Links: Offseason Rolls Along

Great interview with Marc Gasol as he prepared to kick off the Olympics. I've really been impressed with his defensive ability so far and hope that he can be a solid contributor for the Grizzlies.

Be sure to read HoopsAddict.com's interview with Josh Smith in the aftermath of Atlanta matching the offer sheet he signed with the Grizzlies. He talks about why he was interested in coming to Memphis and was willing to sign with them.

Floor Burn Tournament: Round Two: Even though Kyle Lowry came up short against Mark "Mad Dog" Madsen last week, there are still a lot of interesting matchups to vote on, so go over there and click away.

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah fans are gauging interest in acquiring Darko Milicic as a backup center.

Memphis Flyer: Frank Murtaugh links Elvis songs to Memphis sports in honor of Elvis week here in Memphis.

Over on HoopsWorld, Steve Kyler continues to ride the Backtrack Express in the wake of his poorly conceived column from last week. Somebody please tell him to just leave it alone already. What's done is done. I'd hate to for hem to have to let Chris Herrington out of his cage again to deal with him. That could get ugly quick.

Courant.com: Rudy Gay spends time in Conneticut at Jim Calhoun's basketball camp and talks about life in the NBA. He also won the MVP of the charity game.

Stay tuned for a few announcements about some changes coming to the blog later this week.

Links: Thank Goodness It's Friday Edition

Let's kick it off with CelticBlog's continuing series of nominating the best 5 players in each franchise's history: Runnin' Fives: Memphis Grizzlies. You'll find commentary from CelticBlog, as well as 3 Shades of Blue and Nation of Grizzlam as they discuss who they believe the best player is at each position in the Grizzlies brief history.

Yesterday, there was an interesting back-and-forth between Steve Kyler (Hoopsworld) and Chris Herrington (Beyond the Arc) after Kyler posted something stating that the Grizzlies were intent on shedding even more salary, going so far as to suggest that they were looking to trade Kyle Lowry and/or Javaris Crittenton for another player's rights that was overseas in an obvious cost-cutting move. After Herrington called Chris Wallace, who completely refuted the report without hesitation, and posted a rebuttal, Kyler posted a retraction of sorts. Things got a little heated, as Kyler even posted a comment on Herrington's 2nd post on the subject with his email address and a request to contact him. While this received some interest on the Grizzlies Fan Boards, I didn't feel it deserved a response from us at 3SoB, as it was obviously a poorly researched column that merely fed into what many media-types have been saying about the Grizzlies being in an extreme cost-cutting mode. The fact that Kyler wasn't aware that the New Jersey Nets could not trade Nenad Krstic without him being signed to another NBA contract is rather inexcusable from where I sit, given that I am a lowly fan blogger and he is purportedly a credentialed member of the established media. I'm tempted to give him our "Sam Smith Award" for blatantly making up things to stir up interest, but I think that Herrington has done a fine job of putting him in his proper place.

Lastly, we come to our "Blazer's Edge" section, as Dave has put up 4 quality posts recently that I give my highest recommendation:
Optipessirealism
Blogs and Credentials Part 1 and Part 2
Writing Nerds - A Conversation with Bethlehem Shoals

Blog of the Day: Ridiculous Upside - your source for the latest and greatest D-League news and commentary.

Links: Blogger MVP/ROY Rankings, Rebuilding, Going Green?

TWolves Blog has the 8th edition of the Blogger MVP/ROY Rankings up. The fight between LeBron/Kobe and Durant/Horford for top honors in each category is almost too close to call as they battle down to the wire.

Hoopsworld's Ed Kacik has an outstanding article titled "Grizzlies struggle through rebuilding". Although I'm sure that isn't news to any of you Grizzlies fans out there, he did manage to put enough interesting quotes from Grizzlies' players in there to raise an eyebrow or two.

In a rather astute observation, Marc J. Spears (Boston Globe) notes that GM Chris Wallace would not have been able to follow the Celtics' blueprint in building a contender overnight. Wallace obviously agrees.

Bleacher Report has apparently never heard the axiom "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". Because of that, they had no problem in naming the Grizzlies the "Worst in the West". Actually, that's a lot nicer than some of the things I've heard said about them recently. The analysis is accurate, even if it is brutally honest in many parts.

The Free Throw Line jumps on the analysis bandwagon with their own review of the Boys from Beale Street.

Things to do in Memphis while waiting for the NBA Draft (do I really need to say any more?)

The NBA Season of Drew is a blog that follows one man's quest to visit all 30 NBA arenas. Last week, he witnessed the Grizzlies taking on the Utah Jazz. He had some very complimentary things to say about his visit and has a ton of pictures for your viewing pleasure.

