I know I haven't blogged in a while.
Daddy's sorry. He never meant to hurt you. Besides, he's just been too busy looking at Sarah Palin's head photoshopped on an American flag bikini.
Just kidding.
The fact is, there hasn't been much to talk about, other than occasional rumors about us trading for Eddie Winslow's body double Zach Randolph. Perhaps I was one of the few who were not vehemently against it. But that deal is dead now, so it is on to other things.
I see my fellow bloggers discussed the Josh Smith signing and how it fit into the 3 year plan. I'd add my 5 cents, but they already put their 15 in and got their mint.
So what is there? What is there to discuss during these dog days, this mundane existence called the basketball offseason...at least if you're a Grizz fan. We're more starved for attention than a red-headed stepchild.
I'm still thinking...
Oh yes. We apparently wanted Sun Yue in the Pau Gasol deal. Why exactly? I'll admit, I don't know much about Sun Yue other than hes...well, you know...one of those people that end in "ese." I think Marc Gasol will work out better for us, and not only because it will ease the transition of losing Pau and Mike because he looks like a combination of both.
I'm an opinion piece writer. I don't do stats. I don't do analysis really. My well is dried up in the offseason. How am I supposed to have an opinion about something when there is nothing new and newsworthy to have an opinion about? I'll count that among my many reasons that I am ready for the season to start. Here's to hoping the Grizzlies give me a lot of reasons to write...about how great theyre doing...in my opinion, of course.
Barring anything newsworthy, I will be back when the season begins and the fun starts. I'm going to spend the dog-days of basketball summer the way I spend the dog days of my summer. At my pool or on vacation with drinks in hand.
Who knows, if the weather gets too cold, maybe I can go back to photoshopping Sarah Palin's head on American flag bikinis.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
The Hum-Drum about the Hubbub
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Ok, let's talk about team photos
By now, you have undoubtedly seen the picture and heard the outrage and indignation caused when the Spanish men's national basketball team took a picture for an advertisement in the Spanish newspaper La Marca. Because Marc Gasol is a member of the Memphis Grizzlies (and Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro are former Grizzlies), I feel compelled to mention it, but at this point, I'm not sure what else there is to say. No matter what the intent was at the time, I think that we can all agree that it was a dumb, ill-conceived idea that should have been stopped by any number of people along the way. The team and the courier company for whom the ad was created should apologize, rather than offering a feeble defense about their true intention of it being a friendly wink to their Asian counterparts -- whether or not they truly believe an apology is in order. That way we can all move on from it and the P.C. Police can go find something else to set their sights on. I think most of my own thoughts are echoed in Henry Abbott's take on the matter, so be sure to check that piece out.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Links: Counting Down to the Draft
We participated in the Mock Draft being hosted by Ridiculous Upside today. You can click over there to find out who we selected at #5 after Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo and Eric Gordon went off the board in the first four picks. Also, check back on their site later this week to see who we take at #28.
DraftExpress has the details on who is in and who is out for the draft.
One of the players that is in, despite a knee injury, is Kansas State's Bill Walker, who the Grizzlies are reported to have some interest in. The Pistons (29th pick) are also said to be high on Walker.
Catching up with Mike Miller about the Grizzlies, Team USA and basketball clinics.
For a fantastic look at bloggers vs. traditional media on the issue of objectivity, head over to the Portland Tribune to see what Dwight Jaynes has to say about it.
Mike Kahn (FoxSports.com) says that former Grizzlies big man Pau Gasol is "in a much better place now".
Blog of the day: Eric Musselman's Basketball Blog
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Adrian Wojnarowski Stirs Things Up
I know that the Pau Gasol trade has been the running joke of the NBA world all spring, with Kobe calling it "a donation", Gregg Popovich calling it "beyond comprehension" and everyone else saying that Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace should be named the Lakers' team MVP. I understand that many fans were upset about what was accepted in return for the gifted 7-footer and that most of them continue to be irked about it. However, it seems that many people have forgotten to examine their history books when they label it "one of the NBA’s worst trades in years", as Wojnarowski does in his column. He states that "you don’t trade your franchise player without getting back a minimum of a sure-thing young star and/or two solid young starters". Oh really?
February 24, 2005: The Golden State Warriors acquired guard Baron Davis from the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday for guard Speedy Claxton and forward Dale Davis.
December 18, 2004: Vince Carter was traded by the Toronto Raptors to the New Jersey Nets for Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams and a pair of first-round draft picks.
