David's Memphis Grizzlies Blog

The NBA Lockout: Where Amazing Happens

2011-11-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

It's time to end the 2012 lockout of DavidLovesTheGrizzlies. I have come to an agreement with myself that I will keep 100% of blog related income which comes to $87.38 over 5 years.

In my first post back after 7 months, I choose not to discuss this awesome lockout in a Wojnarowskian piece condemning owners' tactics, ridiculing the players' tactics, and condemning the lawyers' lawyering.

Nope, I had a productive time off - moving to a new apt, getting married, and buying a new couch - so I thought I'd be productive in my first post back and help the League come up with a new marketing slogan for the 2012-2013 season.

Of course, my efforts quickly spiraled towards bitterness, which turned into sadness, then to anger, and then back to bitterness. But that's life as a Memphis Grizzlies fan!

I dressed up as the NBA Lockout for Halloween!

Anyway, as I was researching ideas, I realized several recent slogans were appropriate and could be reused easily:

"Where Will Amazing Happen This Year?" (Maybe in the Minnesota District Courtroom!)
"Last Season was Last Season" (I'm confused.)
And whatever slogan the League used for those commercials where all the players' heads were inflated to 10x their normal size. (Savvy move headed into the lockout.)

Meeting these nice German ladies lifted my spirits. We chatted about what a great year Dirk had.

Since this is a blog, I wanted to come up with my own ideas, so I did what any respected Blogger would do and polled my friends for ideas. Here's what we came up with:

5. The NBA: Where Amnesty Happens

4. The NBA: Can't We All Just Get Back to Hating LeBron?

3. Where Will A Luxury Tax Paying Team Use Its Biannual Exception This Year?

2. The NBA: Cuz You Aren't Really Watching Hockey Right Now, Are You?

1. The NBA: Proving Games Really Don't Matter Until April Year After Year

Honorable Mention goes to my buddy Curt who suggested we reuse the Memphis Grizzlies' 2006-2007 slogan "Tell your kids they're going to Dunkyland."

Remembering that slogan briefly made me forget that we have already missed over 2 weeks of games.

If you've got a better slogan, please add it to the comments below. I love this game!

Believe Memphis

2011-04-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

When I went to work on Friday, I told friends that April 29th would be either the best or the worst night of my life. The first Game 6 in the history of the Grizzlies had all the makings of another Grizzlies letdown. Within 2 seconds of defeating the top-seeded Spurs in Game 5, the Grizzlies blew a defensive possession and the Spurs made improbable shots to force a 6th game.

Losing the series after leading the Spurs 3-1 and leading Game 5 by 3 with 2 seconds remaining would fit perfectly into the Grizzlies' 10 year narrative of unprecedented losing and unmatched embarrassment.

But the Grizzlies won.

These Grizzlies are unlike any Grizzly before them.

For the first time in franchise history, the Grizzlies exceeded expectations. For the first time in Grizzlies playoff history, the team embarrassed someone else. For the first time in Memphis history, fans have more to be proud of than a well-played game here and there and some delicious BBQ nachos.

For once, the Grizzlies seized an opportunity and changed their narrative.

These Grizzlies' narrative is about winning now and winning later. It's trading Thabeet and locking up Zbo. It's selling out the FedEx Forum. It's the volume of emails, texts, and phone calls that prevent me from watching games on DVR delay. It's the Facebook message from someone I haven't spoken with in 6 years congratulating me as if I had done something other than endure 10 years of loyalty to a despicably bad sports team.

The Grizzlies are finally good.

All Heart, Grit, Grind

2011-04-15T19:54:00.001-07:00

It's been 5 years since the Grizzlies were last swept out of the playoffs. At the time, the Grizzlies set a record for mediocrity, being swept for the third consecutive season (out of 3 total playoff appearances).

On Sunday, Memphis returns to the playoffs as an eighth seed, battling the four time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, who completed the 2010-2011 season with the second best record in basketball.

Yet somehow, I am encouraged. While there's little hope that the Grizzlies' season will extend beyond the next two weeks, there is something different about these Grizzlies that inspires.

Something that made this season unashamedly entertaining despite modest results.

It's All Heart, Grit, Grind.

So here I am in my Tony Allen Tshirt, in Napa Valley California, purchasing a celebratory beverage to drink when the Grizzlies win their first playoff game in franchise history.

Go Grizz.

Grizzlies Meme: Embarrassing Losses

2011-02-22T22:24:00.000-08:00

The Grizzlies don't just lose games, they lose in the most humiliating way imaginable, and they've been doing it for years.

Tonight's loss to the Nuggets is just the latest example in a long list of embarrassing losses that give Memphis fans an excuse to stay home from the FedEx Forum. Here are just a few reasons this loss was so humiliating:

1. The Nuggets were badly depleted: The Nuggets dressed only 8 players. 5 of those have a season PER less than 14. Every Grizzly Bear was available except for Rudy Gay and Stephen Curry.

2. The game was really important: The win gives Denver the tiebreaker should the Grizzlies and Nuggets end with the same record.

3. The Grizzlies effort was pathetic: The Nuggets largest lead was 27. The Grizzlies had 21 turnovers. Ty Lawson looked like Allen Iverson.

4. The national spotlight was shining: The Nuggets had just consummated the most anticipated trade in Carmelo Anthony history. The Grizzlies reminded everyone in the world that they're the Grizzlies.

You might be saying: David, the Grizzlies are doing ok this season. Don't you have anything nice to say? The answer is: No, I don't have anything nice to say. This shit adds up, but don't take my word for it. (Since I know you're not a close follower of the Grizzlies) Here's a sampling from just this season:

86-92 loss to Cleveland: worst team in the league / all time record for consecutive losses
118-123 loss to Phoenix: led by 4 with 3.7 seconds left in regulation
100-98 loss to Sacramento: 2nd worst Western Conference team / led by 3 with 31 seconds / led by 1 with 1.5 seconds / drafted Thabeet over Evans
Swept by New Jersey: a historically bad team last season that's presently bad this season
84-96 loss to Chicago: without Noah or Boozer / on national TV
102-103 loss to New Orleans: led by 4 with 30 seconds left in OT
Losses to sub-500 Golden State, Washington, and Charlotte by a combined 23 points with Stephen Curry, John Wall, and Gerald Wallace in street clothes

In all fairness, I wasn't going to bother writing this post. My updates have been spotty this season, and I don't like being the bearer of bad news when the team is playing slightly better than terrible.

But then I read Marc Gasol's postgame quote in the Commercial Appeal: "We were a little rusty."

A little rusty? Yo dawg, you just got punked by a team that might stand between you and the playoffs, and you were a little rusty? I hate to break it you, brosef, but you grabbed 2 rebounds and fouled out in 25 minutes tonight. That ain't a little rusty.

By the way, while we're chatting, you've grabbed only one (!?!?!?!) rebound. You are seven feet tall, and you grabbed one rebound in a game in which you played 39 minutes. It's time to shake of the rust, bruddah.

Back to Back 3s for Zach Randolph / Marc Gasol

2011-02-02T20:59:00.000-08:00

I will never trust a team that gets swept by the New Jersey Nets, but the Grizzlies are consistently fun to watch. Take tonight's game for instance. Late in the Fourth, with the game decided, Zach Randolph made his 4th three of the season. On the following possession, Marc Gasol made his second three of the season. (If I recall correctly, his first was a desperation 3 at the buzzer. Comment if you remember his first.)

Tony Allen's Block Party

2011-01-04T22:08:00.000-08:00

It has been an eventful 2011 in the Land O' The Grizz.

Two noteworthy events included 1) The Grizzlies' 19 point win over the Lakers in LA, and

2) an altercation between shooting guards Tony Allen and OJ Mayo over a debt owed to Allen.

According to Yahoo, Mayo owed Allen losses from a card game called Boo-Ray (or Bourré) and missed Tuesday's game as a result of injuries (ie a busted face) from the altercation.

According to the box score, Allen put together his best game the season, highlighted by what ESPN Writer John Hollinger called the "best defensive possession of [the] entire season".

This was enough for me to end my blogging silence. First, here is a look at the play to which Hollinger refers:

Next, here are highlights from a recent Boo-Ray game:

It is easy to see how this game can escalate.

And since we're on the subjects of embarrassing Pau Gasol moments and Tony Allen blocks, we may as well rewatch this for the millionth time.

By the way, here is a second look:

Still Grizzly After All These Years

2010-11-20T15:19:00.000-08:00

I've been putting off writing about the Grizzlies partly due to competing priorities in my personal life and partly because I'm losing interest in writing about the Grizzlies.

I still follow all the news. For example, within hours of Acie Law missing the Grizzlies' flight to Denver, I was reading about his release at the dog park in my Twitter feed via Pete Pranica, Chris Vernon, and The Commercial Appeal.

I also still watch the games on NBA League Pass. I even splurged for tickets to a game at the Forum over the Thanksgiving Holiday. It will likely be the only game I see in person this year, and I came away disappointed even though the Grizzlies won. I didn't expect these Grizzlies to scrape out a victory at home against the Warriors sans David Lee.

Here was my view for the 1 game I'll attend in person this season. At home, the Grizz almost blew it to a Warriors team that was missing its best post player.

Despite watching the games and following the news I can't get excited about writing about any number of Grizzlies topics this year, including:

The improvement of Rudy Gay and Mike Conley
The struggles of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph
OJ Mayo's move the bench
The disappointment of Tony Allen
Wins over Miami and the Lakers
The tough early schedule
The regression of Sam Young (from sometimes good to always bad)
The regression of Hasheem Thabeet (from terrible to worse than terrible)
The regression of Demarre Carroll (Who is Damarre Carroll again?)

Any of these are worthy topics for one of the top 50 Grizzlies blogs of all time.

But these topics seem unimportant at this point. These all pale in comparison to what's at the front of my mind: the Grizzlies are exactly what everyone (Grizzlies & fans excluded) expected them to be, a mediocre basketball team.

This guy is a complete joke. I really feel sorry for him, but he has become a symbol for the Grizzlies' failures.

This team is just plain bad. They are the type of team that might make the playoffs if it weren't for all the other teams getting better all the time.

Owner, Michael Heisley, and the Management team, led by General Manager Chris Wallace seem to expend all of their energy trying to convince the public that the 'young core' is exciting and will improve at some point in the future.

These efforts seem to come at the expense of actually improving the team. Instead of fielding a team that is in the top half of the league's teams, the organization is determined to convince everyone that things aren't as bad as they seem. Meanwhile, the team continues to lose. The acquisitions and draft picks are more often than not a disappointment, and the arena sits half empty for almost every game.

This theme -that the Grizzlies are a complete and utter disappointment- has dominated the Grizzlies for most of their 10 years in Memphis. If team's performance is this consistently bad for the next 10 years, even the most passionate Grizzlies fans will stop caring about any of the stories Heisley and his Admins are peddling. I hope someone miraculously turns this ship around sooner than that.

In the meantime, I'll try to do my part by giving voice to one Grizzly fan's disgust.

#Leh'Goooo!!!!!!!!!

2010-10-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching Cavs vs Grizzlies. From December 8, 2009. Does that move me to the fringe of Grizzlies fans?

How could you not save this game on your DVR? This was the turning point in the season. When the top-ranked Cavs lost in Overtime to Memphis. When Haddadi "dunked that shit" on Shaq. When Haddadi hip-checked LeBron James across the Fedex Forum parquet.

About halfway through the third quarter I realized that I may have a problem. It's been a little over a week since I dropped a few dollars on some tickets to see the Grizz over Thanksgiving. I'm calling Comcast twice a week trying to order NBA League Pass. (Of course, NBA LP isn't 'in the system yet.) And now I'm watching games from a year ago like it's reruns of Law & Order.

If this is my excitement level after 10 seasons of playoff sweeps and lottery nightmares, then I think I might die if they actually have a winning season.

As Hasheem Thabeet might say, "#Leh'Goooo #Niceeeee".

10 Years in the Making

2010-10-11T23:41:00.000-07:00

As we hit the mid-way point of the Grizzlies' preseason, one question comes to mind: "Who is the ugliest person on the Grizzlies' 10 year anniversary collage?"

Personally, I think the artist has a bias towards Stromile Swift, but I have to give him/her credit for finding a bad likenesses even for the most handsome Grizzly. (Eddie Jones, you know who you are.) I couldn't have done better if I had searched for "Memphis Grizzlies Open Mouth" on Google Images, but I guess they didn't want Jake Tsakalidis to stand out.

Two follow up questions might be: "Where is Hamed Haddadi?" and "Why are Chris Wallace and Jerry West smiling?"

This is why I'm here.

Michael Heisley Enjoys Provocative Kids

2010-08-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

One day Michael Heisley won't be the owner of the Grizzlies. I hope that when that day comes, the Grizzlies remain in Memphis and aren't so run into the ground that no one with enough talent is willing to build the franchise back up.

God, he blew it.

In the meantime, we are resigned to moments like Monday's Chris Vernon Show, when Heisley joined Vernon for a half hour discussion about Xavier Henry's contract negotiations, how to run an NBA franchise, and whether the Grizzlies' organization was filled with yes men.

If you want to know exactly what Heisley said, go to Vernon's blog and listen. You can also download it at Itunes under 'chrisvernonshow'. (It's also worth listening to Vernon's interview last Thursday with Coach Lionel Hollins. In the interview, Hollins sounds just like Heisley, on Opposite Day.)

My key takeways from the interview are below. Some of the statements are pure speculation on my part. (I did not check the facts!) If you find these bullets unbelievable, then listen to the entire interview, linked above, and decide for yourself:

Chris Wallace is a yes man.
Lionel Hollins is not a yes man.
Hakim Warrick is not a yes man.
Arn Tellum is not a yes man.
Tony Barone is a yes man.
Jerry West was not a yes man.
Jerry West encouraged Heisley to draft Hasheem Thabeet.
Xavier Henry did not attend Summer Camp.
Heisley has not read the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Heisley pays other people to read the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Heisley had more influence on the Allen Iverson signing that other personnel moves.
Heisley makes a lot of messes in his life.
Heisley doesn't care how the other NBA owners conduct their business.
Heisley isn't trying to please the press.
Heisley thinks Chris Vernon is provocative.
Heisley thinks Chris Vernon is a kid.
Heisley enjoys Chris Vernon.
Heisley enjoys provocative kids.

The Grizzlies' Contract Dispute with Xavier Henry is Idiotic

2010-08-18T20:48:00.001-07:00

The Grizzlies never miss an opportunity to support the narrative that the owner is cheap and the team is poorly managed. We should be celebrating Rudy Gay and Marc Gasol, who are representing their countries in the World Basketball Championships. Instead, the Grizzlies are making headlines as a result of a contract dispute with rookie Xavier Henry and his agent Arn Tellum.

For those who aren't familiar with the situation, here is a brief overview:

All 1st Round Picks have guaranteed contracts with only a few provisions that can be negotiated.
This dispute is over whether the Grizzlies will pay 120% of Henry's guaranteed salary (the max allowed) or tie payment of the additional 20% to incentives.
Most rookies receive 120% or are given basic incentives like Summer League attendance to earn the extra 20%.
Some of the Grizzlies' proposed incentives are more difficult to achieve than attendance.
The Grizzlies are publicly stating that they want the 20% incentive to motivate Henry.

The Commercial Appeal is reporting that three incentives that Henry must meet to receive the extra 20% include (directly quoted from the CA):

Participation in summer league.
A two-week workout program with the team's training staff.
Satisfying one of the following: play in NBA rookie/sophomore game during All-Star weekend, or earn an all-rookie selection, or average 15 minutes in at least 70 games.

On Chris Vernon's radio show, General Manager Chris Wallace told Vernon that requiring such incentives was "within our rights" and that (paraphrasing) offering a carrot to incentivize performance was a 'best practice'.

On the face, it sounds like the Grizzlies are making a smart move: Use money to motivate players to perform. The only problem is that the science of motivation contradicts the Grizzlies' strategy. Money is not a good motivator for something as complex as making the Rookie team or averaging 15 minutes per game. These aren't goals that Henry can complete using limited cognitive ability.

Thus, there are two options: Either Michael Heisley is incompetent or the Grizzlies are belying their true motivation -- to save money if Henry doesn't pan out -- with the false motive of offering Henry a carrot to perform.

The science says carrots and sticks don't motivate people to perform.

Money is really a great motivator for basic tasks that don't require cognitive skill like showing up to Summer League. However, as Dan Pink explains in his book Drive, summarized in the above video, science shows us that money is a poor incentive to do something as abstract as become a better basketball player. If Henry gets into the rookie game, it won't be because money drove him to do so. That logic is just plain dumb.

