Thursday, April 3, 2008

What Do We Call Them?

Dallas had its Tres J's. Boston has the Boston Three Party. Memphis has three small guards coming off the bench that have sparked the team more than any bench players since Mike Miller won the 6th man award and Hubie had his 10 man rotation.

These guys need a nickname!

Kyle Lowry, Juan Carlos Navarro and Javaris Crittenton have become the best story on the team this season. 'The Great' Kyle Lowry, as Memphis radio heads used to call him, was expected by most Grizz fans to be a spark off the bench. Juan Carlos Navarro came in with the 'La Bomba' nickname and the cute smile and instantly became a fan favorite. Javaris Crittenton is the baby of the three at only 19 years of age but all three should be considered rookies even if Crittenton is the only one who has never played professional basketball before this season.

College teams routinely go small and use three guards. Texas had 5-11 AJ Abrams, 6-0 DJ Augustin and 6-2 Justin Mason playing big minutes this year. North Carolina has 6-4 Wayne Ellington, 5-11 Ty Lawson and 6-5 Marcus Grinyard starting for Tarheels.

But this is the NBA. Teams aren't supposed to be able to get by playing three guards, much less three small guards. Kyle Lowry is a generous 6-0. Juan Carlos Navarro is listed as 6-3 and Javaris Crittenton is supposedly 6-5 but he looks more like 6-4...at best. These guys are small, unselfish and very, very fast. The pressure they put on defenses is incredible.

Okay, maybe I am falling under the spell of Kinsey Fever again but all year we have wanted to see uptempo basketball, with three point bombs and slashes into the lane and now we finally are getting it from our 3 rookies off the bench.

They have earned a nickname. I just can't think of one to give them. Beale St Blue and Yellow Fever doesn't really work for me. The Oreo Cookies? No, that plays on race and is offensive to me and just about everyone in the city. Three G's sounds fun but may be too esoteric for some people to catch the meaning.

Anyone have any better suggestions?

Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments section below. It should be interesting to see what people come up with.


BallHype: hype it up!

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

there is the fact that their jersey numbers are 1,2, and 3-there's a nickname in there somewhere...
speedy three?
three-speed? (hey..I'm a cyclist..)
triple tornado?

ok. maybe those are a bit lame...

Anonymous said...

What about the Three Degrees. There was an old Sanford & Son episode where Rolo (Lamonts friend) was managing a group called the Three Degrees. To make a long story short Fred, Grady, Scillet and Buba all went to the talent show and yelled........WE WANT THE THREE DEGREES!

The only downside was they were women, so maybe we should think of another one.

Peace.........GD72

Anonymous said...

Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G had a group called 2-1-3 but that may not fit outside of Cali or rap music listeners.

Triple Take.

213(two one three)

3G (as in three guards)

Anonymous said...

The Instant3...

jordigomezsuay said...

They are 1, 2, 3? There was a very famous TV contest in Spain many years ago which name was, by chance, "1, 2, 3" (or Un, Dos, Tres). They had a group of two very good humorists, the "dúo sacapuntas" (the pencil-sharpener duo), who ended all their gags singing, "twenty-two, twenty-two, twenty-two...":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS2cFQJv8wQ

So my proposal is them to be the "trío sacapuntas" and look in every match for one statistic of them making 22, no matter how weird it is. Perhaps it isn't the most thrilling nickname, but at least it gives the chance of having some fun looking for the 22, which sometimes can be more exciting than watching the team play.

Manel said...

Three Amigos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :P

Thanks for blog...

Anonymous said...

The steak house...

Navarro is a seasoned veteran so he would be well done

Lowry is in his second year and has started to tap into is potential so he would be medium rare

Crittenton has all sorts of upside but is raw so he is rare

Anonymous said...

Point and Shoot.

Get it? Two Point Guards? Three if you actually believe La Bomba can run the point. Shoot: JCN and JCrit.

Or Just Call them 3-Point. Only people who notice Navarro doesn't run the point will have a problem with it. And who says nicknames have to make sense? Why do they call KG The Big Ticket? Or Amare STAT. And if a player can get by with the name "Smush" . . .

L3E

Anonymous said...

STAT = Standing tall and talented..
The Big Ticket due to the huge paycheck he got...

How about just 3-2-1? or "the three grizzlies"??

Anonymous said...

"the grizzly 3"
"trip Gs"
or juan kylos javarro lmao

Anonymous said...

or blast off? (from "3..2..1.. blast off!)

or the bermuda triangle

or j-low-rock (j = javaris/juan, low for lowry; an allusion to jail house rock from the king of rock and roll who by the way was based in memphis)

btw i was the one who posted that juan kylos javaro post lol if any of these get used i want some credit! lol

-fat1

Anonymous said...

how bout

1 2 3 punch?

Anonymous said...

speed g-mons? -f1

Anonymous said...

I think it's too early to give them a nickname. The odds are slim for the Grizz to keep all three plus Conley. I love them all but there isn't room for all four.

Anonymous said...

I think that for Navarro is enough to translate "La bomba". Juan Carlos "The bomb" Navarro, he calls 'bomb' to his special, extra-elevated layups, so i think that "The bomb" should do it.

For Crittenton, i like J-Critt, sounds powerful an fitts perfectly.

And Lowry... Low Kyle? K-Low? (kinda skip-to-my-lou Rafer Alston, lol)

Anonymous said...

Three Little Big Guards or The Little Three?

Anonymous said...

"Three Lil' G's"

Anonymous said...

(I don't speak english)

I have eared three little big Guards...

It sound like Litte bighorn (General Custer)

Maybe...

7th US Cavalry ???

Anonymous said...

Juan Carlos ya tiene mote: La Bomba

Juan Carlos already have a nickname: The Bomb

Por favor vete de Memphis

Anonymous said...

Why not

"The Three Little Bears"

Like Band of Gypsys's song.

Anonymous said...

cannot believe the comparison...

Navarro is a two time gold medallist, europe champ in clubs and silver medal with Spain!!

Five time spanish league champ

This year has been the fourth lowest salary on NBA. Next year earning 6$ and getting buzzer beaters away from Memphis, you'll see

Unknown said...

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