Links: Lifeboat Edition (Makin' It Rain!)

My Google Alerts have been on the fritz, so I got flooded with a ton of things today -- some old, some new. Hope you enjoy.

Graham Kendrick is reporting that Mike Miller returned to practice today and is hoping to play on Wednesday against the Nets. The question for many fans now is "Should he start or return to his former role as 6th man?" -- or at least it should be.

Last week, Mike Conley sat down with Sam Amico (ProBasketballNews.com) for a great interview. Amico came away impressed, which is saying something. Here's one question and answer that I particularly liked:

PBN: Do you have faith the current situation -- your own and that of the Grizzlies -- will eventually turn around?

Conley: “I do. You can’t stop believing in that, because once you do, you become that player who just starts thinking you’re going to lose all the time. You have to look into the future with a team as young as this one. We have a lot of talent, we really do. And this (summer) we’ll possibly get a high draft pick, so we’ll have another young, talented player next season. We’re about as low as you can get right now. It’s only going to get better.”

Speaking of interviews, Hakim Warrick had an impromptu one with Dave McMenamin (NBA.com) via IM about his exclusion from the "All-Big East in the NBA" group back in December. Dave decided that an apology was in order. We concur.

USA Today is allowing NBA fans to vote for the "All-Time Five" on each team, so head on over and vote for your favorite Grizzlies.

Now for the fun portion of the program, where I pit the idiots against the people who know what they are talking about. Today's subject: Relocation of the Grizzlies.

Idiots: Bill Simmons & Ron Sims, both looking at the Grizzlies moving to Seattle to replace the departing Sonics.

Smart Guy: Geoff Calkins, explaining the details of the Grizzlies' lease with the city of Memphis. Actually, "Smart Guy" doesn't even begin to describe it. I should replace that with Supremely Intelligent Being. (Hat tip to Latty and Chip for talking about this subject endlessly on the message boards.) According to Calkins:

There's a separate non-relocation agreement, for starters, stating that "during the first 10" seasons in FedExForum, the team "shall not relocate from the City of Memphis."

So that should settle it....for a little while anyways. So go find something else to worry about.

Here's a couple of great articles about Marc Iavaroni: Grizz Coach Stays Sharp (Ross Siler, Salt Lake Tribune) & Sloan hopes Grizz stick with Iavaroni (Tim Buckley, Deseret Morning News).

NY Sun: Knicks fans worry that other "losers" (like the Grizzlies) will cost their team draft position.

Here's an interesting comparison: The Grizzlies' current season vs. the 1976 horror film Grizzly.

Finally, Basketbawful has decided to skewer the Grizz once again. I'd object, but I can't stop laughing long enough to do so.

Blog/Website of the Day: The Blowtorch

Links: Conley Update, Rudy's Media Exposure, Damon's Statement, Oops

According to his blog, Conley participated in full contact drills, took a few hits to his shoulder and feels fine. Perhaps we'll see him on the court with the coming of the new year. That would give the fans some hope moving forward, I would think.

Hornets.com conducted an interview with rising star Rudy Gay over the Christmas break.

Hornets.com: Now that you have a year under your belt in the NBA, has it
been easier this season as far as preparation and expectations?
Rudy Gay: I don’t know if it’s been easier, but I feel better prepared for it. There are some great players in the league with a lot of talent, so you’re always going against the best. I think the biggest thing was taking care of myself and getting used to how long the season is.

There weren't any truly deep, searching questions, but it is still nice to see Rudy get some media recognition. I think we all know that if it weren't for his buzzer-beater against the Spurs, he'd still be the most low-profile player who leads his team in scoring across the entire league.



Rudy was also the subject of an interesting read in a Pennsylvania newspaper article that I saw on Hoopsworld.com, titled: Grizzlies' Gay proving critics wrong.

He's been called disinterested about basketball at times, but Memphis Grizzlies swingman Rudy Gay is making a lot of critics eat those words.

With his sophomore campaign looking brighter by each game, Gay has become the lone reason why fans are even paying attention to the Grizzlies during their rebuilding stage.

