3SoB Sunday Chronicle 2.10.08

From Zack

Welcome to another Sunday Chronicle. I will review the previous week (hopefully wins, probably losses), preview the upcoming week (can I just go ahead say upcoming losses?), and the whole post is going to painted with lots of enticing blue links.

Conley and Crittenton talk on the bench. The two guards are both only 20 years old. Instead of playing their sophomore year in college, they are getting a crash course in NBA basketball one loss at a time. (Getty)

More On Pau and the Direction of the Team

The Pau trade is still reverberating around the Griz fanbase like a magnitude 8.0 earthquake. I would say half or more of the local fans are upset about the trade. And some of those fans wanted Pau traded!! What is causing such uproar is the combination of fans that a) didn't want Pau trade, b) thought we didn't get enough in return for Pau, and c) think Heisley is wrecking the franchise.

Although Heisley denied it in the CA, there are rumblings locally and nationally that Heisley is looking to cut cost as he either looks to make the franchise more attractive on the market or simply limit losses as the team struggles to win.

Should we be worried about Heisley cutting costs? Probably. With the departure of Andy Dolich, I'll go out on a limb and guess the business side of the Grizzlies front office is trimmed down significantly and currently not working very hard day-to-day. Is the basketball side of the front office and coaching staff being trimmed down too? Are we employing sufficient college scouts, NBA scouts, advance scouts, and coaching support staff? Those questions point towards issues that are more important in terms of the quality of the actual basketball product being on display than who are the business suits does. There are some rumors as to who will replace Andy Dolich, but I really don't care about that. I'm more concerned with the make-up and direction of the basketball roster.

Should we be worried that Heisley's cost cutting directives will dictate the roster be assembled on the cheap? Well, yes and no, really.

Of course we should be worried and skeptical of Heisley's direction (and influence) on the actual Grizzlies basketball players. However, it is my opinion that this team should likely be assembled on the cheap anyway. We are a small market team that is in the beginning of a rebuilding phase. It makes sense to keep the team at or below the salary cap limit by using a number of talented (ding, ding, we have our word of the day) young players. It is likely that next year our salary total may be well below the cap limit of ~58 million, although I do not believe that will be the norm. I think most years Chris Wallace will do his best to keep the total salary right at or slightly below the soft salary cap limit (like this year). That is probably the smart plan for our market. Not until the talented young guys we choose to build around take this team close to contention, should Chris Wallace (or Heisley, whoever you want to pretend is making decisions) let the total salary exceed the soft salary cap limit.

I am in agreement with Wallace that Pau needed to be traded. The current Griz salaries needed to be restructured with an eye more towards a future with younger, more talented players. Keeping Pau around was going to limit the flexibility to accomplish that.

This team was not going anywhere with Pau and his massive salary commitment as a part of the team. There would not be enough cap room or roster flexibility to bring in much extra talent. And make no mistake about it, this team needs a serious talent upgrade to eventually be serious competitors in the Western Conference. If we stayed pat with Pau, we could go into next year with another high draft pick added to the roster and probably still only marginally improve. We could also trade off some of our current role players for different role players and again maybe marginally get better. One way to have the chance to really jump up the Western Conference standings in the next 2-3 years is to get new, young and superior talent on the team. That was going to be extremely difficult to do with Pau and his contract on the team.

Of course other lesser reasons also apply when making the case against Pau being the franchise cornerstone. This team was the same statistically with or without Pau in the lineup (not a good fact for the highest paid player and offensive #1 option). Pau's health also seemed to be becoming an issue (and summer activity could further along those problems). Pau, as the franchise player, was 0-12 in the playoffs, and we needed to get past that and have a new culture and pecking order emerge.

Wallace (or Heisley, you choose) decided to get cap space and iffy draft pick selections in return for Pau. Maybe we could have done better, but likely Wallace didn't like any of the current talent being offered in return, so he decided to go with future, still undecided talent. This will likely result in a plan that relies heavy on young talent.

With cap room to spend, draft picks to play with and possibly one more valuable veteran to trade for a pu-pu platter (i..e, Mike Miller), I think Wallace IS going to be able to succeed at bringing a talent flux to Memphis. Trading Pau for the flexibility to do so, certainly puts more pressure on Wallace to find talent. I think Wallace will keep the team moving forward on a solid basketball plan despite Heisley's cost cutting ways. The West is loaded right now and focusing on building around young, extremely talented players and their future development is a reasonable plan.

I also want to say how stupid that Chad Ford article last week was. I don't have a link for it right now, but Ford had a number of trades listed that he simply pulled out of his butt. Ford claimed that all were better than what we got from LA. The catch is that I can't see very many of those trades that were reasonable or that the other team would also do the proposed trade. Ford had a Chicago trade mentioned that put the Bulls over the luxary tax, which they are reported to have refused to do. Clearly that trade wasn't plausible. Ford also has teams like the Spurs and Warriors trading half their team for Pau alone. In what world does that make sense? Is that even legal? No playoff contender is going to gut their team for Pau Gasol.

In summary:
--Hesiley.....cheap
--Pau.....had to be traded for the Griz to move forward successfully
--Griz.....need more talent
--Future Plan.....create a nucleus of talented players in their lower 20's
--Chad Ford.....idiot

Shades of Blue Week in Review

Darko's Redemption (Darko fans, at this point this might be the most positive article you can find...cherish it)
Power Rankings (If you makes you feel any better, the Lakers got a first place vote)
Wondering about Wages of Wins (Chip chats with his ole buddy)
Wallace Explains Pau Trade to Ticket Holders in Stunning Presentation (Just read it if you haven't yet)
Welcome Back to Dunkyland (Let's just say that the Pau trade didn't help brighten the opinion that Spartacus holds for Heisley)

Griz Week in Review

Newsflash...we aren't quite burning up the league right now. The Griz went 0-3 this week and have now lost 6 in a row overall, 4 in a row at home, and 8 in a row on the road.

Newest Griz, Javaris Crittenton goes up and under for a layup against the Mavs. JCritt has played primarily SG so far and looks to have the ability to get to the rim. (Getty)

Each night, Rudy Gay is now asked to be the #1 option and alpha dog on the court. I think Rudy got better each game as the week progressed. That is a good sign. Now that Rudy is playing the 4 more, rebounding better seems to have became a priority. On offense, Rudy has to find a game-to-game consistency of being aggressive and finding his shots. Lots of his shots.

Conley returned from injury this week and resumed his starting PG spot. His presence is badly needed for a team looking to find an identity on offense. Our offense right now needs to resemble the merging of Gay and Conley's game. I think we might be seeing Miller used too much as a play maker and Darko used too much as a post threat. I understand the need for variety and getting the whole team involved, but jeez, we suck, let's lean on our 2 best players more. That is Conley and Gay. Other teams don't mind using 2 players to dominate the offense flow, we need to.