According to the video, Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose are the great motivators of performance and success. Top companies set lofty purposes about changing the world to help motivate their employees. The Grizzlies might set a goal like winning an NBA Championship or becoming the best basketball team. Instead, they take every opportunity to frame the discussion about money. Goals are salary cap flexibility or being financially responsible.

As a result, they're perceived as a cheap organization, and they've fostered a culture of losing. As the Grizzlies celebrate their 10th season in Memphis, I hope they reflect on the fact that they've only produced 3 winning seasons and Zero playoff wins. Of course, that won't motivate them to do something a complex as winning some games for the city of Memphis. But maybe it will help them realize that ending this dispute with Henry might help them drive towards a better purpose.

Rudy Gay: How to Earn $80 Million in 5 Seasons

2010-07-04T05:42:00.000-07:00

Rudy Gay is about to ink a 5 year, $80 million contract with the Grizzlies.

We can talk about how Gay is being overpaid. About how he hasn't performed at that level in his career. About how he's unlikely to ever live up to his contract.

About how Heisley could have paid less. About how Heisley is repeating mistakes of the past. About how Heisley is unlikely to pay Marc Gasol, who has been better than Gay, or OJ Mayo, who might be better than Gay. About how Heisley clearly has no idea what he's doing.

And we will discuss these points. But what's the rush? We can rehash the latest edition of "Running the Worst Sports Franchise in Besides the Detroit Lions" next season, especially if the Grizzlies miss the playoffs as they have every season Gay has played.

Is this as close as Rudy gets to a star?

However, that's not what I want to talk about now. What I want to talk about now is how Gay can earn his salary.

It's not about his scoring average, his steals, blocks, or dunks. It has nothing to do with how he contributes to the communities of Memphis, Baltimore, or Haiti.

Earning his money also has nothing to do with his shaky 3 point shot, his ball handling, or his alleged ability to pass the ball to teammates.

It has to do with toughness and intensity. Rudy Gay can earn his contract by transforming the culture of this franchise from one of losing to one of winning with toughness and intensity.

Gay needs to be the guy leveling his friend Chris Paul when Paul tries to penetrate into the Grizzlies' paint. Gay must be the guy LeBron James is whining about to refs because Gay is pushing, pulling, and generally disrupting James for 48 minutes.

Kick his ass Rudy. Kick his ass like he just told you: "You ain't worth 80 million cause you never won anything".

When an opponent blows by OJ Mayo, or when Marc Gasol fails to play help defense, Gay should first look at Mayo and Gasol in disgust, and then yell at them during a timeout. And it should make sense because Gay didn't blow an assignment or take a break on defense.

When the referees call Hasheem Thabeet for his 5th foul for looking in Kobe Bryant's general direction, Gay had better be getting a technical before Kobe gets a chance to shoot a free throw. Even if Thabeet did foul him. And he probably did.

When the Grizzlies lose, Gay better be the guy throwing chairs in the locker room and stealing Geoff Calkins' pen.

Whether he deserves it or not, Gay was just awarded the burden of carrying the Memphis Grizzlies to respectability. He's going to battle with a 9-season legacy of losing, an owner who's doing his best to run the franchise into the ground, and a team that's badly under-staffed to challenge the league's best.

He's not going to succeed by sitting back and letting chips fall where the may. He's not going to succeed because he improved his jumpshot or added 10 pounds of muscle.

The only chance Gay has of succeeding establishing himself as toughest guy on the court leaving everything he's got on the floor every night. If Gay can pull it off, it will be $80 million well spent.

Chris Wallace's Resume Leaked!

2010-06-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

Griz Owner Michael Heisley resigned General Manager Chris Wallace, and it's no wonder why. Says Heisley, "I feel he's done a decent job." And if wasn't enough, Wallace recently reworked his resume to highlight some of his achievements.

An anonymous source close to the organization sent us Wallace's resume, pasted below, with Wallace's contact information removed. As you can see, Wallace's list of accomplishments is a clear indication that he's the best candidate for the job.

CHRISTOPHER WALLACE

901-xxx-xxxx

xxxxxxxx@grizzlies.com

Germantown, TN

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Memphis Grizzlies

General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations (2007 - Present)

Team record Regular Season: 86-160 (.350) / Playoffs: 0-0 (.000)
Average Attendance: 13,000 (cap. 18,119)
Traded Pau Gasol (2x NBA Champion, 3x NBA All-Star, 2x All-NBA 3rd Team, Rookie of the Year, FIBA World Championship MVP) for Marc Gasol (NBA All-Rookie 2nd Team) and Cash Considerations.
Optimized the Draft process by cutting Scouting Department by 100% and reducing the number of top prospects with in-person workouts
Drafted Hasheem Thabeet, Kevin Love (traded), Mike Conley, Donte Green (traded), DeMarre Carroll, Sam Young
Traded for OJ Mayo (All-Rookie 1st Team), Zach Randolph (1 Time NBA All-Star), Ronnie Brewer, Marko Jaric, Greg Buckner, Antoine Walker, Darrell Arthur, Chris Mihm, Adonal Foyle, Mike Wilks, 3 suitcases of cash, and a conditional 2nd Round Draft Pick
Signed Free Agents Darius Miles, Allen Iverson, Jamaal Tinsley, Darko Milicic, Hamed Haddadi

Boston Celtics

General Manager (2000 - 2007)

Team record Regular Season: 267-307 (.465) / Playoffs: 16-21 (.432)
Average Attendance: 16,382 (cap. 18,624)
Drafted Joe Johnson (Traded), Al Jefferson, Delonte West, Tony Allen, Darius Songalia, Randy Foye, Dahntay Jones (Traded), Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Kendrick Brown, Troy Bell (Traded)
Traded for Vin Baker, Rodney Rogers, Tony Delk

AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

Named to Sports Illustrated's list of Most Influential Members of the College Basketball Media, 1991

This will help me feel better

2010-06-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

Why I Cheer Against Pau Gasol

2010-06-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

This is the the time of year when it's most difficult to be a Grizzlies fan. It's been over 2 months since the Grizzlies won a game. There's no longer hope that the Grizzlies will miraculously win the Draft Lottery. (Or win the second pick and blow it on a sure fire bust.) And Jeff Van Gundy is reminding the world 3 times weekly why Pau Gasol is the most skilled player in the game.

Call me negative, but every time the elder Gasol excels, my hopes that the Lakers lose grow a little bit.

People often ask me: What's my problem? How does it feel to have so much hate? Isn't it time to move on? By all accounts, Gasol is a nice guy. He's one of the top offensive big men in the NBA. He has a high basketball IQ, a strong work ethic, and is devoted to his teammates. What's there not to like?

Allow me to explain.

1. He plays for the Lakers. Hatred of the Lakers is independent of Gasol - the Lakers are the Yankees of the NBA . They're perennial front runners, who inherently have advantages over most other NBA teams (appealing destination, large TV revenue). That doesn't discount the hard work of the Lakers' players, coaches and front office. You can't be good without hard work, skill, and luck. (Just ask New York.) But it's easy to cheer against frontrunners, especially when they have advantages over their competition.

There are other teams that could be considered front runners. (Boston is one of them, and Cleveland is not.) But none is as much of a front runner as the Lakers, and Pau is a casualty of this.

If Pau played for Cleveland, Miami, Houston, or Denver, it would be more difficult to cheer against him.

Aside: It's worth noting the more subjectively unappealing aspects of the Lakers. The glitter, the Hollywood scene, the bandwagon fans, the perceived effort to ability ratio (except Kobe). Doesn't it seem like the Lakers lose because they didn't try hard enough whereas other teams lose because they're not talented enough?

Of course there's someone parading the streets of LA as a Pau Gasol lookalike.

2. The better Gasol looks, the worse the Grizzlies look.

It's not easy to make the Grizzlies look worse than they already do. We might be approaching a threshold. Until then, Gasol's success keeps pushing the boundary.

Trading a borderline All Star who can't guard Leon Powe during his prime for Kwame Brown is a lot better than trading the second best player for an NBA Champion during his prime. With every additional championship, All Star game, and statistically successful season, Gasol undermines the Grizzlies' credibility a little more.

You don't want to be known for trading a Hall of Famer during his prime. People will start to question your judgement.

3. He's Pau Gasol.

As previously stated, Gasol seems like a good guy, and he's the most offensively dynamic big man in the NBA. There's a lot to like.

But his game is finesse, and he makes those horrid faces. For a 7 footer, his rebounding and help defense are weak, and for such a dynamic scorer, his 4th quarter presence is not great. It just so happens these skills are typically associated with effort. In an unfortunate twist of fate, the Lakers also have the perfect remedies for this: Andrew Bynum (rebounding, help defense) and Kobe (4th quarter).

And that's why it was so difficult to build a successful team around him in Memphis. It's not easy to find a center like Andrew Bynum that fits well next to Gasol. Especially when you draft Drew Gooden and trade for Brian Cardinal. The team needed top notch perimeter defenders (James Posey & Shane Battier) to compensate for poor interior defense, which meant the team couldn't sacrifice perimeter defense for scoring (Rudy Gay). Also, unlike the Lakers management, the Grizzlies management wasn't good or lucky. The funny part was that the Grizzlies management was the Lakers management. Or maybe that wasn't funny.

When you type "pau gasol look" into Google, 2 search queries that come up are: "pau gasol looks like a llama" and "pau gasol looks like an ostrich". I'm just sayin.

4. Then there was Spain. Not the country. But the Basketball team.

Gasol seemingly gave more effort for the Spanish National Team than he did for the Grizzlies. (I believe this was perception and not reality, but it still impacts likability.) Even worse there was the time Gasol broke his foot, contributing to the Grizzlies' transition from playoff team back to lottery regular. Breaking his foot didn't actually contribute to Pau's likability, but privately asking for a trade shortly after his return did.

Pau's success with Spain (and LA) was probably more circumstance than effort or desire, and his request for a trade was a minor blunder in a 6.5 season stretch in Memphis. But the fact remains that the max contract, franchise player demanded a trade after giving 110% to another team. Now, he's in LA, and he reportedly won't be playing for Spain in the summer.

So I hope Marc Gasol will forgive me if I'm not cheering for the Lakers in the Finals. They're an unlikable team, and their success, along with Pau's, makes the Grizzlies look bad.

Beat LA.

The Grizzlies' Strategy is Still the Wrong Strategy

2010-06-07T04:14:00.000-07:00

In a recent chat with Chris Vernon, Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace explained which deficiencies the team is looking to improve during the offseason:

Wallace said: "We need to strengthen the pitching rotation we have at the point guard position because you need more than one player [at point guard]. Other needs in no particular order are more outside shooting, ... more overall athleticism, ... size, length, and athleticism at the perimeter, ... and a veteran presence."

This isn't the first time that Wallace or Heisley has suggested that the Grizzlies are looking for role players to add to the core starters from last year, and it's still the wrong approach to improving the team.

This is the type of strategy that produces 0 playoff victories in 15 seasons. The Grizzlies don't need a backup point guard and a three point shooter. They need a top 15 player. They need someone with the potential to make an All-NBA team, not someone who can help them win one or two games.

Last year's squad didn't win half the games it played and didn't even make the playoffs. The team was better than previous teams which sparred for the league's worst record, but these players aren't going to spontaneously improve to top 5 in the Western Conference. The Grizzlies earned the 10th seed in part because of their own health and other teams' injuries. (#11 New Orleans and #12 the LA Clippers both had injuries to their stars / potential stars that derailed their seasons.) They may digress if not as healthy next season.

As Jamie Vann Struth explains at OpposingViews.com, the Grizzlies' stats suggest they weren't as good as their record indicated. Their performance was equal to that of a 37 win team, not a 40 win team, so they weren't as close to making the playoffs as it may seem.

Lionel Hollins wants to reap the benefit of developing the young players, and it's true that is has been painful to watch Gasol dominate in the playoffs. It's also true that the Grizzlies are young, but 3 of their 4 best players, Randolph, Gasol, and Gay, are old enough that there is little chance of each developing into more than a borderline All Star. Mayo is young enough that there's an outside chance he could make strides, but I'm not mortgaging the house on the chance that he'll be the best or second best player on an NBA Champion.

Don't get me wrong. I like all four of the Grizzlies' top four, and I'd be happy to have any of them on the team. But the idea that this team is going to take the Grizzlies to relevance is wrong.

The Grizzlies need to be looking for opportunities to acquire a perennial All Star, not a backup point guard.

The Core Grizzlies, Part 2

2010-05-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

There are 3 types of Hollywood sequels:

1. There's the type of sequel where the cast and crew replicates the original exactly. Think Jaws 2 or Batman Returns. This almost never works. Everybody is usually just going through the motions so they can get paid.

2. There's the type of sequel where you take the original and add one twist to try to keep things interesting. Add water and get Halloween H20. Give Indiana Jones a son and get Indy 4. Add Revenge and get Jaws the Revenge. These work sometimes if the twist is interesting enough, as was the case with Leprechaun in the Hood, but they're almost always worse than the originals.

I'm hoping The Human Centipede sequel, The Full Sequence, is even better than the original. Incidentally, this is the face I make whenever the Grizzlies are about to make their selection during the NBA Draft.

3. Then there's the type of sequel where you build on what happened in the original. These are a continuation. The build upon and advance the story in ways that the original couldn't. The originals set the stage, and the sequel gives the payoff. Batman Begins sets up The Dark Knight. Star Wars sets up The Empire Strikes Back.

The point is that you can't keep the same formula in place an expect different results. Everybody is going to want more money, and the results are likely going to be worse. That's why keeping the core Grizzlies together is a mistake.

Do you really think keeping this core together, along with a new bench player or two, is going to make a difference?

Coach Hollins himself admitted that these guys don't practice: "None of them will be in gym once that two-hour block of practice is over. They’re not going to come early unless you make them, they’re not going to stay late." How are they going to match teams like the Blazers and the Thunder if they aren't dedicated enough to practice?

The Grizzlies might improve marginally if they're lucky, but this group of players won't be much better than this group of players was last season. And I don't want to undermine last season's "success". I liked last year's team better than most Grizzlies squads. They barely lost more than half their games.

But paying Rudy Gay $15 million per year, extending Zach Randolph at $15 million per year, and starting Mike Conley at the point next season would be a mistake.

Instead the Grizzlies should trade for Elton Brand and Evan Turner. Or package our young guys for someone else's young guys. Anything. Just don't bring the same old formula. This team is not good enough to franchise. The original wasn't that good.

I don't mind losing now.

2010-04-08T04:46:00.000-07:00

With the Grizzlies' recent elimination from the playoffs, there's been talk of how great a moral victory it will be to have a winning season. It will help the team build towards next season so it's been said. Sorry if I don't plan a parade down Beale Street.

While I'm busy not planning parades, let me share three reasons why losing these next few games will help with next season more than winning the games.

1. Grizzlies losses can move their draft picks up several positions. When Tuesday's Grizzlies-Rockets game ended with a Grizzlies loss, it also resulted in the two teams swapping their respective draft picks. The Grizzlies moved from 14 to 13 while the Rockets moved from 13 to 14. You should know that the 13th pick is better than the 14th when you're selecting players to help your team in following season. The Grizzlies probably won't overtake the Bulls for the 12 spot (1.5 games separate them), but losing the next 4 games will help.

The Grizzlies have other picks they can impact as well. There's an outside chance the loss to Orlando on Sunday will help move the pick owed to the Grizzlies from the Lakers from 29 to 28. Likewise, 2 losses to the Mavericks in the past week have given Dallas a chance to improve the pick owed to the Grizzlies by the Nuggets.

The big story for teams that actually play in playoffs is that very few games separate 2nd and 8th place. The big story for the Grizzlies is that their Denver pick could swing several positions, the Grizzlies have games against Oklahoma City, San Antonio, and Denver that could impact the swing. The Denver pick could easily jump from 27 to 24: There's less than a game separating those positions. There's even a possibility that the Denver pick could move as low as 21. (Fewer than 3 games separate those positions.) And it's mathematically possible (3.5 games) that the Denver pick will be 19.

If you had trouble following that, let me summarize: The only game I want the Grizzlies to win for the rest of the season is next Monday against Denver.

Sorry if I think draft positioning is more important than moral victories, but the difference in one position can be the difference in swinging a trade or drafting an impact player. Of course, if you're busting at #2 on a consistent basis then #13 ain't gonna help.

A strategy of "tanking games" is usually most effective when coupled with a plan for using the resulting draft picks to improve the team.

2. Do we really think winning meaningless games is going to help with building on the "success" of this season? If anything, it will lead to complacency. I propose a separate theory: the worse the team does, the more inspired it should be to make a bold move to improve. For some reason I keep thinking Heisley will be embarrassed into improving the team. Of course this is the guy who says he's happy with the team, and will probably bring back the same group next year.

Luckily, that means this time next year, I can just republish the above paragraph in a new blog post.