While I think the writer took a somewhat simplistic approach to this story, given that Rudy's improvement could in fact be a result of having critics -- similar to the impressive rookie season that former UConn teammate Charlie Villanueva had after being blasted by pundits. But, it is still nice to see the media noticing that Rudy is starting to show why most experts had him at the top of the draft boards through his freshman season and most of his sophmore year of college.

In the Commercial Appeal today, Damon Stoudamire had some words for his teammates that could best be described as "tough love", as he said that the team needed to get tough.

"The guys in this locker room have to decide when enough is going to be enough. We, as players, have to get tough. We have to help each other on defense and offense. We have to trust each other. ...When we get after it, we're not that bad."
"We've got to take a stand as a team," Stoudamire said. "We've got to get sick of losing, and string some wins together."
"It comes a time where if you don't get it done, you have to always build each other up," Stoudamire said. "You spend a lot of time convincing guys that the philosophy will work. You're trying to make some guys want to fight, and the season is too young for that. We have to show some fight. It's not on coach. We have to do it in this locker room."

It's nice to see one of the veteran leaders of this team step up and attempt to "right the ship".

Over on The Blog of Mikey, one blogger admits to falling prey to the "previous results" fallacy of predicting success and playoff teams. At least he's a quick enough study to figure that out now, rather than after the All-Star break.

Mega-Links: Injury News, Mike Miller and his monkey, TK in a giving mood, Sign the "Kobe Stopper"?, Team Value, Rudy Gay, Hak on the block?

Ron Tillery is reporting on the Memphis Edge that Pau Gasol is questionable for Friday night's game against the Los Angeles Clippers after jamming the big toe on his right foot in practice. That's the bad news. The good news is that Michael Conley has been participating in non-contact drills since Monday and hopes to be cleared for full contact drills by next Tuesday. I would have liked to have known about that a few days ago, but I guess Tillery was busy finding "his stories" in other locations. Oh Ron-Ron...and here we were trying to be nice to you for a change. Don't make me regret that decision.

I was too busy yesterday afternoon to see this post on TrueHoop about Mike Miller and his former pet, a monkey named Sonny. Apparently when Henry Abbott worked for HOOP Magazine, he interviewed Miller and they had a lengthy conversation about Sonny at that time. Well, it got brought up again because of the current issue (January/February 2008) of HOOP Magazine that includes a new interview with #33 in which Sonny's story is revisited. It's unique, it's bizarre, it's a must-read.

Over on CSTV.com is the report that Tarence Kinsey is giving back to his alma mater, the University of South Carolina.

Former Gamecocks basketball player Tarence Kinsey will donate his Memphis Grizzlies game-worn uniform to be auctioned on the official South Carolina Auctions page on GamecocksOnline.com with the proceeds benefiting the Carolina Remembrance Fund.
The uniform includes an autographed jersey, game shorts and autographed shoes.
The university established the Carolina Remembrance Fund in honor and memory of the six Carolina students who died in the Ocean Isle fire Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007.
Proceeds from the fund will honor these students through their sorority, Delta Delta Delta, or fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Nice to see yet another Grizzlies player taking the time to be charitable and help others.

Over on the Grizzlies Message Board, there is an outcry to sign the recently waived Ruben "Kobe Stopper" Patterson to shore up the team's defensive deficiencies and supply a little attitude. Ehh--what could it hurt? If he can crack the rotation ahead of Casey Jacobsen and Brian Cardinal (a daunting task, I know), then give him a shot.

Finally, we have Forbes anual Team Valuation Rankings, in which the Grizzlies come in at #23 with a value of $304 million. I could have sworn that I had posted this already, but a search through the archives didn't turn up anything, so there you go.

Late Updates via the venerable ODK on the Message Boards:

Rudy Gay, A Chat On The Raptors Tonight On The RealGM Hoops Show
Tonight on the RealGM Hoops Show, Brendon, Sacha and Aaron will talk to Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay about his breakout season. They will also chat with RealGM's Tyler Sherkin about the Toronto Raptors and will be joined by former NBA star Jerome Williams live from the Philippines. Feel free to call the show between 9:00 and 10:00 PM Eastern at 1-888-942-7326.

Hakim Warrick made ESPN's list of the 10 most likely to be traded:
4. Hakim Warrick, Grizzlies

After a five-game stretch in which he played very little, the Grizzlies have been showcasing him to a degree in their past two games as word has circulated around the league that the third-year forward does not fit into the Grizzlies' long-term plans.There are still plenty of teams willing to take a shot on Warrick's upside, which means Memphis can get true value in return.