August 19, 2003: The Dallas Mavericks finally made a major offseason move, acquiring Antawn Jamison in a nine-player trade with the Golden State Warriors. The Mavericks also got guard Jiri Welsch and forwards Danny Fortson and Chris Mills from the Warriors for guards Nick Van Exel, Avery Johnson and Antoine Rigaudeau, center Evan Eschmeyer and forward Popeye Jones in the deal.
June 17, 1992: Charles Barkley was traded to the Phoenix Suns from the Philadelphia 76ers for Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang, and Tim Perry.
I think I've made my point, haven't I? I'm confident in saying that the Sixers, Warriors, Hornets and Raptors not only bounced back from those seemingly one-sided trades, but actually became better teams down the road because of the trade. So now that I've shown evidence that you cannot judge a trade in just a matter of a few months, how about we take a closer look at the rest of this column, shall we?
The title of it was quite eye-catching: Memphis owner now questions value of Gasol deal. I mean, that's sure to set tongues to wagging and drive traffic, isn't it? I wonder what exactly it was that Wojnarowski got in his 15-minute interview by cell phone (cut short by his own admission) that we were unable to glean in talking to Michael Heisley face-to-face for over 90 minutes? After all, we have Heisley's words out there for everyone to see in five parts (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5), where he describes quite clearly why the Gasol trade went down the way it did. But Wojnarowski has this quote that makes things less clear:
“I don’t know if I got the most value,” Heisley confessed. “Maybe our people should’ve shopped (Gasol) more and maybe we would’ve gotten more, done a better deal. Maybe Chris did call every team in the league. I don’t think he did, but maybe he should’ve…”
Yes, maybe Wallace should have called every team in the league. I mean, it's not like Pau Gasol had been surrounded by trade rumors for over a year since the word of his closed door meeting with Heisley was leaked out to the press and then categorically labeled a "trade demand". Sure, Chicago had seemed to be the most logical destination, given their outstanding need for a low-post presence. But if a team had interest in acquiring the Spaniard, wouldn't their GM have at least made a perfunctory phone call to see what Wallace might have been willing to accept? Doesn't that seem logical?
Well of course it bloody well does! But -- after none of them made an offer that would give the Grizzlies a young star in the making, they went for the next best thing: cap relief and draft picks - the staple of a rebuilding effort. The offer that the Bulls allegedly made (Nocioni, Thomas, Noah, Sefolosha and Griffin) would have put the Grizzlies back into position of being marginally talented, which is good enough for a few years' worth of first round exits in the Western Conference. With the deal that was accepted, the Grizzlies have the opportunity to start over from the ground floor up, as the Raptors, Hornets and Warriors did before them. I'm sick and tired of having to explain this over and over and over to people whose vision and scope stops at the end of their own nose. You cannot judge a trade after 4 months -- especially if future draft picks are involved -- and you cannot judge a draft class after only one season. Proper, informed evaluations take time -- which is lost on everyone in this "instant history" day and age.
The crux of my objection to Adrian Wojnarowski's column is that I feel he is misrepresenting his writing. This appears to me as though it is an opinion-based column posing as an interview. He uses only 6 direct quotes in an 1100+ word column by my count. The rest is his opinion and conjecture. To wit:
When much of the league was determined to make a serious bid for the 7-footer, how could Memphis settle so long before the February trade deadline for such a paltry offer out of the Lakers?
For the first time, even Heisley wondered whether his general manager, Chris Wallace, blew it by caving so soon to the Lakers.
Crittenton is nothing special...
There isn't one, single fact in the three statements above. There is a lot of opinion though. Wojnarowski has shaped this column to reflect either his own viewpoint or at least that which he feels will drive the most traffic. I have no problem with that from a columnist -- as long as they are clear about their intention to do so. Picking and choosing from quotes, while (in all likelihood) leaving out the parts that don't lend themselves to his goal, only gives media members an even worse reputation. Up until this point, I had always like Adrian Wojnarowski. From now on, I'll be a lot more wary of taking his writing at face value though.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Pau opens his mouth and I tell him to shut it
I read this in the Commercial Appeal when it came out Friday morning and just shook my head. I mean, it is one thing for a player who felt like he was treated poorly (say...Bonzi Wells) to come back and say things about his former franchise. But for a guy that the team paid max money to and labeled their franchise player to come out with the following quotes....well that's just unacceptable in my opinion.
