Diary of a Happy Grizz Fan: Part Deux

First off, big ups to Chip and Josh for arranging the wonderful tables at the Tip-Off Luncheon yesterday. It was a good time had by all, as well as a notable day for charitable organizations. It is always fun to rub elbows with the players, as well as the coaches and staff. Thanks again, Chip.

To begin, this is the 2nd part of a series that proves to be the anti-thesis of Zac's ever-so-popular blog series. Zac is doing a GREAT job so far, and the feedback I am receiving further cements this claim.

Anyhow, after the Grizzlies luncheon yesterday, I met up with a few friends at the local TGI Friday's in Southaven to have a few adult beverages, and talk about Grizzlies basketball.

After a few cocktails and mind-elevating concoctions I began to peruse the surrounding tables for a viable target to test my theories upon.

Bingo. At a corner table diagonal from the bar, I found two gentleman around the same age as me, both wearing none other than Ole Miss hats/shirts, my alma mater. Target acquired, time to proceed.

I left my friends alone for the time being, and casually made my way to said gentleman's table, drink in hand. After the initial casual greeting, and awkward comment about the misfortunes of the Ole Miss football team, I finally found my opening.

I said "Did you guys happen to go to the Tip-Off Luncheon today?". Of course, I knew the answer was no, but it was my avenue to begin discussion.

The two guys, named Brett and David (thanks guys), asked how the luncheon was, and if I managed to get any valuable autographs (which I did).

Both guys are native Southavenians (is that a word?), but attend the University of Mississippi, Oxford. This of course, limits the amount of time they are able to attend Grizzlies games.

I asked them both what they thought about the Grizzlies past draft, and their answers surprised me. I will quote the gentleman verbatim, from the best of my knowledge.

Brett: I was happy overall with the draft, and the direction of the team as well, but I feel as if we gave up on Mike Miller, and marooned him into a far worse situation in the process.

David: I was ecstatic when we traded "Color me Bad" frontman Kevin Love for O.J. Mayo, and I was more than willing to part with Mike to do so, because you always have to give in order to receive.

Brett: I agree, David, but this team could definitely use Mike Miller's leadership, not to mention his hefty statline and outside shooting this year to help weather the growing pains this team will undoubtedly face.

David: True points on all fronts, but irregardless, you sometimes have to part with fan favorties, lockerroom favorites, and good talent to help build the core of your team. In all honesty, I would love Mike to still be here, but by the time we get where we are going, he will be of little or no use, and past his prime contribution stage.

Me: Great, great points on all fronts. I have to admit I was torn on the issue of trading Mike in the big draft night swap, but I do feel as if it was the best decision long term for this team. It was the right decision, in the same mold ala the Rudy Gay-Battier swap. In my humble opinion, one is paying off now, but both will pay off ten-fold in the future.

Brett and David: Yea man, one thing is for sure..... The Grizz definitely have hope for the future. As long as we make sound financial decisions, and hopefully a draft or two falls in our favor, we will be sitting pretty long term. Then we can quit hearing about the team leaving.

Me: Amen brothers. How 'bout a round on me?

So there ya have it folks. They are sneaky ones, but there are die-hard Grizz fans in and around the surrounding areas in the same mold as you and I.

Until next time, check out my homeboy Zac's upcoming installments, and hopefully I can bring some more good news as well.

Until then, Grizzly Growl my friends.

Guest Post: Don't Call DeShawn Stevenson "Soulja Boy"

When Heckling Opponents Goes Wrong

by Mario Latilleon

I am a Memphis Grizzlies fan. I grew up a Memphis Tigers fan, and I take pride in the fact Bob Huggins once called us the most obnoxious fans in America. Last night at the game against the Wizards, I guess my rambunctious antics went too far. I got under DeShawn Stevenson's skin. When I got under DeShawn Stevenson's skin, I got on the wrong side of the law as far as Washington Wizards security saw me. I did not plan to heckle DeShawn Stevenson, it just happened. As I pondered the things I would yell at the opposing team for fun, right before the game, I remembered Lebron James' slam of the decade on a loquacious DeShawn Stevenson like Dave Chappelle recalling Negrodomus during his ride with Wayne Brady:

"That would be like Jay Z saying something back to Soulja Boy...there's no point."

So along with my warnings to Etan Thomas of calling Brendan Haywood after fouling Grizzlies players, tons of fun with Darius Songalia of the Reggie Cleveland All-Stars, and one comment to Antawn Jamison about looking like Midget from "New Jersey Drive"; I spent most of the first quarter calling DeShawn Stevenson "Soulja Boy" everytime he was within earshot. When Stevenson got a rebound or played defense, I kept at it with the Soulja Boy chants. When the Grizzlies shot free throws, I really got at it: not only would I scream Soulja Boy, I would stand and hop back doing the superman move from the song/dance. With three or four minutes left in the 1st quarter, it finally seemed like I got DeShawn Stevenson's attention. On the bench, Deshawn Stevenson started yelling something at me; unfortunately I could not hear what he was saying. Etan Thomas, sitting next to Stevenson was yelling at me too, but I really could not make out what they were saying. Within a minute of them yelling at me, a Damon Stoudamire look-a-like doing security for the Wizards came over with an police officer and asked me to stop heckling Stevenson. Since I was wearing a Damon Stoudamire jersey at the time, I thought he would give me a little more love. When I asked the security guy what I said that was wrong, he told me that he didn't want a back and forth between Stevenson and me to escalate into anything. My response was I didn't say anything vulgar or offensive so I was within the NBA fan code of conduct, but he told me I was ruining the experience of everyone around me by yelling the whole game and he would stitch to NBA security and have me removed. I asked him to provide the NBA Code of Conduct and the rule I was breaking, he promised he would bring it to me. I got adamant that I was not saying anything offensive; the guy got more threatening and said, "Okay... You keep it up... you'll be outta here." One couple next to me cheered the security guy because I guess I was ruining their peaceful, reflective experience at a sporting event, but the people behind me, whose view I would have actually obstructed doing the superman part of the Soulja Boy told me I was okay when I apologized if I was ruining their experience.

Now the security and FedExForum staff I spoke to about everything told me they didn't see anything wrong with what I did as long as I wasn't cursing or threatening the players. A little later in the game, a Wizards player heckled me when the Wizards were shooting a free throw and I was still silently soothing from my encounter. I had one final discussion with the Wizards security guy during halftime when he saw me asking the original escorting officer for clarification of how my behavior was excessive enough to be removed from the game. As far as I was concerned, this security guy was so agitated with me that anything I yelled could have been crossing the line. The security came over and argued with me like he was a Damon Stoudamire looking Mike Fratello. Since I didn't appreciate the threats, I calmly told him that I was going to be a fan whether he liked it or not. I wasn't going after Stevenson or any other Wizards player for that matter. I stopped the heckling, but became sarcastically supportive of the Wizards for much of the 3rd quarter. Oddly, I think yelling "Go Wiz" is more offensive than "Soulja boy Tell'em!"