There is some talk on the Grizzlies Message Boards about acquiring the recently waived Gerald Green, but Chris Vernon was quick to put the kibosh on that, correctly noting that "Taking a flyer on Gerald Green would cost money, so it will not happen." My thoughts exactly. Well, that and I think Green sucks out loud.

Blog of the Day: The Dream Shake

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.

Damon Speaks

While Chris Wallace admitted before the game that he still hasn't spoken to agent Aaron Goodwin, it appears that Damon Stoudamire spoke to the fine folks at Hoopsworld.com prior to the game.

"As a professional you have to always stay ready," Stoudamire told HOOPSWORLD. "You never know when your number's going to be called so therefore you have to always be ready. You want to keep yourself prepared mentally to play, stay and shape, and just be ready. That's what I try to do every day as I got out there and prepare for whatever might happen."

Stoudamire's "do whatever it takes" attitude doesn't seem to fit with Goodwin's claim to the Memphis Commercial Appeal that his client's demotion to the bench was "unacceptable." So what's the real story?

"I think that's why we hire those type of guys," Stoudamire said of his agent. "So they can be the bad guys, so to speak. So I just kind of let him do all the talking. For me, I'm just trying to go out there and, like I said, work hard, keep my condition, make sure everything is tight whether I'm playing here or somewhere else. I'm going to be ready to play. That's my whole mindset right now."

Stoudamire may pay Goodwin to speak for him, but he has plenty to say for himself. When asked if he wanted to play for the Grizzlies, Stoudamire said, "I want to play [with] whoever's going to let me play. I just want to play basketball."
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If winning means going to the bench, the Grizzlies believe Stoudamire will take the move in stride. Head coach Marc Iavaroni is not concerned with Stoudamire's efforts in wake of a demotion -- "We've talked about it. I'm not worried about it at all," Iavaroni said -- and values Stoudamire's contributions to the team.

"Damon's been great from training camp on," he said. "He's helped the young kids by the way he's conducted himself, also by his talk on the court and in the locker room."

Conley is grateful for what he has learned from Stoudamire. He credits his "good buddy" for his progress during his rookie year and swears there is no tension between the two.

In other words, I can stand by my earlier stance that Aaron Goodwin is a typical agent and Damon isn't a troublemaker. I still hope that the Grizzlies can get something decent in return (expiring contract & 2nd round pick or a young player stuck on the bench) and agree with owner Michael Heisley's stance that a buyout is unacceptable....although I suspect we have different agendas when reaching that conclusion. I just hope that this doesn't drag out and become a distraction for a young team that seems to be finding itself finally.

Links: Darko Interview, Hakim Trade Rumor, Grizzlies Evaluation

Hoopsworld.com's Nikola Olic scored another interview with a Memphis Grizzlies' player -- this time with Serbian big man Darko Milicic. It is an intriguing look into the path that brought Darko to Memphis and how much he is enjoying having the opportunity to put his talent on display.

I ask about Memphis again, and how he elected to go out for lunch in uptown Dallas proudly wearing his Grizzlies outfit, looking like he just walked out of practice. In an uncharacteristic move, he started talking faster and louder, and even cracked a smile like the one we saw when he was introduced as a Memphis Grizzly in July.
"Now I'm in Memphis where I have the biggest chance so far of my career. The only thing I can do is work hard and play hard and take advantage of the opportunity. The best possible cure for my hangover from before is exactly what I have here in Memphis, the freedom to play and not be afraid of being benched. Every player likes freedom in his basketball. You have to know that you will not immediately finish back on the bench if you make a mistake"

For Hoopsworld's other Grizzlies' interviews, go to the Grizzlies team page.

According to ESPN, the Golden State Warriors have tried to pry Hakim Warrick away from Memphis by dangling young center Patrick O'Bryant. MemphisX covered this with his usual calculating style and seems to have deemed this an poor trade for the Grizzlies. I have to agree with him. As much as I would like to see the Grizzlies get another big body to further complement Pau and Darko in the frontcourt, I believe that they need a high energy guy (Anderson Varejao, Joakim Noah type of player) given their uptempo style of play more than a plodder. I also agree with X that a backup SF/PF would be preferrable to a soon-to-be free agent center that isn't likely to see any playing time.

There was a recap of last night's win over the Nets on wcbstv.com that I found interesting and had some good quotes from the Grizzlies.

"We were in a lot of close games this year and were not successful," Gasol said. "It comes down to us growing and improving in those situations and getting more confidence as a young team. I think we're finally getting it together."