Grizz back in effect

For those of you who still don't know, Grizz is back in full effect this year after a courageous battle with cancer.

We here at 3SOB are ecstatic that he will be back prowling the sidelines and providing entertainment to the masses at Grizzlies games again this year.

We, by far, have the best mascot in the league, hands down.

Welcome back old friend.

Jersey Love

The new NBA uniforms have been unveiled for the 2008-09 season.

My reviews:



and...



The Oklahoma City Thunder: Sheesh. I'm going to try to be as unbiased as I can being from Texas and being classically conditioned to hate all things Okie...but wow. Seattle fans can at least smirk over this. The Seattle Sonics uniforms were classic looking, and a great color scheme. These things couldn't be more flamboyant if Richard Simmons and Clay Aiken were jumping on a trampoline together while listening to Donna Summer. They look like Golden State and the New York Knicks decided to come together, except the Thunder will play worse than either. The colors are so horrible, I cannot even bear to see the future alternate. Avert your eyes, these aren't even worth grading.

Next up...



and...



The New Orleans Hornets: Well I'm sure the die-hard Hornet fans (if there are any left) in Charlotte can appreciate this. When I first saw the uniforms, I expected to see Bobby Phills modeling one; of course, in my amazement at the resemblance between the two unis, I forgot that Bobby Phills was dead. You know what else is dead? The brain cells of the person/people who came up with this. The only thing different is the French-styled block lettering on the jerseys. A big F for unoriginality on this one.

Who's next?



and...



The Minnesota Timberwolves: Meh. I debated even covering this, because outside of the Twin Cities, who cares? The lettering looks cartoony, but their colors are a better fit than the Thunder. I'd give them a C.

Alright...



and...



Orlando Magic's 20th Anniversary Uniforms: They call it the "evolution" of their first uniforms, except less hideous with no starry basketball on the front of the jersey. I concur. It isn't my favorite of the crop, but at least they masked the retread of the past with a clever "Anniversary" title. Speaking of retreading the past, their retread looks alot like the retread of New Orleans/Former Charlotte's jersey design. So two present-days have to copy from the same team's past. Interesting. I give it a C. It would be lower, but I respect the BS card they pulled with calling it an "Anniversary" jersey.

Let's move to the Alternates...



Toronto Raptors Alternate: Now this one I like. I just like red and black together, and the majority black with the red/grey piping looks sweet. The maple leaf is a nice touch. I'd give it an A-.

Looks good. Don't dissapoint me...



Aww...You did.

Milwaukee Bucks Alternate: WTF. I love the old school style jerseys more than the newer style ones (I hate my beloved Mavs "alternate" designed by P Diddy, that man needs to stick with crappy music, selling hamburgers with trans-fat and creating crappy reality television shows) but this one just sucks. If they trade for Eddy Curry, misshapen as he is, the Bucks will look like they have a Heinz ketchup bottle manning the post. Which would be great advertising if the Bucks were ever to move to Pittsburgh.

I believe that is all of them.

Now what does this have to do with the Grizz, you ask??

It seems that every two years, teams change their uniforms. (Orlando comes to mind.) I guess we're due for a new uniform face-lift any day now. Several people I have spoken to love our away uniforms, but say our home uniforms are a bit plain. Be that as it may, I am fine with our regular uniforms. My question is this:

If every other team can change uniforms and have new alternates every year, where is ours?

Seriously. Where is ours? I think we deserve it. We have/had Spanish night when Pau and Navarro were here, as I am sure we will continue to have it for Marc. Why not throwback night(s)? Hell, I don't even think we should neccesarily create a new uniform for us. Our throwback should be something ABA-styled, or classic NBA styled. Enough with these new jerseys...more of them turn out horrible instead of classic looking. I for one wouldn't be caught dead in any of the re-do's this season. Let's bring back a piece of history.

Presenting your Memphis Grizzlies Throwback/Alternate Jersey:



Hak, this is for you.



I know we have "Pro's night" or "Throwback Night" or wait...that horrible "70's night" where we get to wear the cool jerseys but its masked behind horrible music and cheesy costumes. That's fun and all, but I say we use these as our throwback/alternates. They are cooler than the Golden State's "The City" jerseys, another alternate used that doesnt have their current team name plastered on the front. We should be able to use them, and we sure should.

