Juice vs. Juice

by Zac

First off, big ups to our friends at Hardwood Paroxysm for the "OJ Mayo's Swagger vs. Megan Fox's Sexiness" blog.

Also, I'd just like to say to Chip, what a fantastic interview with Coach I. I know all Grizz fans are pulling for Ivy this season.

Now let's get on to the business at hand.

Clay Aiken finally came out. FINALLY.


Just kidding. Who gives a funk-and-wagnalls about that?

Let's talk about OJ Mayo. Our rookie. Our newest face, our future star. One half of the Gay Mayo...er...Rudy and OJ duo. He just oozes style, and swagger. He's been called the next big thing...compared to Kobe...the swagger of LeBron...etc. Who could I, a measly blogger, compare OJ Mayo to that would even match the direct correlations of the former?

Simple.

O.J. Simpson.


Whatthe#@&! ????

That's right. Name for name, baby. OJ for OJ.

I'll give you a few minutes to settle down.

*Listens to some RATM via Ipod*

Good, you're back. I can begin now.

Round One: Slashing Abilities

As you can read here due to graphic violent language (You're welcome, kids) , Mr. Simpson was quite proficient in his slashing abilities. He (of course, this was in his prime, so I don't believe he could do this now) was able to slash through not one, but two defenders at once with ease. Mayo likewise is a very good slasher, able to get around one, two, perhaps three or any number of defenders you throw at him. As his NBADraft.com profile indicates, he "is very confident dribbling against pressure and trapping defenses, and knows how to use his body to get to the hoop....and has a variety of moves and jerky fakes that create enough seperation for him to get his shot off."

Winner: Tie



Round Two: Court Behavior

OJ Simpson is a known narcissist, and an egotistical man, but by all accounts was somber and quiet in court. He let his teammates do the talking. OJ Mayo is humble when he is away from the court, but is a beast on it, unleashing a typhoon of swagger and arrogance, knowing that he is one of if not the best player on the court at the time. Sounds like a draw doesn't it? Alas, it is not. Our dear Mayo goes down to Simpson in this round simply because Simpson's team let him get away with murder in the court, and Mayo couldn't even get past a flopping ref.

Winner: Simpson



Round Three: Bigger Entourage

Mayo's entourage got him into trouble when an associate leaked a story about Mayo accepting gifts. Not cool, Lil' OJ. Meanwhile, Simpson, along with an entourage of his own robbed sports memorabilia from a Las Vegas hotel room and were charged with kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon to boot. This one could go both ways. Simpson was taking things that were allegedly "his" sports memorabilia. Mayo wasn't stealing nor taking his items back, he was purchasing new items, but "illegally" according to for lack of a better word, "Collegiate Ethics." In that respect, it almost seems like yet another draw. However, Simpson's antics landed him in jail again. The edge goes to Mayo in this one.

Winner: Mayo

Overall: Mayo 1, Simpson 1, Draw

So there you have it. After research, it seems they are even. You never would have thought that, now would you? That's why we're here....to bring you the unexpected. Let's just hope Mayo is a "killer" on the court, not off the court.

***Disclaimer***

This was for entertainment purposes only. We here at 3ShadesofBlue do not necessarily believe OJ Simpson was a murderer and or guilty of any crime. We try to stay as bipartisan and impartial to any one side in particular.

Friday Roundup: Links and such

Well it was not quite as quiet a week on the Grizzlies homefront as most people wanted with the news that Darrell Arthur was expelled from the Rookie Transition Camp. While it hasn't been released whether or not Darrell was actually involved in drug use, the women in the room was enough to ban him from the event. While mostly embarrassing it does cause on court issues to come into question such as his reputation for zoning out. Hopefully the financial penalty will be all that is neccessary to remedy this problem but the league can add on a suspension of indeterminate length and the team can impose their own penalties as well.

Chris Herrington is back from vacation and back being one of the best reporters of Grizzlies news in the business this week. Welcome back Chris and we hope you had a pleasant vacation with the family.

TrueHoop is kind enough to link to us from time to time so when Henry Abbott takes the time to write a full article on the Arthur situation I felt it appropriate to link back to him.

Ron Tillery has also been busy on the Edge Blog lately keeping fans informed on the recent trade rumors involving the team. Ron also wrote an insightful article on the Grizzlies in the paper. See Ron, we can write nice things about you too!

Our friend Tom Ziller over at Fanhouse puts his two cents worth in on the Arthur story as well. I really can't argue with his logic (mainly because it agrees with mine). TZ also ranked Rudy Gay at #39 in his ongoing listing of the Top 50 Players in the NBA.