3. Maybe a losing record will bring down the price tag of Rudy Gay. That's the biggest stretch of the three, but a fan blogger can dream, can't he?

At this point, we're looking at 3 or 4 teams that are going to strike out on signing a top free agent this summer. Will one of those teams be desperate enough to give Gay a max contract? I can't say for sure, but I can say that the last time the Grizzlies gave out a max contract it turned into Kwame Brown. And, by the way, Gay isn't as good as Pau Gasol. We're on course for a very difficult situation with the Gay contract, and until then I will latch on to any crackpot idea that helps me sleep at night.

Rudy Gay will be able to afford a new couch next year. Also, if you're searching for images of Rudy Gay on Google, I recommend 'safe search'.

So I stopped watching games religiously a few weeks ago. And I've noticed losing doesn't ruin my night any more. Maybe 9 seasons and no playoff victories is wearing on me. Maybe I know that losing is better, but I can't bare to watch unless I'm 100% behind the team winning. Maybe I'm just ready for this season to be over. It wasn't a success, four games won't change that, and you can't tell me differently.

Memphis Grizzlies vs Golden State

2010-03-26T04:23:00.000-07:00

I don't have the heart or the energy to write an extensive recap of the Grizzlies game against the Warriors, so I'll just post this random collection of thoughts, pictures, and videos:

It was really great to be sitting on the 6th row, cheering for the Grizzlies, wearing Grizzlies gear, while the team gave up a franchise record 78 points in the first half to one of the 5 worst teams in the league. Thanks guys.
I enjoyed the banter from the gentlemen next to me who were eventually escorted out by security when they attempted to enter the Warriors locker room in the 4th. By the 3rd quarter, I was feeding them ammunition for their jeers like "Graceland is in Memphis." That led to: "Hey Gay, Why don't you go to Graceland?"
Next time the Grizzlies decide to draft a shot blocking specialist, they should check to see if he can jump more than once in succession.

FYI, in case the Warriors call you about season tickets, you can get Row 6 seats for $50 each on Craigslist. I talked Craig down from $60. Warning: It's embarrassing to pay $50 for tickets and cheer for the other team, when the Warriors destroy them.

The Warriors in full tank-a-polooza mode started Anthony Tolliver and Chris Hunter. Guess which one they drafted #2 overall.

Rudy Gay can shoot free throws, but he didn't seem too bothered by the massacre on the court. Maybe he's just used to it?

In an attempt to turn things around for the Grizz, I gave my lucky hat to Evan. It didn't work.

Success in Sacramento

2010-03-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

The Grizzlies rewarded my 1.5 hour drive to Sacramento with a 102-85 win at Arco Arena.

The trip was almost a disaster: For those looking to tailgate in the Arco Arena parking lot, Beware. The Papa John's closest to Arco (Blue Marker) is not located West of Interstate 5 (Red Marker) as Google Maps would have you believe. On the contrary, Papa John's is located East of 5 as shown by the Green Marker.

View Papa John's Near Arco in a larger map

After a few phone calls, My GF, Jen, and I located PJs, picked up my medium half-sausage (for me), half-pineapple (for Jen), and headed to the Arco Parking Lot.

The first thing I noticed was that, despite their team's terrible performance, the threat of relocation, and the fact that their best player was recently shipped out for loose change, Kings fans have spirit. More fans were decked out in team gear than at Memphis or Oakland home games. I hope the citizens of Seattle feel bad when Kings move to Washington.

I was the only person wearing an Iverson jersey and a stuffed bear hat, and Jen was one of two people wearing a Rudy Gay jersey. I did see one other guy wearing a Vancouver jersey, but he was wearing an unbuttoned Kings shirt over it.

The second thing I noticed was that it's really obvious why the Kings want a new arena. The arena feels half the size of Oracle or the FedEx Forum, and there might be a third the number of luxury boxes. It's gotten so bad at Arco, that this was their half-time show:

On the way inside, a season ticket holder who had been given courtside seats for the game offered to sell me his seats in Row E for $10 each. That was an upgrade over Row W, so this was our view:

Our premium vantage point meant Jen was more engaged than usual. As a result, she chose Gay, Zach Randolph, and Hasheem Thabeet as her favorite players. (On Thabeet: "The way he walks around the court like he doesn't know what he's doing is endearing.") Her least favorites were Hamed Haddadi (He had a rough game.) and Marcus Williams (I think she's biased because he blocked me on Twitter.)

Jen was also an OJ Mayo fan after he dominated four straight possessions in the 4th to seal the game. He scored 10 straight, including 2 three pointers, and made it look easy. Mayo, Z-Bo, Gay, and even Thabeet made it look easy at times. There's nothing I enjoy watching more than Thabeet dunks, blocks, or made free throws. For example:

When you observe Thabeet's game from about 10 yards away, you realize that the limitations of his game really are experience and effort. There were at least three occasions where Beno Udrih pulled up for a 10 foot jump shot in the lane, Thabeet looked close enough to contest, but he either didn't attempt to contest or he didn't affect the shot. I don't know whether it's conditioning, a learning curve, confidence, or being coached to play conservatively. But for Thabeet to be a success, he's going to have to play with more energy than this.

Rudy Gay's athleticism also stands out. His inside game has vastly improved since last season. He gets to the rim, and finishes. Why the Grizzlies rarely run set plays that get Rudy the ball near the basket, I'll never know. He's the most dynamic scorer on the team, and he dribbles up to his neck. Why should dribbling through traffic be his best move? Teach him to move without the ball, and get the ball to him in the post with Z-Bo on the weak side. Is that too much to ask?

This is the first time in 5 years in the Bay Area that I've felt it was worthwhile to drive to Sacramento to see the Grizzlies, and I'm glad I did. If they improve next season, I'll be back. Hopefully my trip across the Bay to Oakland Wednesday will be just as good. Look for a post game report later this week.

Back and Off to Sacto

2010-03-21T23:39:00.001-07:00

Has it been almost a month since my last post? First, please accept my apologies.

Since my last post, Thabeet ventured to and from the D-League, the Grizzlies' hopes for making the playoffs fizzled out, Brewer returned from injury, and Heisley conducted interviews with 3sob and Ron Tillery.

What have I been doing? First, I went to Vegas, where I vaguely recall betting on the Grizzlies Bobcats 1st half and final scores. I lost $20 on each. Then, I bet $50 more dollars on the Grizzlies Knicks 1st half and final scores as well as the under. I won the lines, but lost the under. (Thanks Curt & John for advising to take the under!)

It was touch-and-go at times, but thankfully the Grizzlies did not play me out of house and home.

Of course, I spent the next week or so in a haze, recovering from my hangover. Since then, I spent time entertaining college friends, Claude and Atrain, in the Bay Area, saw Obsessed, starring Beyonce and Stringer Bell, visited Portland with my girlfriend, and watched this video about 300 times:

Hit replay. Now do it again, and tell me you can't see this playing as the Grizzlies perform lay-up drills before games. What would it take for the marketing guys in Memphis to try this out? Someone please let me know.

The good news is that it's time to get back to blogging. Monday, I head to Sacramento to see the Grizzlies face the Kings without future Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans. (I'll give you a hint: Tyreke was not assigned to the D-League.) On Wednesday, I travel with the team back to Oakland, where I'll have the chance to assess whether the Grizzlies have improved since I saw them lose in Oracle arena on November 4th.

I hope to get my post game thoughts on both games up this week. Later on, I hope to put together thoughts on Heisley's public comments and the Rudy Gay conundrum. In the meantime, please do look for me on TV. I'll be one of the fans wearing an Iverson Grizzlies jersey and a plush stuffed grizzly bear hat.

First-Half Bets Are Back!

2010-02-24T22:52:00.000-08:00

Thursday I depart for my semi-frequent trip to Vegas, staying at the Signature MGM Grand.

My goal: channel Tim Donaghy and win ~$20 betting on Grizzlies first half scores. The Griz play the Bobcats at home on Friday and the Knicks in NYC on Saturday. Please comment with any inside info.

Lakers-Grizzlies: Live DVR Blogging

2010-02-23T19:08:00.000-08:00

Pau returning to Memphis. Kobe's first game back. NBA TV HD. First time trying the new Dominos Pizza. Watching the game 2 hours late on the West Coast.

That's the perfect combo for Live DVR Blogging. Let's get to it.

PREGAME

McHale is wearing a Marc Gasol jersey, and Jose has put my order in the oven. This is shaping up to be a good night.

FIRST QUARTER

Conley just put the worst Laker FG shooter on the free throw line 13 seconds into the game. He continues to amaze.

The commentators are Pete Pranica and some guy named Hank. Where is Sean Tuoy? By the way, Pete is heating up: "Conley playing hide-n-seek." or " Conley rings the bell." or "Nothing but sweet string music for Mayo."

Lots of cheers for the Kobe Bryant after the free throw. These fans make me sick.

4 minute mark: Conley missed layup count 1.

End of First: 27-16 Lakers

SECOND QUARTER

Haddadi sighting. Assist, block, scores. Already playing as well as any Grizzly not names Gasol.

9 minutes: HADDADI: and 1. The first of the season?

7 minutes: Farmar alley-oop tp Bynum. The crowd erupts.

6 minutes: Sam Young makes a 3. Don't encourage him.

5 minutes: Haddadi at the free throw line, and the pizza has arrived.

Initial take on Domino's: A step up, but not as good as Papa John's.

Just got a text from reader John: "I want to die." I hope he's talking about Camby's injury. Note ot John: DON'T TEXT ME ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES.

1 minute: Mbenga in the game before Thabeet. Trivia question: Who draft selection what Mbenga?

THIRD QUARTER

9 minutes: Conley missed layup count: 2.

8 minutes: Kobe blocked. Mayo with a fast break dunk. The Laker bigs look terrible. This pizza is getting better.

5 minutes: Rudy Gay blocks Gasol underneath, and Fisher gets a 3. Definitely worth it.

3 minutes: Pete's back into it. I think he just said "Bango" after a Mayo 3.

2 minutes: Was just about to compliment Conley for the steals, then he threw it to Kobe. Memphis up 7.

1 minute: Pete informs us the Z-bo has just passed Pau for most offensive rebounds in 1 season.

Grizzlies up at the end of the third. At this point, John's text must be related to something else. There's no way the Grizzlies blow this.

FOURTH QUARTER

Haddadi picks up the 5th foul on Bynum. Trivia question: What draft selection was Haddadi?

7 minutes: Grizzlies up 9. Almost too nervous to live DVR blog. I was never this nervous when they sucked.

Pau Gasol missed a free throw with less than 5 in the fourth. Is this 2005?

3 minutes: McHale, Webber, and EJ ripping on Artest. 1-9, and a badly missed 3 pointer. Also, Lakers have missed 5 free throws, including 4 straight.

2 minutes: Bryant 3, and Gay drives to the hole, with Bynum fouling out. Gay: 1-2 at the line.

1:40: Technical on Lionel Hollins: "I want to die."

1 minute: Conley missed layup count: 3. (It was more like a 8 footer.) "I WANT TO DIE."

OJ MAYO missed free throws. "I WANT TO DIE."

Laker ball 8.8 left. Down 2. "I WANT TO DIE."

Kobe for 3. Wide open. Mayo still thinking about his missed free throws. The crowd erupts. "I WANT TO DIE."

Mayo misses. "I want to die."

POSTGAME

Saddest part of the Grizzlies' season is their 1st playoff win won't come against Pau. They match up as well against the Lakers as any other playoff team: bad point guard, bad 3 forward offensively, bad bench, bigs who play down low, but aren't terribly physical. Would have been a good series.

For those of you looking for audio of the post game presser, where Hollins yells at Jarvis Greer, listen here: http://www.grizzliesonline.com/index.php/calendar/event/grizzlies_vs._lakers3/

I like the Brewer Trade, but I'm still Disappointed.

2010-02-20T00:15:00.000-08:00

The Grizzlies lose in double-overtime at home to the Miami Heat with Dwayne Wade in street clothes, and Ronnie Brewer goes down with a Hamstring injury in his first game as a Grizzly. What a great way to start the weekend.

I wanted to critique the Brewer trade after seeing him play (aka I had plans on Thursday night). Now, I don't even know when Brewer will play again. Brewer is a restricted free agent this summer, so it's conceivable that his career as a Grizzly will be 5 minutes long.

This is what Ronnie Brewer looks like in street clothes sitting on a bench.

Despite the injury, the trade was, for once, about improving the team rather than solely about the bottom line (though it was still conservative from a cost perspective). The Grizzlies took advantage of a team looking to cut costs, and gave up very little in the process. It's like opposite day in Memphis.

My only wish is that the Grizzlies had done more. The Grizzlies are rumored to have tried to acquire longtime David Loves the Grizzlies man-crush Monta Ellis, further evidence that Chris Wallace has turned to fan blogs since firing his scouts. Though I still favor trading Gay over Mayo, Ellis is exactly the caliber of player the Grizzlies. Almost as important, he plays for a terrible team that should be looking to cut costs.

I can't fathom why the Grizzlies would trade their best long range shooter for a guard that penetrates and creates shots for outside shooters. This is another example of poor player evaluation on the part of the Grizzlies. (One other example might be the #2 pick in the 2009 draft, but hey, you can't teach height.)

Speaking of which, I have two final thoughts:

#1 When will Lionel Hollins learn the make strategic substitutions in a late game situations? What makes him think that Zach Randolph should guard Michael Beasley when:

Zach Randolph is a poor defender.
Zach Randolph is a poor perimeter defender.
Zach Randolph was getting torched by Michael Beasley.
Zach Randolph had 5 fouls.
Other teams have taken advantage of Zach Randolph in late game situations. (eg Charlotte)
The Grizzlies could have called a timeout to get Zach Randolph back in the game on offense.

#2 Mike Conley is done. I don't understand why the team won't admit this. Why would you want the worst player on the floor handling the ball and initiating the offense? Why would you want a guard whose supposed strength is quickness handling the ball when he can't finish at the rim or penetrate and dish?

I like the Brewer trade, but I'm still disappointed. The Grizzlies didn't move Conley. They're shopping the wrong wing player, and they didn't make a big move like some many other teams did. I want to be excited about the Brewer trade, but I don't feel like it's enough.

I Am Embarrassed To Have Bought This Hat

2010-02-16T21:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Michael Heisley and the Memphis Grizzlies,

I bought this hat from Amazon in celebration of your great success this season, and now, with your recent struggles, I am embarrassed. Please rectify the situation. For example, One idea is to make a trade before 3 PM EST Thursday that at least appears, partially, to make basketball sense, sort of.

Another idea would be to acquire a point guard that makes layups.

Please don't tell me you are saving money to pay Rudy Gay this summer. We are not going to get better with the same players minus Steven Hunter next year. And we are not going to be better next year when you tell us you can't afford more players because you are paying Rudy Gay $15 million per year.

Love,

David

PS Dorell Wright does not count.

PPS I heart Hasheem Thabeet.

A New CBA That Could Help The Grizzlies

2010-02-12T21:40:00.000-08:00

One of the last places where unions and employers still negotiate the terms of employment is professional sports. (It turns out that most employees in America can be replaced more easily than LeBron James for example.) During All Star Weekend those negotiations heated up as the players and owners sat down to discuss a new collective bargaining agreement.

The previous agreement led to $40 million contracts for the likes of Marko Jaric. As you can imagine, when you're busy paying Marko Jaric $40 million, you don't have time to worry about details like whether your costs exceed your revenue. However, owners have decided this isn't such a good idea, and they want to make more teams profitable. Believe it or not, the players, on the other hand, don't want to give up their diamond studded swimming pools just so a few billionaires can make a buck.

Of course, not all franchises are unprofitable. For a number of reasons (poor management, small markets, bad luck), some franchises are more likely to lose money. Large TV markets, savvy basketball people, and/or luck can make a franchise profitable even with enormous expenses. (Or their billionaire owners are willing to subsidize losses in which case, who needs a budget?)

Here are three possible outcomes of the CBA that could help (or not help) more franchises become profitable:

1. Remove the salary cap and let franchises pay whatever they want to players. (For example, baseball) NBA owners have shown they aren't capable of restraining themselves when it comes to giving players excessive contracts so I'm not sure how balance sheets would improve if the current restraints were removed. I imagine Isiah Thomas would have signed Eddie Curry to a $500 million dollar contract if there was no salary cap.

Still, let's imagine the owners are able to spend only what they can afford. That wouldn't be good for the players. On average, they may get a share of revenue equal to what their getting now, but the premium contracts (in theory) would be reserved for a few roster spots in the biggest markets. Welcome to the New York Yankees.

2. Lower the percentage of profits paid to players so that even franchises with small revenue can turn a profit. Basically, force all owners to pay what the least profitable owners can afford to pay in player salaries. This is what the owners are reportedly proposing.

