Unlike Toney Douglas, Rudy Gay has no help
Knicks guard Toney Douglas puts up a shot against the Utah Jazz. (Mar. 7, 2011) Credit: Jim McIsaac
MEMPHIS -- The Grizzlies have a scenario that is quite familiar to the Knicks' Toney Douglas.
Rudy Gay, just like Douglas, is coming off shoulder surgery without having had much practice time to get in rhythm. Gay, just like Douglas, is under a good deal of pressure to produce. Gay, just like Douglas, has received a strong dose of criticism for failing to produce.
But unlike Douglas, Gay cannot be sent to the bench and replaced by an energetic rookie such as Iman Shumpert. No way. Gay is the Grizzlies' one proven scorer now that former Knick Zach Randolph is out for probably about half the season with a torn MCL in his right knee.
When Gay was unable to practice Wednesday and instead went for an MRI on his sore hip, he told the Memphis Commercial Appeal that he would be in the lineup against the Knicks. "I have to," he told the paper. "Zach's out." And he promptly scored 18 points in the first half.
Meeting of the Bibbys
Mike Bibby was available Thursday night, Mike D'Antoni said, after the veteran guard overcame a sore knee -- the latest in a series of physical setbacks.
"Little nicks and nacks, taking it a day at a time. That's all, really," said Bibby, who has been consistently supportive of his teammates even when he hasn't been playing. "I'm an easygoing guy. It takes a lot -- a lot, a lot -- to get me down, so I'm fine."
Proof of that came 90 minutes before game time when he was seen chatting with his father, Henry, a Grizzlies assistant. The two had a distant relationship after Henry, a former Knick, went through a divorce with Mike's mom. Mike conspicuously enrolled at Arizona when Henry was coaching USC. But the two broke the ice a few years ago and have remained in touch.