Rudy Gay takes it to the hole against the Hornets. Which reminds me, I can't wait until Rudy wins the dunk contest. (Getty)

Best Game of the Week: Griz Play Well, Stay True to Form and Allow Bucks to Steal the Late Win.
97-102
This was a weird home game, as tornadoes were causing destruction all over the area. Some 2000-3000 fans braved the elements to watch the game. The upper deck was closed off and everybody moved down. Notable was Kwame Brown getting a (small) standing ovation upon his entrance. The most exciting play was a Lowry-Gay alley-oop connection in the 1st quarter. The Griz played decent against a depleted Bucks roster. But in the end, Mo Williams took the game from the Griz and again showed how bad the Griz pick-and-roll defense is.
3SoB impressions
CA recap
AP recap

Worst Game of the Week: Dallas Lays Down the Smack in the 2nd and 3rd Quarters
81-92
Blah. The Griz held their own early and late, but couldn't handle the Mavs in the middle of the game. Rudy started strong and finished weak. At one point in the 4th, quarter garbage time, Conley, JCritt, and Navarro were all on the floor together. There will probably be too many of these games during the rest of the season.
3SoB impressions
CA recap
AP recap

Other Games:
--99-112 Loss to the Hornets. I hate the Hornets. Maybe more than any other Griz opponent. They completed a sweep of us this season, but at least no one scored 40 or more points this time. Conley returned to the starting lineup and played really good against Chris Paul. Coach I stuck with a short rotation as Conley/Navarro/Miller/Gay/Darko played major minutes.
CA recap
AP recap

Micheal Conley makes something happen. Griz fans are excited to see him healed and ready to play. (Getty)

Player of the Week: The Fans
The Fans deserve a nod this week for a couple of thousand strong braving some of the most serious storms since Hurricane Elvis, all to watch the Griz play. Many fans did not know if their houses were or were not in harms way while watching the game. Fans that didn't go to the Bucks game because of the weather can get a free ticket to some other game, but I think fans that did go should get a free ticket.

Griz Killer of the Week: Mo Williams
Mo dropped 32 points and 7 dimes on Tuesday. He was particularly clutch late, sinking a basket that broke a tie and essentially won the game.

Herrington and Verno Links of the Week:
Gasol Trade: 20 Questions by Herrington
Trade Post Mortem with Chris Wallace by Herrington
Pau Trade, Slight Return by Herrington
Wallace was not happy, audio of Wallace on Vernon Show
The Pau Trade a Few Days Later by Verno

Griz Week Ahead

Short week ahead for the Griz with only a pair of back-to-back games on Tuesday/Wednesday.

--Tuesday versus Sacramento
--Wednesday at Philadelphia

Possibly, both games are winnable. That is a nice change. I don't have much to say about either game, really. The Kings will attack our defense using the deadly Beno pick-and-roll and then use sharp shooters Martin and Garcia on the outside. To beat the Kings, I'd like to see the Griz have more success from beyond the arc. Against the 76ers, our little guards can't let Dalembert continually stuff their basket drives.

I predict that Micheal Conley is going to play great in both games.

One Last Rudy Photo

Ru-Dee!! Ru-Dee!! Re-Dee!! How can we get that chant becoming a staple in the Forum? (Getty)

Go Griz!

3SoB Sunday Chronicle 2.3.08

From Zack

Welcome to the latest edition of our Sunday Chronicle, where the previous week will be reviewed, the upcoming week will be previewed, lots of enticing blue links will appear, and a few more things might be added in for your reading pleasure. All pictures are only from games that were played during the previous week. And leave a freaking comment so I know if anyone is actually reading this!

After getting whipped by the efficient Jazz, Rudy and Hak are wondering what the future holds without the Meal Ticket around. (AP)

Wow! Double Wow!! Triple Wow!!!! Pau-Wow!!!! Even more exclamation points to drive home the point!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a week that was. Probably the biggest week in Memphis Grizzlies history. Might as well consider this week's Sunday Chronicle to be the Pau Gasol Trade Edition.

As everyone already knows, the Face of the Franchise and best player in team history, Pau Gasol, was traded to the Lakers for a pu-pu platter of "essentially" 4 first round draft picks and salary cap relief. Here is the full trade details again:

Pau Gasol and a second round pick will be sent to Los Angeles for Kwame Brown (and his expiring contract), a first rounder in '08 and '10, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie and rights to Marc Gasol

The general reaction to the trade, aside from the ticker-tape parade and dancing in the streets taking place in LA, was a great big groan. I'd guess that most die-hard Griz fans weren't very satisfied with the final trade package, even those fans that badly wanted Pau traded. There are still those that like the trade of Pau for primarily cap space, and I think the number coming around to that side is increasing. Personally, I'm not disgusted with the trade and agree that it was a better deal than some of the other rumored deals on the table (everyone would agree that this is infinitely more attractive than a package of Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes, right?). I'm not yet sure how the general Memphis public has/have reacted to the news and details of the trade. Although I do know that my crazy neighbor who I have never talked basketball with came up to me in the front yard and wanted to talk about "Paul" Gasol being traded.

Chris Wallace originally said very firmly on the radio (and other places) that he was not going to trade Pau for only expiring contracts. He has since explained that he simply changed his mind while watching this train wreck of a season. The cost-cutting maneuver has the potential to really help the Griz in the future if the right free agents are signed and right draft picks are picked. But more importantly, this move may facilitate Heisley selling the team, hopefully to the local ownership group. Ric Bucher mentioned that he heard this type of trade was what the local owners wanted done before they gathered the money to pay Heisley's ransom.

Wallace denies that ownership directives had anything to do with this trade and that the front office thought this was the best deal available (and judging by media reports I think it was). Heisley even said that he had to be convinced by Wallace and Iavaroni to OK the trade. It has been suggested that Jerry West had a hand in on this deal, but Heisley also denied that.

I am also surprised (not sure if in a good or bad way) that Heisley and Wallace have both acknowledged that the lack of popularity Pau had in Memphis contributed to the decision to trade Pau. I like it that the Griz actually do listen to the fanbase. But I'm not sure if that is a trait I want to continue since Wallace is getting paid to be smarter than all of us backseat drivers. Then again, I truly believe this trade will be good for ticket sales. Time will tell.

A few more notes. Wallace told Navarro that he does not consider the Spaniards a pair "tied at the hip". It will be interesting to see how his restricted free agency is handled this summer. Wallace also said numerous times our three PG's will be locked in a room and we will see which two emerge. Great! That sure sounds like postive words for 3 rookie players to hear. Everyone this side of Jupiter interrupted Wallace's comments to mean Kyle Lowry should go ahead and pack his bags. And most of those people actually thought they were being astute with that conclusion! There is also some talk that Miller will be traded because, well, a firesale wouldn't be complete without also trading another starter for a similar pu-pu platter. Lastly, Aaron McKie was added in the trade for salary reasons and will actually be joining the Griz as a player/coach. Maybe that will turn out good for us.

Griz fans, get ready for May and June. Looks like the draft this year might be even more important than last year. That is hard to believe.

Can we win the lottery this year? Who will we draft in the lottery? Who will we draft with the Lakers pick? Will we draft Derrick Rose and then have all four PG's locked in a room and see which two emerge? Is Beasley really that good? Is OJ Mayo a head case? How tall is Eric Gordon? How good is Kevin Love? What about those 2 Euro dudes projected to go high in the lottery?