The result would be that more teams would turn a small profit, and a few teams would turn an even bigger profit than they do today. On the other hand, the overall amount of money going to the players would be smaller.

3. What's best for the players and for Memphis is a third scenario: Take profits from the most profitable franchises and distribute them among all the franchises. If some of the Lakers' profits were distributed across the league, then fewer teams would be unprofitable, and players could still get a large percentage of revenue. (Though some reports say that the total amount of player salaries must come down slightly for the league to be profitable as a whole.)

As Frank Hughes says at the very end of a recent article:

"Ultimately, it seems, the union wants to discuss some form of revenue sharing in which small-market teams would be propped up by larger-market teams which have higher television revenue and gate receipts. That would replicate the NFL's model, which has been largely successful because of enormous television revenue."

I can imagine a number of reasons why owners wouldn't want this to happen. Of course, the large markets don't want to give away their money. Philosophically, the idea of subsidizing someone else's business, maybe even someone else's poorly managed business, is probably disgusting for most of the owners. After all, we know that no one subsidized their billion dollar pocketbooks. Every penny was earned by old fashioned blood, sweat, and tears. I promise. Look it up.

I can also imagine opposition from owners who, like poor Americans who vote for Republicans because they lower taxes, want to preserve the possibility of winning the LeBron lottery. If you all of a sudden find yourself with someone who prints season tickets, like LeBron James, you don't want to pay 70% of your ticket sales to Indiana.

Of course, Grizzlies fans should realize that the chances of winning a LeBron-type prize are slim, and even when you come close, you're likely to trade away the consolation prize for Otis Thorpe. Or draft Hasheem Thabeet. Therefore, I respectfully request that Michael Heisley take a break from squandering away opportunities to improve the team via trade, and convince his fellow owners to increase the amount of revenue that's shared between franchises.

It would be good for the players, good for the league, and good for Memphis.

The Griz Need Help

2010-02-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

Regardless of the outcome of this season, the Grizzlies have developed a style of play with which they can win basketball games. That style is characterized by rebounding, toughness, and inside scoring.

The benefit of having established a style of play is that if you're savvy and you have resources, you can start acquiring players that fit that style. Houston has found success using MBAs to determine who fits their style based on analysis of player stats. Charlotte has found similar success by sheer luck.

The Griz of course have neither the resources to hire MBAs nor luck. This is the team that only has one 'stats geek', they hired him this year, and he's part time. Not to mention they fired all their scouts. Luckily, the Grizzlies have fan bloggers like me to make armchair recommendations:

Who am I to question the judgement of the folks who drafted Hasheem Thabeet when he was a consensus bust BEFORE they drafted him?

1. Don't prioritize re-signing Rudy Gay over all else.

Rudy is by far the most athletic Grizzly, but of the 4 good players, he's the worst fit. The Grizzlies are an inside outside team built on rebounding, scrappy defense, without the benefit of a play-making guard.

Rudy Gay's weakness are scrappy defense, rebound, and ball-handling. The Grizzlies need a spot up shooter at the 3 position who can stay in front of his man. Gasol and Randolph aren't good enough shot blockers / help defenders to compensate for Rudy's defense (though Gasol has shown flashes).

Can the Grizzlies be successful with Rudy Gay? They've demonstrated they can.

Is he their most tradeable asset? Yes, he's the one Grizzly who would likely benefit from a different system. He's the most conventionally talented player on the team, and he's likely to be overpaid this summer.

The elephant in the room for the Grizzlies is that they won't be able to keep all four of the starters due to salary constraints in the long run, and moving Rudy now makes more sense than moving anyone else.

Yes, I said all four starters on purpose.

Rudy Gay, The Knicks' 2011 All Star

2. Take advantage of all the teams that are selling.

It's absolutely ridiculous that the Grizzlies won't accept a contract that goes beyond 2010. They aren't going to acquire a big name free agent. Even the second and third tier free agents will be off the market when New York and New Jersey realize they have nothing left to do but throw max contracts at mediocre players.

The one strategy that can work for the Grizzlies is acquiring players that teams, who are cutting salary, will trade for less than equal value. Remember Zach Randolph? Do that again. Package Mike Conley, Steven Hunter, and even Hasheem Thabeet for a good player on a bad team with long contract.

Did you know that Mike Conley and Steven Hunter for Jose Calderon works? If the Raptors made that deal, they wouldn't be stuck with Jose Calderon when Chris Bosh abandons them. Of course, they won't take that deal because they don't want Chris Bosh to know that they know he's booking it. Does that make sense? I'm not sure.

Did you know that Monta Ellis for Conley, Hunter, and Marcus Williams works? Even though John Hollinger recently called Ellis the most overrated player in the league, I don't care. I'll trade the most accurately rated crap player for the most overrated good player any day.

Now, I'm going to conclude this blog post before I recommend trading for Gilbert Arenas again.

All Time Top Grizzlies All Stars

2010-02-09T06:37:00.000-08:00

I'm not a huge fan of the All Star Game. I just don't care that much, and I'd rather see spectacular plays when it matters. That said, I'd definitely watch Saturday night's competitions if if only 7+ footers were eligible. What, you wouldn't prefer to watch Thabeet vs Mbenda in the Skills Competition?

Anyway, I thought I'd pay homage to Zach Randolph's trip to the All Star Game by listing all the Grizzlies' All Star selections in sequential order.

Player	Year	Win %	PER	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
Pau Gasol	2006	.598	22.76	39.2	.503	.689	8.9	4.6	20.4
Zach Randolph	2010	.520	21.80	37.5	.497	.796	11.5	2.1	20.5

The Gasol Trade Anniversary

2010-01-27T03:45:00.000-08:00

February 1 is the 2 year anniversary of the trade that sent Pau Gasol to the Lakers for salary cap flexibility. And since I'm bitter and I'll never get over the trade, I thought it made sense to do a post about it.

At the time, General Manager Chris Wallace said, "This is a deal that makes sense financially and makes sense long term to give us assets...I'm not putting us off 4-5 years. I'm looking at a timetable of 2-3 years when we'll have the roster where we want it."

I wonder how that will turn out. Here's a breakdown of all the pieces of 2008's epic trade and how they've benefited or hurt the Grizzlies.

	Getting rid of Pau	People forget how badly Grizzly fans wanted to get rid of their best player. Shortly after the trade, we were reminded when Leon Powe dunked on Gasol's head 30 times during the NBA Finals. More recently, Zach Randolph reminded us again by doing what Pau would never do: anchoring the post with toughness, rebounding, and clutch play. Even though we had to watch everybody ogle as Gasol won a championship, we all knew it was worth it. Now that the Grizzlies have turned it around, it's worth even more.
	Getting Marc Gasol	Pau's sweet revenge on us is the fact that our new favorite player is his brother. Damn you Gasol! Marc was better than expected as a rookie last year. And after running up a mountain all summer, he's a top five center in the league (Look at John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rating if you don't believe me.) Even more baffling than Pau's curse against us: the Commercial Appeal reports that we have GM Chris Wallace to thank for the younger Gasol's inclusion in the trade. We love Gasol. Chris Wallace made a savvy move. Next thing you'll tell me is Heisley owns a successful team.
	The right to draft Darrell Arthur	Arthur may eventually be a solid backup power forward. So far, injuries have slowed his development. He does offer fans a pleasant reminder of John Calipari's legacy as coach of the Memphis Tigers. I always thought it would be nice if Arthur wore #92 to remind fans that the Tigers were up 9 with 2 minutes left.
	Getting Javaris Crittenton	Can you believe there was a time when we thought Crittenton might be the point guard of the future? Wallace once said he was going to lock Crittenton in a room with Kyle Lowry and Mike Conley to see which two emerged as the Grizzlies' point guard tandem. What Wallace did not realize is that Crittenton is not the type of guy you want to lock in a room with two point guards that are playing ahead of him. Since he left Memphis, Javaris has contributed to one of the top five NBA scandals of last decade. (December's gun incident joins the Palace Brawl, the Donaghy scandal on the list.) Crittenton's actions may have a bigger impact on the Grizzlies than you think. The incident may give owners leverage over the players during upcoming negotiations over the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The owners then may be able to work a deal that makes owning a franchise more financially viable. Would that close the competitive gap between small markets like Memphis and big markets like New York? It's pure speculation, but hey, that's why I'm a fan blogger and not Chad Ford.
	Getting The Laker's 2010 Draft pick	If the draft were today, the 2010 pick the Grizzlies acquired would be about as bad as it could be.
	Getting $3,000,000	The Grizzlies received cash for their troubles - let's call it $3,000,000. I can't imagine where Heisley could have invested 3 million and made money since 2008.
	Getting Kwame Brown	Brown continued a long history of tragic Grizzly big men: Bryant Reeves, Stromile Swift, Ike Austin, Darko Milicic... Am I leaving anyone off the list of Grizzly big men busts who are unintentionally funny? Oh right, Tony Massenburg.
	Getting Aaron McKie	It's amazing that a member of the 2001 Eastern Conference Champion Philidelphia 76ers played fewer games as a Grizzly than Allen Iverson. But it's true. Aaron McKie did not play 1 game as a Grizzly. On the plus side, I wasn't duped into buying an Aaron McKie Grizzly jersey.
	Losing a 2008 2nd round draft pick	This pick turned out to be Joe Crawford. Chad Ford is reporting the Darko Milicic would have been a steal at this pick.

So there you have it. Not that I'm bitter or anything and need to rehash what happened two years ago to validate myself. I feel like I may be insane for admitting this in public, but that trade didn't turn out so badly after 1.5 years of torture. It's a good thing I didn't go with my initial reaction of dousing myself with gasoline, setting myself on fire, and jumping off of a bridge.

I will watch this over and over.

2010-01-25T23:24:00.000-08:00

Grizzlies Playoffs Chances?

2010-01-13T03:18:00.000-08:00

The Grizzlies are back above . 500 after a win in which they were outplayed at home despite the absence of the Clippers' top three big men. Both Mike Conley and the Grizzlies' bench are crushing my hopes for the Grizzlies' first franchise playoff win to come against Pau Gasol. I don't know whether to be happy of sad. So I decided to alleviate my confusion by analyzing the Grizzlies' remaining schedule to better understand their playoff chances.

Fedex Forum's Water Breaks, Fans are Evacuated.

Over the remaining schedule, let's predict, somewhat arbitrarily, that the Grizzlies win:

100% of their home games against sub .500 teams
50% of their home games against teams equal or greater than .500
50% of their road games against sub .500 teams
25% of their road games against teams equal or greater than .500

That's a strong performance, but not out of the question if they stay healthy. Here's what the breakdown of the Grizzlies remaining schedule looks like (45 games):

Remaining Games by Location and Opponent Record (1/12)
	Sub .500	.500 or greater
Home	7	17
Away	10	11

Take the remaining games and apply my formula, and you get a 42-40 record (rounding to the nearest game) or a .512 winning percentage. That's essentially equal to the Grizzlies' current .514 winning percentage, and within one game of John Hollinger's prediction of the Grizzlies' end-of-season record. It's also not good enough to move the Grizzlies up in the standings unless other teams perform significantly worse (and the Clippers don't improve significantly).

Of the teams above the Grizzlies in the standings, I can see Houston, Portland, New Orleans, or Utah dropping, and Phoenix is one injured 35-year-old point guard away from the lottery. Even though only 2 losses separate the Grizzlies from the four franchises I mentioned (excluding Phoenix), I can't see 3 of those four franchises tanking enough to make 42-40 qualify for a playoff berth. (In the Western Conference of course.)

What that means is, to make the playoffs, the Grizzlies need to perform better than my predictions for the rest of the season.

If we don't make the playoffs, I blame Iverson.

The good news is that the Grizzlies have performed better than my prediction since December 1. Here's the breakdowns with victories in parentheses. (Opponents' Jan 12 records are used here too.)

Dec 1 - Jan 12 Games by Location and Opponent Record (Wins)
	Sub .500	.500 or greater
Home	4 (4)	6 (4)
Away	3 (2)	6 (3)

You can see the Grizzlies won:

100% of their home games against sub .500 teams
67% of their home games against teams equal or greater than .500
67% of their road games against sub .500 teams
50% of their road games against teams equal or greater than .500

For those of you still reading, this means the Grizzlies need to perform somewhere between my prediction and their Dec -Jan 12 pace to make the playoffs. The most likely scenario is that the Grizzlies finish somewhere around .500 and miss the playoffs. Since the Grizzlies final record will likely qualify for the East's 5th seed at seasons end, the Grizzlies will have been screwed by the NBA's playoff rules in two of the four seasons when it wasn't lottery fodder. Don't think I forgot the 2006 playoffs when the Grizzlies (49 wins) played against the 60 win Mavericks instead of getting home court advantage against a 47 win Clippers team thanks to the NBA's superb Division leader rules.

Instead the 47-win Clippers used their home court advantage to beat the third-seeded Nuggets (44 wins) in 5 games.

Anyways, all of this is just a roundabout way of saying that it's nice to be getting back to being screwed by the NBA's playoff rules instead of the NBA's lottery rules. Go Grizz.

The 500 Club

2010-01-04T03:37:00.000-08:00

We made it. The Grizzlies have crossed that arbitrary threshold of legitimacy by winning half their games. They did it via a not-so-arbitrary ass whooping of the Suns in Phoenix where Nash and company had lost only 2 of 15 games all season.

It doesn't surprise me that the team is better than last year's team. They added Zach Randolph without losing anyone. What does surprise is how much better they are and the fact that the change seemed to happen overnight. The Grizzlies couldn't beat lowly teams like the Pistons, Warriors, and Clippers in November. Now, they're not only beating the teams they should beat, but they're also beating just about everyone else.

The 500 Club, San Francisco, where jeans are tight and bathing is optional.

I don't know why this change took place or why it happened in what seemed like the span of a few days in late November. But I've noticed 2 differences between the current Grizzlies and their ugly stepsisters of 2006 through November 2009.

1. The Grizzlies, especially Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo, seem to be playing with some sort of selflessness that I won't try to explain here but may at another date.

2. The Grizzlies have improved their interior game. By interior game, I mean three things: A. Points in the paint. B. Rebounding. C. Interior defense.

Points in the paint start with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. We're starting to hear that this might be the most potent post tandem in the league. As Chris Herrington points out, it's partly due to Randolph's new found commitment to interior scoring. Herrington explains that Randolph has made a conscious effort to focus on scoring inside instead of relying on his outside shot.

I would add that both Gasol and Randolph's commitment to getting in shape in the off-season has facilitated their improved play.

Have you ever been tired at the end of game with your buddies? Were you more inclined to pound it inside and fight for rebounds or jack up threes? When you missed the three, which led to a fast break layup for the other team, did you make a comment to your buddy about being out of shape? But you had no intention of getting in shape, did you? That's why you aren't making $17 million this year.

The story of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph is the classic story of hard work paying off. Randolph in particular could have returned to training camp like he did every season, and he still would have been a very good power forward, but for whatever reason, he got in the best shape of his professional career this summer, and now he's dominating the post like never before. He doesn't need to settle because he's not tired.

Gasol admitted as much to the Commercial Appeal. "I want to be more consistent on the floor," Gasol said. "Sometimes I could disappear. But I wanted to get in better shape so I can always be a presence."

But the inside scoring doesn't end with Gasol and Randolph. Herrington shows us Randolph's interior scoring percentages over his career to illustrate the point that he wasn't relying on his outside shot as much.

That got me thinking. I noticed that Gay and Mayo also were taking it to the hole more instead of jacking up fade-away threes with 2 seconds on the shot clock (henceforth known as the Marc Iavaroni Offense). What would happen if we applied Herrington's analysis (via data from 82games.com) to Gay and Mayo?

TABLE 1A: Percentage of Shots Inside vs Outside
Player / Season	Percentage Inside	Percentage Outside
Gay / 2008-2009	31%	69%
Gay / 2009-2010	38%	62%
Mayo / 2008-2009	21%	79%
Mayo / 2009-2010	27%	73%

For those who aren't good with numbers, Mayo and Gay are shooting fewer outside, low percentage shots, and more inside, high, percentage shots. Add to the mix that leading bench scorer Sam Young tries to dunk every time he gets the ball, and you will find that inside scoring is a key difference between the "2006 - November 2009 Grizzlies" and the current team.

The second part of interior play is rebounding. I discussed it some last week, and I won't dwell on it here other than to say Gasol and Randolph being in shape and Rudy Gay's devotion to team play have vastly improved the team's rebounding.

The third part of interior play is interior defense. Last year, the Grizzlies practically invited opposing players to take uncontested layups. This year, there's a visible commitment from the entire team to playing defense. Another added benefit of Randolph and Gasol being in shape is their ability to protect the rim despite their limited athleticism.