Pau Gasol: No matter what, the Grizzlies aren't going to be able to put themselves in position to win a championship. I don't think that's ever going to happen. I think it's just the way it is. We just couldn't do it. We had Jerry West as a GM. If you can't do it with Jerry West, I don't think there's many ways you can. We had Hubie (Brown) and Mike Fratello -- good coaches. It wasn't enough. I don't think the Grizzlies will ever have enough to be at that highest level. There's a lot needed.
Well, well, well. That's some interesting material to digest right there. Now, to make sure I was not taking this out of context, I read and re-read the entire article several times. After all, he is very complimentary of owner Michael Heisley making sure that he was traded to a contender and he even had good things to say about first year head coach Marc Iavaroni. But for whatever reason, he felt like dropping that nugget right in the middle of the interview that also discusses the half-empty FedEx Forum and feeling more appreciated in Los Angeles more than Memphis.
I think my biggest problem with what he said is that it comes across as being somewhat arrogant as it is tied to what the team was able to do with him as the best player on the team during its time in Memphis. This is a discussion that Grizzlies fans have often had and the refrain has almost always been the same: If the team gets a player better than Gasol to play alongside him, they can be a legitimate threat in the West. After all, now he's playing with one of, if not THE, best player in the NBA and is enjoying unprecedented success. If the Grizzlies had won the lottery last year and been able to put a Greg Oden or Kevin Durant next to Gasol, do you think he'd be in Forum blue and gold right now? I doubt it.
Look at what the New Orleans Hornets have done since drafting Chris Paul. They have gone from bottom feeder to the top record in the Western Conference. One great player surrounded by the right mixture of talent and chemistry can be enough to do serious damage. Look at what the Cleveland Cavaliers did last year with LeBron James and not much else. Look at that 76er's team that Allen Iverson carried to the Finals when the rest of the team was a bunch of non-descript role players. Great players can take teams to the next level.
This isn't meant to denigrate Pau Gasol, as I was an advocate of keeping him with this team even after his trade request last year. I still believe that the team could have kept him and put a winning team on the floor next season. But for him to make a statement like that is just the height of self-importance in my unvarnished opinion. Gasol is a solid 2nd banana on a title contender, as he is showing in LaLa Land. He never was The Man for the Grizzlies and never will be for the Lakers. So just because he wasn't able to lead Memphis to postseason success doesn't mean that Chris Wallace won't be able to bring in players through the draft, free agency and trades that can.
Pau -- I enjoyed watching you play in Memphis for six and a half seasons and truly wish you the best with your new franchise. But the next time you think about telling your former franchise and their fans what you feel they are and are not capable of, don't. We don't care because you no longer have any valid input about the situation.
For some other great thoughts on this subject, check out Grizzlies' PA Announcer Rick Trotter's blog, as he has some tremendous commentary to share with all of you.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Links: All-Star Hangover Edition
Hope everyone enjoyed the All-Star weekend festivities. I, myself, didn't actually watch any of it other than the Slam Dunk contest, because the Rookie/Sophmore game is an abomination, the Celebrity game and Shooting Stars competition are beyond horrendous and I find the Skills Challenge and 3-point Shootout rather pedantic. And, of course, the Knight Rider movie came on last night, so I skipped the All-Star game. Priorities and all. I know that Hardwood Paroxysm made the trip down there and snapped a quick picture of Juan Carlos Navarro, so that's something, I guess.
Chris Herrington compiled the Top 10 Grizzlies Dunks in preparation of the Dunk Contest.
The 700Level.com has the lowdown on what the Sixers' scouting report for newly acquired player-coach Aaron McKie looked like the other night.
- Savvy vet
- Not as good a shooter as he thinks
- Used to defend
- Don't guard
- Rotate off of him
Trade Talk: Miller/Lowry to Denver? Lowry to Cleveland?
Even though it doesn't make the news every time it happens, the Grizzlies try to do their part in the community. Hakim Warrick does his part in his hometown, too.
Speaking of Hak, Empty the Bench lists him as one of their Ten NBA Players Poised for Better Things Down the Stretch, along with rookie Mike Conley. Some interesting analysis to be read there.
Pau Gasol is adapting to the Triangle just fine. Now, will somebody get him the number to a real estate agent?
Speaking of Pau, add Tim Duncan to those who think the trade was fairly craptastic. Wait, what's that? Tim Duncan whining about something? I'm shocked.