Website/Blog of the Day: The Blowtorch

Darko is Going to Play? Darko is Going to Play!

Darko Milicic suffered what appeared to be a serious injury on Monday night against the Blazers. Immediately after Darko fell to floor, the crowd gasped and muttered to themselves, hoping that it wasn't as bad as it looked. He had trouble putting weight on the foot and had to be pushed to the locker room in a wheel chair. Without any official reports, most, including those of us here at 3SoB, assumed he would be out for a number of weeks with a severe ankle sprain.

But amazingly, that is not the case.

As reported in todays Commercial Appeal, Darko is going to try to play. From downtown to East Memphis to the suburbs, you can hear the surprise now.

"Darko is going to play? Darko is going to play!"

I am as surprised as everyone else. Here are Darko's words:

"That's how some ankles work," Milicic said. "It's really not that bad. I'll try it (today) in shootaround. But I'm sure I'll play."

Wow! Great news for Darko. It seems that Darko doesn't want to be known as a player that is always injured.

"That's why I'm trying to come back (today)," Milicic said.

One thing that I have latched onto pretty quickly with Darko is that he has some serious fight in him. Iavaroni echos that.

"He wants to play and he wants to help us win," Iavaroni said. "He feels you can't do that sitting on the bench."

Rudy Gay was also heard today on the radio saying that Darko will play. We need Darko tonight to man up to Yao.

The question now becomes, how much will Darko play and how effective will he be? Of course, if we could get PA Announcer Rick Trotter to play the part of the "stuck in the 70's MC" from Karate Kid and echo the words that are the title of this post, then I'm sure he'd go out and kick butt.

Darko To Return Against Minnesota - Probably

Via the local 6pm news broadcast on WMCTV-Channel 5, it was reported that Darko will likely play Saturday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They showed clips of Darko practicing today. Apparently the media attended the last part of practice. So naturally...

Ronald Tillery reports more about Darko on the Memphis Edge and provides some additional details...

(by the way, I like how the Memphis Edge gives Ron and other CA writers the ability to get information out quicker)

Team brass continues to say that Milicic will be a “game-time decision” when the Griz host Minnesota tomorrow. But all signs point to Milicic returning after a seven-game layoff.

“It’s fine,” Milicic said. “My conditioning feels good. I’m ready.”

Milicic re-iterated that he won’t play with the thumb heavily taped nor will he wear a protective brace. The 7-footer is left handed so he wouldn’t be able to catch the basketball.

So, Darko feels good enough to play. Love to hear that. We need someone to man up to Al Jefferson on Saturday night.

Now the question is whether Darko or Navarro starts? Your prediction?

Should We Be Worried About Conley's Injury?

Spartacus mentioned in the Daily Links post that #4 overall pick, Micheal Conley has a posterior labral tear in his right shoulder. He is expected to miss at least 2-3 weeks of action. Conley injured the shoulder in the third quarter of the 11.17.07 game versus the Dallas Mavericks.

I want to take this opportunity to delve a little deeper into this unfortunate situation.

Are the Memphis Grizzlies Cursed?

Yes, particularly at the PG position. What else would someone living in Memphis say? The negative, woe-is-me attitude isn't totally unjustified. First, the franchise lost out on being able to draft potential superstars LeBron, Melo, or D-wade in 2003, then again with Oden or Durant in 2007. Memphis fans have yet to see a playoff victory. And now it seems that new Grizzly PG acquisitions are destined to get hurt in their first year on the job.

Damon was signed in the summer of 2005, then blew out his knee in December of that year and is just now fully recovering. Kyle Lowry was drafted in 2006, then severely damaged his wrist in the 10th game of the year and missed the rest of the year. Now the 2007 #4 overall selection has a posterior labral tear in his right shoulder within the first month of the season, despite having a hard time finding playing time this season. With a fan base ready to see Conley play sooner rather than later, this injury is hard to stomach. So it seems that anything less than 3 quality point guards is a recipe for disaster for the Grizzlies.

Should we be worried about this injury?