Final word comes from David at David's Memphis Grizzlies Blog who says that players should only be punished for performance enhancing drugs and he would rather have Darrell high than skateboarding or motorcycling.

Lost in the smoke from the Arthur scandal was the fact that both O.J. Mayo and Marc Gasol were at the Rookie Camp too. It is unclear at this time if Hamed Haddadi was also at the camp. Since Haddidi signed right before the camp was scheduled to begin it is understandable if he didn't make it. There is also the question on his being able to understand anything being said there anyway.

Inside Hoops is confirming Ron Tillery's entry that the Grizzlies and Knicks are in discussions about Zack Randolph. This is interesting since Chris Wallace said on Chris Vernon's radio show that very few trades are done in September and October as most teams are focusing on the getting the team ready for the regular season and he fully expects the current roster to be in training camp on September 30th. I guess you can call him a liar if the deal gets done according to Dr. Zack.

The sad news here is that rumor involves Marko Jaric and Darko. Darko isn't a great loss but would leave us very thin at center. Losing Mr. Adriana Lima before the first pre-season game would be heart-breaking! Come on Grizzlies, at least let us have one game with Adriana in the stands before you ship him off!

Matt over at Hardwood Paroxysm must have seen our back to school series last week and has added his touch of Science to the world of Blogging. He rated us with some impressive blogs so I wanted to make sure everyone sees it.

Notes From Memphis has an interesting view of the Hamed Haddidi signing.

Moving Forward with the Forwards

(Photo by Getty Images)

Matt over at Hardwood Paroxysm emailed me last week to ask me a simple question that has been bandied about on the message boards for quite some time. That question was this: Why not take a stab at Josh Smith? He didn't use my response in his post about the matter, which is great for me, because now I can use it here.

The Grizzlies should probably at least make a cursory call in to his agent for two reasons:

1) To drive up the price that the Hawks eventually sign him for. Nothing better than making other teams overpay for their own free agents.
2) To make the Grizzlies fanbase believe that they might have intended to spend some of their cap space this offseason, even though they have said repeatedly that they were targeting the 2009 offseason to spend it.

Now, as far as them making a legitimate play for him -- this is problematic. Since he's a restricted free agent, the Grizzlies would have had to offer him more than what the Hawks were willing to match in order to actually acquire him. Because they signed Marc Gasol already, the Grizzlies only have about $10 million in cap space for the first year of that contract, which Atlanta would almost surely match.

I don't believe that Josh Smith (or any of this year's young free agents) are max-level players, but that's the kind of contract offer it would probably take to pry any of them away from their current teams. While I'm not convinced that the trio of Antoine Walker, Hakim Warrick and Darrell Arthur will be enough to cover the Grizzlies at the PF position this year, I don't see any reason why they should overpay for Smith either, given that this team is still 2 years away from making any real noise no matter who they choose to go out and sign this offseason.

Besides, there is another possibility that most people haven't discussed. What if Smith (and Igoudala, Okafor, Deng, et al.) decide to just sign the qualifying offer and test the market next summer as unrestricted free agents? Then the market truly sets their real value, rather than having to haggle with an agent, only to see their current team match that offer, leaving you with nothing to show after putting your cap space on hold for a week. This is why the Grizzlies didn't sign Andres Nocioni or Anderson Varejao to offer sheets last year, despite serious interest in them, and instead went after Darko Milicic for a reasonable sum.

Restricted free agency is almost always a fool's gambit. You either overpay, get suckered into a bad deal via trade (Kenyon Martin to the Nuggets, Joe Johnson to the Hawks) or simply waste your time (Corey Maggette retained by Clippers after signing offer sheet with Jazz). The NBA has designed it to favor the "home team" and they certainly succeeded in that regard.

On top of that, even though the Grizzlies would be more exciting and talented if they were able to sign Smith, would they be able to compete with the Lakers, Hornets and Trail Blazers over the next few years with that core group?

Now, as I stated in the email entry above, I'm not sure that I buy into the idea of entering the season with a trio of Warrick, Walker and Arthur, but I know that I don't want Josh Smith as our starting PF for the next 4-5 seasons. I'm a big fan of Smith's style of play...as a SF. That's his natural position, after all. Last time I checked, we already had a decent small forward by the name of Rudy Gay. He needs a backup, but I don't think that's what the fans have in mind when they suggest signing Smith.

