Quick Hit Links

Matt Moore (Hardwood Paroxysm, NBA Fanhouse, Ridiculous Upside) interviews Mike Conley about entering into his sophomore campaign with raised expectations. He follows that up with an interview with Javaris Crittenton. Quality reading.

The Grizzlies did not pick up the option on Hakim Warrick's contract, effectively making this a contract year for the former Syracuse forward.

Hoopsworld projects O.J. Mayo as the top rookie this year. Who am I to disagree with that?

Wizards Insider (Washington Post) profiles the Grizzlies before tonight's preseason game.

Links: Hardwood Paroxysm is all you need

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Roster Redundancy or just a Poor Evaluation?

I saw this last night on The Fanhouse, but was unsure what exactly I could say that would top what Bethlehem Shoals had already stated. It seems that Ira Winderman, a great beat writer to be sure, evaluated some of the teams that were seen as disappointments to this point in the season for the Sun-Sentinel. Here's what he had to say about the Memphis Grizzlies:

Grizzlies: Hopes were particularly high in the offseason with the addition of Marc Iavaroni as coach, Chris Wallace as general manager, Darko Milicic as free agent and Mike Conley Jr. as first-round pick.

But for all the talent on Memphis' roster, the lottery already beckons.

In many ways, this is one of the most redundant rosters in the NBA, with two soft power players in Pau Gasol and Milicic, perimeter players with a preference for the jumper in Mike Miller, Juan Carlos Navarro and Casey Jacobsen, erratic athletes in Rudy Gay, Stromile Swift and Hakim Warrick, and oodles of point guards in Conley, Kyle Lowry and Damon Stoudamire.

It was easy to be seduced by the names in the offseason. Only the pieces don't fit, which means Iavaroni will have to wait until Wallace can get things in order.

Now here's what Shoals had to say in response to that:

I just don't see how this counts as "redundancy." Maybe "incomplete," since there's no dominant, powerful seven-footer on the roster. But is this really any worse than any other team in the NBA not named Phoenix? If he were to correctly identify Gay as a "slashing swingman with star qualities," and Gasol as "All-Star adjusting to a new coach", suddenly this doesn't looks so bad. The problem is that he's been inconsistent and Darko has been a letdown -- not that they're both international players of a certain height.

After sleeping on the subject, I realized that a lot more could be said about this. Let's go beyond the two obvious names that Shoals correctly pointed out in Rudy and Pau, and explore the rest of the evaluation.

Darko might have a repuatation for being soft coming into his time with the Grizzlies, but anyone who has seen him play defense in the low-post this season would have to disagree with that label, as he has played extremely well against the best big men more often than not, most notably against Tim Duncan and Yao Ming. He's not an emotional player, preferring to get his block or rebound and head down to the other end of the floor, rather than screaming to the rafters or beating his chest, but that doesn't make him any softer than anyone else. Foul trouble and injuries have limited his effectiveness, which has contributed to the perception that he's been a letdown in Memphis.

Mike Miller is a perimeter player with a preference for a jumper, but he's also the second leading rebounder on the team at 7.1 rpg -- not too shabby for a shooting guard the last time I checked.

Casey Jacobsen certainly has the reputation for being a gunner -- one that was developed through his collegiate career at Stanford and hasn't left him since. However, since spending some time overseas, he appears to have learned a new trick or two. CJ's role on this team has been that of a hustling defender who only shoots occasionally. While he's certainly not a lockdown defender, he has done exactly what the coaching staff has asked him to do, despite the "concerns" of the fanbase who have questioned why he gets more playing time than young scoring forward Hakim Warrick.

Since when is having 3 point guards a bad thing either?

I agree with his assessment of Stro and Hakim as erratic athletes and Navarro as a perimeter-based jump shooter (although he is willing to drive into the lane), but people who don't do anything other than watch ESPN could probably come to those conclusions.