But I want to focus on what has generally been a sore subject for Grizzlies fans: Hasheem Thabeet. Thabeet is starting to look like every game isn't his first game of basketball. When he's in the game, you see his impact on the defensive end. Even when he doesn't get the block, opposing players are altering their shots and missing layups because of his presence. The commentators for other teams are even talking about it on NBA League Pass.

On a related note, for some reason, opposing teams aren't taking advantage of him on the offensive end either (eg by not guarding him or intentionally fouling him). Maybe it's because there are not good second string opposing centers. But for whatever reason, Thabeet is a significant reason the Grizzlies' improved interior defense, and he's making tangible contributions to the team's success. And the Grizzlies definitely shouldn't have taken Tyreke over him. (loading gun, inserting in mouth...)

Now here we are in January at 500, looking for our second victory in Portland this season on Tuesday. Portland will be returning home late Monday night after playing the Clippers in LA with both their centers out for the season with injuries and their starting power forward nursing a sprained ankle.

We'll be on our 3rd day of rest after destroying Phoenix at home with our finely tuned inside game looking to break the 500 barrier. I did not see this one coming.

The Grizzlies Are Rebounding

2009-12-20T20:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a horrendous start to the season, the Grizzlies are still below 500 and 3 and a half games out of the playoffs. (It has to be asked: Where would the Grizzlies be if Heisley hadn't taken a dump on team chemistry by signing AI? Yes, I defended the move at the time.) However, despite their early troubles, there's something different about this team.

One noticeable change is that I don't get texts immediately after every Grizzlies victory from all my friends. (Okay, it's just my parents, and they don't know how to text, so they call me.) You know something's changed when victory is so common that it no longer needs to be celebrated via text message. This is especially important for west coast Grizzlies fans like me who watch most games on 2 hour DVR delay. As you may not be aware, games are not as fun when you read "win #5!!! :)" on your phone with 8 minutes left in the third quarter.

Another key change is that days and even weeks go by without open ridicule of the Grizzlies and their plight. In fact, even when the Grizzlies lose, post game comments have taken a different tone.

After a 5 point win over the Grizzlies on Dec 14, Boston forward Paul Pierce said, “That’s one tough team.They’re dangerous. I see them with four potential All-Stars.”

Last season, when the Celtics beat the Grizzlies by 4, Pierce responded: "Everybody knew we're playing Detroit on Saturday night, but we had to take care of Memphis. We're preparing for something bigger than the regular season. It's got to be every night."

Added Celtics Coach Doc Rivers after last season's victory: "Probably our worst focus of the year. Could be because of tomorrow night. We might have been looking forward to it. I don't know."

You see the difference? Last year, the defending champions beat us despite playing the worst game of their season. This year, they squeaked by on a lucky last second bounce and three-pointer. And more importantly, they noticed a difference.

This picture hurts my head, but it shows Warrick at the Fleet Center. For all I know it was taken during last year's loss. That's a lie. I see this was taken in 2008.

Last week, when the Grizzlies played the Indiana Pacers, over a thousand residents of Poplar Bluff, MO, hometown to Indiana rookie Tyler Hansbrough, bought tickets to see their hero's Fedex Forum debut. For those of you keeping track, that's nearly 10% of Poplar Bluff's population. Normally, this would be a great opportunity for jokes about the Grizzlies' attendance as compared with the population of Poplar Bluff. But there was one problem: The Grizzlies won the game, and Poplar Bluff High School subsequently retired Zach Randolph's jersey in its rafters.

These stories make watching the Grizzlies games fun. There's nothing I like more than hearing that citizens' of Poplar Bluff have had the hopes crushed by the Grizzlies. If the team keeps it up, people outside of Poplar Bluffs might also attend the games.

Main St, Poplar Bluff, MO, USA

And you know what else is both different and fun to watch? Rebounding.

Until this season, rebounding, which is 50% effort, 30% skill, and 20% size (I made that up.), has been one of the Grizzlies' weaknesses. Now, Zach Randolph, a 6'9 forward who can't dunk and isn't on the All Star Ballot, holds this season's record for rebounds in a game.

Nothing is more enjoyable than watching the Grizzlies get an offensive rebound with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter while the opposition is mounting a comeback. Ranked in order from "fists in the air and shouting" to "nodding silently", my favorite Grizzlies rebounders are Randolph, Thabeet, Gasol, and Gay. You might say, "David, that's the entire Grizzlies front-court", and my response would be "Yyyyyyyeeeeeesssss". That's the whole point. For the first time, the rebounding is a team strength, and the Grizzlies are fun to watch.

Movie Review: The Blind Side

2009-12-07T03:19:00.000-08:00

I have a rule: Don't see Sandra Bullock movies.

However, during one fateful Clippers-Grizzlies game, (the infamous "Haddadi-Borat" game, not the infamous "Blow a 20 Point Lead in the Fourth" game) NBA League Pass opted to show me the Clippers' broadcast over the Grizzlies'. When the Clippers announcers weren't offending Iranians, I learned that The Blind Side featured Grizzlies commentator, Sean Tuohy, whose family adopted NFL offensive tackle Michael Oher when he was a homeless high schooler.


Clippers Analyst Michael Smith during a November Broadcast: "You're sure it's not Borat's older brother?...If they ever make a movie about Haddadi, I'm going to get Sacha Baron Cohen to play the part."

At that point, I made a decision I would later regret to break my Sandra Bullock rule.

The movie may not be as bad as a typical Sandra Bullock movie, but it's also not as good as Oher's story deserves. The writing is cheesy (For example, the Democrat / Republican jokes), and the situations feel contrived (For example, Sean Jr teaching plays to Oher with condiments or Leigh Anne Tuohy instructing Oher during Football practice).

The Blind Side relies too much on cheap laughs and doesn't authentically convey either Oher's or the Tuohys' transformations (and it's not funny or moving enough to go the sentimental family comedy route. Both my girlfriend and my barber Jay said it was no Remember the Titans, and that's saying something.).

We do learn that when Tuohy is not adopting football stars or calling some of the worst basketball games in NBA history, he's operating about 80 fast food franchises. When Sean Tuohy Jr's explains why the family eats Taco Bell for free, Oher responds "Is that why he [Grizzlies Commentator Sean Tuohy Sr] never seems to work?"

Doesn't work? Apparently, Oher hasn't heard Tuohy transform a 20 point Grizzlies loss into Shakespearean poetry.

Once I realized the movie sucked, I resigned to hoping for references to Tuohy's night job, of which there were none. (Let me warn you: Don't attend The Blind Side hoping to play a drinking game where you drink every time there's a reference to the Grizzlies. You're better off watching Grizzlies games and drinking every time someone mentions The Blind Side.)

I also found it curious that no mention was made of Tuohy's struggle to stop Taco Bell employees from raiding the franchises' reserves of Star Wars Episode 1 memorobilia in the late 90s, but I guess they're saving that for the prequel.


This was a deadly combination for Tuohy in 1999.

Shane Battier Workout Video

2009-12-04T23:57:00.000-08:00

Remember when Shane Battier played for the Grizzlies and it seemed like he was the hardest-working player and the only player that maximized his talent? Well, I caught up with Battier (AKA I filmed him without his knowledge) during his pregame routine before a game against the Warriors in Oakland. It turns out Battier has the most methodical workout (of the players I saw, including T-Mac, whose workout consists of shooting threes from the top of the key).

Here's Battier Shooting the Shane Battier Memorial Baseline Jumper:

I tried to get Shane Battier to sign page 45 of The Book of Basketball, but I didn't catch him before he returned to the locker room. Also, I was told by security that players would not sign a "hard" object like a book. Apparently, books pose an injury threat NBA players. The security guard did not see the comedy in this.

Here's Battier practicing his elbow jumper:

Here's Battier practicing his left-handed jump hook. See if you can spot Luis Scola:

And here's T-Mac, a few months before the Rockets trade him and/or banish him from the team:

Paging the Kemmons Wilson Family

2009-12-02T03:42:00.000-08:00

I've proposed a few trades recently. (Who wouldn't prefer Monta Ellis over Rudy Gay right now?) But our best chance at turning around 9 straight seasons of failure (unless you count 0-12 in the playoffs as success) is changing the owner. We need a new owner who meets the following criteria:

Worth a billion or more
Ties to Memphis
Passionate about basketball
Is able to absord significant financial losses
Is willing to let basketball execs make basketball decisions (within reason)

Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who qualifies personally, and the list of Memphis billionaires is short.

However, one name on the list jumps out at me: Kemmons Wilson.

I only met met Wilson once, when I was about 12, and I don't know any of his surviving sons or much about them.

Bob Wilson could play with his Cesnas while someone with basketball experience manages his basketball team.

However I do know these facts:

1. Kemmons Wilson left his sons assets worth about a billion dollars.

2. Spence, Bob, and Kemmons Jr. are all active members of Memphis area organizations, and married to locals. (Spence barely qualifies with a wife from Jackson, TN.)

3. Kemmons Wilson once owned a professional basketball in Memphis with Isaac Hayes when his sons were in their 30s.

4. Wilson Hotel Corporation already manages the most successful part of the Grizzlies, St. Jude's Memphis Grizzlies House.

St. Jude's Memphis Grizzlies House is associated with the Grizzlies and managed by the Wilson Family Business. Is that combo a fomula for success?

Are those three facts enough to guarantee that a marriage between the Wilsons and the Grizzlies would be successful or even that the Wilsons are interested? No.

Would Heisley listen if the Wilsons made an offer? Definitely.

Are Grizzlies fans desperate enough to stop the Wilsons in the street and beg them to buy the team? I hope so.

I am Thankful We Drafted Thabeet

2009-11-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

At least I was for about 15 seconds last Monday. Then I remembered Tyreke scored 28 on us, and none of our players could guard him. That's when I stabbed myself in the left eye with a fork.

Agent Zero Trade Proposal

2009-11-25T03:32:00.000-08:00

Before you say #1 "David, the Grizzlies have won 4 of their last 5. We should be celebrating instead of proposing trades." or #2 "Your Arenas trade proposal is idiotic fantasy and doesn't make sense for either team." -- Hear me out.

#1 Talk to me about how good the Grizzlies are when they're at .500. Until then, I'll continue to propose outlandish trades for my own amusement. So there.

#2. Here's why the trade makes sense (in my fantasy world).

For the Washington Wizards...

As Michael Heisley once said, "We can lose with or without Arenas."

The Wizards were supposed to bounce back from a disappointing 2008-2009 season with Arenas returning from injury this year. So far, they're one of the worst teams in the league, and $24 million over the salary cap.

Dumping Arenas for Memphis scrubs saves them ~$3 million this season when you factor in the luxury tax. Plus, ~$38 million would come off their books next June, and another ~$24 million the following June. Plus, they wouldn't be on the hook for Arenas' 5 year max contract.

With Arenas playing 15 games in the past two seasons, you can't tell me the Wizards aren't listening...

Too bad Wes Unseld isn't still GM. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if that would be good or bad in this scenario.

For the Memphis Grizzlies...

Here is the case against Agent Zero:

The last thing the Grizzlies need is another shoot first, pass last player in their starting 5.
The last thing the Grizzlies need is another shoot first, pass last player as their point guard.
Did I mention he played 15 games in the past 2 seasons?
Arenas turns the ball over a lot and rarely gets assists.
Arenas is locked into the type of contract that Heisley avoids like John Gosselin avoids his wife.

I've almost talked myself out of this, but before I do, consider this:

The Grizzlies have admitted they can't attract big name free agents (for more than 3 games anyway).
The Grizzlies are building via the draft, but are terrible are evaluating draft prospects (see 2009 and 2007).
Therefore, if the Grizzlies want to get a quality player, they need to take a chance on a down-on-his-luck-player with All-NBA pedigree and a team desperate / stupid enough to make it happen.
Gilbert Arenas fits that bill.
He's also a slight upgrade over Mike Conley at point guard.

So there it is. There's my outlandish trade proposal for the Thanksgiving holiday. If not Monta, then Agent Zero. Please comment below and let me know how I'm out of my mind.

Some Good News

2009-11-18T21:36:00.000-08:00

Normally I don't write about individual games. But with all the recent negativity, I want to highlight what was easily the best game of the season.

More than in any other game I've watched, the Grizzlies played like a team rather than a group of individuals. It showed on defense where this season's worst offenders, Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo, were focused on staying in front of their men and everyone made an effort to contest shots.

And it showed on offense, where the team:

1. Ran offensive plays. (I almost forgot what it was like to see an offensive play.)

2. Made a concerted effort to feed Gasol and Randolph. (Multiple times on some possessions)

3. Minimized one-on-one play (Gay and Mayo stood out in their efforts to avoid this.)

I have never seen Gay focus like this and let the game come to him. I hate to use that cliche, but that's really what he did. In the first half he focused on defense, and he didn't force his offense.

Other positive notes include:

1. Marcus Williams looked comfortable at the point. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a butt injury soon.

2. Sam Young and DeMarre Carroll minimized mistakes and focused on their rolls.

3. Even Hasheem Thabeet looked like he knew what he was doing.

4. Marc Gasol is making a case for team MVP. Does he have what it takes to be the vocal leader the Grizzlies need?

We shouldn't blow one game out of proportion. There's still reason for concern:

1. Mike Conley

2. Too many unforced errors

3. They were playing against a lottery team with two injured starters and an injured 6th man.

In a season that's already become one of the Grizzlies' most embarrassing, this was an early highlight.

Updated Ellis Trade

2009-11-18T03:01:00.000-08:00

With Stephen Jackson traded, Kelenna Azubuike out for the season, and rumors that Monta may want out, I have adjusted my proposed trade.

The key of the trade is that the Warriors move into rebuilding mode by getting $12 million off the books within two seasons. Second, the Warriors, in desperate need of bodies, can turn one player into multiple players. Third, the Grizzlies can sweeten the deal with money and a first round draft pick this year (or two). Fourth, the Warriors might be crazy enough to do it. Fifth, the Grizzlies can interchange several other players if the Warriors aren't satisfied with these. Sixth, the Grizzlies would never do it because it means they take on money long term.

Yo Tinsley

2009-11-16T18:39:00.001-08:00

Weekend Trade

2009-11-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

Only in the land of the Grizz are trade proposals that ship the team's leading scorer out of town a pleasant distraction 9 games into the season.

Here's my weekend trade proposal. Though it will never happen (because it requires the Grizzlies to take on long term money), it was accepted by ESPN's trade machine. So there's that.

Otherwise, I think we can use draft picks and cash to negotiate.

Cleveland gets Stephen Jackson, the disgruntled veteran, and Steven Hunter, a body off the bench to replace Ilgauskas. Cleveland probably has to give up draft picks and cash but gambles on Jackson providing enough defense and shooting on the wing to get past Orlando and Boston.

Golden State gives up the best players in the trade, but...

1. They get rid of the disgruntled Jackson.

2. They part with Monta Ellis, who hates the coach and the organization and is locked into a 5 year deal.

3. They get Ilgauskas' expiring deal.

4. They get Conley and Gay, who are cheap and may benefit from a change in scenery and a new system. It's not like the Warriors are big on defense.

5. They get long term savings.

6. Jaric is included to make the numbers work. He excels in this role. He would probably end up being Coach Nelson's favorite player.

Memphis acquires Monta Ellis, a young veteran with all star potential and local ties, and Kelenna Azubuike, a veteran small forward to temporarily fill in for the loss of Gay. (My first trade didn't include Azubuke or Jaric, but then I realized we wouldn't have any small forwards on the team or even anyone to trade later. Plus, I wanted to write "Kelenna" on the blog.)

I have advocated for acquiring Ellis before. Pairing Ellis with Mayo would make for an exciting back court. If we're ready to give up on Conley (and I think we are), then we have to do this.

How does this affect the Grizzlies' season?

How does it affect the upcoming (just-around-the-corner) draft?

Would AI come off the bench behind someone who is actually good?

These are the questions we have to ask. Discuss.

God Chose Personal Leave

2009-11-09T20:48:00.000-08:00

Remember when god chose Memphis as the city where Allen Iverson would play for the home team? (In case you forgot, it was 2 months ago on September 9th at 7:06 AM.)

Now god has sent Allen Iverson away from the team without allowing him to play one game in Memphis, and Iverson is in danger of threatening Kwame Brown's lock on Most Embarrassing Stint as a Grizzly.

Iverson is seen here praying to the big agent in the sky.

Of course, as was true of Brown's stint with the Grizzlies, (and almost everything about the Memphis Grizzlies) Iverson's shitshow is more about the ineptitude of the Memphis Grizzlies than the immaturity of the 34 year old guard.

First, it's despicable that the Grizzlies didn't address their expectations about Iverson's role directly with him before they signed him. He had a history of getting pissed off when asked to come off the bench, and the Grizzlies leadership had to know he might come off the bench.

