UPDATE: It’s been brought to my attention that the on court/off court stats cited via 82Games.com haven’t been updated in about a month — which I didn’t notice. Current numbers underscore the same point about the team being better with Gay on the floor at both the offensive and defensive ends, though the difference now isn’t quite as extreme because the “bench” has improved over the past month. I’ll update the numbers when I have a chance.
The Grizzlies got bad news yesterday when an MRI on Rudy Gay’s injured shoulder revealed enough damage to keep him out of the lineup for what’s estimated to be at least four weeks — which would be nearly half the remaining season. This loss comes at the team’s most optimistic moment of the season, in the midst of four-game winning streak and a playoff situation in which the Grizzlies are now tied for the 8th seed and only 1.5 games out of the 5th seed. Can they remain in the playoff race without him?
- LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
- Rudy Gay will be on the sidelines for the next month.
What is Being Lost: On the season, the Grizzlies have outscored opponents by 2.9 points per 100 possessions with Rudy Gay on the floor. (All on-court/off-court numbers from 82Games.com) Without him? They’ve been outscored by 10.5, the biggest point swing related to any individual player on the team. Gay leads the team in minutes (39.9) and is second in points (19.8 per game) and PER (18.0). He has also been, arguably, the team’s most significant two-way player this season. In short, a major, major loss.
Playing Without Him: While the Grizzlies have been much worse this season when Gay’s gone to the bench, they’ve actually been pretty solid in the three-and-a-half games in which Gay hasn’t been available at all.
With Gay serving a one-game league suspension on December 18th, the Grizzlies took the San Antonio Spurs — the league’s top team so far this season — to overtime on the road before losing. With Gay out sick on January 1st, the Grizzlies played at Utah in what was a single-possession game into the final minute before losing 98-92. And with Gay out with a sprained toe on February 8th, the Grizzlies won a rousing overtime road game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
