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...and Kobe Bryant are the only 2 players in the NBA to be in the top 40 in dunks and 3-pointers made.

...is the first soph since Lebron/Melo to score 20 ppg in a season.

I think people are really kind of sleeping on how good he has become.

Durant is a rookie and avg 20 ppg

You mean Lebron, Melo AND Wade.

I don't think anyone really underrates him, he's an explosive scorer with a wide array of offensive moves and has potential to be a Top 10 scorer in the league, but he's not as talked about because he's yet to prove he can lead a team or just absolutely take over a game.

bigballa3jj wrote:Durant is a rookie and avg 20 ppg

Sure, but he has both gotten a lot of pub and much more reliant on shot volume, shooting .040 lower from the field and .064 lower from 3.

I think he has really improved as the season has progressed, but there is no doubt he has been a volume scorer this season, whereas Gay has been an efficient scorer, and I am not sure he will ever be as good an outside shooter as Gay is now.

Mr. Perfect wrote:You mean Lebron, Melo AND Wade.

Sorry, my mistake.

I'm not a big gay guy.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eqJ_8lUsYs0&feature=related

But Gay hasn't shown the ability to take over a game and carry a team. Durant has shown flashes of that this year if you were implying Gay>Durant.

Gay will end up being a perennial allstar once guys like Iverson, Ray Allen, Pierce, Billups, etc start to lose a step. Gay is just one of the next perennial top 10 shooting guard in the NBA.

He has definitely improved offensively, and will continue to do so. If there is one criticism, it is that his rise as the go-to scorer for the Grizzlies has coincided with a rather dramatic decline in his defense; the only Memphis player with a worse on/off court figure is Hakim Warrick.

That's not really at his feet; there aren't many players in the league who have the stamina to be both a lockdown defender and primary scorer. But as the Grizzlies fill out their roster in upcoming years, it will be interesting to see whether Gay evolves into a consistent #1 option, or a secondary scorer who plays excellent defense, as he did in his rookie campaign.

legacyinthemakin89c wrote:But Gay hasn't shown the ability to take over a game and carry a team. Durant has shown flashes of that this year if you were implying Gay>Durant.

I'm not sure how you evaluate that. What standard are you using for that?

Gay will end up being a perennial allstar once guys like Iverson, Ray Allen, Pierce, Billups, etc start to lose a step. Gay is just one of the next perennial top 10 shooting guard in the NBA.

Isn;t there a pretty big difference between being a perennial all star and being one of the top 10 at your position? Also, he almost never plays the 2, but is a 3 who sometimes plays 4.

Not a criticism, but I wonder how often people have seen him play. It's not like Memphis is ever on national broadcasts.

legacyinthemakin89c wrote:But Gay hasn't shown the ability to take over a game and carry a team

I normally respect your opinions but... Are you serious? Gay doesn't have the hype Durant does AND he plays for Memphis so I guess it's only natural that when he does carry his team it's overlooked... But still... You're better than that.

Its mainly because he plays for the Grizz, they will never get any pub no matter how good they get. I think we all expected that he was going to improve greatly this year. I mean I still cant believe how he fell that far down in the draft and traded away. (Yeah I understand the reason behind it)

Gay coming into next year will know that this is his team and will be the number one option from the get-go. I expect him to improve even more on his numbers.

I like Gay and Granger who have both made noticeable improvements........

Do you see him as someone who can play well for a Top 10 winning team?

I think Gay might be able to make the leap that Wade did (LeBron was kinda already there), but I see him more as a guy who'll be an absolute killer second option, or at least an equal option to a PG or SG that is more of a playmaker.

Love me some Gay though!

Toronto should have drafted Gay over Bargnani. But then again, Gay is the best player on a bad team.

Could Gay become the best player of his draft class?

Rudy Gay is a Beast.


Not his fault his team isn't very good

NetsForce wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



I normally respect your opinions but... Are you serious? Gay doesn't have the hype Durant does AND he plays for Memphis so I guess it's only natural that when he does carry his team it's overlooked... But still... You're better than that.

Memphis is 2-9 when Gay has scored more then 30 points in a game. I know his team is awful, but that should be a little better if he is as good as some make him to be. I have no problem admitting he is going to be the best player in that draft class or 2nd behind Roy. Gay is going to be a 20 point scorer for a long time in this league, I just don't see him as the first option type.

Durant has only scored 30 5 times, but his team is 3-2 in those games. Its just my opinion that I think Durant is going to be the better player. I've watched the guy since he was in high school and he's been one of my favorite players for awhile.

legacyinthemakin89c wrote:Gay is going to be a 20 point scorer for a long time in this league, I just don't see him as the first option type.

Only 4 teams had two players score more than 20 PPG this season (Golden State had 3), and a lot of teams didn't have anyone reach that mark. So I find it hard to believe Gay will score that much for many years and not be a first option type, whatever that means.