I don't yet know if we should be worried, but I'll admit that, yes, my gut feeling is that I am worried about this injury. I'm worried that Conley will miss significantly more time than suggested right now. And I'm worried that this could be the start of long term problems to that shoulder.

First, the good news. The injury is in the right shoulder and Conley is left-handed. Tillery also says that

this injury isn’t too serious. Posterior labral reattachment provides consistently good results, allowing the athlete to return to competition without worry of complications. It’s mostly a football injury.

Being someone that sustained a major shoulder injury playing high school football, I admit that I'm a little more ignorant on shoulder injuries than I should be. I don't think my injury was the same as Conley's. In fact, my injury was initially misdiagnosed and then required surgery a year later. It was a nightmare and I have tried hard to forget as much as possible about the injury and grueling rehab process, though I am reminded everyday by the throbbing that still exists.

Originally, Conley's injury was said to be a "sprained shoulder", and I was under the impression the implication was that the injury was minor. I am always skeptical of injuries when the initial diagnoses is not correct and proves too optimistic.

Anyway, I found this page helpful in re-educating me about shoulder injuries. The about.com link lists 3 types of labral tears.

--SLAP Tears
--Bankart Lesions
--Posterior Labral Tears

Posterior Labral Tears are also called internal impinchment and is said to be caused from pinching of the tuberosity (top of the humerus) against the labrum. The link says that Labral tears do not typically require surgery, although they can. And the posterior labral tear is seen mostly in athletics, particularly football and baseball.

I also want to mention Lamar Odom. I am not entirely up to speed on Odom's injury history, though I do know he has suffered from shoulder problems in the past. At the end of last season, Odom was sidelined for the rest of the year because of a labrum tear in his left shoulder. The injury required surgery. It was the same shoulder he had surgery on 2 seasons prior. Most likely, Conley's injury is much less severe than Odom's. I hope. I also don't think Conley has a history of shoulder problems, like Odom had.

How will this affect Damon?

I would think the possibility of trading Damon in the short-term is nearly ruled out, although I doubt that was much of an option yet anyway. The injury is sure to stunt Conley's development this year and thus could make it less likely that Conley is ready to be handed the keys by the time the trade deadline comes in February. Right now, I would still say trading Damon by the trade deadline is more likely than not, but this injury certainly provides a solid reason for keeping Damon around all season. One future scenario that I think is now a possibility is that Damon will stay all season and just be bought out after the season is over.

Can we trust the 2-3 week timeline?

It is reported that Conley will miss at minimum 2 to 3 weeks. Tillery also says Conley is out 'indefinitely. I am making a guess that this injury will keep Conley out at least 6 weeks, if not 2 to 3 months, although I have no real basis for my opinion, other than a gut feeling that the 2-3 weeks is much too optimistic. Plus there is no real reason to rush this rehab process. Conley wasn't playing much, Damon and Kyle are playing fine and the kid is still only 19 or 20 years old. Last year, it seemed that Lowry's injury was under-reported, then eventually ballooned into needing 3 different surgeries and keeping the wrist inactive for longer than expected. Something tells me this injury to Conley might play out in a similar manner.

I suggest you forget about the 2-3 week timeline and just be ecstatic if Conley returns before the calendar says 2008. The Grizzlies can't afford to rush Conley back. 5 days ago it seemed that the future was ready to be the present, but now it seems the future is back to being the future.

Addendum: Posterior Labral Tear is fully explained on this web page for those interested in the science aspect.

Links: Mike Miller Likes 3's, Damon on NBA TV, Conley out with shoulder injury 2-3 weeks

Following Pau Gasol's lead earlier this year, Mike Miller will be giving away 333 tickets in person on the same night that 3,000 Mike Miller Team USA jerseys will be given away.

Prior to Wednesday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors at FedExForum, fans will have the opportunity to pick up tickets to Saturday’s game from Miller himself beginning at 4:45 p.m. in the Grand Lobby. There will be a limit of two tickets per person.
“I’m proud to have represented my country this past summer and help the United States men’s basketball team qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing,” said Miller. “I felt a great deal of pride putting on a Team USA jersey, and I’m excited to share that feeling with Grizzlies fans Saturday night.”