I spent the 4th quarter doing more yelling at the Grizz than the Wizards. When the game was over, the Wizards left the bench and were walking across the court fifteen feet away from me. While I was looking at my cell phone responding to a text, I saw a hand towel flying towards me out of the side of eye. The towel was soaked in ice cold water. I did not see which Wizard was the thrower, but I originally thought it was Caron Butler because I noticed he was grinning at me. There he was, sneaking around Butler with Roger McDowell like stealth was Soulja Boy himself, Deshawn Stevenson. The most telling fact of the wet towel was the hit was below my calf on my leg. With a shot like that, Stevenson had to be the thrower. Soulja Boy is not only no Lebron James, he's no Big Shot Bob either.

I don't think I crossed the line calling him Soulja Boy. Though I know NBA team personnel is sensitive after the Detroit event, maybe instead of going after me, the team needs to teach these players to grow up and overlook it. I wasn't calling Stevenson anything dirty or personal. I referred to him as something from a well publicized feud.

I will continue doing what I do, which is heckling opposing players. I try to be sensitive to other fans, but I yell most of the game, and participate. I am energetic and can be obnoxious, and I make no apologies about it. If yelling at an opposing player takes them out of their game, I'm down for doing it. I would not say anything I would not want children to hear.

And I note something from the NBA fan code of conduct...

Guests will enjoy the basketball experience free from disruptive behavior, including foul or abusive language or obscene gestures.

So at what point are you disruptive at a sporting event? I guess if the people around you cannot enjoy themselves, but you could be bothersome to someone near you for yelling "DE-FENSE" everytime the home team played defense chant music. In addition, what does Deshawn Stevenson do if he's got 15,000 fans chanting "Soulja Boy" every time he touches the basketball? Does he get angry with each of them? Will Damon Securamire have the Wizards play before an empty hostile arena?

I feel like Kramer.

How Are Y'all Doin' In The Back?

By Zac

I was going to call this blog "Someone Should Tell Adriana Lima We Have Naked Gameday At The Forum." Now of course I'm not ABOUT to write about something like that...that was merely a suggestion to Ms. Lima.

What I would like to talk about, is this debilitating, dangerous disease that seems to spread more and more the more games we lose. It is so debilitating, it makes our chart at the office look bad. You know, the chart that shows attendance, our arena noise...basically, the chart that shows how good our fans are...

No, not the FOXNews-esque doomsday delight Commercial Appeal! It's the fans!

"Wait...Zac, the fans are the problem??"

YES! The fans are the problem. However, the problem is two-fold.

Problem A is the people who come to the games who root for the other team. Nothing burns me up than seeing a yellow Lakers jersey, or someone whooping it up for Detroit, or shouting out to Melo and AI at the Forum. I wouldn't have a problem with Laker fans at the Forum if the Forum was the Great Western Forum and this was Showtime, but it isn't. We might be a crumbling industy sector and a largely minority-majority city, but we aren't in Detroit either. Our arena announcer doesn't have a stuttering problem. Lastly, do you see any mountains? This is not Denver either.


One of these is Memphis....and the other is not.

Most of this is said in jest. As an avid sports fan, nothing and let me REPEAT nothing really builds up a good game atmosphere than trash talk from fans of one team to the other. Of course, that's always best for the postseason, when the emotions are heightened. It just is an annoyance that a lot of fans especially at certain games aren't even at the Forum for the HOME TEAM...but the reason they stand out so much is because of problem B.



Problem B is the fans of the Grizzlies that we do have. There simply is not enough. When your arena looks like 9500 people showed up in plainclothes and the rest came disguised as empty blue chairs, even the loudest, truest Chris Farley Chicago Superfan-esque fan performance is not going to drown out the cheers from the fans that are there to support the other side. Where are the people? When I was writing for Nation of Grizzlam, I wrote a blog detailing why Memphis fans felt like they didn't get respect from the media and it dealt with SMS, or "Small Market Syndrome." While doing the research for said blog, I delivered statistics (begrudgingly, because I hate crunching any sort of numbers) of populations for every NBA market city and metropolitan area. Memphis was not even the smallest market, at roughly 1.25 million metro, adjusting for another year in census, not counting what I believe to be part of the metro area, DeSoto County. You mean to tell me that a little over 1 percent of that can't fill up a basketball stadium? Really? I know we are a college town, but face it folks, so is every other NBA market. This is the first REAL professional team this city has ever had. Noone had better comment about the MadDogs or Pharoahs, and no disrespect but the Riverkings and Redbirds are not major league caliber either. That alone should get fans in the seats. Be grateful to even have a team. I'm sure Seattle would love to have theirs back, and they had more fan support than we have had in our best year.

"Basketball games are too expensive to have as many as we do in a season. Most Memphians would be better suited for an NFL season. Expensive, but less games to go to."

Right. The Oilers sure got a lot of support while they were here. Of course, the excuse was that we knew they were leaving anyway, so why support them. It seems with a lot of people that they feel the same way about the Grizzlies. They'll leave, so why support them? That way, when they leave due to lack of support from fans like you, you will be right. Ah, sweet vindication. An NFL team in Memphis? If basketball (Professional basketball, in a self-professed "Basketball Town") can't be supported with 18,000 people, how do you tell me that 65,000+ would be? Maybe I should ask the Tigers how they like playing in front of a packed stadium for football games. Wait...

It's because they don't win right? The Golden Rule of Fandom. If they win, they will be loved and admired and paid attention to. You've got me there. The Grizzlies don't win. However, even when they did, they didn't win enough. So the support...went down the drain. Fans have every right to be dissapointed. Dissapointment is great! It means you have pride in your team and you want them to do well. I'd be more worried if people were indifferent, but people are dissapointed! Hooray! It means you care!

So why don't you care that your team, win or lose, looks pathetic when they play in front of an arena full of...empty chairs? It's silent when the home team scores at home and louder when the away team makes a basket? You want to root for the stars? Show up to the games, and be loud for your home team. Homecourt advantage = proven advantage. Build up the young guys' confidence, build up the win column. Make it look like a fun place to play and a fun place to go to. Word among fans will spread. Make it look like a loud and tough place to play, and word will spread around the L. Your team will be feared, and in free agency, dare I say revered. Players will want to come here. You will have built up your players into stars, and attract stars for you to clap for, if thats what it takes. Clap for Rudy. Clap for Mayo. Clap for Conley. Soon, who knows who you will be on your feet for in the starting lineups. Just make sure to keep the energy going, and drown out those people cheering for the other team...