In case you haven't read them, here are the links to the main Commercial Appeal stories to read for most of the information about the Pau trade:
Pau Sent Packing by Tillery
Gasol for What? by Caulkins
Heisley Q and A by Tillery
Owner feels pain of trade, too by Caulkins
Trade stuns Gasol by Tillery
Alright Gasol haters, he's gone now what? by Morgan
Grizzlies vow to fight on by Morgan
What others are saying about Gasol's trade

Pau Timeline

I thought it could be interesting to quickly review the timeline that occurred for the Pau trade (to the best of my ability at 3am in the morning), emphasizing the internet/blogsphere aspect because it was interesting that we internet geeks actually had about 12 hours to contemplate the upcoming Pau/Lakers trade.

At first I was going to just ignore the events before this season that undoubtedly contributed to the culmination of this final Pau trade because that would take days to compile and write out.....but I couldn't, so I have included a long, rambling laundry list of events that summarizes before 2008.

Before 2008

Pau gets max contract; becomes legitimate all-star and star league player; develops annoying habits like checking for blood, whining to refs instead of playing defense, and flailing arms about wildly for no reason; leads Griz to record setting 0-12 record in the playoffs; severely hurts foot while winning World MVP and leading Spain to gold; Verno writes and records hilarious Ode to Pau (who wants a crying Spaniard) and immediately gets death threats from Spain; Sam Smith develops crush on Pau and wants him in Chicago worse than Brittney wants her RedBull-Vodka-Robitussin mix drink; Griz turn out to suck the season after trading Shane; Pau gets booed at home; Sam Smith writes another Pau-to-Chicago article; Pau has meeting with Heisley about being traded; Jerry West leaks trade request to media which was much like giving a pack of coyote's a dead deer carcass; Sam Smith writes another Pau-to-Chicago article; every other local and national NBA analyst writes a Pau-soon-to-be-traded article; Jerry West refuses to trade Pau for anything less than half the gold in Ft Knox; new regime promises to be committed to building around Pau; Pau's best friend is brought to Memphis

August 2007 to January 2008

Griz disappoint many and suck for the 2nd straight year while having one of the 5 worst records in the league. Sam Smith still obsesses over Pau on a regular basis. More than half of the Griz fans in Memphis don't like Pau and want to see him traded evident by Pau again getting booed at home. Wallace and Iavaroni decide that the best direction for the team is to trade Pau and start fielding offers. All offers were reportedly VERY underwhelming.

January 13th, 2008

Andrew Bynum hurts knee playing against the Griz. Injury to budding star re-ignites trade talk between the Griz and the Lakers regarding Pau.

Approximately 11:30 PM, January 31st

Griz and Lakers agree upon trade. It has been reported that initially the Lakers offered Kwame and Vlad "the crazy snowboarder", but the Griz wanted J-Critt and draft picks. Lakers caved to our steep demands.

Approximately Midnight, January 31st/February 1st

Chris Vernon publishes cryptic blog post hinting towards Griz firesale and impending Pau for Kwame Brown trade. In doing so, Verno again solidified his reputation of breaking Griz news.

Early Morning Hours, February 1st

I (Zack) quickly take Verno's cryptic post and spread it far and wide. Griz fans on the grizzlies.com messageboard start to react to the possibility. I even posted the Verno rumor on the Lakers board on the RealGM Forums, causing Lakers fans to immediately start dreaming of trading a pu-pu platter for Pau and becoming legit title contenders. I am quite fascinated about the 12 hour window of trade discussion time Griz and Lakers fans had before the actual trade was announced. I also email Tom Ziller at AOL FanHouse about the trade in the middle of the night, figuring it would make a great FanHouse post the next day. Did it ever!

Morning Hours, February 1st

Tom Ziller alerts the rest of the NBA blogsphere of Verno's post regarding a possible Griz firesale and Kwame-Pau trade. Soon after, Henry Abbot on TrueHoop writes an article about the Lakers being Pau's most sensible destination. I do not know if he saw Verno's post before writing the article or not. Quite the coincidence if not.

Approximatley 1:30 pm, February 1st

Ron Tillery reports on the MemphisEdge that Pau Gasol has been traded to the Lakers. Exact details are not immediatly known. Chris Vernon then quickly chimes in with the correct trade details. Tillery follows.

Afternoon Hours, February 1st

Mainstream media, NBA blogsphere, and NBA messageboards (particularly the best messageboard around at grizzlies.com) explode with activity as the trade is reported and analyzed and discussed. Popular opinion is that the Lakers ripped off the Griz

3pm, February 1st

Wallace goes on Verno explaining trade.

5pm, Febuary 1st

Official Grizzlies press conference regarding the trade.

Febuary 1st and 2nd

3 Shades of Blue shatters all previous page view records.

Shades of Blue Week in Review

Time for Some Action (yes it was)
NBA Draft Preview Part II (looks like only previewing potential lottery picks won't be enough anymore)
Pau Gasol: Business vs Basketball (I think business won in the short term with the hope that basketball wins in the long term)
Stromile Suspended (and this was only the beginning)
Rebuilding: Building a Contender vs Blowing it Up (I think we have our answer and it resembles a particularly destructive act of slamming 2 big chunks of Uranium together)
Power Rankings (time for the inverted standings to take over?)
Rudy, Conley, JCN invited to T-Mobile Rookie Challenge (no team has more representatives than us)
Wallace Said No? (evidently he wasn't even asked)
Five Bags of Magical Beans for Pau Gasol (what's in that 6th bag?)
Swift for Collins Almost Done? (uh, I think it still isn't done)
GASOL TRADED (have ya heard?)
Collins vs Swift in Stats (insert sarcastic joke here)
Gasol vs Kwame Brown +2 in Stats (insert even more sarcastic joke here)
Still Seeking the Sunshine through the Clouds (the sunshine president has no intention of stepping aside)
More on the Gasol-Gasol Trade (how many Gasol's does it take to the shake up the Western Conference?)
Time for the Beanstalk to Grow - Reaction to Pau Trade (MemphisX is excited!)

Griz Week in Review

Pau Gasol plays in his last game as a Memphis Grizzly. (Getty)

Whew!!! I'm exhausted already and I haven't even got to talk of actual Griz basketball games. I think I might have to slack on the review/preview stuff this week, it's late and I'm whipped.

The Griz went 0-3 this week, losing to three tough Western conference teams at home and dropping to 13-34 for the season. Honestly, it doesn't look like it will be any better for the rest of the season. That really doesn't have anything to do with Pau, but rather a young, inexperienced team that doesn't really have the personnel to properly execute Iavaroni's style of play combined with the coaching inexperience of Iavaroni himself.

Quick Rundown:
Griz lose to Dallas 84-103
Griz lose to Denver 102-106
Griz lose to Utah 91-110

Best Game of the Week: Close loss to Denver that should have been a win
SoB recap. We should have won this game. Of course we blew the game in the end of the 4th quarter. Of course.

Worst Game of the Week: Dallas spanks Griz in 1st Qtr, cruises to victory
SoB recap. Basically this game was decided by the 1st quarter. It is notable that this was Pau Gasol's last game in a Griz uniform.

Player of the Week: Rudy Gay
Rudy was the leading scorer in all 3 games this week. But he gets the honor mostly for his Denver performance.

30 Points, 10 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals

Rudy Gay drives versus the Jazz. (Getty)

Other Griz News/Notes
--Rudy challenged Dwight Howard to 12 foot dunk during Dunk Contest. This causes Gerald Green to up the anty to 13 foot.
--Stromile was first suspended, then reportedly will be traded to the Nets for Jason Collins.
--Damon signs with the Spurs.
--Rudy, Conley and Navarro all get invited to Rookie-Sophomore game.