In the "piling on" portion of the program, we have Epic Carnival saying that Chris Wallace is no Rocket Surgeon.
The Bismarck Tribune has a nice article on assistant coach Dave Joerger.
Blog/Website of the Day: The 22 Worst Dunks Ever
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Links: NBA Officiating, Gasol Trade Review, Team Names, Rudy Illustration
One of these days, the guys over at Hardwood Paroxysm are going to stop looking to us for answers. Until that happens, we're going to keep pulling answers out of our nether regions. This time around, they wanted to talk about NBA officiating. Well, that's one of our favorite subjects to vent our frustrations about, so we quite willingly obliged.
Chris Mannix (SI.com) thinks that the Memphis Grizzlies -- and Chris Wallace in particular -- might be a little in over their heads right now, given what they got in return for former franchise player Pau Gasol. Once you get past his biting sarcasm, it isn't hard to find some common ground to agree with him on, though.
Rooktopia has taken it upon themselves to rate the Western Conference's teams based solely upon their name. You'll be happy to know that while they only gave the Grizzlies 4/5, they do have a solution that would make them, along with 2 other teams, tops in the league.
Joel Kimmel has another fantastic illustration up on his blog -- this time of Rudy Gay in a representation of a dunk he'd like to see performed in the Dunk Contest.
Blog/Website of the Day: Basketbawful
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Wallace Explains Pau Trade to Ticket Holders in Stunning Presentation
From Zack
Wow!
As a guest, I was able to attend a season ticket holder Chalk Talk before the Bucks game. Assistant Coach Dave Joerger, still injured PG Micheal Conley and now infamous GM Chris Wallace were the guests to address a very, very brave and possibly stupid crowd (tornadoes were at the time ravaging the Memphis metro area, serioulsy).
I'll repeat, Chris Wallace addressed a group of season ticket holders only days after the epic, Pau Gasol-to-the-Lakers trade, which 9 out of 10 NBA analysts claim was grand theft and questioned Wallace's sanity. And moreover, these fans showed up despite possibly having a home in or drove through areas that were getting pounded by deadly tornadoes. You're excited about what is coming next, aren't you?
Wallace (referred to as CW for the rest of the post) spoke last. He spent the first part of the event behind a white board writing while others were talking and being asked questions. When it was CW's time to speak, he turned the board around and then gave a presentation on why he traded Pau Gasol. As a Griz fan, it was stunning to hear, to be truthful. His conviction and skills to persuade were impressive. His message was presented clearly and convincingly. Essentially he had two objectives. First, to explain the decision to trade Pau (this was done with absolute certainty, I doubt anyone left there not 100% in belief that trading Pau was essential for the franchise to have serious chances at future playoff success...to further reiterate and be completely clear, CW hit a home run presenting his argument for trading Pau). Second, CW talked about the benefits of the L.A. trade (this part was less convincing than the need to simply trade Pau).
CW started by turning the board around to show off 3 columns. Column 1 was the Western Conference standings. Certainly you can guess what this was intended to show (hint, it starts with the the #13 and implies we SUCK).
Column 2 was a list titled "Pau".
Pau
--48 million over 3 years
--Durability
--Summer Activity
--0-12 in Playoffs
--Good 4's Available in Draft
--3-4 Without Pau; 5 More PPG
Column 3 was a list titled "Trade".
Trade
-- Cap Space: 12-14 Million Possible in '08
-- Cap Space: 17 Millions Possible in '09
-- 5-7 Players in Return
-- 4 "1st rounders"
-- Restructure Salary
I'm not going to detail exactly what CW said minute by minute, instead here is a long list of things I remember that were of interest. Take into account a lot of this is paraphrased and it is entirely possible that some of it is recited sightly differently than originally said by CW.
-- The Griz are not better than their record. CW says he agrees with Coach Parcells idea about being exactly what your record says you are. We are a 13 win team and something needed done. He compared it to making a halftime adjustment.
-- Top level talent wins in the NBA and playoff wins are what is most important. CW essentially said that players that make as much as Pau was scheduled to make (48 million in the next 3 years) are expected to win playoff games and that most do. CW's plan is get us into the thick of the best Western Conference teams. He figures if we kept Pau and built around him we would likely only slowly inch up the standings, which won't suffice.