I mean, this:



looks better to me then having the alternate come out urine yellow with blue and white trim, making Stevie Wonder need stronger sunglasses.

I think we should be able to have an alternate if every other team can have one and change their uniforms seemingly every season. However, let's not create a new one and risk it being Thunder-esque horrible. Let's go with what works.

Love the team or not, they ARE the only Pros in Memphis.

Memphis' Weapon of Mass Destruction...At The Box Office...

....Might just be Hamed Haddadi.

That's right. To the fiery depths with Josh Smith, Elton Brand, Amare Stoudamire or Carlos Boozer. No disrespect to Kevin Garnett intended, but the "Big Ticket" might be Hamed Haddadi, as far as Memphis is concerned.

A survey/census shown on City-Data.com reports that there are 245 Iranians in the city limits of Memphis. The category "Other Arabs" equates to 202. These numbers may or may not have to be adjusted for population growth/decrease, but let's just use for my lack of mathematical skills an even number of 400 possible new fans in Memphis alone, and 70.5 MILLION back home in Iran. We will need a clever name to call this possibility, so let us use "The Yao Ming Effect."

Let me begin by saying I am not comparing Memphis' market to Houston. Houston is a bigger, more cosmopolitan city in a bigger, more cosmopolitan state. Houston also has a more significant population, and a larger ethnic enclave as it relates to their foreign star. However, the size difference does not neccessarily mean that there will not be the same effect. When Houston drafted Yao Ming, as they were one of the teams Yao preferred to go to due to their sizeable ethnic population, Houston immediately felt the impact. Endorsements here and in China came flooding in, and people wanted to tune in to Rockets games to see this player. Houston games were being broadcast in China just as regularly as we get to see Kobe vs Shaq on Christmas Day. Yao has made the All-Star team by having hundreds of thousands upon more hundreds of thousands of votes, due to support in the US and his team's fans for sure, but it was the other side of the world making a difference. The NBA is big in China now because of this, and now we are seeing more Chinese/regional players trying to make it in the NBA. (Sun Yue, Ha-Seung Jin, etc.)

Wouldn't that be great for the Grizzlies? In no way am I saying that Haddadi will be Yao Ming's equal or better (although I hope noone crosses up Haddadi like this or Haddadi can at least get a shot off against a midget. ) However, what I am saying is we can expand our market, seeing as how right now we're having difficulties expanding our market out to Desoto, Crittenton, Tipton, Fayette, Madison County and the like. We will have an entire country, along with Spain for Marc Gasol, and Serbia for Darko Milicic joining the Grizzly market. It may very well be the Grizzlies turn to lead the NBA into global expansion, and Haddadi will lead the way for players in his home country to come to the NBA. I think it would be a feather in the Grizzlies cap.

Let's close by talking about the ticket sales. Let's be frank. I highly doubt people from Iran are going to fly to Memphis to go to a game. Buying merchandise on NBA.com, yes. Spreading the word, yes. Flying into Memphis? Not so much. We do not have a large Iranian population, but with ticket sales they way they are rumored to be, 400 new season ticket holders, or 400 more people as a television audience could go a long way into either filling up the Forum and getting more people to come to games because it looks more full and fun, or it could justify the televising of more games due to higher demand. Either or would be great, although I'd prefer the first. Finally, without getting sappy or too political, I think it would be great for the city to have such diversity at the games. Everyone of any race and age could be in the same place, even for just 2 and a half hours, and share something together, even for that one moment....they're all on the same team...which is how it should be.

Warning: Hamed Haddadi does not actually cure war and ensure world peace. He just dribbles a ball, and hopefully will be good. God, do we need help at the 5 spot. Help us Hamed Haddadi, you're our only hope.



**End transmission.

Aint No Party Like An M-Town Party

....Cuz an M-Town party don't stop.

Grizzlies block parties are back!

I attended one last year, and if that was any indication, I will try to be in attendance for the one on Trinity Rd in Cordova. I encourage all of our readers to attend and get fired up for the season!