Second, common sense would dictate that the coach may want to have 1:1 conversations with his players. Based on what Iverson and Coach Lionel Hollins have said in the media, it appears this possibility has escaped Hollins.

Do you like it when your manager addresses issues about your role and performance with the entire world instead of in a 1:1 meeting? No, you don't like it.

Iverson is pictured here flipping the bird at Lionel Hollins.

The worst part of all: The Grizzlies are a steaming pile of shit with or without Iverson. Three of the starters, OJ Mayo, Rudy Gay, and Mike Conley, are playing so poorly on defense, that none of them deserves to start.

Unfortunately, as anyone with eyeballs and a functioning brain knew 4 months ago, the bench is so terrible that, without Iverson, there's no one one to consider replacing them.

Here's a video of the controversial starting lineup in Oakland.

Of course, this is par for the course with the Memphis Grizzlies. Instead of maximizing their potential and winning games against less talented teams, the Grizzlies are arguing over whether the fifth best player on the team should start over the sixth best player.

The lord works in mysterious ways.

Bill Simmons and Me

2009-11-05T20:50:00.000-08:00

I met Bill Simmons at Borders in San Francisco on November 5.

He took my photo on his Blackberry, we chatted about how Jerry West almost died when the Grizzlies lost the Lebron sweepstakes, and he signed page 188 of my copy of The Book of Basketball.

Here's me as Allen Iverson, Ben as Rudy Gay, and Simmons as The Sports Guy:

Later, Lakers fan Evan (wearing a Memphis Gasol jersey) had Simmons sign "I heart Kobe". Don't worry, Simmons wrote "don't" between "I" and "heart".

The 2009-2010 Memphis Grizzlies

2009-11-04T23:33:00.001-08:00

This was some of the worst basketball I have ever seen. What's frustrating is that the team has shown no signs of improvement in three years.

They lost one of the 2 games I get to see in person this year badly to a terrible team and looked terrible doing it. By terrible, I mean unforced turnovers. Like passing the ball out of bounds or to the opposing team.

They didn't even pretend to try to play defense. Rudy Gay was continually beat of the dribble by Anthony Morrow. All the Warriors had wide open free lanes to the basket. So much for adding defensive players during the offseason. The 12 year old girls that played at halftime showed more defensive intensity.

On Offense, when the Grizzlies needed a basket, OJ Mayo took step back fade away 18 footers, and as a team, they bricked 12 free throws.

Top it off with:

1. Thabeet had 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 blocks, 0 steals, 2 turnovers, and a foul. We had the #2 pick in the draft, and we're not going to have one player on the Rookie squad during All Star Weekend.

2. The Nuggets and Lakers (whose 1st round draft picks the Grizzlies own) both won tonight.

3. And they didn't cover the spread, which was Warriors by 6.

The 2009-2010 Memphis Grizzlies, where taking a dump on your fans happens.

Grizzlies vs Warriors Tonight

2009-11-04T16:41:00.000-08:00

I will be leaving for the Oakland shortly to see the Grizzlies take on the Bay Area Warriors.

I have just bet $22 dollars to win $20 if the Grizzlies lose by fewer than 6 points (or win).

Grizzlies, whatever you do, please cover the spread.

Bill Simmons in SF on Thursday

2009-11-02T18:18:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, I will meet my favorite Sports writer, Bill Simmons, columnist from my least favorite Sports News Organization, ESPN.

He'll sign my copy of his book, The Book of Basketball, at Borders sometime after 7 pm.

As a result, I am proposing 2 opportunities for Bay Area Grizzlies fans.

1. For Bay Area Grizzlies Fans: Hot off the Grizzlies' victory over the Warriors on Iranian Appreciation Night (also known as Wednesday), let's show Simmons the force of Bay Area Grizzlies fans. If you're in the Bay Area, please show up at 6:30 to Borders wearing Beale Street Blue.

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2. Grizzlies Fans Outside of the Bay Area: Simmons has offered to write any one sentence I request in the book. Please add your suggestion to the comments below, and I will choose the best suggestion to be written in my book.

If I don't get any good suggestions, I will simply ask Simmons to list the pages that reference the Memphis Grizzlies since he erroneously omitted that from his index.

Other than that, I plan to ask the Sports Guy to predict whether the Grizzlies will win the NBA Championship one year after Chris Wallace leaves the organization.

I hope to see you there.

Pole, Pole, Hasheem Thabeet

2009-10-28T03:23:00.000-07:00

I'll bet you haven't been to Makongo Secondary School on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Either East Africa is out of your way or you were discouraged when you found AK-47s at the entrance.

Well, Makongo is where Hasheem Thabeet began his journey to beat Ricky Rubio in the 2009 draft, and luckily for us, Nathan Stormzand toured the campus on September 10.

On his tour, Stormzand learned that Hasheem Thabeet wanted to quit basketball 30 minutes into his first practice.

The coach at Makongo (now deceased) told Thabeet "pole, pole" which translates literally to "slowly, slowly" and is also an idiom that means "You're 7'3."

Here's the hoop where Thabeet first quit playing basketball.

When Stormzand arrived at Makongo, he was greeted by armed guards with AK-47s protecting Makongo's stockpile of future second string centers.

Like anyone in this situation, Stormzand announced that he was reporting for one of the top Memphis Grizzlies fan blogs and was quickly introduced to Makongo's Headmaster (Mr. Silus M.), PE Teacher (Mr. Kapanda), and Athletic Director (Mr. Bogoyu).

This is one of five photos that Stormzand was not required to delete. Please do not use it to sabotage the school.

Surprisingly, the school officials were happy to talk at length about Tanzania's most famous Twitterer.

They told Stormzand that Thabeet transferred to Makongo because of it's academic reputation. However, when Thabeet arrived, he was already taller than any other student or teacher. As a result, Makongo, whose Alumni play basketball, soccer, and volleyball professionally around the world, quickly researched sports where height is an advantage.

This is what "Cooler than Memphis" looks like.

Though Makongo's team was never great while Thabeet played, Thabeet steadily improved, according to the Athletic director, and by the end of his time at Makonga, Thabeet was asked to play for a regional team in Kenya.

A few years later, UConn posters hang on the walls of the Headmaster's office.

Makongo staff consistently allowed Stormzand to keep pictures of this hoop.

As Stormzand left Makongo, the school officials asked Stormzand to sign the guest book and to please send basketballs when he returned to the US.

As Stormzand signed his name, he saw Thabeet's signature from a visit three weeks earlier. As part of Thabeet's campaign for Unintentional Comedy All-NBA First Team, Thabeet listed Springfield, MA as his home.

You can see that the rough surface of the court slowed the development of Thabeet's ball-handling skills.

Nathan Stormzand would like to thank the entire staff of Makongo for being far too forthcoming, a shady yet entrepreneurial taxi driver named Idi for conveying him safely around Dar, and ketchup-sized packages of Konyagi for inspiriation.

Abdul-Jabbar + Barkley

2009-10-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

First, the Grizzlies hire Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as a big man coach. Then, they hire Charles Barkley as General Manager.

I must be in heaven.

Ok, so neither is true, but can't a Grizzlies' blogger dream?

Abdul-Jabbar is one of the 5 best centers, may be a top five player, and has a track record of success as a big man coach.

Abdul-Jabbar was the Sully Sullenberger of 1980.

Barkley is my favorite all-time player, and would definitely improve Chris Vernon's weekly segment with Chris Wallace. Plus, I am in with his Grandmother.

He could definitely coach some of the Grizzlies on how to commit humiliating and criminal public acts while maintaining a positive reputation. Who else can drive under the influence of alcohol, commit adultery, and still be considered a serious candidate for state governor?

Charles Barkley. My Hero.

Couldn't the Grizzlies, widely considered to be the laughingstock of the NBA, learn something from the NBA's all time greatest public relations mogul?

As an added bonus, Barkley and AI have a long standing feud. Barkley for GM is out only option.

The Bench

2009-10-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

“We got off to a good start, we played well, we were focused, and our defense was good,” Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. “We moved the basketball and we started subbing and we didn’t get the same play from our bench.”

This is a quote that Hollins will be able to use in 60+ games this season.

On a related note, sometimes I feel like I am too negative about the Grizzlies.

Then I read John Hollinger's player profiles or ESPN's 'expert' predictions or SI's Scouting Report.

That's when I realize my views are aligned with the the 'experts'. They hate almost every player on our team and every move we make.

The Anticipation of the Grizzlies' Upcoming Season as Compared with that of Star Wars, Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith

2009-10-20T03:14:00.000-07:00

As the Grizzlies embark on another journey to the lottery next week, I am reminded of another important time in my life: the release of Star Wars, Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith.

When The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, there was excitement. Fans lined up in anticipation. But after ten or eleven viewings, a disturbing feeling that this movie might not be good began to set in.

A similar disappointment followed the excitement prior to previous Grizzlies seasons.


Many analysts predict Thabeet's career, much like Jar Jar's, will end soon after it begins.

When Attack of the Clones was released 3 years after Phantom Menace, my excitement was mitigated by a nagging feeling that Star Wars prequels might actually suck. Nevertheless, I hoped that replacing Jake Lloyd with Hayden Christensen would save the series.

Today, that premise seems as laughable as our hopes that Marc Iavaroni would save the Grizzlies.


Iavaroni's love for Padme was his undoing.

After 1 and 2, we knew 3 would suck, but there were still certain events we had to see. We had to see Obiwan Kenobi fight Anakin Skywalker. We had to see the transformation of Anakin into Darth Vader. And we wanted to see Darth Vader kick Jedi ass across the galaxy.

By now, we had a large enough sample to know that George Lucas was going to fuck it up. We just didn't know the extent or exactly how.

For example, we didn't know he was going to make all the villains look like pussies, limit Darth Vader's screen time to 5 minutes, destroy 30 year old plot lines, and undermine his own efforts to transform a 900 year old muppet and a 7 foot tall, bipedal dog into serious characters.

Similarly, even though we know the Grizzlies will suck, there are certain events with have to see this season. We have to see how AI and Z-bo will fit in. We have to check in on the development of Mayo and Gay. We need to assess how skinny Marc Gasol compares with thick Gasol, and we need to learn if Thabeet is a bust.

As with episode 3, we don't know exactly how it's going to play out. This team is unlike any to wear a Grizz uniform before.

However, we do know that the guy in charge is likely to screw it up.

Just as George Lucas showed his hand when Jar Jar first uttered: "Ooh mooey mooey I love you!", so did Heisley reveal the Grizzlies' fate when he traded Pau Gasol for money.


Which elderly, rich man has done more to ruin his respective franchise?

There is one difference between Revenge of the Sith and the upcoming Grizzlies season. When the credits rolled at the end of the Sith, we knew it was over.

An Open Letter to Ron Artest

2009-10-08T03:29:00.000-07:00

This is an open call to The Real Ron Artest.

To the Ron Artest that Laker fans are hatin on. The Artest that hangs out with Hamed Haddadi. The Artest that doesn't kiss ass. The Ron Artest that curses out Laker fans and makes them apologize.

You listening? Good. Let me be the first to say that we, as a Grizzlies fanbase, have faith in you.

There's a reason I'm writing this letter to you. You could single-handedly blow up the Laker Championship team. Talent-wise, this is one of the most gifted teams in Laker History, which puts them in the running for the most talented all-time.

We need you to be a jalapeño in this chili.

Translation: We need you to kill the flavor in this chili so that the Lakers fall somewhere in the low 20s or high teens in next year's draft. We need this because the Grizzlies own the 2010 draft pick of the LA Lakers (top 6 protected).

There are hundreds of fans and dedicated followers that are holding their breath on your performance. In return, all past transgressions will be forgotten, and you will be warmly welcomed into the arms of the NBA legends.

Which is something I believe all three of us can agree on.

PS If you could somehow involve JR Smith, that would help as we also own the Nuggets draft pick (lottery protected).

Memphis Grizzlies, Season 9

2009-10-06T03:26:00.000-07:00

Season 9 of the Memphis Grizzlies kicks off Tuesday, and my excitement is peaking.

Like every year, I'm extremely excited to see the Grizzlies in action. Like every year, I will probably be terribly disappointed by Christmas.

THE GOOD

1. The Grizzlies have made significant upgrades at the power forward, 6th man, and Head Coach positions.

I worked out a quick formula to show this:

Arthur + Warrick + Iavaroni < AI + Z-Bo + Hollins

To provide some more color, here are a few things more successful than Iavaroni as Head Coach:

The Sextortion of David Lettermen
The 2009 Detroit Lions
The Jay Leno Show
Jon & Kate's Marriage

2. The Grizzlies didn't lose any significant pieces.

3. Several members of the core group have demonstrated a commitment to improving.

4. Few teams made significant upgrades.

With the exception of the Spurs, Blazers, and Clippers, which Western teams improved? Did the Nuggets, Mavs, Rockets, Hornets improve? How about the Thunder or Jazz?

The Warriors biggest offseason acquisition was locker room discord. The Wolves traded their only two shooting guards for "** - Unsigned Draft Pick". And the Suns promoted Eric Dampier to second-worst starting center in the West.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD

Curt is probably going to call me some obscene names in the comments section below for writing this, but I hope he remembers this list in December.

1. No one who observes basketball professionally thinks the Grizzlies will be good.

2. Early indications suggest that the Grizzlies are struggling to play together.

3. Iverson's expectations aren't aligned with reality.

Let's just say Iverson is prone to frustration when things don't go well. He thinks the Grizzlies are competing for a championship.

This might not go well.

4. Star Power.

None of these players, or anyone close to that level, plays for the Grizzlies. The best hope for success is Gay or Mayo's emergence as Alpha. More than anything else the Grizzlies need an Alpha (not named AI).

5. Depth. Curt, Hamed Haddadi does not count as depth.

6. Passing, Rebounding, Defense.

These are the fundamentals of basketball, and none of the Grizzlies have demonstrated these as a strength.

As you can see from the above chart, I am excited for this season. There's nothing I want more than for the Grizzlies to win.

But if you asked me to pick a number, it would be 30, and that's about what I picked this time last year.

Inside Grandma Barkley's House

2009-09-23T03:02:00.000-07:00

Next week, the Grizzlies open training camp about four hours southeast of Memphis in Birmingham, Alabama.

About 20 minutes from Bill Battle Coliseum, the Grizzlies' training camp facilities, sits a town called Leeds.

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It was in Leeds, where a young Phoenix Suns fan (At least I wasn't a Lakers fan.) learned some very important life lessons from Johnnie Mae Edwards (also known as Charles Barkley's Grandmother) that the Grizzlies should consider next week.

Lesson #1: Rebounding is important. Here, I am pictured with Ms. Edwards holding Barkley's 1986-87 Rebounding Title.

Lesson #2. Team work is key to success. In this photo op, I present a "Get Well" poster from teammates to a recovering Barkley.

Lesson #3: In order to succeed, you have to dress for success.

The Grizzlies should be sure to stop by Ms. Edwards house when they hold training camp a few miles away next week.

(Here's a hint: Look for Charles Barkley Ave. There's only one house with "CB" molded into a wrought-iron fence.)

It's here, where Barkley's mother and Grandmother taught Barkley that hard work and exceptional rebounding skills can lead to greatness. For a team that was last in the league in rebounds per game, these are important lessons.

Here's hoping that central Alabama will be as instructive for the Grizzlies as it was for me.

Worst Case Scenario

2009-09-17T05:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, let's say the Iverson experiment doesn't work out.

He corrupts the youngsters, jacks up 40 shots a game, and shoots 20%.

Even if he's that bad, isn't there a team out there that would roll the dice on a trade in January? Maybe that team didn't have the cap space to make a play this summer?

Maybe there's a team whose season didn't go quite as expected? Maybe there's a team that wouldn't mind trading a young player with a multi-year contract for Iverson's expiring contract?

Maybe there's a team that wouldn't mind extra cash this summer? Or using Iverson to cash in on a few extra ticket sales?

Even if Iverson doesn't work out, (and I think there's a chance he will work out) the Grizzlies can turn his expiring contract into some basketball value.

Where is Marc Gasol?

2009-09-15T04:34:00.000-07:00

In case you were wondering where Marc Gasol was, I have found him. He didn't make it to Allen Iverson's press conference because he is playing for Spain at the Eurobasket Championships.

To see him in action, check out the 20 second mark of this video. He is sporting a nice haircut, which is good because he should look presentable for what might be his last chance to shoot a basketball in 2009.

At the Euro games, Gasol is averaging 6.6 points and 6.6 rebound in 19 minutes per game, whatever that means.

I wonder how he's feeling about the fact that the Grizzlies drafted someone who plays his position at #2 instead of his Spanish teammate. I'm sure any concern will be alleviated when the Grizzlies win a championship.