-- CW was not comfortable with Pau playing for Spain. I was floored by the admission. I'll admit I'm a little nervous about posting this item (although CW did admit that the NBA is filled with information leaks, case-in-point). CW made an off-hand comment about no media being in the room because the NBA is friendly towards national summer play and he was getting ready to, in essence, bash it. If I wasn't so nervous, you can bet I'd lead with this item and mention it in the post title for a dramatic effect. But make no mistake about it. I was floored by CW's admission that Pau playing for Spain had an effect on the decision to trade Pau (don't underestimate how much Pau's injury while playing for Spain ruined his image in Memphis). The second thing CW mentioned when making the case against keeping Pau was that he has had durability issues and is scheduled to play for Spain again next summer. He was not comfortable worrying about what might happen to Pau. In fact, he was not comfortable with summer national play at all. For instance, he mentioned Darko being forced to run cross-country in the mountains during practice for the Serbia National Team only days after signing a contract with the Griz. He mentioned that unlike NBA training camp, national team practices aren't regulated by the NBA. This presents a big risk for NBA teams that have their players, particularly fragile franchise players, playing National Team summer ball.
-- CW doesn't want to end up on the wrong side of big, crippling contract. CW explained to the ticket holders that NBA contracts are guaranteed (unlike in football). A consequence of that is big, long contracts can cripple teams towards the end of the contract depending on how well that player is playing and how well that players body is holding up. He mentioned that NBA basketball is a physically demanding sport and bodies can suddenly deteriorate. It was clear that CW is looking to build around a core group of talented players that are in their lower 20's.
-- Need more talent. This was a common refrain mentioned many times. In general, the Griz need more talent to properly compete in the Western Conference. The Pau trade could net up to 5-7 new players, all of which could help fill the talent gap.
-- Emphasized cap room. Either this summer or next summer, the Griz can be major players in the free agent market. When asked about free agents not wanting to go to Memphis, CW replied with they follow the money. For example, this summer, with only a fraction of that cap space, many players were inquiring about Memphis.
-- Phone is ringing off the hook. CW says that after the Pau trade, this is as much contact from other GM's he's ever seen, with just about every team inquiring about our players (I'm sure most are assuming there is a firesale going on, while some might actually like our players).
-- Flexibility. The Laker trade, by acquiring picks and cap space, allows CW to be flexible going forward.
-- Collins is a student of the game. When asked about the Stro-Collins trade, the most interesting comment was that Collins is a great student. CW said that on the flight to Memphis, Collins was studying his Griz Scouting Report written by the NJ Nets so he can be as prepared as possible. Can any Griz fan see Stro doing this? Didn't think so.
-- Understands that winning is important. CW knows that winning is most important and also important for him to keep his job.
-- CW and Iavaroni gave it a chance to work. CW reiterates that him and the coaching staff gave it a chance to work, but they all agree that the Griz can't be serious contenders staying on the current course.
-- About Marc Gasol. CW said that Marc is likely to play in the NBA (even if not for the Griz) and that one way or another the Griz will benefit (i.e., "go thru us").
-- The team was just as good (er, bad) with or without Pau. Although he admitted the sample size wasn't statistically significant, this team was no better or worse with or without Pau. I heard on the radio this week that in the last 2 or so years, the team won 27% of with Pau and 28% without.
-- Despite not directly bashing Pau, there wasn't anything positive said about him. I don't really want to elaborate on this, but the whole thing wasn't exactly praising of Pau.
-- About questions. I expected there to be a lot of hard hitting questions about either trading Pau in the first place and then (on the surface) not getting that much back in return. CW's excellent sales pitch to why the Griz had to trade Pau convinced everyone (or at least almost everyone) in the room, I'm certain. Some people asked hard questions about why they should continue to buy season tickets and CW gave obvious response centered around his plan to build a winner, how exciting the Griz are to watch play, how having an NBA team is such a rare treat, how popular the NBA is all over the world, and how great NBA players will be in town playing on a regular basis.
I'm sure I am forgetting something about what CW said, sorry. I can't believe how much CW's philosophies presented sounded like our very own MemphisX. I am stunned at his admission of not being comfortable with Pau's summer activity with the Spain National Team. In all, CW gave a great presentation, was brutally honest and quite convincing. The stuff with Coach Joerger and Micheal Conley were really non-eventful. The most interesting comment to pass along was when Conley was asked about the Tigers and responded that he was the last one to beat them.
Welcome back to Dunkyland!
