Complete the Culture Change: Add Toughness

When I first started calling for the Pau Gasol to traded, it was because I truly thought that the Memphis Grizzlies needed to establish a new identity. With Gasol as the best player on the team, the Grizz were always going to play and be seen as a finesse team in the NBA that did not defend very well. Heck, he went to the Lakers and that is now their identity minus Kobe. Tonight is the 2008 NBA Draft. This means that this is truly the beginning of the post-Pau Gasol era. Chris Wallace is the first GM in Grizzlies history with an ability to take the franchise in a different direction. For me, that direction should begin and end with toughness.

With Rudy Gay establishing himself as a legit top 3 option in the NBA, the Grizzlies do not have any more room for players that need to develop either physical or mental toughness. Every player they add to the roster has to be either physically imposing, mentally tough, or both. There is no room for mentally fragile or physically immature players at this time. Similar to Utah, which is not a good defensive team, establishing your physicality can lead to improvement in the win/loss column. Toughness is mental. Some players have it and some do not. That is why Chris Wallace will establish our identity by the roster moves he makes this offseason...starting tonight with the 2008 NBA Draft.

So which players are in this draft do I think can help the Grizzlies establish an identity of toughness on the court:

1. Micheal Beasley - You can question his off the court antics if you want but when he laces up his shoes he is a beast. Wants contact on the inside. Might not be the defender people want him to be but neither is Carlos Boozer. Will be a double digit rebounder as a rookie. He just gets it done.

2. O. J. Mayo - He would totally transform the mentality of the Grizzlies. Mentally and physically tough and gets after it on defense. Very driven player. For better or for worse, he would be the dominant personality on the Grizzlies and he and Conley would form a dynamic backcourt for the next decade.

3. Kevin Love - Another guy who does not shy away from contact. Like the two players above him, Love brings a high level of skill along with his toughness. He just knows how to play. Not the greatest athlete but like ex-Grizz Battier, he will make up for it by knowing where to be on the court.

4. Danilo Gallinari - A tough Euro? Yes. Gallinari is unlike a lot of recent imports into the NBA. At 19, he was the number option on his Euroleague team and excelled in that role. Like Mayo and Love, he might not be the best athlete for his position but his mental toughness is at the top of the charts. Highly skilled for his position. Supposedly measured 6'10 in socks.

5. Joe Alexander - This late bloomer might be the best athlete in the draft. His awareness has not caught up with his physical gifts but he was highly productive in a major conference. Probably not an All Star but he his work ethic and mental make up is unreal.

6. Roy Hibbert - Shocked? If you watched his college career, you shouldn't be. Hibbert is an imposing player at 7'2 and 280 lbs. Unlike a lot of other more athletic bigs in this draft, Hibbert knows how to play basketball. He is slow of foot but can score enough that teams will have to account for him on offense. Plus he is a winner.

7. Courtney Lee - I had the pleasure of watching him workout and he is as athletic as anyone in this draft. I am not talking combine athlete. I am talking game time athlete. Gets tough rebounds in traffic and shows himself to be mentally tough as well. Very productive player in college. I think he could come in and give 20 minutes a game to any team in the league from day 1.

8. J.J. Hickson - He is young and physically imposing plus he has good hands. Not as skilled as some others on this list but he knows where his game is located...in the paint. He will be knocking people around in this league for the next 15 years.

9. D.J. White - Another player that understands his limitations. He will also earn his money in the paint. Good shotblocker for his size and has a very mature game. Only thing keeping him from a lock in the 1st round is injury concerns.

10. Jamont Gordon - I know the Grizzlies do not have a need at PG at this time but if Lowry, Conley or both are traded, Gordon could become an option at the end of the 1st round. He is the size of Eric Gordon but plays point guard at 6'3 and 230lbs. Very athletic and skilled. He is just a tough nose, get after it kind of player. He will be in some teams rotation next year and I would not be shocked to see him taken at the end of the 1st round.