I know that a lot of Grizzlies fans (all 11 of us) get a little upset when they consider the ramifications of letting everyone know that we have no intention of making a major free agent signing this offseason, despite the fact that we are the only team with any significant cap space. It sends out a message that seems to plainly say, "we're not going to try to compete this season". I mean, that's what all the media pundits are reporting across the board anyways. I've seen that phrase, or some version of it, on no less than 5 different major media websites in the past week. But just because the Grizzlies aren't throwing cash around simply because they have it, doesn't mean that they aren't being competitive. I'm not saying that I'm on board with what the Three Year Plan represents initially, but given that this is the stated direction of the front office, we might as well accept that and look at moves that fit in with that direction.

Here is my suggestion -- and one that I believe we will be able to see in action over the next two seasons. Why don't we see what we have first? As I noted yesterday, we have two young players at 4 of the 5 positions, with SF being the only one that is without competition for the next season. Conley vs. Lowry, Mayo vs. Crittenton, Warrick vs. Arthur and Gasol vs. Milicic. What if Darrell Arthur -- a consensus Top 15 pick on nearly every reputable mock draft in existence -- turns out to be worthy of that designation, rather than displaying the talent level of where he was actually selected near the end of the 1st round? In other words, what if Arthur proves to be talented enough to be the starting PF as early as next season? Wouldn't that negate the need to go out and sign a player like Josh Smith this offseason? That should be a very realistic possibility, given that he was ranked #14 overall on the Grizzlies draft board and the #4 PF by DraftExpress.


Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

In this piece on SI.com, Chris Mannix makes it clear that the Grizzlies front office has very high hopes for Arthur and loves the fact that he has come in with a tremendous chip on his shoulder due to the way that his draft stock plummeted needlessly, taking him from the back end of the lottery to the very end of the 1st round. After all, If D.A. can come in and use that motivation as a positive force (like Paul Pierce did regarding his draft position), then the rest of the league probably won't be laughing at the Memphis Grizzlies much longer. Check back tomorrow for what that future might look like.

Links: Quick Thoughts Edition

Chris Herrington (Beyond the Arc) did a lot of hard work to round up the biggest and best rumors revolving around the Grizzlies as the draft approaches. As always, it is a must read -- especially since it talks about the possible return of Whit E. Boy.

Via TrueHoop: Brian Windhorst, the great columnist for the Akron Beacon-Journal, is in the hospital right now, so I'm asking all of you to send your thoughts and prayers his way.

Mediaverse has some information on the recent decision by Gary Parrish and Geoff Calkins to leave 730 ESPN.

Hardwood Paroxysm continues to drop knowledge and insight.

Mike Miller didn't make the Team USA roster that is headed to China in a couple of months, but that's okay. Upside and Motor have you covered on everything you need to know about the guys who did make the cut.

Seven Dirty Grizzly Words from The Nation of Grizzlam

Grizzlies Insider Returns with Behind-the-Scenes Look at 2008 Draft

Links: Hardwood Paroxysm is all you need

If you haven't added Hardwood Paroxysm to your daily reading list, then I don't know what to say other than "What are you? Some kinda moron???"

Matt and Corn have entertained us here at 3SoB all season long and we feel confident that if you read a few of their posts that you will reach the same conclusion.

The published the results of their 2008 NBA Blogger Season Awards and we are very proud to say that 3 Shades of Blue tied for 1st place in the Western Conference (Bloggers' Choice Division) with Sactown Royalty and came in 2nd place in the Southwest Division behind Hornets 24/7. We are very appreciative to all the bloggers who voted for us.

In addition to that, if you haven't already, go check out the playoff previews that HP put out last week (you know, before the playoffs began), as well as the fantastic Five Things posts that Matt has been writing for The Fanhouse for every single playoff game.

The final edition of the Blogger MVP/ROY Rankings have been posted on We Rite Goode. The MVP rankings came down to the same three candidates that the rest of the NBA world is trying to figure out the correct order of, while the ROY rankings weren't much of a surprise to anyone. They even added a few new categories, including Coach of the Year, Most Improved Player and 7th Man. They also added some great graphs that chart the MVP candidates through all the rankings. Really great job guys!

David's Grizzlies Blog: The Memphis Grizzlies - Where Amazing Happens

Bleacher Report: What's Next for the Non-Playoff Teams

We need all the fans we can get, so I'm happy to see young Ainsley join the club.

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.

NBA Blogger Awards

I'd say that I hate to do stuff like this, but in actuality, I love it. It gives you, the readers, the chance to vote on who you think the best NBA blogs are in this wondrous series of tubes we call the internet.