Donations to the DOUCHE (Drown Out Ugly Crowd Heckling Experiment) can be made in payments of 5, 18, 37, 38, 40, 47, 48, 49, 62, 82, 99, 107, 150, 227, 307, 387, 546 & 667 dollars. All donations to DOUCHE should be made at the FedEx Forum box office on Gamedays.

Acronym Anonymous

Hey guys, Diggler here.

I have been thinking lately about one thing our team has been sorely lacking over the past few seasons: INTEGRITY. Then I began thinking that this is not the only aspect that has been missing from our team, so I decided to come up with an acronym for integrity that also delves into other problems currently plaguing our team.

Enjoy my friends.

I - Identity. an aspect this team has been sorely lacking as of late. I would love to see a team who develops their own niche in the Southwestern Conference, and the rest of the league as well. We want to have a team that is not automatically penciled in as a win by the other team.

N – No laziness on defense; period. Coach O’Neill should help tremendously in this aspect. Man to man, help defense, transition defense, defensive assignments should all improve (hopefully) under his tutelage. I pity the fool who doesn’t play defense for O’Neill.

T – Trepidation. We want a team that other teams are afraid to play. We want to be a team that is known for playing tenacious defense, as well as a team that is capable of outscoring opponents.

E - Errors. Whether mental or physical, we must cut back on mistakes made on the court. Playing smart basketball is an absolute must.

G - Grit. Notice a common theme here? Our team needs to have true grit, play the game with confidence. Don’t allow teams to tear through our defense like dollar-store toilet paper.

R - Rudy. This one is, in my opinion, an absolute must. Rudy must continue to elevate his game. He must become more of a leader. This means on the court, vocally, and in the locker room. Rudy must improve his ball-handling skills, his assist numbers, his defense, and hopefully continue to elevate his scoring average as well. The sky is the limit for Rudy; it just depends on how high he truly wants to take his game.

I - Intuition. This team must be keen of mind. Make smart, quick decisions on the court to elevate team play, and overall game play as well. Eliminate mistakes that hinder smart basketball decisions.

T - Togetherness. This team must play as a cohesive unit. Like a well oiled machine, all parts should run together and compliment each other. A team that plays together stays together.

Y - You guys. Yes, that is right. This team can’t do any of the things mentioned above without the support of the fan base. Why would a team play their hearts off if the fans are unwilling to show them the same dedication (other than their fat bank accounts)? So next time you are sitting at home, bored, looking for something to do; go to a Grizzlies game. Take a friend, take your family, support a franchise we should be THANKFUL to have.

Why Do We Watch?

Thanks to Herm Edwards, we know why they play the games, but why do we, the fans, watch the games? Is it for the athleticism that is turned into artistic grace and poetry, as espoused so eloquently by Graydon Gordian (48 Minutes of Hell, Hardwood Paroxysm)? Is our attention drawn because we grew up watching, as our fathers did before us, so it has become ingrained in us? Do we watch simply to root for laundry, as Jerry Seinfeld once quipped when discussing the prevalence of player movement in the modern era? Do we watch for the purpose of gathering and calculating statistics? Is it merely a team's geographical proximity to our current location? What is it that drives us to become fans of a player, a team, a sport?

Obviously, it could be any one of those reasons or even all of them. Loyalty is developed in different ways for different people. The reason that I am currently pondering this question is because of the cynicism that the Grizzlies fanbase has adopted in recent years. Right now, on the Grizzlies' Fan Boards, there is plenty of discussion about "smokescreens" and conspiracy theories. On many well-known websites and blogs, there have been comments made about the Grizzlies' reluctance to pursue any of the big name free agents, despite their position as the last remaining team with any significant cap space, is a "detriment to the league" and is proof that they "do not intend to be competitive". All of this has been eaten up with a spoon by a large percentage of the fanbase, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out why.

If you truly believe that your favorite team isn't making moves to better itself in the future, with the goal of a realistic shot at a championship in the viewfinder, then why would you continue to root for that team? If financial considerations are not only the primary concern of a team, as Chris Vernon has stated, but is, in fact, their only concern, then what would motivate you to continue rooting for that team? If you truly believe that your team's owner, GM, coach, et al, have resigned themselves to losing for the forseeable future, then why would you stay on board a sinking ship?


Is Michael Heisley focusing on losing less money than he has in the past -- and possibly even making some for a change? Absolutely. Does that mean that the Grizzlies are guaranteed to flounder at the bottom of the standings? Nope. The issue I have right now is that it seems that everyone wants to lump both questions into one answer. Even if Heisley is more concerned with the bottom line than a position at the bottom of the standings once again, that doesn't mean that the Grizzlies won't get better. This isn't an either/or situation. In fact, that's something that I believe that Heisley is counting on.

If the team becomes competitive over the next few seasons through Chris Wallace's management of personnel with trades and the draft, then Heisley has a valid reason to spend money on a quality free agent that could put the team in a position to make a serious postseason run. Of course, if the team has done that with "homegrown players" like Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, O.J. Mayo, etc. then they will have to sign them to extensions, which could take a big chunk of that cap space that everyone is talking about right now. If that occurs, then Heisley still has an out for not spending, since the team, which currently has 8 players under the age of 24 that are expected to contribute, could be solidly set at all 5 positions, meaning there isn't a necessity to spend money on a big name free agent. I'm not saying any of this to support Heisley's "Three Year Plan" or the practice of putting finances above wins. However, this is a reality that everyone should consider when they look deep within and ask themselves why they watch.

I watch, because the NBA = entertainment. I watch to see the best athletes in the world, night in and night out. I watch because the jersey says "Memphis" on the front of it and the team plays 20 minutes from my house. I watch because I expect great things from young players. I watch because I truly, honestly believe that this team will continue to get better, whether or not the current owner gives approval to signing a big free agent this offseason or next. I watch, because for better or for worse, I am a fan, even as I view the future of the team with a critical (but not cynical) eye.

Tell me why you watch in the Comments.

BBQ, Lottery and Partying with the Grizzlies

The 2007-08 season was disappointing for the Grizzlies at the Forum but the organization is looking to set the tone for a better 2008-09 and they are starting it out with a lot of fun events even before the team gets back together.

The two story structure was conveniently located near the tasting and judges tents practically in the middle of the park.

Last weekend the Grizzlies hosted a huge 'tent' at the 2008 World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. Limited to only season ticket holders of 5 years or more, Everyone got to meet with the broadcast team, certain executives and the dance team members. It was a great opportunity to rub elbows with the team. You can check out photos of the great partying going on here. Marc Iavaroni was out Friday night and Chris Wallace was there Sunday so it was well represented by the men on top and well as the incredibly friendly staff members! There was no way anyone could have not had fun if they had been there.


Thanks so much to Jackie who allowed me to get a picture taken with her. On a side note, nice earring Eric, but the goatee has to go!