Details are on Grizzlies.com

-3SoB

The Only Reason We Should Look Up To Them Is Because They Are Taller Than Us.

By Kirk Holland

Now that the dust seems to have settled over "Mary Jane pulled the fire alarm 2008", I have had time to reflect on the situation from a fan's perspective. First off, Darrell Arthur is a young man coming off a rollercoaster of highs spanning from the national championship win over our beloved Memphis Tigers to becoming a first round draft pick (although picked later than he thought). His life has changed tremendously over the past months, and will continue to do so. He has money now, and what do young men with money do? They spend it, have fun, make questionable choices. It's a fact of life.

I know we will most likely never truly know what "really" happened that fateful night in the hotel room, but worst case scenario is that he indulged in some of the Devil's lettuce, and had a lady friend over. I in no way, shape, or form condone using drugs, but in the grand scheme of things, it was not the worst thing. He didn't pull an Eddie Griffin, God rest his soul. He didn't hurt anyone else period. Granted he severely pissed off the commissioner and I'm sure he embarrassed the Grizzlies organization, but this in time shall pass.

Arthur can squash all murmurs and remnants of this situation by simply producing on the court. A productive player makes happy fans who tend to forgive and forget easier. If he can be the type of talent he is projected by experts to become, then will we not only forget about his lapse of judgement, but he will also become the toast (or biscuit), of our beloved city.

Moral of the story folks: don't look down on a kid for making a simple mistake; look up to him, he's taller than you.

Be Careful What You Wish For

By MemphisX

It seems that New York Knicks President Donnie Walsh has thrown some cold water on the hot trade rumor sending Zach Randolph to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for the Serbian duo Darko Milicic and Marko Jaric. There have been some strong opinions on this deal within the Grizzlies fanbase and on the Internet in general. The general consensus has been that Zach Randolph is an unstoppable force of basketball horribleness, doomed to infect any team he goes to with some sort of plague. So many among the Grizzlies were happy to read that Walsh considered this deal "dormant". They have been wishing for this deal to hit a snag every since Ron Tillery first mentioned it a month ago. Be careful what you wish for...

I know that acquiring Randolph is not the last or only possible deal out there. That does not change the fact that camp opens in about three weeks. One of the biggest things for a young team is continuity. So making a big trade during camp or midseason that disrupts roles puts a lot of added pressure on a coaching staff that is already on the hot seat. You definitely should not bring in someone like Randolph during the season until roles are clearly established among our core players. So that means that more or less, the Grizz roster now will likely be what we will see on opening night. Be careful what you wish for...

Yes, the Grizzlies should have enough playing time available for all of our young players to develop. However, that is part of our problem. Conley and Lowry both think they should be starting and both of them can make a case for it. Mayo and J Critt at shooting guard but both of them really want to play point guard. Warrick and Arthur at power forward but neither of them like the post or rebounding. Darko, Gasol, and Hadadi at center and all three are either limited, inexperienced, or both. So other than Rudy Gay, there isn't another proven NBA talent on the entire roster. Be careful what you wish for...

So I was up for the trade. I wanted the Grizzlies to acquire a veteran capable of taking some of the scoring pressure off of Gay and Mayo. As is this team is going to be real easy to defend. Most of our scoring will be coming from the perimeter via our guards and Gay. None of the Grizzlies truly require a double team and our point guards and bigs are not experienced enough to utilize the pick and roll. So if you think defense is going to be our biggest problem, I simply can't agree. You can manufacture a decent team defense by scheme or effort but scoring in the NBA takes talent and mismatch advantages. The Grizzlies have very little of either. Be careful what you wish for...

Yes, acquiring Randolph was a risk. However, with a team devoid of low post scoring and really with only one other proven scorer on the entire roster, I think it was a risk worth taking. Randolph has his negatives. He is not a great or willing passer, he is a below average defender, he loves the strip club scene, and he has an entourage that is somewhat menacing. However, his two assets (interior scoring and rebounding) are the two things the Grizzlies need most. So it would seem that he would have to help the Grizzlies right?

...be careful what you wish for...

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.