Visit Hardwood Paroxysm for the link so that you can vote for the best blogs in each division, conference, use of statistics, commentary, video and humor. Voting ends April 20th. And, of course, vote for 3 Shades of Blue wherever applicable. : )

Links: Unsung Team, Blogger MVP/ROY Rankings, Iavaroni Rumors

We picked Jason Collins as our Unsung Player. Hardwood Paroxysm picked our entire team. Ok, I concede -- they win.

Queen City Hoops has the honor of hosting Round 10 of the Blogger MVP/ROY Rankings.

411mania.com picks up on the "Marc Iavaroni is in trouble" vibes.

Hoops Addict lists Javaris Crittenton among their Players with Upside.

Jeff Wong (The Score) wants to know: Have you ever CDR? (Too bad I didn't get this up before the blasted game. I hate referees and poor free-throw shooting!!! *sigh*)

Enjoy our ongoing series of posts this week about our interview with Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley.

Links: Slow News Week

Hakim Warrick wants your Final Four picks on his blog.

The Memphis Grizzlies sponsor a team in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association: the Memphis Rolling Grizzlies. Hat tip: Living in Lakeland, who actually participated in a game. Click for pictures.

This guy thinks that the Grizzlies should be listed among the Top 10 Worst Franchises in Pro Sports. I won't argue with him, because their history speaks for itself, but he is taking liberties in assuming that the future doesn't look brighter than the past.

Check out Odenized and Hoop Tube for great NBA videos daily.

A few general NBA posts:

Hardwood Paroxysm gives the best analysis of the San Antonio Spurs I've ever read.

J.E. Skeets (Ball Don't Lie) - An NBA fan's guide to the Final Four

Buster Gunning (RealGM) - Isiah: East is Beast

The Most Overpaid Players of 2007-08

Deadspin (via Ball Don't Lie) - Who is the NBA's Least Valuable Player?

Links: Evaluation, Nuggets Blogs, Blogger Ban

Empty the Bench has taken on the task of evaluating the teams that won't be making the postseason this year (a thankless job, if ever there was one). Yesterday, they tackled the Memphis Grizzlies. ETB didn't mince words or pull any punches, which is just the way we like our analysis: harsh and accurate. It is a great read that I urge all of you to take a look at.

Both Nugg Doctor and Fire George Karl are pleased with last night's win, if somewhat unimpressed with the opponent. Hard to blame them on either count.

I'm sure all of you bloggers out there have already heard about the Dallas Mavericks imposing a Blogger Ban on their locker room. We have read everyone else's responses to this point (Hardwood Paroxysm, TrueHoop, et al) and agree with much of what has been said. Of course, as it so happens, we here at 3SoB have been politely asked to refrain from contacting anyone within the Grizzlies organization after our initial sitdown with Chris Wallace, even as we continue to provide some of the best coverage of the team outside of the lone newspaper in town. We have abided by that, even as other teams give blogs more access that we have ever dreamed of requesting. I have no problem with teams protecting themselves from media outlets that would seek to release damaging information (true, false or otherwise) acquired from "insider access". In fact, I wholeheartedly support it. However, as has been pointed out, writers from the "established media" should be held to the same standards that they accuse bloggers of not reaching. After all, if I had a nickel for every Sam Smith or Peter Vescey rumor that never panned out, I could afford to do nothing but write this blog every day. The media landscape is changing and it is time for "media targets" to not only realize it, but to accept it and adapt accordingly.

Blog of the day: Pete Pranica (Grizz Blogs)

The Black Mamba Strikes!

This post is part of Hardwood Paroxysm's Kobe Bryant Blog Day.

Would you like to know when I truly realized the greatness of Kobe Bean Bryant? About sixty seconds after this happened.



Now, you might ask why this particular moment made me realize just how special the Black Mamba is. My answer is simple: his presence is so great that not a single Grizzlies player even contemplates retaliating. That's right -- he wields his power like Darth Vader. Challenge him and get choked out by the Dark Side while he doesn't even break a sweat.

How else do you explain him scoring 60+ in only three quarters against the Dallas Mavericks, only to follow it up with his viruoso performance of dropping 81 on the Toronto Raptors? How does a guy who does that not get carried out on a stretcher at some point, if not for the ability to inspire absolute terror in the hearts of his opponents? Remember that clothesline that Raja Bell used to take him down? Only made him stronger. That was his version of getting mutilated by his mentor and left for dead, only to come back bigger and badder than ever as the rage within him grew. (Ok, enough with the geeky Star Wars references -- you're better than that. Actually, no you're not. Of course, I am......aren't I? Psst - your internal monologue is spilling over again. Crap! Where was I?)