Tuesday night the partying keeps rocking as the Grizzlies host not one but two parties to watch the lottery. Last season the team hosted a get together at the downtown Flying Saucer. This time the Grizzlies will have twice as much fun as they are hosting events at both the Downtown Flying Saucer and the Cordova Flying Saucer!

Some of the Guys from 3 Shades of Blue will be at the downtown location with 730 ESPN radio and the TV cameras (no one denies we are publicity hounds after all) while the Cordova location will have WRBO Soul Classics 103.5 FM to liven up the event. Dance team members will be at both locations. great Grizzlies prizes will be given away and for most people it will be your only opportunity to get on Sportcenter! How can you turn down an opportunity like that?

There is no truth to the rumor that sour face Jerry West will be at either location or the Draft Lottery in NYC.


The Grizzlies will also be hosting a knock out Draft Night party although the exact location hasn't been decided on yet. In the past they have hosted parties at the Pyramid and the Forum.

Don't Hire the Movers Just Yet

The fellas over at Hardwood Paroxysm were good enough to send me the link to this post from Jon Burkett of Passion and Pride, a fine Philadelphia 76ers blog. I enjoy most of Jon's writing, but he made a huge error by continuing to espouse the theory popularized by ESPN.com's Bill Simmons that the Memphis Grizzlies should be the team that is moving, rather than the Seattle SuperSonics. *Sigh* I try and I try, but at this point, I just cannot be nice about it anymore. The video sums up my feelings on the subject quite succinctly.



You tell 'em Howard Beale!

Here's why the Memphis Grizzlies won't be moving to Seattle anytime soon (once again for the hard of hearing and absent-minded):

1. Iron-clad lease with the city of Memphis for the next decade. Really, this is reason enough, but I'll give you a few more.
2. Strong corporate support, despite lukewarm fan support.
3. New, state-of-the-art arena already in place, rather than still needing one to be built with taxpayers' dollars.
4. Unlike David Stern's apparent apathy towards the fine citizens of Seattle (or is that a reflection of their own apathy???), he is committed to the NBA remaining in Memphis. He wasn't nearly as definitive about the NBA in New Orleans, though.

In fact, let's talk about the New Orleans Hornets a little, shall we? If we're going to bring up a team that Clay Bennett should buy and move to Oklahoma City, why aren't the Hornets -- who have already spent time in OKC -- being mentioned as that team? Why not let Bennett and George Shinn switch franchises, move the Hornets to OKC and keep the Sonics in Seattle? Let's be honest -- the population of New Orleans has dwindled to the point where it is obvious that they cannot support two professional franchises. That's not a judgment of them -- just a cold, hard look at the facts. There are not enough people with disposable income to support two teams. I'm not trying to "rob" the Crescent City of their fantastic team -- as Burkett, Simmons and others are trying to do to Memphians -- just illustrating that there are other, more obvious teams to use as examples when seeking to "fill the void" that the departing Sonics will leave.

That brings up another interesting point. I have yet to visit Seattle, but everyone I know of that has been there has absolutely raved about it. So, I'm quite sure that it is a great city. I do find it curious that over the past 15 years, all three of their major sports franchises have threatened to move, with the Sonics apparently being the first to actually do so. I remember that playoff series between the Mariners and Yankees that "saved" Major League Baseball in the Pacific Northwest. I have seen the stands sway as the raucous crowd cheered on the Super Bowl bound Seahawks. I've seen the Sonics go deep into the playoffs on the backs of Payton, Kemp, Allen and Lewis. If the fans in Seattle really, truly wanted to keep their team, they would have made sure that they did what was necessary to make that a happen -- namely, funded a new arena. I've also seen the attendance numbers for the Sonics over the last few seasons.

That's why Memphis gets thrown in there at the whim of every writer with something to say, you know -- attendance. The Houston Chronicle's Zachary Levine had some interesting things to say about 3 of the 6 teams at the bottom of the attendance rankings:

Competition hurts some NBA teams.

Of the six teams at the bottom of the NBA pecking order, three play in some of the best college basketball markets in America — an issue the NHL doesn't have to deal with in nearly the same magnitude.

The Pacers average a league-worst 12,179 at an arena within 90 minutes of Indiana University (16,699 per game) and of West Lafayette, Ind., where Purdue draws more than 11,000 per game.

The 76ers compete with five Division I schools within the city limits of Philadelphia and also with suburban Villanova, which sells out every game at a 6,500-seat on-campus facility and averaged 19,928 in its first two games at the Wachovia Center.

And then there are the Memphis Grizzlies, who share a building with the No. 1 Tigers and come up 4,000 short at the turnstiles. And the way they're going this year, maybe that's not the only way they would lose to their co-tenants.

That's right Mr. Burkett, he brings up your own Sixers team among those at the bottom of the attendance numbers with competing high-level college teams in close proximity, drawing fans away. How about you worry about the team in your own backyard before you come down South looking to meddle with mine? The Memphis Grizzlies are here to stay.

Links: Grizz Update, Bad Teams

Last night, we got an email from Eric McMahon, aka "Grizz" the mascot of the Memphis Grizzlies who is currently battling Hodgkin's lymphoma. He reported that he is doing well with his treatment, which should last another 4 months. He hopes to be back in time for the open of next season. We continue to pray for his full recovery and wish him the best as he enters the last few months of treatment. Get well soon Eric -- we're all pulling for you!

Over on ClipperBlog, they have listed some of the best ways to identify a bad team. I'd say more, but I'm slightly agog after reading this magnificent post that should be printed out and framed.

There had been some talk about a group of Grizzlies fans showing up to the game with paper bags on their head to protest the moves of owner Michael Heisley. Well, in Milwaukee, a group of Bucks fans actually did it. BrewHoop has the story with some great pictures as evidence.

Basketbawful gives some of the participants in the Grizzlies/Bobcats game a mention while reviewing last night's NBA action.

On a final note, this is a sad day for all of us here at 3SoB. If this is true, where am I going to get all the useless information that isn't fit to wipe my backside with?

Blog/Website of the Day: Need4Sheed and the video of Jason Maxiell emasculating Tyson Chandler

Links: Cleaning Out the Inbox (Quick Hit Edition)

Washington Post: Rudy Gay is On the Cusp.

Chance Harper (SBR Forum) on small market realities in Memphis and Milwaukee.

Round 7 of the MVP/ROY Blogger Rankings is up on CelticsBlog for your viewing pleasure. LeBron still has a stranglehold on the top spot, but there has been a shakeup after that. On a related note, the guys at Hardwood Paroxysm have been having a little back-and-forth with CelticsBlog and David Friedman (20 Second Timeout) about MVP voting practices today. Very entertaining.

Pete Pranica's latest blog post.

The Play in California and The Free Throw Line review the trades. Some interesting thoughts, even if I think a few are off-base.

Neil and Vicky took in a Grizzlies game on their travels. You can read about it on Travel Pod.