Also, he sees the Grizzlies as a disappointment, while others who have followed the team closely believe that they are "right on schedule", myself included. This team was far more different from the 50-win surprise team than most people could tell at first view. I agree that some elements of this team seem redundant at a glance and that there are obvious needs that should be addressed, such as a starting SG capable of playing great defense (ex: Raja Bell). But beyond that, I think that Winderman was off-target in his evaluation, as did Bethlehem Shoals.

I understand that Winderman cannot be expected to be an expert on every team in the league, but before making such sweeping generalizations he might want to do a little more research next time. Relying on reputations and stereotypes causes fans around the league to lose respect for your opinion and your credibility. You're better than that Ira. As someone who has been reading you for quite some time, I know that better than anyone. For that matter -- just shoot off an email and ask a team's beat writer or even a team-centric blogger what they think about the team. We're always willing to answer questions about our favorite team. Every now and then, we even take off our glasses that are tinted Beale Street Blue, too.

Links: Point Guard Evaluation, MVP/ROY Rankings, Sam Smith is still Sam Smith

Our old pal David Berri took a look at the Memphis point guards today from his usual statistical perspective on the Wages of Wins Journal. When it was all said and done, Dave arrived at the same conclusion I did in the preseason:

Still, if the numbers for Lowry and Conley hold, Memphis will eventually have to make a decision about who to start and who ultimately to keep. At this point only one thing is certain. The team is not going to keep starting Stoudamire.

It's nice to see confirmation of my evaluation of the PG position from someone who has a lot more clout in academic circles. Another fine post that I recommend reading in its entirety.

We here at 3 Shades of Blue are participating in a season-long ranking of Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year candidates that was organized by Alex of BrewHoop. The other blogs participating are as follows:

BrewHoop
Sactown Royalty
Third Quarter Collapse
20 Second Timeout
Posting and Toasting
Queen City Hoops
TWolvesBlog
Sixers 4 Guidos
Bullets Forever
Green Bandwagon
The Bratwurst
Indy Cornrows
Blog A Bull
Clips Nation

You can view our first rankings of the season with commentary on BrewHoop now.

Yet another far-fetched Pau Gasol to the Chicago Bulls rumor/fantasy out of the Windy City -- this time from delusional old man Sam Smith who is no stranger to making up his own trade proposals involving Memphis Grizzlies. I'm sure everyone remembers his obsession with Shane Battier a few years ago. Really, this one is more like a plea for the Bulls' management to make an offer for the Spaniard than it is a trade rumor. That makes it even worse. What's really funny is how he proclaims how much the Bulls need him while downplaying his abilities at the same time. Reminds me of a certain group of posters on the Grizzlies message boards. Here's an example of Smith's continual contradictions:

Now with a new general manager, a new coach in Marc Iavaroni and a new style,
it's clear that Gasol is lost and likely expendable. At least that's the belief around the NBA, and teams expect a shot at Gasol by the trading deadline. The question is how much you really can give up for a seventh-year player who never has been a good rebounder or defender and hasn't been on the winning side in a playoff game.

If Gasol is such a poor rebounder/defender and is labeled a "loser" then why would Chicago benefit from his presence? Of course, if he had bothered to read Ron Tillery's fine article in yesterday's Commercial Appeal, he'd know that Gasol is working very hard to adjust to Iavaroni's new system, and isn't pleased at all with his current level of production. Of course, that wouldn't get Bulls fans excited about Gasol's "availability", would it? Don't worry Grizz fans -- just another bogus rumor that shouldn't receive any attention beyond this blogger taking the time to shoot it full of holes. If the Grizzlies do decide to trade Gasol, it will take more than Tyrus Thomas and Andres Nocioni to acquire him.

Update: Over on AOL's NBA Fanhouse, Bethlehem Shoals called out Sam Smith for being a doddering old fool for many of the same reasons I did regarding the Pau Gasol wishlist piece. Once again, it is nice to see that I am in agreement with people held in higher respect than myself in the blogosphere.