Simply put, Kobe Bryant (formerly Employee #8) can do pretty much whatever he darn well pleases. If that isn't greatness, I don't know what is.

Links: All-Star Hangover Edition

Hope everyone enjoyed the All-Star weekend festivities. I, myself, didn't actually watch any of it other than the Slam Dunk contest, because the Rookie/Sophmore game is an abomination, the Celebrity game and Shooting Stars competition are beyond horrendous and I find the Skills Challenge and 3-point Shootout rather pedantic. And, of course, the Knight Rider movie came on last night, so I skipped the All-Star game. Priorities and all. I know that Hardwood Paroxysm made the trip down there and snapped a quick picture of Juan Carlos Navarro, so that's something, I guess.

Chris Herrington compiled the Top 10 Grizzlies Dunks in preparation of the Dunk Contest.

The 700Level.com has the lowdown on what the Sixers' scouting report for newly acquired player-coach Aaron McKie looked like the other night.

• Savvy vet
• Not as good a shooter as he thinks
• Used to defend
• Don't guard
• Rotate off of him

Nice to see that they think enough of him to have some fun at his expense.

Trade Talk: Miller/Lowry to Denver? Lowry to Cleveland?

Even though it doesn't make the news every time it happens, the Grizzlies try to do their part in the community. Hakim Warrick does his part in his hometown, too.

Speaking of Hak, Empty the Bench lists him as one of their Ten NBA Players Poised for Better Things Down the Stretch, along with rookie Mike Conley. Some interesting analysis to be read there.

Pau Gasol is adapting to the Triangle just fine. Now, will somebody get him the number to a real estate agent?

Speaking of Pau, add Tim Duncan to those who think the trade was fairly craptastic. Wait, what's that? Tim Duncan whining about something? I'm shocked.

In the "piling on" portion of the program, we have Epic Carnival saying that Chris Wallace is no Rocket Surgeon.

The Bismarck Tribune has a nice article on assistant coach Dave Joerger.

Blog/Website of the Day: The 22 Worst Dunks Ever

Links: MVP/ROY Rankings, Rudy, New Coach, Rankings Report, Pranica, More Trade Fallout

Hardwood Paroxysm has Round 6 of the Blogger MVP/ROY Rankings up for your viewing pleasure. There are plenty of great comments, so be sure to head on over there.

USA Today's Oscar Dixon has a great column up about Rudy Gay with some great quotes from Rudy, Pau Gasol and Marc Iavaroni. They also provide this little nugget of information:

The 21-year-old leads the Grizzlies in scoring (19.9) and steals (1.5); he and Kobe Bryant are the only players in the NBA in the top 40 in dunks and three-pointers, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

That's an interesting stat, considering that many believe that Rudy's mid-range game is, in fact, his biggest strength right now. It appears that Rudy is developing into a very well-rounded player.

In a rare case of good news, Ron Tillery reports in today's Commercial Appeal that recent acquisition Aaron McKie is a player-coach in the truest sense.

McKie instantly gives the Griz someone who can instruct and relate to this generation of players, much like Damon Stoudamire did before he left for San Antonio. It's no coincidence that McKie took up residence in Stoudamire's old locker between second-year swingman Rudy Gay and rookie point guard Mike Conley.

That's something to consider a positive, as this team obviously needs some veteran leadership. Having McKie stick close to the two cornerstones of the franchise should benefit them in the long run.

Dime Magazine has followed suit with many recent power rankings in dropping the Grizzlies to the bottom of the barrel. Hard to blame them, given the current talent level of the team and the upcoming schedule.

Pete Pranica finds a silver lining that many others are looking to in the wake of the Gasol trade -- the resurrection of the New Orleans Hornets.

Tom Ziller (NBA Fanhouse) is tallying up the people that think Chris Wallace made a less-than-wise move in trading Pau Gasol to the Lakers......and the numbers keep piling up:

4. Chris Wallace's Christmas card list. First Gregg Popovich reamed Memphis for gift wrapping Pau Gasol for the Lakers. Next? Mark Cuban, of course, followed by Gilbert Arenas. I even heard John Salmons (John Salmons!) on radio ripping the deal.