Ted Sevransky says the Grizzlies are the worst team in the NBA. Guess he doesn't get Miami Heat games in Canada.

Think Chris Wallace is the worst GM in the league after the Gasol trade? At least he's not the Sports Guy. Go read BrewHoop's take on having Bill Simmons offer to be Milwaukee's GM. (via Hardwood Paroxysm)

Blog/Website of the Day: 20 Greatest TV Show Intros

GM Chris Wallace Faces the Fans...again.

Well the trade dead line has come on gone with the Memphis Grizzlies basically standing pat until the 2008 off season. Well they helped a couple of their division rivals exchange malcontents but decided against trading Mike Miller or Kyle Lowry at this time. Supposedly, Grizz GM Chris Wallace had multiple offers for both Miller and Lowry but decided none of the offers were worth making a move. Unfortunately for Wallace, after the Pau Gasol trade he has joined the likes of Isiah Thomas, Kevin McHale and Billy Knight in the ESPN WILL RIDICULE EVERY MOVE I MAKE CLUB. The influence of ESPN can not be ignored. Also, the fact that Gasol is now playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and will likely be on national TV every week can't be ignored. For the rest of this season, Memphis will likely be losing and Gasol and the Lakers will be winning with ESPN's talking heads being critical of Wallace and the Grizzlies along the way.

Whether I agree with the decisions Chris Wallace has made or not, after trading Pau Gasol for a bag of magic beans and not trading Mike Miller for another bag (I agreed with both), Wallace has always gone the extra step to try and keep the fan base informed about his reasoning for doing or not doing a particular move. Shortly after the NBA trade deadline, Wallace took it another step and fielded phone calls on Chris Vernon's radio show from frustrated Memphis Grizzlies fans for an entire hour(part 1, part 2, part 3). Although Wallace has a tendency to use redirection and deflection, he did at least give some outlet to the growing frustration in the Memphis Grizzlies fan base. It is one thing to call or listen to sports talk radio and speak with the radio host but it is another thing to engage in a discussion with the man who is making the decisions for your favorite team.

So after the uneventful trade dead line, it is time for Chris Wallace and the rest of the Memphis Grizzlies fans to turn our focus to college basketball and hope that our savior is coming in the 2008 NBA draft. The Western Conference in the the NBA is going to be hellacious to navigate through over the next season and a half. It is with this notion the Chris Wallace has positioned the Grizzlies to try and be ready when the Suns, Spurs, Mavericks, and Nuggets are hit with the realities of age that the Memphis Grizzlies can join Portland, Seattle and Minnesota as the up and coming to teams poised with young talent to take their place.

Now winning the lottery...that is another article entirely.

'Busting' Out for the Grizzlies

Breaking News: Apparently at least one fan is willing to get down and dirty in her support of the team. According to sources an attractive female in the stands bared her breasts when her image was flashed on the jumbo-tron. At this time we have no word on how the Grizzlies plan on dealing with this situation.

I suggest season tickets in my section for the woman or plastic beads to all men over 21!

A quote from an 'eye' witness of the event:

She wasn't very well endowed (which can be deceiving since lifting your arms/shirt can make you look smaller than when your arms are down), college-aged or close, and I guess I'd have to say her appearance was "average" since I can't remember if I'd put her at either end of the attractive scale. She may have been cold at the time...

Thanks to the woman who thought outside of the box to find ways to attract more fans to the game!

UPDATE: Lauren Lee of Fox Sports News beat us to the punch and got this story. However we are still attempting to get a personal interview.

7th Annual Tip-Off Luncheon

Well, the Memphis Grizzlies did it yet again. This was my second time to experience the Tip-Off Luncheon in the past three yeas and it was definitely worth the price of admission. As usual, there was ample opportunity to mingle with the players, coaches and front office of the team, as well as get autographs and pictures taken. There were several interesting items in the Silent Auction, such as Framed Autographed Jerseys (Pau, Rudy, Mike, Kyle), Autographed Basketballs (Lowry, Navarro, Calipari, Derrick Rose, Jerry West) and some items from other teams and even other sports, such as the Shaun Alexander Laser Engraved Football and the Aaron Boone Autographed Baseball Bat. The Live Auction had some fantastic offerings as well, such as the Honorary Ball Kid Experience, which allows a child to be a ball kid for one of four games this season. There was also an L.A. Fly Away trip to see the Grizzlies take on the Lakers and Clippers on back-to-back nights in March and an All-Star Weekend Getaway for two people to fly to New Orleans to attend all the All-Star festivities. The big prize was a "Travel with the Grizzlies" experience that allowed for two people to travel with the Grizzlies on their private plane to see them on the road at four different games throughout the year: the Mavs, Magic, Cavs and Heat. Chip and his group put up a valiant effort to win this, but ultimately fell short of winning. I'm told that Chip's therapist has talked him off the ledge and the police have restored order to that particular street now, so that's good. All proceeds from the event and the auctions went to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis, which has been a civic fixture for 42 years. It was also announced that Pau Gasol would be giving away 500 tickets to Opening Night. You can find all the details on Grizzlies.com. This is just one more thing Gasol is doing to connect with the fans in the wake of last season's unpleasantness, which Shades of Blue has detailed before. Pau was in a good mood today, having fun every time we saw him. It was a great event benefiting a great cause and allowed several fans the chance to get to know the key members of the organization just a little bit better as a result. I hope that everyone had as good a time today as I did.

Gasol Tries to Repair Image, No Comment from Ron-Ron

I know, people came here expecting to read about how the Grizzlies did in Houston yesterday. Maybe read a little about Kyle Lowry's great game and what that means for the point guard battle. Maybe a little comment about how good Rudy looked compared to Shane Battier and a plug for tonights game.

It's all here somewhere if you look around. Instead I am going to talk about someone who didn't play last night.

Memphis has a great player on the team. He is recognized around the world as a superstar. He is one of the most popular athletes in his country as well ranking up with Rafael Nadal in popularity. The only all-star ever in his NBA franchise's history but feels unloved in his adopted home town.

Pau Gasol can't get a break in this town.

Last night the Canadian Press released a story about Pau talking about his attempts this summer to repair that image. Pau went to Chris Wallace and asked what he could do to help the team.

Granted he has some repairing to do after last season's trade demand but as Spartacus pointed out earlier in Go Ahead, Request a Trade Pau did it with class and some sense of respect to his team and the franchise. He still caught a lot of grief from people but we have since seen from Kobe Bryant, Andrei Kirilenko and others how using the media makes the situation much worse. Pau didn't drag the franchise threw the mud in his attempt to be traded. He talked in private to the owner.

Either way, he wasn't traded. He put up with the boos and the criticisms despite posting career numbers on a bad team. He kept working even when it seemed everyone hated him.