Other Pictures During the Week

Darko throws one down versus the Jazz. (Getty)

Lowry looks up the court. Despite playing almost the entire game at PG while Conley is out, Lowry might want to start looking at the other 29 NBA teams, as everyone has already decided he will be traded before next season. (Getty)

Navarro showing off that great length of his. (Getty)

Miller goes for a dunk against the Jazz. Will Miller be the next out the door? (Getty)

Griz Week Ahead

Quick Rundown:
Tuesday 5th vs Bucks
Friday 8th @ Dallas
Saturday 9th @ New Orleans

Mid-Season Griz Killer MVP, Chris Paul, looks to add onto his impressive resume. I sure hope that this time against the Hornets, we have better luck defending the dangerous Paul-West pick-and-roll. If Paul scores more than 40 again, I'm gonna see if the TV remote or sheetrock is stronger.

Story of the Week: How will the new look Griz respond to losing Pau? When will the new guys first play?

Sorry, I'm out of energy. That's all I got. In coming weeks I hope to focus more on the actual games played, maybe add in a stat section and some other ideas I have. If there is anything you want me to cover in the future on Sunday mornings, let me know in the comments. Go Griz!

3SoB Sunday Chronicle 1.27.08

Welcome to the latest edition of our Sunday Chronicle, where the previous week will be reviewed, the upcoming week will be previewed, and a few more things added in there for your reading pleasure. All pictures are from games duing the previous week.

Shown is the Grizzlies only tipoff seen by a national audience this season. (Getty)

Rudy Invited to Dunk Contest, Adopts Grassroots Approach

Everyone knows by now, Rudy has been invited to the Dunk Contest held over NBA All-star weekend. He is one of four contestants, joining reigning champion (and upcoming FA who wants a trade) Gerald Green, should-of-been winner Dwight Howard, and former globetrotter Jamario Moon. Rudy has come up with an innovative approach towards the NBA Dunk contest. Rudy is asking fans to send in their best dunk to YouTube. He will pick his favorite and replicate it as one of his dunks during the contest. I think it is brilliant. For a small market team with a horrible record, national publicity for the Grizzlies is usually lacking. Rudy's campaign was a nice way to have Rudy (the best, or 2nd best sophomore in the NBA) and the Griz get some good publicity (case in point). The move seems even better when taking into consideration that the fans will help decide the winner.

Shades of Blue Week in Review

Power Rankings - Griz have an average of 25.875 with a high of 25 and low of 27.
Mid Year Perspective - Halfway through with the season, how has the season been and how's the rest of the season going to play out?
2008 NBA Draft Preview Part I - MemphisX breaks down the draft with Grizzlies needs and fit taken into account (hint, OJ Mayo is #1).
Rebounding - The Real Story - Chip explores what is causing our recent increase in rebounding numbers.
The Price is Right (about Damon's buyout) - Chip breaks down the latest numbers thrown around in the Damon debacle.

Griz Week in Review

An animated Iavaroni during the overtime win against the Clippers. Many fans in the arena looked and felt the same way. (Getty)

The Griz went 2-2 this week and 2-1 at home. The overall record now stands at 13-31 and only a mere 12.5 games out of the 8th playoff spot.

The week was a wild, wild ride. From the euporia from mauling (thanks, AP) the Bulls on national tv, to getting embarrased by the great Hedo in front about only 150 people, to losing Conley and Pau to injuries (oh ya, Stro too), to evidently buying out Damon, to playing the single worst quarter of basketball this season, to a spirited 2nd half comeback, to a hard fought OT win against a medicore Clippers team.

104-90 Win vs Chicago
85-112 Loss vs Orlando
93-104 Loss @ Washington
125-120 OT Win vs LA Clippers

Best Game of the Week That Didn't go to Overtime: Grizzlies completely dominate the lifeless Bulls.

Mike Miller drives past one of Pau's many rumored trade partners. (AP)

SoB recap.

The Grizzlies jumped on the Bulls early and controlled the game with a double digit lead for the last 28 minutes. Four Grizzlies posted a double-double, with Micheal Conley getting his career high in assits with 10. Miller was probably the player of the game and the Griz displayed an entertaining, efficient and productive running game. A 4th quarter alley-oop dunkathon was particularly satisfying. The Bulls looked particularly bad, with an absolute insane reluctance to take the ball inside and instead relied on a bunch of brick jumpers. The Bulls were bad, the Griz were good. And during our only nationally seen game of the year on a day celebrating Martin Luther King Jr's remarkable legacy, the Griz shined in the national spotlight and dumped on one of the NBA darling franchises. This win felt especially good. Mr. Sam Smith, eat our shorts!!!!

Best Game of the Week that Included an Overtime: Lowry and Gay lead Grizzlies past a small Clipper team.

Al Thornton touches Rudy to make sure he is human while Rudy destroys the Clips for 34 spectacular points. (Getty)

Herrington's live blog/recap.

I can't believe the Griz actually pulled out an overtime game at home. The game was a blast to watch. NBA TV pulled the game from the schedule due to the overall level of suckiness displayed by both lottery-bound teams, leaving many in Memphis unable to watch it (thanks to internet links, many still did). All the people around the country and the city that didn't watch this game missed out on a great battle between two sucky, injury depleted, lottery-bound teams (wait, the LA owner thinks the paper Clips still have a shot at the playoffs...haha)

Pau Gasol didn't play (and wasn't at courtside). Micheal Conley didn't play (and also wasn't at courtside). Stromile dressed out, but I think he has some sort of typical Stro injury preventing him the joy of knowing that Iavaroni could have choose him to sub in for Darko, but picked Hak instead. And Damon was inactive, in street clothes on the bench and seemed very happy. I also saw him giving some goodbye's to Grizzlies employees.

Kaman didn't play for the Clippers, leaving them with the likes of Aaron Williams and Josh Powell in the post. That is playoff inspiring combination there. That didn't last all that long actually, as Tim Thomas played center for the Clips for most of the 4th quarter while a SG or SF played PF. This caused Iavaorni to sit Darko and match the Clips in this super small-ball lineup.

The Clippers whole offense is based around identifying the biggest mismatch and then posting those players up. All of their players can operate efficient in the post, even the guards, no make that especially the guards. This game, the Clips went at Navarro, posting JC up with Cuttino Mobley. Over and over again. Navarro fought his butt off for position. I was impressed with his play. Likewise, Tim Thomas posted up Hak repeatedly in the 4th quarter. Hak also played admirably given Hak's reputation as a wet tissue on defense.

Lowry and Rudy played inspiring games tonight. I don't think that can be stated loud enough. Rudy was flaming hot to start the game, as he sparked a remarkable 36 1st quarter points. He was a one man wrecking crew, scoring on a variety of isolation drives and pull ups. Rudy scored a career high 34 points to go along with 12 rebounds. He probably should have had over 40 points.

Lowry, being the only real PG active, followed up his high energy play against the Wizards with a stunning performance against Brevin Knight and Sam Cassell. Lowry scored a career high 21 points, got to the line in bunches (didn't make them in bunches though), but it was his 8 rebounds and just 1 turnover that was the real key to his success against the Clippers. Lowry played solid defense against Cassell too, while playing part of the 4th and all of the OT with 5 fouls causing him to be iso'd a number of times.