Blog/Website of the Day: Rudy Gay All-Star Dunk Blog

Links: NBA Officiating, Gasol Trade Review, Team Names, Rudy Illustration

One of these days, the guys over at Hardwood Paroxysm are going to stop looking to us for answers. Until that happens, we're going to keep pulling answers out of our nether regions. This time around, they wanted to talk about NBA officiating. Well, that's one of our favorite subjects to vent our frustrations about, so we quite willingly obliged.

Chris Mannix (SI.com) thinks that the Memphis Grizzlies -- and Chris Wallace in particular -- might be a little in over their heads right now, given what they got in return for former franchise player Pau Gasol. Once you get past his biting sarcasm, it isn't hard to find some common ground to agree with him on, though.

Rooktopia has taken it upon themselves to rate the Western Conference's teams based solely upon their name. You'll be happy to know that while they only gave the Grizzlies 4/5, they do have a solution that would make them, along with 2 other teams, tops in the league.

Joel Kimmel has another fantastic illustration up on his blog -- this time of Rudy Gay in a representation of a dunk he'd like to see performed in the Dunk Contest.

Blog/Website of the Day: Basketbawful

Links: Gasol trade fallout

It's gonna take awhile to get used to that image.

Hardwood Paroxysm has one of the best viewpoints of what the Gasol trade truly means for the future of the Memphis Grizzlies.


Chad Ford (ESPN Insider) lists 10 teams he thinks could have provided a trade for Gasol that would have been as good as what the Lakers were offering.


The Blowtorch has a suggestion for the Grizzlies' new lineup: Busts and Boobies.


Hoopsworld lists the Grizzlies among its "Coldest Teams of January". That's not a good thing, I can assure you.

Links: MVP/ROY Rankings, Rebuilding, Pau Trade Talk, Conley for R.O.Y

Round 5 of the Blogger MVP/ROY Rankings are up on Pickaxe and Roll, a great Denver Nuggets blog. LeBron James is still #1, but there has been a shakeup from #2 on down, so be sure to drop by and check it out.

Hardwood Paroxysm foolishly asked me some questions looking for an "expert opinion" on the topic of rebuilding. Even more foolishly, I answered them and they posted them along with the thoughts of a few other bloggers -- most of them far more respected in the blogoshpere than your's truly. It is a great look at what people consider rebuilding to be and the best way to go about achieving success through that process.

The Washington Post thinks that Pau Gasol is completely miserable in Memphis after not getting traded last season. While Pau admits that it is tough suffering through consecutive losing seasons after making the playoffs three straight years, I don't really get the impression that he's nearly as eager for a trade now as he was when he had that closed-door meeting with owner Michael Heisley last season.

Sports Illustrated.com also thinks that Gasol is in need of a change of scenery. The information their scout gave them is a little suspect in my opinion though:

"He was most successful under former coach Mike Fratello because he ran a lot of plays where Pau received two screens to get the ball, so he didn't have to go run to the block and fight to create position. Now they have young guards, and he gets frustrated easily when they call a play for him and the ball doesn't get to him."

Hmmm...Pau actually posted his best all-around numbers last season...after Fratello was fired and the Grizzlies had no discernible offensive system under Tony Barone. Oops -- guess they thought I wasn't going to bring that up though.

ProBasketballNews.com has some amazing writers. I read Sam Amico's newsletter every time it pops up in my inbox and from it I saw the article I linked to, where Justin Powell says that Mike Conley is more deserving of the Rookie of the Year award than Kevin Durant.

Powerless Rankings: East and West

Hoopsworld: Grizzlies Midseason Report and Southwest Division Midseason Report

Oh yeah....the Grizzlies waived somebody too.

Blog/Website of the Day: Knicker Blogger

Links: Hardwood Paroxysm is my homepage

Hardwood Paroxysm comes through with two fantastic posts this week. The first is a serious look around the league at what the value of a true scorer is with some quotes from your's truly. The second just might be the greatest thing they have ever done. Make sure to abstain from all liquids while reading it.

You've heard of Power Rankings, right? Well, meet the Powerless Rankings: East and West.

The Lodi News-Sentinel has a great article about Grizzlies assistant coach Ron DuBois who is in his first season with Memphis.

Jay Mariotti joins the rest of Chicago in pining for the services of Pau Gasol.

Bleacher Report is among those who considers this Memphis team a disappointment, listing them among their Early Season Flops.

The Idaho Press-Tribune reports that the Grizzlies have scouts at the D-League Showcase.

Sixers4Guidos has the latest Blogger MVP/ROY Rankings up.

Blog/Website of the Day: American Basketball Association of America