What irriates me however is that it took a Canadian Press story for Memphis to discover how hard Gasol is working to repair his image. Just like it took our blog (Chris Wallace, Class in Session) to force the CA to write a story about how Chris Wallace was reaching out to the community. Just like it took our Mark Price blog for the CA to report that Mark Price was hired as a shooting consultant. When will our paid Grizzlies Beat Writer start breaking news instead of just recovering what other people write?

Maybe Gasol needs to do more but the CA needs to do a lot more. This is Memphis' only major league sports franchise. Show the team some love. Report on good stories and stop with the fresh off the Grizzlies press release stuff.

And Pau, those who love the team know you are doing it right. Don't stop trying to repair the image but the city hates to lose. It isn't personal. When you asked out when we were down it hurts but it isn't irreparable. Keep working and maybe Ron Tillery will finally write about it.

And no this isn't written simply because Ron Tillery refused to reply to my request for the Media Bias blog.

Well maybe a little about that...

Update (Spartacus): Click here for the Calkins' column that Keith referred to in the comments.

Links: Zombie Walk, Grizz/Fan Blogs

For those of you who are already planning on attending Opening Night -- Kudos. For those of you who need a little persuasion, how about a free ticket? All you have to do is contact Kyle Knox by Wednesday, October 24th and participate in the Zombie Walk. Opening Night is Halloween, for those of you blissfully unaware of what October 31st is, so they want to see fans in all their Fright Night best.

Duane Craig is going to be there as early at 3:30pm possibly to apply make-up shades and/or gel-10 - liquid latex for gory goodness. There will have plenty of fake blood to go around, plus it's my new mixture that is detergent based....that means it washes clean compared to most fake bloods that heavily stain.

Sounds like a lot of fun and is definitely worth it to get a free seat to see the Memphis Grizzlies take on the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.

I want to use the rest of this post to direct you to some other Grizzlies-related blogs out there on the information superhighway. Plenty of websites and blogs have helped us along the way, so who am I not to return the favor?

Grizz Blogs -- This is a product of the Memphis Grizzlies organization, as they have employed the writing talents of G/F Casey Jacobsen, play-by-play announcer Pete Pranica, Publications & Communications Manager Graham Kendrick and fan blogger Chris Avis (a former ball-boy and intern with the Grizzlies) for this new venture. I enjoyed reading Pranica's thoughts last season on Grizzlies.com and am very pleased that they are expounding their scope to include other perspectives from within the organization.

Michael Conley's Blog -- You can read about what the young PG goes through in adjusting to the league on his Yardbarker blog, as well as get the inside scoop on jokes about teammates too.

Warrick's World -- Another Yardbarker blog that gives you insight into a player -- in this case F Hakim Warrick.

Kinsey Speaks -- For now you can read Tarence Kinsey's thoughts on his Blogger account here, although I believe he will be posting under the Grizz Blogs page in the near future.

Beyond the Arc (Chris Herrington) -- This is the blog that inspired me to start Shades of Blue, so make sure you tell him thanks (or thanks for nothing, whichever it might be). Chris consistently brings a fresh outlook on the team and is a quality writer to boot.

Beale Street Beat -- Another quality fan blog that helped inspire me, the brain-child of Thomas McKee is a good source for news and commentary on the Grizzlies.

Grizzlies Nation -- Fellow Message Board poster MemphisX is the purveyor of this fine fan site. We don't always agree, but I don't think either of us misses a word the other one types.

Those are the ones that post consistently that I check often, so be sure to let me know if there are any out there that I'm missing. Also check out the Grizzlies Message Board, where you can find some quality discussion amid the rampant homerism and inside jokes. Just be aware that "Calm down Turbo" is a warning best heeded.

UPDATE: Excellent interview with Michael (don't call me Mike or Jr) Conley on Globaandmail.com where discusses that nasty dribbling exhibition that showed up on YouTube

Links: Kyle Lowry, The Dark One, Golden Generation, Open Practice

Our good friend David Berri has some interesting news regarding Kyle Lowry on his recent post titled "Future NBA Stars". Please read the post in full and then go to the table he has posted here about "Distant Future Stars", where he has Lowry listed as having the highest WP48 stat of guys who have played limited minutes to this point. Of course, we all know that Lowry only played in 10 games last season before suffering a broken wrist. It's a good read, as always, and is yet another encouraging thing to consider going into this pivotal season.

Yahoo! Sports has an article about Darko Milicic on their NBA page. The theme of the missive is "Darko's Resurrection" and it contains some interesting quotes from the Serbian Gangster, teammate Pau Gasol, coach Marc Iavaroni and GM Chris Wallace. It would seem that everyone is being very supportive of Darko in Memphis -- hopefully that will translate into on-the-court success for him and the Grizzlies.

I don't know that we can truly appreciate the level of rock star fame that Pau Gasol and his Spanish teammates enjoy in their home country. This article from globeandmail.com gives a better idea of just how much celebrity status and clout they carry in Spain. Pau is one of the "Golden Generation", which is the group of players born in 1980-81 who have carried Team Spain to worldwide prominence in international basketball.

"Back in the day when we were 16, 17, 18 we won the gold medal in nearly every championship we played," said Pau Gasol, the Memphis Grizzlies forward who some consider the best player in Spanish history.
"We beat the [United] States on different occasions; we were European [junior] champions and world [junior] champions at one time."

As you can see, they are Spain's version of the Dream Team in terms of winning and expectations. Oh yeah, and when it comes to adoring fans as well:

The Spanish players on both NBA teams have been swarmed by media in Madrid. Gasol is featured in an advertisement three storeys tall around the corner from the arena. Everyone wants to touch the players.

"They're like rock stars," Raptors president Bryan Colangelo said. "When we landed there had to be 30 attendants for our airplane wearing these fluorescent vests and as soon as we came off the plane they were just standing there. The second we hit the ground they hit them like a swarm of bees: pictures, autographs, you name it. These guys are larger than life here, and deservedly so."

Don't forget that today's Open Practice starts at noon (doors open at 11 am) and it is free, so you have no excuse not to get your lazy butt down there to see the only professional sport in town ply their trade. I'll have pictures and commentary posted later this weekend about the event. Get out there and support the Grizzlies!

Wait and See?

In an article in Sunday's Commercial Appeal, Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley made this statement about this season's ticket sales:

"We're not burning down the fences -- that's for sure," Heisley said, regarding the poor showing at the FedExForum box office. "Going well would be that we're significantly increasing our ticket sales, and I haven't heard that we are."

Upon reading that article, AOL's The Fanhouse's Tom Ziller had this to say in a blog post titled "Memphis Not Excited By Grizz, Also Crazy":

It could be posturing from a reluctant owner, but Michael Heisley told the Memphis Commercial Appeal all the reforms his basketball team made have not translated to increased ticket sales this summer. If Heisley's truthful, this is sort-of depressing for me, as Memphis is probably the most interesting team in the league going into the season.