Iverson Declining with Age?

2009-09-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

Now that Iverson is a Grizzly, it's worth taking another look Basketball-Reference.com's August analysis of the impact of Iverson's age on his performance.

According to Basketball-Reference, Iverson's stats suggest:

His defense has improved with time.
Despite his decline in his ability, he's still an average NBA player.

Given that the Grizzlies defense was terrible without Iverson (especially at the guard position) and most Grizzlies performed well below the league average, these findings are good news.

Check out the full article here: http://www.basketball-reference.com/blog/?p=3202

Why So Much Hate?

2009-09-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

The response to the Grizzlies decision to add Allen Iverson has been negative. The most significant arguments are:

1. Iverson won't generate on-court success next season.

2. Acquiring Iverson comes at the expense of acquiring better players.

3. Iverson may impede the development of young Grizzlies.

While I think these arguments have merit, I don't think the conclusion that signing Iverson is a mistake is as clear as the media's reaction implies.

1. IVERSON WON'T GENERATE ON-COURT SUCCESS NEXT SEASON

For simplicity's sake, let's say there are three reasonable possibilities:

1. Win 20-30 games.

2. Win 30-40 games.

3. Win 40-50 games.

Using a John Hollinger algorithm, we could assign a probability for each outcome, and then assess how the addition of Iverson impacts that outcome.

The "pre-Iverson" consensus was that #1 is the most likely outcome. So how does Iverson impact that probability? Probably not by much. I'm guessing that #1 is still the most likely scenario.

Is #1 more likely with Iverson than without? Does adding Iverson make #2 or #3 more likely?

You can reasonably argue that #1 is slightly more likely now, but you can't argue that the Grizzlies will be significantly worse or that Iverson increases the likelihood of #1 by a large percentage. The Grizzlies are too bad already.

You could also argue that adding Iverson to the mix raises the ceiling if by some miracle this strange mix of talent clicks.

2. ACQUIRING IVERSON COMES AT THE EXPENSE OF HIRING BETTER PLAYERS.

There's no question that acquiring Iverson means the Grizzlies won't (or didn't) acquire other available players like Ramon Sessions or David Lee. However, there's no guarantee that the Grizzlies could acquire such players. Those players may have no interest in playing for Memphis.

Additionally, most players discussed wouldn't have a significantly greater impact than Iverson. Ramon Sessions' incremental value over Iverson doesn't justify the ridicule of the Grizzlies for pursuing Iverson over Sessions.

Sessions and other players of this year's free agent class aren't sure bets and have additional costs that Iverson doesn't have.

That said, I'm on-board with the argument that pursuing Iverson (and Randolph) in favor of pursuing a star like Amare Stoudemire is a mistake. The Grizzlies biggest failure has been the inability to acquire a first tier star during his prime.

3. IVERSON MAY IMPEDE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE YOUNG GRIZZLIES.

If OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay are fragile enough that Iverson could derail their development or drive them away, then you have to wonder if Mayo or Gay would ever lead the Grizzlies to success.

On the other hand, if Mike Conley can't play with Kyle Lowry backing him up, is Iverson really the problem? If Conley can develop into an significant player, he can do so playing with Allen Iverson. If he's not an impact player, then what have we lost?

I think its fair to criticize the Grizzlies. They are a terrible team until they prove otherwise. But I don't think the acquisition of Iverson is as obviously bad as most people seem to think it is.

God Chose Memphis

2009-09-08T23:30:00.000-07:00

Allen Iverson announced via Twitter: "God Chose Memphis as the place that I will continue my career. I met with Mr. Heinsley, Chris Wallace and my next head coach Lionel Hollins"

Moments later, I announced that I was now following @alleniverson.

Unfortunately, even bigger news is getting lost in the Iverson announcement. Hasheem Thabeet also announced: 9/9/9 9:9:9am i was in the weight room!!

My Dreamseat

2009-09-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

There's no better way to observe the Grizzlies annual trip to the lottery than from the comfort of ESPN's 'Dreamseat'.

This might be enough to convince me to move to a place large enough to carve out a 'Man Town' that would warrant such a throne.

At a price of $1,000 plus $305 shipping, is it possible that I would own the only Grizzlies Dreamseat ever? Are there 5 households with Grizzlies Dreamseats? 10 households?$1,500 seems like a small price to pay for exclusivity.

The Grizzlies are Mad Men

2009-09-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

I was watching episode 3 of season 3 of Mad Men the other night, and I couldn't help but notice the similarities between the ad folks at Sterling-Cooper and our modern day Memphis Grizzlies.

I can't help but wonder if Matthew Weiner had our boys in blue in mind when he penned the series.

	OJ Mayo is Donald Draper.
Draper is the only hope Sterling-Cooper has for success. He's got the most talent at the agency. Despite his skills, Draper is fighting an uphill battle with Sterling, Cooper, and Pryce running the show.
	Chris Wallace is Roger Sterling.
Sterling knows the company line and how to spin. When American Airlines chooses a rival ad firm, Sterling will look on the bright side.
	Lionel Hollins is Betty Draper
When Betty's not making Don sleep on the couch, she's searching for her own identity. Don can survive without her, but can she survive without Don?
	Zach Randolph is Pete Campbell
Pete Campbell does one thing really well. He smooth talks clients. Unfortunately, no one really likes him because it seems like he's only interested in his own career. On top of that, his personal life is starting to interfere with his performance at work.
	Allen Iverson is Duck Phillips
Duck isn't a partner at Sterling-Cooper, but his reputation precedes him. Unfortunately, he's also an alcoholic that could go off the deep end at any time. This will not end well.
	Michael Heisley is Lane Pryce
Pryce is an exec from the the London-based company that acquired Sterling-Cooper. He doesn't quite understand this side of the pond, but that doesn't stop him from running the show. If Pryce didn't insert himself, it would be too easy, right?
	Rudy Gay is Peggy Olsen
Peggy is a late bloomer. It's clear she has the tools to succeed, but can she put it together? She's operating in a man's world so hers is an uphill battle.
	Marc Gasol is Joan Holloway
Holloway's physique is intimidating and she isn't afraid to take advantage of her body. She's resourceful and can do a little bit of everything reasonably well.
	Hasheem Thabeet is Jane Sterling
Young and ambitious Jane Sterling sweeps Roger Sterling off his feet by doing one thing really well. Now they're married, and everyone thinks Roger should have stayed with his first wife...
	Hamed Haddadi is Salvatore Romano
Salvatore is a closet gay man living in a straight man's world. Will the rest of the office accept him for who he is, or is he a stranger in his own company?

AI Loves Memphis

2009-08-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

This is worth watching again.

Allen Iverson Twitted today that he loves Memphis.

Rudy Gay has been silent on this issue.

Meanwhile John Hollinger says, with Iverson, we'll be the most selfish team ever.

All I can say is this team is better with Allen Iverson on a one year contract.

Trade for Beasley?

2009-08-24T23:12:00.000-07:00

I wonder if the Heat wish they had traded Beasley for the number 2 draft pick. Beasley's trade value plummeted today when he checked into rehab.

If the Grizzlies can take advantage of Pat Riley's frustrations they should. Are the chances greater that Thabeet will pan out or that Beasley will pull his act together?

A year from now, who will be better?

On an unrelated note, I love how sites like RealGM and CNNSI are reporting that the "Wolves might make [a] play for Rudy Gay". It turns out that a writer in Minnesota speculated:

"It will be interesting to see if the Timberwolves, in need of a legitimate small forward, make a run at Memphis' 6-8, 240-pound Rudy Gay, who can become a restricted free agent next summer and might not be affordable for the Grizzlies. Ricky Rubio could be worthwhile trade bait."

I love that Charley Walters' convoluted thought somehow provides insight into the Wolves next move. CNN may as well report that the Grizzlies are trading for Beasley...

A Few Offseason Pics

2009-08-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

Here, David Loves the Grizzlies author and devoted reader watch intently...

...as Marko Jaric practices his rebounding.

Brandon Wright didn't know he was the next Darrell Arthur when this photo was snapped.

Celebrating win #3. Can the Grizzlies keep the tradition alive on November 4?

Orlando Puts Us Out of Our Misery

2009-08-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

Do you think, when the Grizzlies allowed the Magic to trade for Rafer Alston last winter, that they stipulated that the Magic must prevent the Grizzlies from making any idiotic free agent signings this summer?

Darko, I miss you

2009-08-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

This Darko celebrating yet another three-point shot:

And here is Darko "shakin' dem haters off."

Obligatory Post on the Grizzlies' Schedule

2009-08-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

Cause I know you're interested, I'll be attending the Grizzlies 5th game on November 4th and 71st game on March 24th in Oakland. That should give them time to improve.

Last year's highlights included two Grizzlies wins and a Darko ejection. I don't know how that can top that performance.

According to Basketball Prospectus, the Grizzlies have the most difficult schedule of any other team "for the second straight year".

The Tragedy of David Lee

2009-08-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

How tragic is it that the Grizzlies won't have David Lee as their 1st big man off the bench?

Given the Grizzlies open pursuit of dead weight like Jason Williams, the absence of any free agent market for Lee, and the fact that acquiring Lee would give the Grizzlies a mulligan on the Thabeet draft - I'm going to put it somewhere between Sal Tessio and Stringer Bell.

Randolph Knicks Jersey: Deal or no Deal?

2009-08-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

On Ebay, you can buy Zach Randolph's NY Knicks jersey for only $56.

What a deal.

Randolph only played for the Knicks two teams ago. I'm surprised more Grizzlies fans aren't snatching this up for Randolph throwback night.

You can only buy tickets to 11 Grizzlies games at this price.

Jason Williams: Locker Room Leader

2009-08-15T18:32:00.000-07:00

Eventually, Williams had to be pulled away by Grizzlies guard Mike Miller. But after getting in Calkins' face again, another Memphis official took Williams out of the locker room.

Jason Williams: Teaching the young Grizz

2009-08-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

"I will shoot all you Asian (bleeps) ... Do you remember the Vietnam War? I'll kill y'all just like that."
-Point guard Jason Williams to a fan of Asian descent sitting behind the Kings bench during a game at Golden State. Williams was fined $15,000 by the NBA.

Jason Williams: Veteran Leader

2009-08-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

Jason Williams, Memphis Grizzlies Veteran Leader, circa 2002: "We suck. Face the facts, we're not a good team at all. We're the worst team in the league to me"

JWill #2

2009-08-12T18:55:00.001-07:00

Any time you can add someone who averaged 0.3 points per minute most recently to a bench that badly needs a scorer, you have to, right?

Quick Question

2009-08-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

Any time you can add a washed up point guard who isn't good enough for the 2009 New York Knicks, you have to, right?

Schadenfreude

2009-08-10T20:42:00.000-07:00

When you're a fan of a team like the Grizzlies, you don't have much to root for.

Luckily, Grizzlies fans have a new therapy called schadenfreude.

Schadenfreude helps Grizzlies fans get through annual trips to the lottery. While it may be impossible for every team to win fewer than 25 games, other teams can still suffer heartbreaking disappointment.

And that's schadenfreude for Grizzlies fans.

For example, today I read that long time target of Grizzlies fans' voodoo, the LA Lakers, suffered a blow when star power forward Pau Gasol broke his finger.

That's schadenfreude.

Similarly, newfound Grizzlies target, the Denver Nuggets, who traded their way onto the Grizzlies' schadenfreude list when they gave Memphis a first round draft pick, learned that bench player Linus Kleiza has left the Mile-High City for Greece.

Klienza's exodus is reminiscent of the departure of Grizzlies guard Juan Carlos Navarro, improves the Grizzlies' draft position, and reduces a rival team's chances of dominating the Grizzlies next season.

That's schadenfreude, and when you're a Grizzlies fan, that's all you have to root for.

JWill Reloaded

2009-07-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

It's like the Grizzlies see an opening with the Clippers recent good fortune to solidify their place as the unrivaled ass of NBA.

The only conceivable reason I can think of for signing a washed up Jason Williams is to prove to the league that Marko Jaric isn't the worst backup point guard of all time.

Even taking to time to watch Williams work out is a personal insult to every Grizzlies fan.

He couldn't guard 75% of point guards in the league during his prime.

Why is it that the Grizzlies insist on only making moves that everyone else who cares about basketball thinks are ridiculous?

Now that the Grizzlies have dropped Hakim Warrick, I should be reading rumors about the Grizzlies' discussions with David Lee's agent about bringing him in as our third big man at a discount.

Instead I am reading this garbage. This idea of signing Jason Williams is a joke.

Grizzlies Interested in the Williams Sisters

2009-07-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

It looks like the Grizzlies are about to sign summer league veteran Marcus Williams and are in talks with YouTube sensation Jason Williams.

Chris Wallace "confirmed" interest in Jason Williams with a slip of the tongue on the Chris Vernon Show today.

I can understand taking a chance on a young point guard who hasn't lived up to expectations and may be hungry to prove he's legit.

However, Jason Williams makes no sense. He's not even the best washed up guard available.

If the Grizzlies wanted a point guard who can't guard anyone in the league or shoot from outside, but makes flashy passes, maybe they should have drafted Ricky Rubio or not traded Williams for a washed up Eddie Jones.

Maybe they're trying to keep Geoff Calkins out of the locker room...

Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo Compete to Join Team USA

2009-07-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

The Las Vegas Sun has an interesting read about Rudy Gay's performance in Team USA's mini-camp in Vegas.

There are details about Gay's performances as well as comments from Mayo about how Gay has been a mentor and comments from Kevin Love about how Gay can play 4 positions.

The unintentional comedy quote of the article is: “He shot the ball very well,” said White teammate O.J. Mayo.

Hakim Warrick Gone

2009-07-25T00:34:00.000-07:00

According to ESPN, the Grizzlies have withdrawn Hakim Warrick's qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

What's more surprising is that none of the local media have reported or commented on the news even though I read it 4 hours ago. Apparently Ron Tillery is on vacation, Geoff Calkins is focused on college football, and Chris Herrington is eating pizza.

For the Grizzlies, this means they're likely severing ties with the forward and preparing to acquire another player via free agency or trade.

Currently, the Grizzlies have 11 players under contract assuming all three rookies are signed, so they have to acquire at least one more player.

OJ Mayo and I both hope that player is Allen Iverson, who will be more entertaining that any other player the Grizzlies could possibly sign.

However, if you were Allen Iverson, why on earth would you play for the Grizzlies?

Unless you were broke because you managed to spend 150 million dollars in the last 10 years.

Randolph Arrives in Memphis

2009-07-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

When Randolph gets that first suspension, just remember that all we gave up was Darko.

I also think that, a year from now, we'll be happy we didn't sign Milsap or David Lee.

Grizzlies Summer League

2009-07-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

The NBA has decided to that since fans weren't willing to pay to attend games this past season, maybe they'd be willing to pay $10 to stream a shitty feed of bad basketball on the internet.

As a result, I haven't had the chance to see the Grizzlies dominate in the only league where they know how.

If it were me, I'd probably use the Summer league to generate ticket sales. I can imagine getting excited about watching Blake Griffin dunk on draft busts from 3 years ago and deciding, mistakenly, to throw down for some Clippers tickets.

I guess that's why I'm not in charge of the NBA's marketing strategy.

AI: The Answer to Our Questions

2009-07-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

Allen Iverson wants to play for the Grizzlies? Why wouldn't he? The Grizzlies are the only team that gives him the chance to pair with Zach Randolph.

And AI is the star of one of my favorite YouTube videos:

For the right price, I would take a chance on the future Hall of Famer. The Grizzlies should have acquired him when Denver traded for him.

He would certainly give Chris Wallace the opportunity to prove that he's willing to give Mike Conley's minutes to someone else.

Zach Randolph, The Best NBA Player Out of Michigan State Since Magic

2009-07-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

It has been reported that after my post making a case for acquiring Zach Randolph, the Grizzlies acquired Zach Randolph.

There's no question that there is a huge risk involved when you trade for a player like Zach Randolph. However, when what you're gambling with is Darko Milicic, Quentin Richardson, and the potential to sign David Lee or Paul Milsap, you have to roll the dice.

Darko and Quentin are terrible. They bring almost no value to the Grizzlies on the court.

Darko's main benefit was unintentional comedy, and Randolph may very well exceed Darko in this regard.

Lee and Milsap are one hit wonders. They may have great years next year, but there's also a chance last season was an outlier for each.

David Lee has averaged more than 11 points per game exactly one of his 4 seasons playing for a terrible Knicks team, and his best season was in a system that made Shawn Marion look like Oscar Robertson.

Similarly, Milsap scored more than 8 points (13.5) in one of his three seasons.

There's a possibility Randolph won't be the answer either, but his resume is certainly better than those guys'. (By the way, all three players were about equal last year as measured by John Hollinger's PER.)