The play of the game came from Lowry in overtime with 40 seconds to play. Down by 1 point, the offense breaks down (again) and Hak ends up taking a wild turnaround jumper as the shot clock expires. Lowry skies over Tim Thomas (there is a downfall to playing him at center) for an amazing offensive rebound and put back. Awesome! That one play epitomized how Lowry willed the Grizzlies to victory over the Clippers.

The refs were horrible tonight. Really, really bad. My seat was close enough to tell them about it (and tell Maggatte how much he sucks too). Dunleavy got a technical after a crazy play directly in front of me went with no foul called. Take a look, what a picture!

Darko is showing off a move that might replace the patented lefty jump hook. (Getty)

Recaps of the Remaining Lottery-Odd-Increasing Losses:

Grizzlies-Magic SoB recap.

Dwight Howard was held in check, but Hedo Turkoglu went off (more on that below). The good thing was that virtually no one was in the arena to see the home blowout.

Grizzlies-Wizards CA recap.

With Pau Gasol nursing a sore back, the Grizzlies start lethargic. Mollases in January type of lethargic. The sloth like start produces 9 freaking 1st quarter points. Ugh! And then to top it off, Micheal Conley goes down with a horrible looking injury. Lowry goes all 2006 and leads a spirited comeback while amassing 13 points, 10 assists and 5 steals.

Weekly Awards

Player of the Week: Kyle Lowry
The Great Lowry was the most active and spirited Griz player for the Wizards and Clippers games. His offensive rebound and put back won the Clippers game. And with Conley out, we need more of this type of play from Lowry.

Kyle Lowry finishes a layup while trying his hardest to spark a Griz comeback. (Getty)

Griz Killer of the Week: Hedo Turkoglu
26 points and 6 of 8 from deep in the Magic rout of Memphis.

"It's up and it's good for 3!" Long Ball Bomber of the Week: Rudy Gay
Rudy 12-22
Miller 11-25
Navarro 10-24

Other Top Griz Stories from Last Week

Conley and Pau Injured
Pau's back injury is likely mild and he is listed as day-to-day. Pau will be back anytime. But it is the Conley injury that is worrisome. It looked really bad at the time. Tillery is reporting that it is a "chest/rib contusion" and the X-rays were negative. Still, with a shoulder injury that was a tear that went without surgery, seeing him injury that side of his body again is nerve racking. I think this one could keep him out longer than people expect.

Damon's Buyout Complete
The odd breakup is now nearly complete, as two reports have surfaced saying a deal for Damon to buyout his current contract has been agreed upon by both sides. This comes after a weird week where Damon's agent even threw some harsh words towards the Griz and particularly Heisley's attorney Stan Meadows. Tillery has most of the details of the buyout and even relays that Damon left a voicemail message with Heisley thanking him (for, um, letting him buy his way from the bottom of the trash heap to presumably the top of the league with the beloved Celtics). Marc Stein at ESPN adds in his report that the Griz wanted to holdout for a trade, but found the offers underwhelming. The easy money bet is that Dontrell Jefferson, a training camp participant and NBADL player for the Dakota Wizards, will be joining the Griz shortly.

Midseason Report

We've made it over the halfway hump of the season. The Griz finished the first half of the season 12-29 and only 2 games better than last year. Chip, Spartacus, and MemphisX have given their 1st half impressions and 2nd half expectations. The CA polled the public for grades for the Grizzlies (ugh). And Herrington trumped everyone with his optimistic and astute mid-season report. Here are some of my thoughts...

I'm disappointed about the 1st half of the season. While I seemingly imitated a 10 year old girl at a Hanana Montana Concert, I (think I) predicted the Grizzlies to finish 6th in the West. Ya, right. That was right on the mark. About as accurate as a Chicago Bull's jumpshot. So, knowing my high expectations, I can be nothing but disappointed. However, there is a lot of optimism and hope in with that disappointment. The draft picks of Conley and Gay give the Grizzlies a bright, very bright future.

The pessimism I do have about this team going forward involves my belief that a 40-minute a night core of Conley-Miller-Gay-Pau is not a winning combination. I think the first half of this season was further proof of that. Basketball can be about who has the most talent, but it is also a team game where the 5 players need to fit together and play above their collective talent suggests. The Conley-Miller-Gay-Pau core, with whoever as the role players around them chomping up the few minutes remaining, is just not ever going to be a serious contender, even with my expected bright futures for Gay and Conley. I'm convinced this team needs a shake up in order to force the best working pecking order out of our players/team.

Why do I think we are barely above last years pace at the half-way mark?

1. Coaching
2. Defense
3. Leadership

I probably can't be more pleased with the play of Rudy Gay so far this season. Most claim he is the 2nd best sophomore this year, but I think he can make a good case for being the best, and certainly has more potential than Roy. I think Rudy probably should have been the #1 overall pick in his draft class. Toronto and Charlotte in particular, goofed by not taking Rudy. Rudy was suppose to be the surefire #1 pick in January of that year, but the scouts over-thought themselves by June and 7 teams missed out.

Mid-Season MVP: Rudy Gay

Best Game: Dec 19th Victory Over Spurs; Rudy Nails Game Winning Shot over Duncan

Mid-Season Griz Killer MVP: Chris Paul

Griz Killer Honorable Mention: LeBron James and Travis Outlaw

Griz Week Ahead

Navarro knives through the lane against the Clips. The Griz will need all the production they can get from Navarro coming up against the high-powered Mavs, Nugs and Jazz. (Getty)

The Griz have 3 tough home games slated for the week. I was excited about the 5 home stand until I saw Dallas, Denver, and Utah were 3 of those 5 games. I expect all 3 games to be shootouts. I predict no one scores in the double-digits this week. I also predict Pau will play against the Mavs, while Conley will not play at all during the week.

Monday vs Dallas
Do you think the Mavs think about how much their 1st round sweep of the Griz set the course for trading for our new superstar-in-the-making Rudy Gay? The matchup of the game might be Rudy vs Dirk if Iavaroni goes small and let's Rudy play major minutes at PF.

Wednesday vs Denver
Denver visits the Forum for a partial home game as the Memphis crowd loves AI. I hate the Nuggets and if we can only win 1 game in the coming week, I hope it is against the Nuggets.

Saturday vs Utah
The pick-and-roll machine comes to town to inflict severe damage to the Griz. As I have talked about until my fingers wear down, the Griz are downright horrible at defending the pick-and-roll for most of the season and Utah might have invented the pick-and-roll. Deron Williams is probably more likely than not to have a career game. Watching AK-47 try to check Rudy will be fun.