I understand the reason that Ziller is questioning why exactly fans of this new-look team haven't come out in droves to secure their place to witness one of the most intriguing teams of the upcoming season. After all, having been a frequent observer of the "slow-it-down, bore you to death" style of Mike Fratello for two seasons, almost anything would have to be more entertaining and the hiring of Marc Iavaroni, most recently of the Phoenix Suns, would be enough to send most basketball fans into an excitement induced frenzy. However, this is Memphis, and in Memphis you have to prove yourself...often more than once.

When the Grizzlies first moved to Memphis after flaming out spectacularly in Vancouver, they were not an immediate sellout hit, averaging around 14,400 fans the first year while in the Pyramid. However, they were soon over the 15,000 mark as the hiring of Hubie Brown introduced not only an entertaining brand of basketball, but the concept of winning consistently, leading to the magical 50-win season in their third year on the banks of the Mississippi River. Of course, this led to unrealistic expectations, since the Grizzlies had skipped over several steps that most young teams would have normally taken in becoming a playoff team. The jump from 28 wins to 50 wins was both a blessing and a curse in that regard.

After three trips to the playoffs and three unsatisfying sweeps, the fanbase began to complain about the style of play, the coaching, the talent level of the team and everything else you could think of, right down to the price of BBQ nachos and the choreography of the dance team. Then came Pau Gasol's injury and the Season from Hades that was the 2006/07 NBA season. So, you'll have to forgive the casual fans if they don't buy what Heisley's selling just yet. I, for one, am immeasurably excited by this team's potential in terms of talent, athleticism and growth possibility for the future. But I understand why others are hesitant to jump on the bandwagon -- they feel like they've been burned before, so I can wait for them to have things "proven" to them. I won't have to wait long though, because the bandwagon is going to fill up quickly and then it won't stop for the stragglers to find room.

Is Miller worth it?

I agree with PMI about Miller being overpaid. 9 million a year is too much for player that's inconsistent, unreliable, chokes in the playoffs, and basicallly doesn't know how to step up his game when needed.

from Lincoln Mark LT on the Memphis Grizzlies Message Board

When I read comments like this I wonder what people are thinking.

Mike Miller was just selected for the USA basketball team that qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He was one of 12 players selected from the entire country to be on that team. Not only that but he was the lowest paid player on a veteran's contract on the team. Was he the best player on the team? No, he was probably closer to 12th than 10th but he was still good enough to be selected. After all he did finish up with the 7th highest scoring average on the team despite playing the 2nd fewest minutes.

Not bad for an overpaid, inconsistent, unreliable, chokes in the playoffs player who doesn't step up his game when needed.

What is sad is that these comments are being made by one of the people who should be most enthusiastic for Mike. He was acquired for Drew Gooden and Gordan Giricek after all and neither of those players will ever be selected for the USA national team backup squad much less the national team. Of course Giricek isn't a USA citizen but if he was he wouldn't be selected anyway.

Miller has given Memphis everything he has for the team. He throws his body after loose balls, he plays 3 positions when asked and never complains. He plays hurt. He has one of the sweetest outside shots in the game.

He isn't the type of player that creates his own shot but he is the type who will punish a team for not giving him respect. Most importantly he is a Memphis Grizzly. He's one of us. He deserves better from the fans.

What Do We Care? We're Disconnected

Michael Heisley said he was feeling more energized about the team and was going to get more involved in the operations and then attended about one game from January to the end of the season. The Grizzlies had an interim coach that was the laughing stock of the league, a highly compensated individual who wanted to be traded and a team with more ‘injuries’ than any two teams in the league but Heisley still couldn’t make it to a game. The fans were never given a reason for this.

What do we care? We’re disconnected.

The Memphis local owners wanted to buy the team from Heisley but apparently didn’t want to enter into a bidding war with Heisley using their offer as leverage to get others to pay more for the franchise. Heisley refused to accept those terms and refused to discuss the situation with the media or the fans.

What do we care? We’re disconnected.

At the end of the season it was announced that West was retiring on June 30. This was to allow him to make the draft pick, pick a new coach and a replacement before retiring. Why in the world the team would want to allow the outgoing GM to make all of these decisions? What’s more the team didn’t come forth and tell us what they were looking for in a GM, a coach or really the draft. Not one press conference or Chalk Talk meeting with season ticket holders to discuss the franchise’s direction or hopes for the future.

What do we care? We’re disconnected.

The press reported that Heisley was interviewing Larry Brown and Kiki Vandeweghe. Upon hearing the news was released Heisley stated that he wasn’t going to conduct the hiring process in the press. He wasn’t going to talk about who he was interviewing or why. He wasn’t going to announce what he wanted in the new GM, Coach or VP of Operations. Heisley also wasn’t thinking about talking to the fans to explain what his thoughts were on the type of person needed to do the job.

What do we care? We’re disconnected.

The team lost the lottery and not one word came from the Grizzlies front office except Jerry West’s rant that the lottery is a terrible way to punish bad teams. No statement on how the team was going to move forward after the disappointment. No comment on the players that should be available at the fourth spot. Not a single comment at all. The fans were left in the dark about how this outcome affected the team and its future plans.

What do we care? We’re disconnected.

The team hired a man with no experience as a head coach without knowing who his boss will be on July 1st. He talked glowingly of the players Memphis has under contract but then stated he didn’t know what style his team would play until he got to know his players better. He then left for Spain to talk to the highest paid player on the team to massage his concerns? How he would do that without knowing what style of play the team was going to play or how the teammates perform would be a good question that hasn’t been asked.

What do we care? We’re disconnected.

All through this period the Memphis Commercial Appeal’s beat writer on the Grizzlies has been criticized for not reporting certain stories like the summer league games, player injuries and player criticisms of the team. All the while he has a morning radio show where daily he talks about how much he dislikes the team and the way they do things.

What do we care? We’re disconnected.

Now that the lottery is set and the deepest draft in recent history is staring the team in the face the Grizzlies announced that they will concentrate on only their single draft pick and that while they will be bringing in players to work out the workouts will be closed to the media, closed to the public and there will not be any discussions about the workouts.

Guess what. We don’t care. We’re disconnected.

I can’t help thinking back on the Grizzlies comments about being unsure of why the team has disconnected with the fans. I always thought it was because the team didn’t understand the Memphis mentality. They didn’t understand that what works by the Great Lake in Chicago and the beaches of Los Angeles may not translate well to the cotton fields of Memphis. Memphis has always been a community that relied on contact and personal interaction. We are a society of meeting for backyard barbeques more than disco dance halls and sports bars. We don’t feel that knowing your neighbors and what they are doing is nosy and intrusive. It shows we care. We extend the family from the house to neighborhood and to the city far more than people do in other parts of the country. Sure there is still a lot of gossip but when people need help the communication network gets the message out fast and people come running.

