O.J. Mayo runs into a Mac truck
O.J. Mayo (photo. USC)The box score didn’t tell the entire story of O.J. Mayo’s pro debut tonight. While O.J. was lucky enough to avoid the Ron Artest Horror Picture Show for the most part (Ron-Ron primarily attached himself to Rudy Gay instead), the rookie did get a hefty dose of T-Mac, who finished with 16 points, 5 dimes and 3 steals, while Mayo put up a comparable stat line of 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. But looking outside the numbers, O.J. had a rough go.
As Rockets announcer Clyde Drexler astutely pointed out, O.J. looked small next to T-Mac; Clyde estimated he’s about 6-foot-3 to McGrady’s 6-foot-8. And although Mac is hampered by a sore shoulder (protected by a brace) and knee, he was giving O.J. a lesson, whether it was in the post, off the dribble or simply shooting over him. McGrady was simply too big and too crafty. It would have looked a lot worse on paper, but there were several times when McGrady (7-for-18 FG’s) beat O.J. to the spot but missed the ensuing shot. McGrady also poked the ball away from Mayo a couple of times on the other end and there were stretches where he denied him the ball well enough to where O.J. was basically a spectator in Memphis’ offense.
Mayo missed his first few shots and committed some early turnovers, but by the end of the first quarter appeared to be finding a rhythm when he knocked down a couple jumpers and dimed Rudy Gay on some buckets. But he never really got rolling, missing all of his three-point tries (0-for-7), bricking some important shots late in the fourth quarter, and missing a point-blank (albeit acrobatic and tough) tip-in of a Marc Gasol miss in crunch time. Overall Mayo finished 5-for-20 from the field in the Grizzlies’ loss.
October 29th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Dagomar says:
Mayo’s undersized (except at the 1), but McGrady looks like a shadow of his former self out there. He’s good and so skilled – still – but man, he used to be absolutely explosive, maybe the best scorer in the league.
October 29th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
house says:
Funny Stat line……Oden has more MRI’s this season than Points. lol.
October 30th, 2008 at 12:12 am
jackass says:
where’s all the mayo bandwagon riders at??? ain’t got nothin to say huh?
October 30th, 2008 at 12:18 am
QuEsT??? says:
marc gasol played pretty well…i have a question, who owns dime, do yall have a boss or u just run it urselves?
October 30th, 2008 at 12:18 am
E$ says:
“O.J., the bricklayer” Sarah Palin
check out Yao Ming – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqaPddatYG8
October 30th, 2008 at 12:24 am
weezy f says:
how does a rookie shoot 20 times??
October 30th, 2008 at 12:29 am
YGB (Obama 08) says:
@ wezzy f look who’s on his team.
October 30th, 2008 at 1:17 am
MJAX says:
Aside from Rudy, who else would you want shooting on that team? Mayo has to take 20 shots on the regular, if they even want to be in the consideration of winning the games they play.
October 30th, 2008 at 1:57 am
Timmy D says:
Man its one game and is their really people that didnt think Mayo was undersized. Who have you been watching, he has been the same height for a while now and I do people really think he would match up well against a 6′8 Tmac.
Oh Darrell Arthur is the steal of the draft. He is a baller. The King Arthur Era has begun, teams will pay for not taking him earlier.
October 30th, 2008 at 2:29 am
doc says:
10 and 5 against tmac aint bad.Yall think everybody gonna just come put a dub up.Thats way better than Kobe first game and he turned out cool.Let the youngin get his feet wet before the hate articles start.
October 30th, 2008 at 3:52 am
peoples champ says:
5 for 20- cheeeez
thats my guy but he’s a force needs to get his dimes up or some other way tro contribute
Durant had many similar nights last year and he was the opposite of Mayo being an oversized or taller shooting guard so it goes both ways.
October 30th, 2008 at 5:07 am
AB_40 says:
better oversized then undersized. KD led all guards in blocks last season… I don’t see OJ doing that.
T-mac looks a lot less explosive due to not taking care of his body throughout is career. He’ll be their leader this season and their go to clutch guy… or at least the man who has the ball in his hands in the finals secconds of quarters.
October 30th, 2008 at 5:08 am
William Prince says:
Mayo will surely get it goin’ a few gaes into the season. I mean he’s a rookie, he’s gotta learn a lesson or two. T-Mac’s agood player in the L still, so it didn’t really come surprising that O.J. played the way he did.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:07 am
fallinup says:
sigh….hype
October 30th, 2008 at 9:15 am
GEE....Just sing it right now! says:
Houston Up!
October 30th, 2008 at 9:39 am
karizmatic says:
I have high hopes for Mayo, I think they should run him at point. Particularly if he really is only 6′3. But guarding McGrady is going to make any rookie look weak.
October 30th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Kobeef says:
Mayo is really 6′4.5 not 6′3.
Give him a break – he is a rook and T-Mac is one of the biggest SG’s in the game (size and status).
October 30th, 2008 at 10:28 am
dapro says:
Tmac took care of his body but he injuries and his time in Orlando is taking a toll
He and Kobe won’t have to carry their teams the entire season, they’ll take over when needed like come playoff time
Both Mcgrady and Kobe will see their scoring dip slightly but the wins will increase
OJ played against one of the better defensive teams in the league, he’ll be alright
October 30th, 2008 at 10:40 am
McLovin says:
I love how you all judge a ROOKIE based on one game, against one of the best defensive teams in the league.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Ryan says:
I def think Mayo will be a good pro…he is on a team with little leadership so that will hurt him…it might take him longer to develop…but it was the first game of the season and it is a long season so Mayo will finish second in rookie of the year votes behind Rose and TMac is settling in for a long season…not too much too early.
October 30th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Desrat says:
dAmn one game and Oden is out of the ROY race.
Time will tell.
Mayo will be good for years to come. Someday TMac can tell his kids that he introduced OJ Mayo to the L.