Now obviously there are some other players that could add some toughness to the Grizzlies roster but these are the 10 I would not mind seeing in a Grizzlies uniform. The draft is just part of the equation of adding toughness. If Marc Gasol is not traded then he also will add some much needed toughness and skill to our front line. The whole mental makeup of the roster has to change. We need to go from a soft running team that does not defend well to a physical running team that plays hard at all times. This mentality must come from the coaching staff (iffy) and flow through the entire roster.

Workout Update: Butch, Mays and White

Well I finally saw a 28.

Not necessarily the 28 but definitely a potential 28th pick for the Grizzlies.

D.J. White (Indiana) showed himself to be a man among boys today when he worked out against Brian Butch (Wisconsin) and James Mays (Clemson).

At first I wasn't too impressed. He didn't seem to be that agile. He was obviously winded early on in the workout and his shot wasn't exactly beautiful or consistent. I was seeing the flaws in his game in an environment where the Grizzlies started off testing his weaknesses. Early on I was becoming impressed with James Mays who had the better outside shot, far more speed than White and seemed to be just as tall. It was close early on but I was more impressed with Mays at the beginning.

However, the workout eventually moved toward White's strengths and away from Mays. When defense, power play and toughness were tested White left everyone else behind. I don't remember how many times Mays had to pick himself up off the court in the last 30 minutes but it was at least 3 times and probably more. White treated him like a rag doll when he got in his way. White found the range on his shots as the workout went on and Mays' shot seemed to become more erratic the more fatigued he became.

If there was one drill that really set White's power apart from any other player I have seen slotted for the 28th pick it was near the end. In this drill the player had to hit the ball of the backboard twice before starting a full court break. Every player that did this drill tapped the ball off the glass and then took off running. White nearly put the ball through the backboard. BOOM, BOOM came the echo after each touch and still White was in control enough to make a clean pass and haul down the court to finish the break. It got everyone's attention even more so since it occurred so late in a very physical workout.

D.J. White has holes in his game. He showed almost no ability to separate from a defender with the ball, his outside shot has a range to at best 17 ft and he isn't an explosive leaper. However he is strong. Not just because he threw Mays to the court. Honestly a lot of people could have done that. No White's strength revealed itself more at the end of endurance drills. White had the strongest dunks to end the one minute drills that I have seen so far.

I don't know if he is going to be the player Memphis takes at 28 but he is definitely the most qualified candidate we have seen in Memphis so far for that spot.

James Mays didn't have a bad workout. He just didn't have a good one either and where he is weak, Memphis is weak so I don't seem him being a good fit. Mays is thin, athletic and very fast, but was too weak to hold his position in the lane when people got a body on him. His outside shot was nice but nothing to be awed about. He will probably go in the mid to late 2nd round and spend a year in the NBDL before heading to Europe for a nice career. I don't see him contributing in the NBA unless he gets a lot stronger or increases his ball skills on the perimeter. And as so many far more intelligent people than myself have said, if he doesn't have it now, it is most likely that isn't going to be something he develops later.

Brian Butch was deadly from outside. He has pretty close to NBA three point range, was automatic from 15-20 feet and showed a willingness to work very hard and a nice basketball IQ. However, he is slow and non-athletic. I don't like my 6-11 center's best move being a step back three point shot. Call me old fashioned I guess, but I want my center to be a bruiser. He had a couple of inches at least on both White and Mays yet it was White not Butch who made the impressive blocks during the workout. Butch can probably play European ball and find a nice career in some of the less physical leagues but I saw nothing that made me think he will be anything except a late 2nd rd pick who won't make it out of training camp. I could be wrong but I don't think so. I actually thought a few times during the workout that he may have a better career coaching than playing.

White clearly showed something missing from previous workouts with 28th picks including Joey's workout. White has a real nasty streak to him. He is skilled (what else would you expect coming out of 4 years at Indiana) but he also likes contact. I don't know if White will end up being the Grizzlies pick with the second draft spot. Honestly I don't know if he will be available with that pick but if he is then there ought to be a lot of serious consideration about making him a Grizzlies draft pick.

In other news Chris Wallace confirmed the Grizzlies are planning on working out Danillo Gallinari and Brook Lopez this weekend when on the West Coast. He also mentioned that the team is trying to get Eric Gordon in for a workout but have so far been unsuccessful getting a date set.