I Can Be Sam Smith Too; A Pau Gasol Trade Idea

Just a quick hypothetical, RealGM fueled trade idea involving our favorite trade-idea whipping boy, Pau Gasol. Ok, so we have been told more than once now by Tillery, that Atlanta and Billy Knight have a standing offer for Pau. I am intrigued by this because I like both Al Horford and Josh Smith. Anyway, here is my idea:

Pau and Navarro
for
Josh Smith, Josh Childress, Lorenzen Wright (!), Ty Lue, 2008 2nd Rounder

Ren and Lue are both expiring contracts. Actually Lue could help us at PG right now. But clearly the centerpiece of the trade is Pau for Josh Smith. I think Josh Smith will turn into a beast, particularly in a system that allows him to take poor shots, but will relish him for his defensive ability. The expiring contracts and not needing to re-sign Navarro, should open up enough cap room to sign both Josh Smith and Josh Childress to extensions. Smith and Childress add solid defenders to the rotation. This trade banks on Josh Smith morphing into a stud, which I think is a bet worth taking. Next year's rotation could look something like this:

PG: Conley
SG: Miller
SF: Gay
PF: J.Smith
C: Darko
Bench: Lowry, Mayo, Childress, Hak, Stro

3SoB Sunday Chronicle 1.20.08

Welcome, Shades of Blues readers! I hope you are having a great Sunday morning. If you are waking up in Memphis this morning, go get another cup of warm coffee or cocoa and crank that heat up, because IT IS COLD outside.

This is the 2nd edition of our Sunday Chronicle, where the previous week will be reviewed, the upcoming week will be previewed, and a few new things that popped up over the weekend will be discussed. And also, a few choice Getty images will be crammed in here and there to liven things up.

Rudy Gay dressed in his Sunday's Best. (Getty)

Damon Buyout Coming Soon

Reported on Saturday by both Chris Sheridan of ESPN and beat writer Ron Tillery, Damon will probably not be on the roster come this time next week as a buyout is expected. Go read both articles linked. However, I will also summarize the key details given in both below.

From Tillery:
-- A buyout is more likely than a trade.
-- The Grizzlies first offer was an 80% reduction in next year's salary (whoa!!) and Damon's camp will likely counter that.
-- According to Tillery, "Stoudamire is hopeful that he can sign as a free agent with Boston"
-- The Grizzlies had a trade offer on the table for Damon, but turned it down because it put Damon in a "undesirable situation" and that Heisley's preference is to get Damon to a "winner".
-- Talks should heat up on Monday with Heisley making a rare Memphis appearance because of our MLK game

From Chris Sheridan of ESPN:
-- Suns, Celtics, Heat, Raptors, and Nuggets have all inquired about Damon's services.
-- Sam Cassell's uncertain situation with the Clippers is impacting Damon (because I assume all of those teams would prefer Sam to Damon).
-- Buyout like soon, but a trade is still a remote possibility.

Ok, here is my take on this. I have long thought a buyout with Damon was inevitable, whether it would have been in pre-season (my preference), mid-season (what will happen), or after the season. I appreciate Damon's tenure in Memphis. I think all Griz fans would have loved to know what could have happened if he wouldn't have gotten hurt. Maybe a playoff win?

As for the latest details. I think the Suns and Celtics are clearly the most logical teams for him to sign with. He will probably have his decision as to which team he prefers before his contract is officially bought out. The Celtics can give him the most playing time, while the Suns let him go back home and play for good friend and former teammate, Steve Kerr. Either way, if the Griz can get an 80% reduction (or payback, whatever the correct term is) on his contract next year, that is pretty good I think.

As for the turned down trade. My guess is NY or Miami. Both places look pretty undesirable right now to me.

Griz GM and Assistant Coach on The Chris Vernon Show

I do not hide my fondness and respect for Chris Vernon. I love listening to his show every afternoon. He's the cream of the crop when it comes to local AM sports radio hosts. And as it relates to the Griz, he does an exceptional job covering and promoting the team while being a voice for a significant fraction of Griz fans. During the season, much of Verno's show is usually devoted towards the Grizzlies and Eric Hastletine and Chris Herrington are regularly guests.

Each week Verno has a segment with Chris Wallace that I highly recommend (you should also catch the Thursday Grizzlies Power Hour). This week's Wallace segment can be listened to here. Some highlights.

Chris Wallace says that for the rest of the season he wants to see continued team and individual improvement. The individual improvement comment was interesting because Wallace mentions the young guys "creating value". I like the GM to think like this. He knows that improving this team is the most important thing and if the guys currently on the roster can improve and become part of the "core, then great, or if some guys improve and allow the Griz to get better trade value, then great too.

Wallace was asked why we are 10-28 (at the time) and repeats the same thing most fans say. We have a hard time winning close games and are not playing good defense. He mentions youth, but doesn't want to use that as an excuse. Wallace also acknowledges that the team must get tougher, more physical, could use more experience (but not at the expense of talent) and "still has a ways to go".

Verno again prodded Wallace to make a major trade to shake up the team. Wallace says it has to be the "right move", but he has been in contact with a lot of teams. Phones are buzzing around the league, but most is just "tire kicking". Wallace says he will not be timid or hesitant or nervous if the "right deal" comes along. Chris Vernon thinks he should see these deals to give an outside opinion if any of the current deals are the "right deal". Wallace jokes he can hire Vernon be the "Executive Director of Transaction Analysis". Great idea!!! Verno can be Chris Wallace's Gary Colson. Wallace also mentioned that if a good trade proposal is presented, that him, the Head Coach and the Owner all must approve the move.

Grizzlies assistant coach Ron Dubois was also on the show this week.

I mention this because Verno read an email question I sent in about the Grizzlies poor pick-and-roll defense. Coach Dubois did a great job of answering the question. By now most readers of this blog know my thoughts about our p-n-r defense. Dubois says that against bad shooters, they tell the guard to go under the screen and against good penetrators they tell the guard to go over the screen. For instance, against Chris Paul, the guards were instructed to go under because Paul had only hit 15 3's before that game and then went on to hit 5 against us. I asked about what I call "passive" play by the bigman on p-n-r defense. He says they instruct the bigman to play "zone" against the guard and bigman, so that he can help out on either one, depending on what happens. I call that passive, because what ends up happening more times than not is the bigman doesn't help on the guard and also gets out of position to stop the bigman from rolling for an easy layup. My personal opinion is that this philosophy is hurting the Griz. I would like to see the bigman hedge hard on p-n-r defense and let the other 3 guys worry about helping on the bigman rolling to the basket.

Chad Ford Thinks Darko is a Bust?

Just a quick item. Tom Ziller at AOL Fanhouse reports that ESPN's official European player promoter, Chad Ford, has admitted that Darko is a bust in an ESPN chat. Wow! Does this mean Ford is admitting that he was wrong too? Darko may be a bust compared to his draft status and draft class, but he still has the potential to have a solid NBA career as a starting center.

Shades of Blue Week in Review

-- The Curse of the Spanish Cast
-- Looking for Leadership
-- Interview with Eli Savoie of Sports56
-- Power Rankings
-- Interview with Brian Windhorst, Cleveland Cavs Beat Writer

Be sure to check out those interviews. Original interviews like the ones Chip and Spartacus posted this week is what really makes this blog great. That Power Ranking post is pretty damn good too. And the Curse post was picked up by TrueHoop!

Griz Week in Review

The Grizzlies again went 1-3 this week. Luckily the Sonics came to town to let the Griz break a 5 game losing streak (3rd 5 game losing streak of the year...ugh). The Griz now sit at 11-29 and 13 games out of the 8th playoff spot. The Griz also have an average of 25.375 in the latest round of power rankings.