What's the worst he can do? Make the Grizzlies worse?

In the least, he should give the Grizzlies guards some room to operate on offense.

So I'm not mad the Grizzlies made the deal. even if they missed out on the "David Lee Sweepstakes". This is the type of gamble the Grizzlies have to make. Get something for nothing.

The Case for Zach Randolph

2009-06-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

Zach Randolph is a knucklehead, and certainly not my first choice for the Grizzlies' starting power forward.

However, there's a strong case for acquiring him IF the Grizzlies don't have to give up any basketball assets to do so.

(A basketball asset is a future first round draft pick or anyone Hakim Warrick or better. Anyone from Darrell Arthur though Marko Jarik is not considered a basketball asset.)

1. Zach Randolph has scored 20 points and averaged 10 rebounds in 6 of the past 6 seasons.

That's a serious upgrade over the Grizzlies current options at power forward. The Grizzlies would have 3 30-point options on the team.

2. Most other available power forwards haven't demonstrated the same level of individual success or haven't done so for more than a season. Going with Paul Milsap or David Lee may not carry the same character risks as going with Randolph, but the risk that those players aren't able to replicate their recent basketball sucess is higher.

Players like Lee and Milsap haven't demonstrated individual success consistently for more than a season or in a variety of different team scenarios. Other candidates (like Jason Thompson?!?!) haven't demonstrated near Randolph-like success for one season.

3. The best power forwards aren't exactly knocking down the door to get into Memphis.

If you check out Chris Herrington's excellent list of available power forwards, you might notice that there are several options that are significantly better than Zach Randolph. The chance that the Grizzlies will be able to land any of them is small. They've been trying, without success, for over a year. (Attempts at Beasley, Amare, and Randolph have all been reported.)

The Grizzlies can't afford to wait around if the opportunity to acquire Randolph without giving up a basketball asset arrives. The Grizzlies won't be able to compete in the free agent market when other teams have cap room to pursue players like Chris Bosh and Amare.

4. Trades for players with Randolph's ability or better will require the Grizzlies to give up basketball assets. Therefore, the net gain may not be as great even if the Grizzlies were able to land a player significantly better than Randolph.

Would you rather have a 100 inch TV for 5 grand or a 60 inch TV for 50 bucks?

(Still, there are players I'd rather have than Randolph.)

5. My biggest concern is that Randolph has not demonstrated success in the playoffs. However, looking through Herrington's list, most of the other players either haven't demonstrated much individual success, haven't demonstrated much team success, or, by my calculation, are a long shot to acquire.

Therefore, you won't hear me complain if the Grizzlies pull the trigger on a Randolph deal without giving up a basketball asset. He's not a perfect fit. There are significant risks involved, and it may not work out.

But this is exactly the type of risk-taking the Grizzlies have to go for to improve the team.

Proposed Trades

2009-06-26T17:11:00.000-07:00

Wow. Did you see this yet?

Also, Chris Vernon reports that the Clippers turned down a trade of Marko Jaric and Greg Buckner for Zach Randolph.

Though Randolph is a cancer and a knucklehead this is exactly the type of deal the Grizzlies need to make. They give up nothing except money to improve the team on the floor.

The only deals I don't understand are #2 and Gay for Amare, and #2 for Beasley. How do you turn those deals down? Don't those deals make the team significantly better?

I also question turning down the #5, Etan Thomas, and Mike James for the Grizzlies later picks.

I can only assume these rumors don't tell the whole story. I mean, HOW DO YOU TURN DOWN #2 AND GAY FOR AMARE?!?!?!

To All My Readers

2009-06-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let you know that I haven't yet purchased my Hasheem Thabeet jersey. I'll keep you updated. Thanks.

When?

2009-06-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

When was the last time someone like Thabeet became a star?

How come the Warriors can package scrubs for Amare and we can't put it together?

Richard Jefferson, Shaq, and Vince Carter are being traded for expiring contracts, and all the Grizzlies can get is Quentin Richardson?

What does Marc Gasol think about the pick?

Who is going to play power forward?

These are the questions I have after the draft.

Why?

2009-06-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

Why is it that the Grizzlies have the 2nd best pick in the draft, but it seems like they're in the worst position of any team?

Why does it seem like other teams are making moves while the Grizzlies are falling behind?

Why can't the Grizzlies turn Milicic's expiring contract into something better than Quentin Richardson?

These are questions that hopefully will be answered on Thursday night. Hopefully, the answer will be that the Grizzlies have been biding their time until the Clippers to buckle under the pressure of the Grizzlies' offer for Blake Griffin.

As an aside, Chris Herrington has it right on the proposed deals with Minnesota. Except the part where he's willing to take Love and #18 for #2.

The #2 Pick

2009-06-23T18:24:00.001-07:00

Ah, the #2 pick. The Grizzlies have an enchanting history with the #2 pick that involves Steve Francise, Stromile Swift, and Darko Milicic.

So how will our cuddly Grizzly bears use the enchanting pick this year?

Here are the David-Loves-The-Grizzlies-approved outcomes in order of preference:

1. Trade for Blake Griffin.

If a team that is not the Grizzlies or the Clippers acquires Blake Griffin, I can't even describe how infuriated I will be.

Not only will it mean that the Grizzlies simply didn't put enough on the table, but it will also mean that the Grizzlies do not read my blog.

2. Draft Ricky Rubio and keep him.

If Rubio can't coexist with OJ Mayo, then Rubio is a bust, and no one will blame the Grizzlies. I'm sure someone will pay a premium to double-check whether Rubio is a bust later in the season or next summer. He'll still be tradeable.

But we have to try it, don't we? We owe it to everyone who has ever cared about basketball.

3. Draft Rubio and trade him.

You cannot draft anyone else at #2 and keep him. The embarassment will be too much when Rubio is dominating and Thabeet can't get a second contract.

If you really can't keep Rubio, then you have to trade him for a significant young player like Kevin Love or a couple of assets that could pan out, like Minnesota's #5 and #6 picks.

Today's trades have proven that there are one-sided deals to be had. If #1 and #2 don't work, then the Grizzlies better go find one of those lopsided deals.

Upping the Ante

2009-06-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

Word on the street is that the Clippers aren't interested in trading the number 1 pick.

I say that's the time to up the ante.

If the previous proposal was Gay, #2, and future pick for Griffin and a bad contract, throw in a second a bad contract and given them Darko's expiring deal.

Seriously, if you had the chance to trade for a top 10 player, wouldn't you do it?

Draft Week 2009

2009-06-21T23:18:00.001-07:00

I've spent a lot of time over the past few weeks reading all the Grizzlies news I can find, and at this point, I wouldn't bet on any of the scenarios.

However, I do have a few concerns about the upcoming draft.

Concerns:

Grizzlies won't get the player with the biggest chance of being a star.
The Grizzlies are too enamored with their own players to improve the team.
The Grizzlies won't do everything in their power to acquire Griffin.

The Grizzlies absolutely must do everything in their power to acquire Blake Griffin.

Now is not the time to fall in love with players that won fewer than 25 games for the 3rd straight year. (By the way, this also applies to when evaluating players other than Griffin.

I have already stated that I think acquiring Griffin is the best outcome of the draft, and from what I've read, it seems like most people agree. What's not agreed upon is whether Clippers would be willing to accept any offer and how aggressive the Grizzlies should be.

Let me be clear: I think the Grizzlies should put up an offer of at least 4 significant assets for the Clippers. Griffin is the closest thing to a sure bet, and one great player is leagues better than a collection of good players.

In the best case scenario, I would like the Grizzlies to trade Rudy Gay, the #2 pick, and a future first rounder for Griffen and whatever contract the Clippers want to shed.

However, I would be willing to consider any combination of all players on the roster with the possible exception of OJ Mayo. Last time I checked, I didn't see any of the Grizzlies dominating the league. We need to get a star player and will in the gaps later.

There's no question in my mind that the above deal is a good deal for the Grizzlies. The only question in my mind is "Is this is enough to suade the Clipper?"

Dear Bill Simmons

2009-06-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

Please quit talking shit about the Memphis Grizzlies.

In almost every article you write, you mention that Memphis is terrible. Either Memphis has no fans or Memphis is "NBA Hell."

Here's why you should stop talking shit:

1. We already know the Grizzlies suck.

Memphis has the worst playoff record of any team ever (0-12). They have the worst record of any team over the past three seasons (68-178, 28%). By almost any measure of basketball success, the Grizzlies are terrible.

2. The Grizzlies are less of a clusterfuck than you think.

They're one of a few teams that didn't lose money this season.

They have the lowest payroll of any NBA team.

They have some good young players (Mayo, M. Gasol), the #2 pick, and few bad contracts on the books (Milicic, Jaric), none of which are Zach Randolph bad (despite Wallace's best efforts).

3. Gasol isn't as good as you think.

Gasol is a very good player. He's one of the best big men scorers, but he's not the second best center in the league. For one thing, he's not really a center, or if he is, then so is Amare.

Kobe is often judged by his team's accomplishments when he was the best player on the team. Consider Gasol's accomplishments when he was the best player on the an NBA team.

His team made the playoffs in three of the six full seasons in which he played in the NBA. He never won a playoff game as the best player on his team despite a supporting cast that featured players that have had success in the playoffs independent of Gasol (Battier, Wells, White Chocolate, James Posey)

That's why no one would trade for him at face value.

To look at it another way, how does Pau Gasol compare with second best players on other recent Championship teams?

He's definitely worse than Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett (or Paul Pierce).

He's in the ball park of Tony Parker

He's better than Otis Thorpe and whoever you want to pick from the 2004 Pistons.

4. The Gasol trade wasn't as bad as you think.

Yes, it was a bad trade. The Grizzlies traded an All Star Power Forward for a starting Center.

However, if you take into account the cost of each player it doesn't look so bad.

Pau Gasol's PER last season was 22.31 while Marc Gasol's was 16.74. If you divide those by salary, you get Gasol for 22.31 / 15 million = 1.5 PER points per million dollars spent.

For Marc Gasol, it's 16.74 / 3 million = 5.6 PER points per million dollars.

Sometimes you have to pay to get the best players, but Gasol wasn't taking the Grizzlies anywhere.

I can't believe you just made me try to justify the Pau Gasol trade. See what you're doing?

That brings me to my last point:

5. We already know the Grizzlies suck.

You don't need to kick us while we're down. That's what the Clippers and the Knicks are for. We already have someone from Boston to remind us of how bad we are. We don't need you too.

Best Regards,

David

An Offer They Can't Refuse

2009-06-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

The Grizzlies must make the Clippers an offer they can't refuse.

They must trade the #2 pick, Rudy Gay, and next year's first round pick for Blake Griffin and whatever contract the Clippers want to get rid of the most.

It's the only way.

There are three things I know:

1. The Grizzlies cannot go into next season without a power forward.

2. David Lee does not count.

3. The Grizzlies cannot go into next season with six point guards.

2 Bad Options for #2

2009-06-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

Here are two options I don't like:

1. Drafting Hasheem Thabeet. There's exactly one player that's built like Thabeet that's a star in this league, and Thabeet is not projecting to be the next Yao Ming. These days, centers (with a few notable exceptions including Dwight Howard) are role playing stiffs a la Eric Dampier.

The Grizzlies already have a center that's better than Thabeet. They don't need to draft a back up center with the #2 pick despite what Chad Ford thinks.

That brings me to another point. The Grizzlies shouldn't draft a guard unless that guard has the potential to be a star when paired with OJ Mayo.

If the Grizzlies find a guard (and I think Rubio qualifies) that has a strong chance of being a star paired with OJ Mayo, then the Grizzlies should draft him and trade Conley.

2. What I don't want to see happen is the Grizzlies draft a combo guard to share minutes with Conley and Mayo. The Grizzlies need to come away with someone who can play 35 minutes, whether by drafting Rubio or trading for a power forward. (No, Jason Thompson is not the power forward I have in mind.)

Ricky Rubio, Some Stats

2009-05-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

In an ideal world, we could compare Ricky Rubio's stats with those of similar players to predict his relative success in the NBA.

Unfortunately, very few (ie none) 18 year old point guards have made the jump from Spain's ACB league to the NBA. Therefore, it's difficult to use Rubio's stats from last season to predict his performance in the NBA next year.

Rubio was at or near the top of his league in several statistical categories. For example, he finished #1 in assists per game. However, it's tough to predict how that will translate to the NBA.

I thought it might be interesting to compare Rubio's stats from last season with other players who ranked among the top in assists per game as well as Juan Carlos Navarro.

I added stats for Navarro from last season, from when he was 18, and from his rookie season with the Grizzlies. I also threw in Gasol's stats from his last season in the ACB league (age 20).

Rubio's all around stats are better than the other players I chose, but not by much. However, the other players are much older than Rubio.

Perhaps we shouldn't expect Rubio to immediately perform at the level of Derrick Rose or OJ Mayo since his stats aren't strikingly different from other ACB players who haven't made it in the NBA. If that's true, then drafting Rubio is about his age and potential.

However, Navarro and Gasol's stats aren't far off from Rubio's and both of them were among the best of their rookie classes.

Still, stats don't tell the whole story. Navarro was much older and more of a 2 guard while Gasol was slightly older and a 7 foot power forward. Therefore, their transitions to the NBA may be inherently different than Rubio's.

Still, these cases do suggest that an ACB stat line like Rubio's can translate into success in the NBA.

Below are some stats I pulled from ACB.com.

Think About It

2009-05-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

What do you think the chances are the Ricky Rubio and Marc Gasol are sitting at a Tapas bar in Madrid trying to convince Juan Carlos Navarro to make a come-back?

#2

2009-05-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

The Grizzlies had the second best outcome on Tuesday night when they received the #2 pick and the Clippers received #1.

If anyone is dumb enough to pass up on Blake Griffin or trade him, it's the Clippers, who have a history of making bad moves and are loaded at the 4 and 5 spots.

The Grizzlies have flexibility that puts them in a position to take on salary for the sake of improving the team.

One outcome I'd like to see is trading for the Griffin while taking on one of the Clippers big contracts.

For example, according to RealGM's trade checker, the Grizzlies could take on Zach Randolph's contract without giving up any players and swap picks. According the ESPN's trade checker, the Grizzlies would have to send players back, but both teams have enough assets to make something like that work.

RealGM also pointed to a Bay Area article that suggests that the Clippers are more interested in Rubio than Griffin.

If the Clippers aren't willing to part with Griffin, the Grizzlies are still in a good position with Rubio available at #2, and can package Conley with other players to get a forward.

NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday!

2009-05-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

You can feel the excitement in the air. Grizzlies fans haven't had their hopes crushed like this since May 2008.

Hoping the Grizzlies win the 1st pick with a 7.5% chance is sort of like hoping the new Terminator movie will be good with McG at the helm.

Michael Dickerson?

2009-05-11T22:33:00.000-07:00

The Grizzlies have decided to work out Michael Dickerson along with 20 or so borderline (at best) NBA players.

On the one hand, my parents getting me a Dickerson jersey 7 years ago because it was on sale now makes it seem like they were ahead of their time.

On the other hand, I'm worried the Grizzlies think that adding someone who hasn't played meaningful minutes in over half a decade is going to have a significant impact on the team.

I understand that it's possible to acquire an impact player and work out a bunch of D-Leaguers, but I want to hear about how the Grizzlies are going to acquire a power foward to pair with OJ Mayo as the NBA's new Chris Paul / David West combo. I don't want to hear about the next Quniton Ross.

On the bright side, my jersey collection is looking much better, and I might be able to forgive Marc for not choosing #16.

Grizzlies Dominate Playoffs

2009-05-05T20:49:00.001-07:00

It's great to see Grizzlies like Shane Battier, Kyle Lowry, Pau Gasol, Dantay Jones, Hubie Brown, and Carmelo Anthony in the second round of the playoffs.

From the Sports Guy:

11:00: Lowry sinks a jumper after Brown trips and falls. Rockets by five. That trade continues to amaze me: Memphis GM Chris Wallace deciding, "We can either keep Lowry, pick up his option and pay him $5 million combined in 2010 and 2011 when he's worth twice as much, or, we can flip him for a late first-round pick that has a 12 percent chance of being as good of an NBA player as Kyle Lowry already is. Screw it, let's roll the dice!"

Quick question: If the Rockets can make it to the second round with Aaron Brooks, Von Wafer, and Kyle Lowry as their guards, then why can't the Grizzlies make the rotation of OJ Mayo, Mike Conley, and Kyle Lowry work?

That reminds me, I wish Michael Heisley would call Lionel Hollins and ask him not to play Marko Jaric ever again.

Here are my 2nd round predictions after 1 game:

Cleveland in 4
Celtics in 7
Lakers in 6
Denver in 6