When I got the phone call, I was sure that someone was just having some fun at my expense. "Pau Gasol traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton and two 1st round draft picks." My initial reaction was "hey -- those salaries don't work" (yeah, I know it is pathetic that I know the salary structures for 80% of the teams in league -- quit laughing), but then I was told that they had resigned Aaron McKie to make it work. "Isn't he with the Sixers now?" Yet another sign of the ridiculousness of this trade. The Lakers traded the Sixers assistant coach to the Grizzlies. You cannot make stuff like that up.
For the next 48 hours I felt.........numb. I couldn't even begin to comprehend what had happened, so I couldn't feel anything about the trade. Well, other than a tremendous feeling of being cursed with the worst timing in the history of blogging. However, in the last two days, I have read two phenomenal viewpoints of the trade that have made me see just what this trade really means for Memphis. The first one was Pete Pranica's post on Grizz Blogs. The second was Hardwood Paroxysm's account of the trade. Slowly, I began to see the sun peeking through the clouds.
So now I am left at a crossroads. On the one hand, the Gasol trade has left the Grizzlies with cap space for the upcoming offseason (estimated $10-15 million), an additional draft pick for a great talent evaluator in Chris Wallace to use and a young player with good potential in Javaris Crittenton. They will be able to rebuild this team from the ground up, using Mike Conley and Rudy Gay as the foundation, with Darko Milicic and Crittenton as key players. Then you factor in two more young players with potential in the draft this summer and the talent level of this team going forward should increase dramatically.
It sounds like they won't use their cap space this offseason, given that this isn't a particularly enticing unrestricted free agent crop to pair with a group of young athletic players, preferring to roll it over to the 2009 offseason, where there are a lot of attractive FA's of the "right age". Factor in another 18 months of growth/maturity for Conley/Gay/Darko and this team could improve by leaps and bounds. So there is reason to have hope for the future of this franchise, including a return to the postseason as soon as the 2009/10 season.
On the other hand, this move was obviously business first, basketball a distant second. Even though it is mostly being reported that Chris Wallace pitched the idea to owner Michael Heisley, this one has Heisley grimy little fingerprints all over it. Wallace has been in print and on the radio several times this season saying that he did not want an expiring contract to be the central piece in return for either Gasol or Mike Miller in a trade. Lo and behold, what did he say about the acquisition of Kwame Brown? "He was the biggest expiring deal we could get." Now, I'm familiar with GM speak and know it when I see it. This 180 degree turnaround did not seem like a case of GM speak. Rather, it seems more likely that it was a directive from Heisley to Wallace -- not the other way around.
If that is the case, then this trade was a salary dump, plain and simple. If this is nothing more than a way to lower the outstanding contracts on the team to make it easier for Heisley to either sell the team to an outside group or to force the local group of minority owners to meet his asking price, then Memphis fans have been duped and taken advantage of as pawns. Pawns who shelled out money for a team that they expected to be competitive this year, even if they weren't expecting a return to the playoffs. Now they get to watch a team that has 13 wins so far and probably won't match last year's total of 22 victories. Not only is that a hard pill to swallow, it is an even harder sell for the sales/marketing staff. As Geoff Calkins pointed out in his column Saturday, can you imagine what that sales call will be like? It won't be pretty, I can assure you. This team didn't draw well when they were making the postseason and actively trying to get better. How low will attendance drop now that the rest of this season is a foregone conclusion and next year won't be much better? When does the attendace clause of the team's lease actually go into effect? (Speaking of attendance, Mark Cuban says get off your butt and do something if your attendance sucks.)
So while I would love to go along with the idea that this was a move made with the team's best interests in mind, if I have learned one thing in life, it is that rich, powerful people usually get what they want. Michael Heisley is a billionaire, so he gets what he wants and then takes the rest. If the team resurrects itself over the next two or three seasons, then I'll accept that Heisley is not, in fact, the Anti-Christ. If he uses this move as leverage to sell the team to a group like the Brian Davis-led flunkies who only have enough money to buy the team and nothing more, then I'm starting a blog dedicated to trashing Heisley. Either way, only time will tell what is to come for this team.
Welcome back to Dunkyland!
Links: Gasol trade fallout
It's gonna take awhile to get used to that image.Hardwood Paroxysm has one of the best viewpoints of what the Gasol trade truly means for the future of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Chad Ford (ESPN Insider) lists 10 teams he thinks could have provided a trade for Gasol that would have been as good as what the Lakers were offering.