Quick Rundown
99-100 Loss versus Lakers
124-132 OT Loss versus Cavs
124-100 Win versus Sonics
87-105 Loss versus Bobcats

Lakers game...The Grizzlies should have won this game. Plain and simple. The refs were absolutely horrible (more on that in later). This was the last game of a 3 game road trip, all losses. The Lakers lost emerging star Bynum to a knee injury. Pau's stat line was notable:

21 points, 18 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 blocks

Cavs game...LeBron goes for 51 in this OT home thriller. It was such an exciting game to attend, although I admit no one sitting next to me thought the Griz would win when the game was up for grabs in crunch time. The Griz lose close games and everyone knows it. Rudy's stat line was notable:

30 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block

Sonics game...If only we could play these guys (or the Twolves) every game. Seattle is awful. Rudy sat out sick and Bobby Jones got the rare start (because Casey was already put on the inactive list or else CJ would have started....whew, we dodged a bullet there). All B.Jones then did was earn himself a second 10-day contract with his career game in almost every statistical category. I think very few people saw this game, the crowd attendance was pathetic. B.Jones stat line was notable:

20 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 block

Bobcats game...Just when things were looking up after the Sonics game, the Grizzlies show virtually no energy and even less defense in a loss to the BET Cats. Mike Miller, who the coaching staff say is our best defender, was out with back trouble. Thus, Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson were just too much for Rudy Gay and Bobby Jones and J-Rich became the latest SG to have a season high against our poor perimeter defense. I don't think anyone's stat line is worth mentioning because everyone sucked, but here is Rudy's because of his steals:

17 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals, 1 block

Other Stories from the Week

The Refs Suck!
In the closing minutes of the Lakers game, the refs blew, in my estimation, 3 huge calls against the Griz. First, they called a foul on Kyle Lowry on a fast break dunk attempt by Lamar Odom. Odom looked to have an easy breakaway, but Lowry came from nowhere to block Odom cleanly. The ref blew the whistle as soon as he saw Lowry going for the block. Next, with the scored tied, the refs called a phantom foul on Rudy Gay on a Kwame Brown dunk (which he missed). They say Rudy hit Kwame on the head, and he might have grazed him, but if he did it wasn't enough to call a foul on, IMO. But if the refs aren't going to allow that kind of contact in the closing minutes, ok, so be it. But wait. With the game on the line and 7 seconds left, Kyle Lowry drives to the hoop and gets hammered by Kwame Brown and NO FREAKING FOUL IS CALLED. Ridiculous. If the previous play is a foul, then that is too. Many Griz fans were irate and emailed Ronnie Dunn to let him hear about it. Surprisingly he emailed back. Unsurprisingly he defended the refs. He is paid to defend whatever the refs do. Go here to read Dunn's explanation.

Coach Iavaroni feels like every Griz fan felt during the Lakers game. (Getty)

Pau Most Likely to be Traded? Trade Possible With Suns?
In a surprising development this week, the Griz and Suns have been mentioned together many times this week as possible trade partners. And get this, a Pau for Amare trade is what is rumored. Wow! Talk about getting my hopes too high. We go from only being able to get a bunch of crappy bench players from Chicago to being able to get an All-NBA player. Sweet! It started with Chris Sheridan saying that NBA executives believe Pau is the overwhelming favorte to be the biggest name traded before the deadline and then causes Griz fans to faint by mentioning Pau/Hak for Amare AND the Hawks 1st rounder. But we weren't done with unsubstantiated rumors about Pau and Amare. Tony Mejia at CBSsports also writes about Amare and says some in the Phoenix organization wants to move him and then mentions Pau as a possible player Amare could be traded for. But we aren't done yet. This comes from a Phoenix messageboard. A huge rumored trade of Pau/Miller/Hak/Damon for Amare/Diaw/Banks/Atlanta Pick. Again, wow! Here is the link. I gotta admit, if Pau is going to be constantly tied to trade rumors, these Phoenix ones are much better than the crappy Chicago ones. Amare >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ty Thomas.

Bobby Jones Earns 2nd 10 Day Contract
A big night against the Sonics earned him the contract renewal and I hope he is signed for the rest of the year.

Bobby Jones scores one of his 20 points against the Sonics in a career game. (Getty)

Misinformation about Casey Being Released (h/t to Verno for clearing it up)
Earlier this week I found a mention on the RealGM forum of some Euro announcers saying that Casey Jacobsen would be released and that his old German team would sign him again. I posted this on the grizzlies messageboard. And then Verno again shows how great he is. He sees my post and contacts Chris Wallace and then relays the information to me that Casey is still on the team and hasn't and won't be released. Could that train of events have any possibility of happening that quickly in any other NBA city? I think not. Being a small market has it's perks.

No Player Has Started Every Game This Season
Rudy Gay and Mike Miller both sat out a game this week. Now nobody on the team has started every game. And only Navarro and Lowry have played in every game.

Weekly Awards

Player of the Week: Bobby Jones
It might have been only 1 game of greatness - statistically Pau Gasol probably should have been the Player of the Week - but the fans desperately needed Jone's gutsy performance at home against the Sonics.

Griz Killer of the Week: LeBron James
Anyone disagree?

Long Ball Bomber of the Week: Juan Carlos Navarro
17-30 Navarro
12-23 Miller
4-14 Gay

Dunk of the Week: Rudy Takes Flight Against Cavs

Getty

Griz Week Ahead

Games this Week:
Monday vs Chicago
Wednesday vs Orlando
Friday at Washington
Saturday vs Clippers

Grizzlies on National TV for Martin Luther King Game
Monday the Grizzlies host the Chicago Bulls in the annual MLK game at a weird start of 4:30. In the past, this game has been very well attended (last year was more than 18K in a season where only 12K was the average). This game has so many story lines. It is the Griz versus Bulls for goodness sake. The team that covets Pau more than any other. It was also after this game last year (against the Suns) when Pau met with Heisley to ask for a trade (and then prompt Jerry to get mad and leak the info to the New York Post).

Dwight Howard Might Go for 40/20?
Last game against the Griz (an improbable road win for the Griz), Howard had 30/21. If, no when, Howard actually does get 40 points and 20 rebounds in a game, there is a good chance it is against the Griz.

Can Kaman One-up Howard?
The last game against the Clippers was utterly forgettable and might have been one of the worst overall Griz performances of the year. With the way Kaman abused Darko that game, Kaman may have a legitimate shot at being the Griz Killer of the Week over favorite Dwight Howard.

Lastly, make sure and read HoopsHype Sunday morning. Trade (talk) season is in full swing and there will sure to be Griz players mentioned in many papers around the country.

3SoB Sunday Chronicle 1.13.08

Welcome to the first installment of what I hope will be a regular weekly feature. Sunday morning will be used to take a tour through the world of the Grizzlies. We will recap the previous week and preview the upcoming week. We will take the team's temperature and summarize the ongoing Griz storylines. From time to time, a Griz op-ed by one of the Shades of Blue Bloggers will be highlighted. In this week's initial offering, quite a lot of ground is covered, so let's get going.

Wait, while I still have your full attention. Be aware that the game preview for the Griz-Lakers game is posted, the game starts tonight at 8:30 pm.

Micheal Conley and Juan Carlos Navarro celebrating "Elvis Night". (Getty)

Recapping the Sunday Morning Commercial Appeal

Let's start with the local newspaper. Geoff Calkins has a mailbag column. Not quite Sports Guy quality, but Geoff's Sunday morning column is always a must read.

