Jerichoholic
Bench
As we are getting closer to the offseason there has been a lot of debate about the direction of this team for next year, mostly regarding Isaiah Thomas obviously. I think it's interesting though that there hasn't been much debate about Rudy Gay, perhaps that's because it's not the team's decision. Regardless of that though I think it would be cool to get a general consensus of what we all think here, what we are hoping for at least.
Perhaps this is poor timing because of the last win, but my hope is that he opts not to stay here and I will explain why.
There has been one major thing with this team since the new bad years have started that has caused them to lose so much, can you guess what it is? I bet most people will say poor defense, which is true, but I actually think that even more important than that is that this team has not been able to make shots from the outside consistently since the good years where they were one of the best at it, I don't think that's a coincidence. I also don't think it's a coincidence that out of the top 10 FG% teams in the NBA, 8 of them are playoff teams and a 9th team on the fringe. Out of the bottom 15 FG% teams in the NBA, only 2 are playoff teams, both from the Eastern Conference so that's not saying much. Anyway I could expand more on this, perhaps I will in a new thread someday, but let's just say that shooting is important. No matter how much the game has changed over the years, consistently making outside shots is what typically wins.
So to start with my main point of why I hope Rudy Gay doesn't stay here is simply that while he is a good scorer he actually not a good shooter, which I will show here. He holds onto the ball too long, takes too many shots, and actually doesn't help out much in other areas. Let's talk about another player that we should all be familiar with to compare, Tyreke Evans. It seems that so many fans that like Rudy Gay's game are the same ones who complained about Tyreke Evans' game even though offensively they are so similar when it comes to the numbers.
Ever think about why Gay shot so poorly in Toronto and then how it improved so much here? Perhaps the Kings are simply a better fit for him. It's true, the current Kings play style is a better fit for his play style, the problem is that this play style doesn't win games, good for stats, bad for wins. The Toronto Raptors are a pass and shoot team while the Sacramento Kings are a penetrate and score team. Rudy Gay is a player who likes to drive and score, most of his shots and points come at the rim, like Tyreke Evans. Why is Toronto playing better without him? He bogged them down by holding onto the ball too long and taking too many shots, it hurt the flow of the team. Let's look at his shooting percentages this year from NBA.com.
At the rim: Takes 43% of his shots here, very high for a perimeter player. Shoots at 54%, nice. Tyreke Evans like this way, this is why is FG% has gone up here, many more opportunities at the rim because of play style.
Midrange shot, 5 to 10 feet: Shoots at 49%, not bad, could be better, they are high percentage shots. This is also Tyreke Evans like.
Midrange shot, 11 to 20 feet: Shoots at 34%, now we have a problem. No ability to spread the offense. Tyreke Evans anyone?
3-Point shot: Shoots at 34%, I would have said that this was better than Tyreke Evans, but I believe that is what Evans shot last year. Also missing is the consistency, Gay may shoot at 34% for the year, but he actually has only shot over 33% in 18 of the 62 games played. So basically not a good 3-Point shooter.
Right now Rudy Gay is here to score points, that's what we want him for, but I've shown that perhaps he might not be doing it as efficiently as you would hope. Now what about other things? Where does he help? From what I see he slows the offense down, turns the ball over too much, doesn't create for teammates (2.9 Assists per game to 3.0 Turnovers per game, not good), and not much of a one on one or team defender. At least Tyreke Evans created for his teammates and played excellent defense and we didn't want to pay him 11 million per year, let alone 19 million. Now I'm not saying I would have given Evans the contact that New Orleans did, I'm just using him as an example for comparative purposes.
Here is the thing, right now the Kings as a team average 101 points per game, if Rudy Gay leaves and takes his 20 points per game with him the Kings are not going to start averaging 81 points per game. Slack always gets picked up by another player or players, it's about finding the right combination. The Kings have averaged a lot of points per game for quite a few years now, players come and players go and the points still get scored, just haven't found the right combination. I believe there are difference makers and stat stuffers at all levels from role players to all-star players. The Kings have had a lot of stat stuffers and very few difference makers over the last several years. I believe that Rudy Gay is just another stat stuffer, I don't think he is a selfish player, it's just his game, take it or leave it. I don't want more of the same anymore. A lot of people really like Isaiah Thomas, a lot really like Rudy Gay, and a lot really like DeMarcus Cousins (I'm with you on this one). Let's keep them all! Let's not forget that we are a 24 win team, the big 3 may put up some impressive stats, but unfortunately, not wins. We need to the change the play style of this team and until we do things won't change.
