-Star voting. However, at 24 years old Gay's best seasons are still ahead of him. And who knows? He may just find his way out of Memphis and onto a good team. Memphis fans (are there any?) are hoping that's not the case, but it would be good for Gay, and good for fans of the NBA.
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