After a rookie year that started with a draft-day trade, continued with the usual first-year inconsistency and finished with a disappointing record for the Grizzlies, Rudy Gay ascended to stardom with a breakout year last season. He put up averages of 20.1 points and 6.2 rebounds. But, Memphis still struggled, and in many circles, his production went unnoticed. SN’s Sean Deveney caught up with Gay at Chris Paul’s charity event last weekend to find out what plans he has to help the Grizzlies get moving in the right direction.
Sporting News: You had a breakout last year, more than 20 points per game. It’s hard to see you doing more than that, scoring-wise. What are you focused on for this year?
Rudy Gay: I need to build on last year. I showed what I can do, individually, on the court, but this year, I have to push that. I have to show off being a leader this year. We are young, we need to establish a direction and follow it. I think that starts in training camp, or even earlier, when we are all in Memphis working out together.
SN: With O.J. Mayo, you guys have something like 15 point guards. Not that many, but close. Do you see that as a problem coming into the year?
RG: I think that will all work itself out. You can have trades, everybody always needs point guards. We’re still building. And, in our system, the way we push the tempo, we are going to need guards. We can play with two point guards on the floor together; it actually helps us a lot. Maybe there will be a problem way down the road, but not now.
SN: The record last year was, let’s face it, terrible. What do you need to do to start getting that turned around?
RG: Like I said, we are young. Point guard, we are young. Shooting guard, young. Bigs, we are young. But we are athletic. I think if we play hard, if we use our athleticism, we can surprise some people. We have talent. We have to push ourselves.
SN: And you mentioned leadership. Last year, you had a rookie coach, a lot of rookie players. Was leadership a problem?
RG: Well, yeah, but only because we were all getting a feel for each other still. I don’t think there is any team, with that many new guys and young guys, who could come in and say this guy is the leader or that guy is the leader. It takes some time to establish that, and that is what I want to do this year. I want to establish myself as a leader.
SN: You won 22 games last year, again. Is it tough to ask fans to be patient? To say, “We’re young, stay with us, we’ll get better?”
RG: Honestly, if I was a fan, I would be the same way. Why do I want to pay all that money for tickets if you are telling me to be patient? Why do I want to go see a team win 22 games? But I think we have a lot to offer. I think it is going to get better and better, and if I was speaking to a fan, I would say, “Judge us on our improvement.” Watch us get better. I think we are fun to watch, and we are going to give our best effort. And the wins will come, and then everyone will be back on our side.
SN: Is it hard, because you have the Memphis Tigers in town and they’re doing so well collegiately?
RG: Yeah, and I would never take anything away from them. But I think there is room for NBA basketball and college basketball. We just need to get the wins going.
SN: I notice you have the Obama shirt going here. Are you political?
RG: I am now. I am pulling for the guy. You have to.
Sean Deveney is a staff writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at sdeveney@Sportingnews.com.