The Blowtorch has a suggestion for the Grizzlies' new lineup: Busts and Boobies.
Hoopsworld lists the Grizzlies among its "Coldest Teams of January". That's not a good thing, I can assure you.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Links: Conley at practice, Collins for Swift trade completed, Pete's Perspective, 20 Questions
According to Graham Kendrick, Mike Conley was at practice today and should play in tomorrow night's contest against the Milwaukee Bucks. That's good news as the team could really use his steadying influence right now.
The trade that sent Stromile Swift to the New Jersey Nets for F/C Jason Collins and cash considerations was completed today. Collins is known around the league as a solid defender, which has been one of the Grizzlies' major shortcomings this season.
Now that I'm over the shock of the Gasol trade and have begun to consider what it all means, I'll probably post something regarding my thoughts on it later in the week. You can be assured that when I do it will include a lot of references to this recent post from Pete Pranica.
Make sure you visit Beyond the Arc to read the 20 questions that Chris Herrington asks and answers regarding the trade and where the Grizzlies go from here.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
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 MemphisAugust 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 Griz3pm, 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!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Time for the Beanstalk to Grow - Reaction to the Pau Gasol trade
Friday, February 1, 2008
More on the Gasol-Gasol Trade
From Zack
Just thought I'd put up some more reaction to the Gasol-Lakers trade.
-- I would have liked to seen one (or both) of these modifications to the trade:
1. Include Ronnie Turiaf.
2. Include Brian Cardinal and then make Aaron McKie's 1 year sign/trade contract worth more.
-- The big question(s). Will more or less people attend Grizzlies games for the rest of the year? Will more or less people buy/renew their season tickets in the offseason?
-- It looks like Rudy and Hak will be playing all the available minutes at the PF spot from now on. Of course, Rudy will see some time at the 3 too, but I don't see anyone outside of Hak playing at the 4 when Rudy isn't.
-- I feel particularly cursed with Darko and Kwame on the same team. The first time they are both on the court on the same time - which i don't think will happen much, see above - lightning might just strike the arena down. The Basketball Gods will not look favorably upon this. This also explains the urgency to trade Stro as soon as possible. Stro, Darko, and Kwame together would be too much for the basketball universe to survive through.
-- We have a traffic jam of elite PG prospects. That is of course if Javaris Crittenton isn't also a SG. My impression so far this season was that he would be a good SG too. Either way, Wallace implied one of the three would be used as a trade asset later on down the road to improve another spot. Lowry, the lesser player of the three, is the obvious one to go (Conley is a better passer, Javaris is a better shooter and taller and can play SG). However the counterpoint to trading Lowry is that he has the lowest trade value of the three as well. I mean, in a trade by himself, how is someone like a Rodney Carney going to help us. Our 2008 Lakers pick could get us a player as good or better than someone Lowry could be traded for straight up. So the other avenue is as sweetener in a bigger trade. Great, then we can brag that trading Pau helped us use Lowry as a sweetener'. Anyway, I think this also makes it less likely we re-sign Navarro next year, and something in me sees a possible Sasha Pavlovich saga occurring next year with JC.
-- That trade for Rudy is looking more and more important to this franchise. Would anyone argue that we got more in return for Shane than we did for Pau?
-- Time for Rudy step up and seize control of the team.
-- I will admit I am pretty excited to watch Jarvaris Crittenton play.
-- I was wrong about Pau and Navarro being handcuffed. I was also wrong about Wallace waiting until the offseason to trade Pau.
-- Marc Gasol? Really? Marc Gasol?
-- Looks like we need to get MemphisX to devote more time to informing us about the upcoming draft class. No reason to stop at the top 10 anymore. We need to know about the top 30 picks.
-- Time to watch those inverted standings!
-- Wallace acknowledged (or should that be admitted?) to changing his mind about only getting expiring contracts in return to Pau. I'm sure the obvious conclusion is that Heisley forced that change of heart, but I'm not so sure. Interesting turn of events, nonetheless. Check back here all weekend long for more Gasol commentary.