Last night, Damon Stoudamire was interviewed by NBA TV's Rick Kamla and Frank Isola. You can see that interview on NBA.com. It was an interesting exchange as it seemed that the hosts wanted Damon to say something that would make it seem like he wanted to leave Memphis, but Damon responded like the savvy veteran that he is.

Injury news: It is being reported that Michael Conley will miss 2-3 weeks with a posterior labral tear in his right shoulder. (Source: ESPN.com)

Links: Updated TV Schedule, Pau isn't being shopped, Injury News, Darko being Darko

I meant to mention this on Thursday, but got busy fighting off ninjas....or was it pirates? Well, whatever it was that happened, helpful reader AC reminded me that SportSouth picked up 11 of the 19 games that were not scheduled to be aired locally. In fact, I'll let AC tell you all about it:

In any case, according to the schedule at the official Griz site, SportSouth will be carrying these games:
Dec. 3, Portland
Dec. 8, @ Atlanta
Dec. 15, @ Orlando
Dec. 26, New Orleans
Jan. 6, Miami
Jan. 19, @ Charlotte
Feb. 2, Utah
Feb. 9, @ New Orleans
Feb. 19, @ Seattle
March 8, Boston
March 11, @ Phoenix

That is obviously great news for Grizz fans who don't have League Pass and would otherwise miss seeing the Boys from Beale Street in action.

In other news, Pete Pranica mentioned something interesting in his latest blog post about the Pau Gasol trade rumors originating from Chicago. He mentions his friend Marty Burns, who just happens to write for SI.com and wrote a column about the Gasol issue titled "Grizzlies not looking to deal Gasol":

The Grizzlies' slow start has fueled anew talk of a Pau Gasol trade, but here's a crude reminder for any team hoping to strike oil by stealing the 7-foot Spaniard out of Memphis: Gasol-ine doesn't come cheap.
"Pau's already a proven commodity," Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace said, while insisting he's not looking to deal his franchise forward. "He's proven he's a double-double player. He's a difficult matchup for the other team. He scores the ball easily in the post. Those are things that are very difficult to go out and replace."

Wow...you mean that post players who have averaged 20/10/4/2 and can finish with either hand don't exist on every street corner? Whodathunkit?

"In the NBA, you can never say never," Wallace said. "Allen Iverson was traded. Shaquille O'Neal was traded. Kevin Garnett was traded. Those things do occur. But Pau has been very enthusiastic about what's going on here with the players we've brought in and the system Marc Iavaroni has put into place.

"We're not out there running around shopping him, I can tell you that."

Needless to say, it doesn't exactly sound like GM Chris Wallace is running up his cell phone bill begging the other 29 GM's in the NBA to offer him a couple of unproven young players and a draft pick for the talented Spaniard. If anything, he's taking the approach that there's no reason to trade away a 27-year old PF/C coming off a career year who is suffering from a few minor, nagging injuries early in the season. That should be welcome news to Grizzlies fans everywhere -- especially given the solid play of Darko Milicic and the emergence of Rudy Gay as a consistent scoring threat. Pau seems to be more content in Memphis this year, even with the persistence of the trade rumors.

"Every player is [tradable]," he said with a shrug after Wednesday night's loss in Milwaukee. "That's up to [the GM] and the owner. ... Right now, I'm trying to focus on the team and that's what you've got to do, worry about the present. If something happens, it happens.
"But it's definitely a better situation around here than last year."

In that same article, Marty Burns also notes that rookie PG Michael Conley has looked good in the limited time he has seen the court. I've said it before, but it bears repeating: The future looks bright for the Grizzlies.

Unfortunately, Conley sprained his right shoulder in the loss Saturday night and will be evaluated to determine if he'll miss any time. Darko Milicic missed the game against Dallas with his injured left thumb. X-rays were negative during the Hornets game when the injury occurred, but the Grizzlies are holding him out since the thumb was already injured prior to the New Orleans game. Reports are that he'll be re-evaluated upon the team's return to Memphis.

Speaking of Darko -- over at Basketbawful, they have uncovered some very....um....interesting video of The Dark One doing some very....um.....interesting things. I'd say more, but I'm trying to forget I ever saw it. But you guys head on over there and enjoy it. The nightmares will wear off -- I promise.