So why hasn’t Memphis come running to help the Grizzlies? Has this first taste of real big city action already numbed us to indifference like it has in so many other places around the nation? Simply put we have been told and shown that the Grizzlies don’t want us poking our noses in their business. Get the door slammed in your face enough times and eventually you stop caring. If Heisley and the Grizzlies front office don’t want Memphians to be concerned and get irritated when the fans ask questions then don’t act surprised or upset when the fans stop asking and stop caring and stop coming to games. Want to know why the fans are disconnected? Because you told the fans you don’t want us to be connected.

So why should we care?

What Now?

It's been over a month since my last post --mostly because I was extremely busy, but partly because I was ready for a break from the ever-present slide towards morose negativity revolving around the Memphis Grizzlies organization -- but now I'm back to assess what direction the team needs to take from this point forward. It has been one week since the draft lottery, when I joined GrizzMAN, memphis slim and chipc3 for an evening of pontificating and commiserating. In the seven days since that fateful decision was handed out, I have come to accept the results (with much less of a "Chicken Little complex" than many of my fellow fans) and have made a decision on what needs to happen next for the Grizzlies.

Obviously, the first set of things that needs to be taken care of involve the team's infrastructure and front office. The team needs a new owner (or at the very least, an accountable owner), a new GM and a new coaching staff. This is clearly the opening move of a rebuilding of sorts for this team. I've already detailed the people that I think are suitable for these positions (GM's: Presti, Griffin, Vandeweghe; Coaches: Iavaroni, Elie, Carlisle, Van Gundy), so there is no need to rehash that information.

The next step is to address the draft -- most specifically, whether to only select a player with the 4th overall pick or look to make moves to acquire a second (or third) pick, or possibly to move up into the top 2 by grossly overpaying. Over the past week, I've heard every imaginable scenario to do all of these things and here is what I've come up with as a plausible reality.

First, see what interest there is by teams in the lottery looking to move their pick for a future pick or a veteran player -- specifically Boston, Milwaukee, Indiana, Atlanta and Charlotte. There are cases for each of these teams to want to move out of the draft so that they don't have another young player on their roster, but nowhere is that case more evident than in Boston (where they have to placate Paul Pierce almost immediately or risk a situation similiar to the Iverson debacle of last season) or Charlotte (who are very, very long on young talent and very, very short on veteran leadership and consistent scoring). Boston will likely seek an arm, a leg and several key organs to move out of the 5th pick, so I don't know that they are a viable partner unless the team has decided to part ways with Gasol. Charlotte, on the other hand, might be more willing to deal if the Grizzlies are willing to give up Mike Miller, who could instantly provide that scoring and veteran presence to the Bobcats.

Trading Miller leads us to the next part of my analysis: who the Grizzlies should take with the #4 pick. Unless they are absolutely certain that they will be able to pick up a second top 10 pick and that he would be available at that position, I believe that Corey Brewer is the best pick for the organization. Paired with Rudy Gay on the wings for the next 5-10 years, they would provide the Grizz with a formidable combination of defensive intensity, athleticism and scoring. Add in the intensity that Kyle Lowry brought to the table in his brief stint last season, and you could have a trio on the wings very similar to the Pistons' group of Billups/Hamilton/Prince. The only other player I see as a viable choice at that position is Al Horford, who is about .007 behind Brewer in my current draft analysis, but still a few full points ahead of Mike Conley, Brandan Wright and Yi Jianlin. In other words, I'd rank those two players at #3 and #4 at the very worst as of this moment......and might even take Brewer over Durant. *Send all comments about blasphemy through the appropriate channels.*

If the Grizzlies are able to swing a deal with any other teams in the lottery, then select the best player available there, as well. DO NOT DRAFT BASED ON NEED!!! *Rant Warning* I don't want to see a Bowie over Jordan situation at this point, since this is a very critical juncture for the future of this organization. By the same token, don't overanalyze to the point of taking a project (Marvin Williams) over an obviously great player (Chris Paul). Sound like double-speak? It's not. It is actually the same scenario in both cases. In 1984, Jordan was clearly the best player on the board; in 2005, CP3 was clearly the best player on the board. While I hate to play the "hindsight game", this isn't a case of teams passing up players because of perceived weakness (in the Carlos Boozer is too small or Josh Howard can't adapt to NBA defenses model), but because it seems that NBA GM's all want to "discover talent", rather than recognizing it and drafting accordingly. Sometimes playing it safe comes back to haunt you, as the Grizzlies have witnessed with the draft selections of Drew Gooden, Troy Bell and Dahntay Jones. Other times it pays off, as with the recent selections of Hakim Warrick and Rudy Gay.

Ok, back to the present situation. If there was a way to take both Brewer and Horford (both great players who fill needs on the current Grizzlies' roster), then I would welcome it. I don't see it happening, though, so I'd prefer them to take the multi-dimensional Brewer over the solid, Boozer-lite potential and consistency of Horford. The team has done a good job of finagling second-round picks out of teams over the past few seasons, so hopefully they will manage to do that one more time with this being an especially deep draft.

Let me take a step back to address something I think a few fans might question, which is my willingness to so casually part with Mike Miller. That is a decision that has been made with a lot of careful consideration, so don't think of it as a flippant response to my current infatuation with the potential of Corey Brewer. I heard Geoff Calkins on the radio last week with a trade proposal that would have sent Miller to the Nuggets for Marcus Camby and as I contemplated that scenario, I must admit that I grew to like it more and more. Moves like that will need to be made in order for this organization to move forward -- much like the Battier to Houston trade was a necessity, no matter how painful it made this past season or how sorely his presence was missed, both on and off the court.

The last thing I want to address is what to do with Pau Gasol. I have heard both sides of the argument and remain convinced that the team has to keep him through this offseason. If a deal comes up that is beneficial, then I understand why they would want to part with him, but I don't see any teams out there that won't view the Grizzlies as being in a position of weakness at this point. If they wait until the season has started, and perhaps one of the contenders starts off slowly, then they will be in a position of equality at the very worst. There is virtually no way for them to receive anything back that would balance out what they would be losing in trading away Gasol during the offseason. I'll take his boring consistency through the season over a draft pick and a couple of spare parts from another team. And for all the complaints about his wallflower routine in the 4th quarters of several games, he is remarkably consistent. If his scoring goes down, then his rebounding and shot-blocking almost always go up. That's not a bad thing to be in a league where 25 ppg scorers have been known to fall off the face of the earth quite suddenly.

In conclusion, I think it is obvious that this organization needs to start at the top and then work its way down in order to solve all of its issues and problems. Getting the local owners to make a solid bid for the team would be an excellent start in my book. Putting pressure on Heisley to accept that bid would be even better. Installing a GM and coach before the draft would be intelligent moves, too. But what do I know? I'm just the paying customer, after all.