Some random links about the trade
ESPN - Marc Stein
Fox - Rosen
SI - Burns
SI - Scouts Take
CBS - Mejia
Herrington Quick Press Conference Notes (more analysis promised to be coming later...looking forward to it)
Wallace on Chris Vernon Show (audio)
Verno's Original Cryptic Post from Last Night
Verno's Full Trade Details
Tillery's Original Breaking News of Deal
Tillery's Follow-up
AOL Fanhouse Roundtable
AOL Fanhouse on the Big Summer for the Griz
AOL Fanhouse on Original Gasol News
AOL Fanhouse on Verno's Post
Kelly Dwyer on Trade
NBA.com on the Trade (and with a link back to us)
Forum Blue and Gold
Marcus Camby on Trade
RealGM Grades the Trade
Gasol vs. Kwame Brown + 2 in Stats
The franchise players is gone! Here is what the Grizz got in return!
See full stats onGriz Board here.
Kwame Brown #54 Center | |||||||||||||||
 | 2007-08 Statistics | ||||||||||||||
| PPG 5.7 | |||||||||||||||
| RPG 5.70 | |||||||||||||||
| APG 1.2 | |||||||||||||||
EFF + 8.74 | |||||||||||||||
| Born: Mar 10, 1982 | |||||||||||||||
| Height: 6-11 / 2,11 | |||||||||||||||
| Weight: 270 lbs. / 122,5 kg. | |||||||||||||||
| High Sch: Glynn Academy (GA) | |||||||||||||||
| Years Pro: 6 | |||||||||||||||
Career Season Averages | |||||||||||||||
Yr | G | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | OFF | DEF | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
| 07-08 | 23 | 14 | 22.1 | 0.515 | 0.000 | 0.406 | 1.3 | 4.3 | 5.7 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.61 | 2.50 | 5.7 |
| Car | 389 | 185 | 24.1 | 0.484 | 0.125 | 0.602 | 1.9 | 3.8 | 5.7 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.47 | 2.30 | 7.6 |
Pau Gasol #16 Forward - Center | |||||||||||||||
 | 2007-08 Statistics | ||||||||||||||
| PPG 18.9 | |||||||||||||||
| RPG 8.80 | |||||||||||||||
| APG 3.0 | |||||||||||||||
| EFF + 22.33 | |||||||||||||||
| Born: Jul 6, 1980 | |||||||||||||||
| Height: 7-0 / 2,13 | |||||||||||||||
| Weight: 260 lbs. / 117,9 kg. | |||||||||||||||
| From: Spain | |||||||||||||||
| Years Pro: 6 | |||||||||||||||
Career Season Averages | |||||||||||||||
Yr | G | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | OFF | DEF | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
| 07-08 | 39 | 39 | 36.7 | 0.501 | 0.267 | 0.819 | 2.4 | 6.4 | 8.8 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 2.05 | 2.20 | 18.9 |
| Car | 476 | 470 | 35.5 | 0.509 | 0.230 | 0.730 | 2.5 | 6.1 | 8.6 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 2.60 | 2.40 | 18.8 |
+
Javaris Crittenton #1 Guard | |||||||||||||||
 | 2007-08 Statistics | ||||||||||||||
| PPG 3.3 | |||||||||||||||
| RPG 1.00 | |||||||||||||||
| APG 0.8 | |||||||||||||||
EFF + 2.73 | |||||||||||||||
| Born: Dec 31, 1987 | |||||||||||||||
| Height: 6-5 / 1,96 | |||||||||||||||
| Weight: 200 lbs. / 90,7 kg. | |||||||||||||||
| College: Georgia Tech | |||||||||||||||
| Years Pro: Rookie | |||||||||||||||
Career Season Averages | |||||||||||||||
Yr | G | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | OFF | DEF | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
| 07-08 | 22 | 0 | 7.8 | 0.491 | 0.333 | 0.679 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.00 | 0.50 | 3.3 |
Aaron McKie #2 Guard | |||||||||||||||
 | 2007-08 Statistics | ||||||||||||||
| PPG 0.0 | |||||||||||||||
| RPG 0.0 | |||||||||||||||
| APG 0.0 | |||||||||||||||
EFF + ? | |||||||||||||||
| Born: Oct 2, 1972 | |||||||||||||||
| Height: 6-5 / 1,96 | |||||||||||||||
| Weight: 209 lbs. / 94,8 kg. | |||||||||||||||
| College: Temple | |||||||||||||||
| Years Pro: 13 | |||||||||||||||
Career Season Averages | |||||||||||||||
Yr | G | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | OFF | DEF | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PF | PPG |
| 05-06 | 1 | 0 | 8.0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.0 |
| Car | 75 | 26 | 28.5 | 0.437 | 0.385 | 0.801 | 0.6 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 1.35 | 2.50 | 9.5 |
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