Gay wows NBA scouts in Maui
posted: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 | Feedback

LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Last week we put UConn's Rudy Gay atop our Preaseason Top 100 with a few mixed feelings. Clearly he had as much potential as any player in the draft. But could he live up to the lofty expectations of being a No. 1 pick? Scouts questioned whether he had the drive and the aggressiveness to truly live up to his limitless potential. Even head coach Jim Calhoun wondered aloud before the season began.
Rudy got the message and answered his critics here with an amazing 28-point performance against Arkansas on the opening night of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

In front of nine NBA GMs and a host of NBA scouts, Gay put on the best performance of his college career.

Gay did it all. He got it going in the first half with several silky-smooth 18-foot jump shots and a nice turnaround 10-foot jumper over the outstretched arms of Ronnie Brewer. Then he grabbed a board and took it coast to coast for a contested layup, wowing scouts with his speed and ballhandling skills. In the second half, it just got ridiculous, with Gay hammering home two spectacular dunks in traffic and then adding a circus shot from behind the backboard in the waning moments of the game.

After the game, GMs and scouts declared the obvious.

"If he plays like that all year, he's a lock for the No. 1 pick," one prominent GM told me. "His game is tailor-made for the NBA. He's got it all: size, athleticism, skill, and he's a great kid. If he can keep playing with that aggressiveness, he has a chance to be superstar in the NBA."

He didn't have a perfect night. Brewer gave Gay some problems when he tried to handle the ball, and he had a couple of ugly misses on his jumper, but all in all, it was the type of buzz-creating performance that Gay needed to secure his stock as the frontrunner for the top pick in the draft.

What else were scouts saying?

Brewer had a great game. He's added about 15 pounds of muscle and it shows. He was great slashing to and finishing around the basket and was a nightmare in the passing lanes, picking up six steals. He also had some nice passes, though he rarely played point guard. His jump shot mechanics are still terribly ugly, but often enough the ball was going in. Brewer finished with 25 points on 8-for-17 shooting. His aggression on both ends of the floor really impressed several GMs that I talked to and all had him pegged as a top-10 prospect.

Gonzaga's Adam Morrison also drew a lot of positive reviews after his 25-point performance against Maryland. GMs called him "smart" "efficient" and "nasty," and all seemed to be backing off their concerns that his athleticism would hurt his draft stock.

"He's just so fun to watch," one GM said. "I love the way he plays. You just can't take your eyes off him."

Kansas is loaded with as many as six potential NBA prospects, but none looked ready for the NBA against Arizona on Monday. Four are freshmen (Brandon Rush, Julian Wright, Mario Chalmers and Micah Downs) and the other two are sophomores (C.J. Giles and Sasha Kaun).

Rush (11 pts, seven boards) and Kaun (12 points, six boards) had the best games, but scouts believe that Giles and Wright have the most NBA potential. Giles is long and athletic and had a respectable 10 boards and three blocks on Monday, but he was very shaky from the field (1 of 6) and has questionable hands. He couldn't hold onto the ball on Monday. Wright is long, athletic and reminds some scouts of a smaller Kevin Garnett, but right now he really doesn't have a game. He just runs the floor and picks up the garbage. In other words, it looks like their entire squad could use another year together before thinking about the pros.

Arizona's Hassan Adams is just 6-foot-4, but he outjumped the very athletic 6-10 Giles on the opening tip. Adams played with his characteristic toughness at both ends and his shooting form looked improved, but the ball wasn't going in the basket. Adams ended up shooting 3-for-16 from the field.

Danny Ainge (Boston Celtics), Bryan Colangelo (Phoenix Suns), Mitch Kupchak (Los Angeles Lakers), Kevin O'Connor (Utah Jazz), R.C. Buford (San Antonio Spurs), Danny Ferry (Cleveland Cavaliers), Larry Harris (Milwaukee Bucks), Ed Stefanski (New Jersey Nets) and Elgin Baylor (Los Angeles Clippers) were among the NBA execs in attendance on Monday. Overall, I counted representatives from 27 teams in attendance.

man, he won't even give Isiah credit for showing up and scouting!

arsehole