Perhaps this is poor timing because of the last win, but my hope is that he opts not to stay here and I will explain why.
There has been one major thing with this team since the new bad years have started that has caused them to lose so much, can you guess what it is? I bet most people will say poor defense, which is true, but I actually think that even more important than that is that this team has not been able to make shots from the outside consistently since the good years where they were one of the best at it, I don't think that's a coincidence. I also don't think it's a coincidence that out of the top 10 FG% teams in the NBA, 8 of them are playoff teams and a 9th team on the fringe. Out of the bottom 15 FG% teams in the NBA, only 2 are playoff teams, both from the Eastern Conference so that's not saying much. Anyway I could expand more on this, perhaps I will in a new thread someday, but let's just say that shooting is important. No matter how much the game has changed over the years, consistently making outside shots is what typically wins.
So to start with my main point of why I hope Rudy Gay doesn't stay here is simply that while he is a good scorer he actually not a good shooter, which I will show here. He holds onto the ball too long, takes too many shots, and actually doesn't help out much in other areas. Let's talk about another player that we should all be familiar with to compare, Tyreke Evans. It seems that so many fans that like Rudy Gay's game are the same ones who complained about Tyreke Evans' game even though offensively they are so similar when it comes to the numbers.
Ever think about why Gay shot so poorly in Toronto and then how it improved so much here? Perhaps the Kings are simply a better fit for him. It's true, the current Kings play style is a better fit for his play style, the problem is that this play style doesn't win games, good for stats, bad for wins. The Toronto Raptors are a pass and shoot team while the Sacramento Kings are a penetrate and score team. Rudy Gay is a player who likes to drive and score, most of his shots and points come at the rim, like Tyreke Evans. Why is Toronto playing better without him? He bogged them down by holding onto the ball too long and taking too many shots, it hurt the flow of the team. Let's look at his shooting percentages this year from NBA.com.
At the rim: Takes 43% of his shots here, very high for a perimeter player. Shoots at 54%, nice. Tyreke Evans like this way, this is why is FG% has gone up here, many more opportunities at the rim because of play style.
Midrange shot, 5 to 10 feet: Shoots at 49%, not bad, could be better, they are high percentage shots. This is also Tyreke Evans like.
Midrange shot, 11 to 20 feet: Shoots at 34%, now we have a problem. No ability to spread the offense. Tyreke Evans anyone?
3-Point shot: Shoots at 34%, I would have said that this was better than Tyreke Evans, but I believe that is what Evans shot last year. Also missing is the consistency, Gay may shoot at 34% for the year, but he actually has only shot over 33% in 18 of the 62 games played. So basically not a good 3-Point shooter.
Right now Rudy Gay is here to score points, that's what we want him for, but I've shown that perhaps he might not be doing it as efficiently as you would hope. Now what about other things? Where does he help? From what I see he slows the offense down, turns the ball over too much, doesn't create for teammates (2.9 Assists per game to 3.0 Turnovers per game, not good), and not much of a one on one or team defender. At least Tyreke Evans created for his teammates and played excellent defense and we didn't want to pay him 11 million per year, let alone 19 million. Now I'm not saying I would have given Evans the contact that New Orleans did, I'm just using him as an example for comparative purposes.
Here is the thing, right now the Kings as a team average 101 points per game, if Rudy Gay leaves and takes his 20 points per game with him the Kings are not going to start averaging 81 points per game. Slack always gets picked up by another player or players, it's about finding the right combination. The Kings have averaged a lot of points per game for quite a few years now, players come and players go and the points still get scored, just haven't found the right combination. I believe there are difference makers and stat stuffers at all levels from role players to all-star players. The Kings have had a lot of stat stuffers and very few difference makers over the last several years. I believe that Rudy Gay is just another stat stuffer, I don't think he is a selfish player, it's just his game, take it or leave it. I don't want more of the same anymore. A lot of people really like Isaiah Thomas, a lot really like Rudy Gay, and a lot really like DeMarcus Cousins (I'm with you on this one). Let's keep them all! Let's not forget that we are a 24 win team, the big 3 may put up some impressive stats, but unfortunately, not wins. We need to the change the play style of this team and until we do things won't change.
