Tony Allen's Block Party

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

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!!!!!!!!!

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

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

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

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

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.