Practice Update

I heard from two sources that Juan Carlos Navarro and Pau Gasol both practiced today and should be available for tomorrow nights game against Indiana. I don't expect he will play much but at least he is healthy again.

Of course anyone seeing Gasol walking on the court last night knew he was close to 100% if not fully recovered already.

UPDATE: Ron Tillery who was at the practice today has a better and more detailed report up on today's practice, who was there and how they did. He also mentions that the team waived Dontell Jefferson, which wasn't an unexpected move.

Greg Oden to miss entire season

Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Oden is lost for the season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his knee today.

Obviously this is very bad news for both Oden and the Portland TrailBlazers. It appears that Portland will be on the receiving end of yet another high lottery pick next offseason which will be the third straight year for them, having drafted Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Oden the past two offseasons. This will do nothing to quell the comparisons to Sam Bowie that have been floating around, which is unfortunate for Oden and the fanbase, as they are completely off base. If anything, he's more like their most recent #1 overall pick -- Bill Walton.

For Grizzlies' fans, this has to be cause for a sigh of relief on two counts. First, that the Blazers won't have that dominant force in the middle in those 3 games this season. Secondly, and more obviously, that the Grizzlies won't be haunted by recollections of players like Bryant "Big Country" Reeves and Michael Dickerson, who came into the league with lots of potential, but whose careers were cut short by injuries.

Since the draft lottery, the question has been hanging over the city like a dark cloud: What If? What if those ping-pong balls had given the #1 overall pick to the Grizzlies instead of Portland? Well, since hindsight is 20/20, we can now say "Thank Goodness" instead of "What If". Even if Oden returns to his pre-injury condition and develops into that dominant center that was his predicted future, at least Grizzlies' fans won't have to spend the next season playing the Waiting Game, as the fanbase in the Pacific Northwest is now forced to do. I wish Oden and that fanbase the best, but I'm glad that I'm not in their shoes right now.

Update: Ron Tillery agrees with me

Navarro to miss 1st round of European Championships

From Yahoo! Sports:

Spain will be without shooting guard Juan Carlos Navarro for the first round of the European basketball championships because of a muscle tear in his right leg.

"This is really a setback, having really worked hard over the past month," said Navarro, who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA. "But I'm not worried. We've got enough players to replace me."

Navarro will miss Spain's Group A opener against Portugal, as well as matches against Latvia and Croatia.

On Sunday, Toronto Raptors guard Jorge Garbajosa was cleared to play with Spain after recovering from leg and ankle injuries.

Before Grizzlies fans get worried about another injury affecting a season in light of Pau Gasol injury in the semifinal of the World Championships last summer, this injury seems to be minor and he should be 100% healthy by training camp.

In other news, Mike Miller played well for Team USA in helping them to resounding victory in the FIBA Americas tournament. However, it seems likely that Miller will not be part of the Olympic team next summer, as other "bigger name" players will be healthy at that time. That's unfortunate, since Miller provided the one thing that other American teams had lacked in recent international competition: outside shooting. If replaced with Dwyane Wade, the team will be left with Michael Redd as its lone "designated shooter". That could allow teams to once again collapse on the lane and force the Americans to have other, less capable players fire from the perimeter. Time will tell if this potential switch will come back to haunt USA Basketball.

Is Lowry's Injury More Serious that We Have Been Told?

Has anyone considered the possibility that Lowry will never be the player we saw last year again?

Lowry broke a bone in his wrist that is very difficult to heal properly. The fact that he had to have two surgeries implies that there were complications with the healing process, most likely blood flow was restricted to the bone. Arthritis is guaranteed from what I have heard but whether it begins at 23 or 43 or 63 is not known. What is of a more immediate threat is that the bone has not healed properly causing restricted movement. He may not be able to use his hand as freely as he has been accustomed to in the past.

Obviously the Grizzlies would not want this information to leak out to the press if it is in fact true. That would make the ability to acquire a point guard even more expensive. I think they may be preparing people however by certain comments and actions they have made of late.
Don't be surprised if the Grizzlies make a move to acquire a PG in the draft. Conley is a possibility but I hear that West is more enamored with Acie Law. If the Grizzlies make a move to acquire another lottery pick it should be a warning sign that the Grizzlies are very concerned with Lowry's situation.