Marlon Morgan writes about our PG duo of the future learning their roles. Lowry discusses his latest apparent slump and gives some reality-based comments about his role for this team.

''Being the No. 4 pick, you know they're going to play,'' Lowry said. ''I knew that was going to happen, and I accepted the role. My role is to come off the bench with energy and play hard.''

Also in the article, Coach Iavaroni and assistant Coach Johnny Davis offer up some comments about the Conley-Lowry PG combination.

Rudy Gay Interviewed by Kyle Lowry for Memphis Sport Mag

I was at the Memphis Pizza Cafe this week and picked up the Memphis Sport Magazine. I tend to forget about this really good local publication. In the latest edition, there is an interview with Rudy Gay...with the wrinkle of Kyle Lowry asking the questions. You can tell the two draft-mates are good friends. The not-so-serious interview is packed with light-hearted teasing between the two of them. They cover a range of subjects including UConn vs 'Nova (of course), who's the best player on the team named Kyle, Rudy's new facial hair, the Memphis Tigers (and Jerrick, yes Jerrick Rose), Rudy's long list of nicknames, and best of all Mike Fratello! I gotta quote the Frat part:

Kyle: What do you miss most about Mike Fratello?
Rudy: That's a real quesion? Is that really the question? What's that?
Kyle: Next question

Ok...i'll also quote the part regarding Rudy's nicknames growing up:

Kyle: What were your nicknames growing up?
Rudy: Rud Boy, Big Truck, uh...what else they call me?
Kyle: Mr. Gay?
Rudy: Ha ha ha. Only in elementary school. Bones, Slinky...all those...Rudabaker...
Kyle: That's enough.
Rudy: Randy.
Kyle: OK
Rudy: Ronald.
Kyle OK!
Rudy: Slippin', The Kid, Young Fella', Yo' Daddy
Kyle: Next question.

The next time you are around town, pick up the magazine and read the entertaining interview. You can also go visit http://www.memphissport.net/, where you can probably find a digital version laying around somewhere.

Shades of Blue Week in Review

Just a quick reminder of the best Shades of Blue posts during the last week.
-- Gary Parrish Interview
-- Power Rankings
-- Roster Redundancy or Poor Evaluation
-- Chemacterility

Griz Week in Review

The Grizzlies went 1-3 last week (and have now lost 16 of 20...ugh)

Rundown:
101-94 Win versus Miami
101-117 Loss versus L.A.
113-116 Loss versus Sacramento
104-116 Loss versus Golden State

Miami Game...the week started off strong as the Micheal Conley honeymoon was still in full swing. The Grizzlies beat a suffering Heat team who have now lost something like 10 in a row. Man, do the Heat really suck. The most impressive part of this win was that the Griz won the game at the end (instead of losing it) by using a 9-2 run to close the game out after the score was tied with a few minutes to play.

Lakers Game...the suddenly surging Lakers rode on the back of Derek Fisher's hot hand to build an early lead and control the game from start to finish. A pretty low attendance number (something in 14K range) for a game involving Kobe...kindof surprising.

Kings Game...the Grizzlies should have won, but predictably lost in the waning seconds while keeping in tact the 18 game Sacramento road losing streaking. Fransisco Garcia's name can now be placed next to Brad Miller (x2) and Mike Bibby for clutch 3's that beat the Griz in Sacramento. The Griz had this game seemingly won with a few minutes to go and I'm sure many in Memphis went to bed thinking the game was in fact a W, but then the Griz managed to choke the game away in the last 45 seconds with Rudy Gay having 2 bone headed plays.

Warriors game...the hometown Warriors followed the Lakers game plan by getting out to a comfortable lead early and never looking back. Pau Gasol had a career night with 43 points and the bench did their part to put the game within reach when it was slipping away. But the guard driven Warriors were just too strong at home as Baron Davis almost went for 20/20. Could we really have gotten Baron for Shane years ago? That would have been nice.

Grizzlies Sign Bobby Jones
Maybe the biggest news not related to the Grizzlies losing again was that Chris Wallace has signed Bobby Jones to a 10-day contract. Bobby Jones played at U-Dub (Univ. of Washington) with current darkhorse MVP candidate Brandon Roy. Jones was recently released by Denver and is known to play solid defense at multiple positions. He got his first minutes against the Warriors and looked decent. Also noteworthy was that Verno, simply a hardworking radio host, broke this news before the Grizzlies beat writer.

Latest News on Damon
Shortly after Heisley says he won't be buying out Damon's contract, he is in town for some business and buying out Damon's contract might be on his to-do list. On the Chris Vernon show, Eric says that Damon most likely will not play for the Griz again and coming from him, that carries alot of weight. Damon was active for the Warriors game but did not play. Stay tuned for breaking news on this front in the next week.

Weekly Awards (9/6 to 9/12)

Player of the Week: Pau Gasol
Pau averaged 27 points and 10 rebounds in the 4 games this week including a breezy 43 against the Warriors.

Bench Player of the Week: (tie) Hakim Warrick and Juan Carlos Navarro
Hak found his way to the rotation ahead of the oft-injured Stro and scored 15 against the Lakers and 10 against the Warriors. JC scored 20 against the Warriors and 10 against the Kings.

Grizzly Killer of the Week: Derek Fisher
There were a number of applicants this week, all of them guards. Monte Ellis, Baron Davis, John Salmons, Derek Fisher, and Kobe Bryant. Fisher (26 points and only 1 total miss) gets the honor for being so efficient during his drumming of the defense-less Grizzlies and giving Micheal Conley a lessen in NBA point guard play.

Long Ball King for the Week: Rudy Gay
The Grizzlies live and die by the 3, so let's give some recognition to whoever shoots the best in the past week from beyond the arc. Here were the stats:
9-17 Rudy Gay
9-21 Mike Miller
7-22 Juan Carlos Navarro

The Youtube Dunk of the Week: Brad Miller over Darko
Click this link, and then watch the youtube clip of Brad Miller flying down the lane to dunk on Darko. If I figure out how to embed the clip myself I may do that later.

Griz Week Ahead

Jerry West Draft Steal versus Jerry West Draft Steal
The Logo was able to snatch Kobe away from Charlotte in much the same way he snatched Rudy Gay from Houston. The Grizzlies have to face the Lakers for the 2nd time in less than a week. I hope to see Rudy nailing alot of these beautiful looking jump shots.

(Getty Images)

Two Superstars Stolen From Memphis During the Lottery Return
LeBron James and Kevin Durant, both of whom should have been in Beale Street Blue if not for lottery night disasters, bring their respective teams into the Forum next week. Will Memphis show up to watch them play?

Another Week and Probably Another Pau Gasol Trade Rumor Out of Chicago
As we near the trade deadline, the non-stop trade talk heats up. A ridiculous amount of players have already been mentioned. And I'm sure there will be more Pau Gasol rumblings coming from Chicago this week. And I'm sure the rumors will be total garbage and idle speculation. With news of Noah getting into trouble, the Sam Smith trade idea will probably be Nocioni, Noah, PJ Brown (Sam isn't aware yet that he is sitting at home unemployed), and the United Center lead janitor.

On Tap:
http://3shadesofblue.blogspot.com/2008/01/memphis-at-l-lakers-11308.html
Tuesday vs Cleveland
Friday vs Seattle
Saturday @ Charlotte