Links: Draft News

First up is the Commercial Appeal, where Ron Tillery reports live from Orlando:

What some critics view as nominal compensation in receiving the Los Angeles Lakers' 28th pick in the first round of the June 26 draft, Griz general manager Chris Wallace sees as a calculated risk that can pay high dividends.

He also lists some players that the Grizzlies might be targeting:

Among the players the Griz will consider at 28 are: Wayne Ellington (North Carolina), Shan Foster (Vanderbilt), Darnell Jackson (Kansas), Jeremy Pargo (Gonzaga), Richard Hendrix (Alabama), Joey Dorsey (Memphis), Davon Jefferson (Southern California), Trent Plaisted (Brigham Young) and JR Giddens (New Mexico).

Of course, the name that stands out to most Memphis fans is that of Joey Dorsey, as evidenced by our poll to the right. However, Geoff Calkins says "Now, don't get all sentimental on us, Grizzlies" when it comes time to make the tough choices in the draft. In fact, he outlines a few flawed ideas that many fans have about the draft this year. It is a great read that I highly recommend.

After Chris Herrington posted this blog entry last week, the Grizzlies Messageboards lit up with the idea that new assistant coach Kevin O'Neill was being brought in as a replacement for head coach Marc Iavaroni. I said then that it was nothing more than conjecture (which Chris himself admitted from the beginning) and maintain the same stance now. Fortunately, Pete Pranica rode in just in time to back up what I said upon hearing of the news:

Back now, I’ve been encouraged by the reports of hiring Kevin O’Neill as an assistant coach for Marc Iavaroni’s staff. O’Neill has a track record of putting good defensive teams on the floor. Give credit to the Grizzlies’ front office and coaching staff for considering the move as it underscores their commitment to addressing the Grizz’s most glaring weakness.

This is a great move to shore up an obvious weakness and everyone should leave the conspiracy theories alone for a little while.

There have also been a number of trade rumors floating around, which is not unusual leading up to the draft. Some of the more entertaining ones:

Hoopsworld: PG's for Sale? - "We've heard rumors that the Heat would deal their #2 overall pick to the Grizzlies for #5 and either Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry, Juan Carlos Navarro, or Javaris Crittenton. In fact, basically any team that needs a point guard is rumored to have a trade scenario on the table or at least in discussion with Memphis GM Chris Wallace. The simple truth, however, is that the Grizzlies are not nearly as infatuated with making a deal as the rumor folks would have you believe."

DraftExpress - "There is already some talk that Minnesota will look to make a trade with Memphis GM Chris Wallace, who would then have the option of fortifying his front-court by drafting Brook Lopez at #3, or swinging for the fences and taking O.J. Mayo. Memphis could offer Minnesota the young prospect of their choice in Kyle Lowry, Hakim Warrick or Javaris Crittenton to help facilitate the deal. Wallace only has two more years left on his contract and needs to make as big a splash as possible in this draft to jump-start Memphis’ rebuilding process, meaning he could be leaning more towards taking Mayo, especially if his team is drafting 5th."

Blazers Blog (OregonLive.com) - "It appears the Memphis Grizzlies have interest, offering Mike Miller to Portland for Travis Outlaw and the No. 13. Excuse me? As expected, Kevin Pritchard and the Blazers respectfully declined the offer." Chris Wallace strongly denied this offer ever took place while talking to Chris Vernon on 730 ESPN yesterday afternoon.

Speaking of Mike Miller, he and his wife made the local news recently by donating $200,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. That is the single largest donation to the hospital by an individual Grizzlies player. Good job Mike and Jennifer!

Websites to read while waiting for the draft:
Ridiculous Upside
Wages of Wins Draft Preview
DraftExpress
Yahoo! Sports: Pre-draft camp Day 2
2008 NBA Mock Draft Database (DC Pro Sports)

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

Nice to see that they think enough of him to have some fun at his expense.

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

Give for Grizz

Eric McMahon, the man behind the mask as GRIZZ at the Grizzlies basketball games, has been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphona. Wikipedia has this entry on the disease:

Hodgkin's lymphoma, also known as Hodgkin's disease, is a type of lymphoma first described by Thomas Hodgkin in 1832. Hodgkin's lymphoma is characterized clinically by the orderly spread of disease from one lymph node group to another and by the development of systemic symptoms with advanced disease. Pathologically, the disease is characterized by the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells. Hodgkin's lymphoma was one of the first cancers to be cured by radiation. Later it was one of the first to be cured by combination chemotherapy. The cure rate is about 93%, making it one of the most curable forms of cancer.

This is good news for Eric and the fans of the team who wish him nothing but a speedy recovery.
The team has set up a Friends of Grizz program in support of Eric. The fund will raise money for the St. Jude's Childrens Hospital and the families of those children being treated there. The team store will begin selling wristbands in support of this effort on January 15th (the Cleveland Cavs game). We hope everyone will buy these wristbands to show their support.

However Memphis can do more. The men at 3 Shades of Blue encourage everyone to make a donation to the St. Jude's Hospital in the name of Grizz to show our support for Eric and his fight to beat this disease. During the holiday season it is a great time to remember those less fortunate than ourselves. The men at 3 Shades of Blue are kicking off this totally voluntary effort with a $500 donation in the name of GRIZZ.

Fans can send cards and get well wishes to Eric, care of Grizz, to 191 Beale Street, Memphis, Tennessee, 38103, or via e-mail at grizz@grizzlies.com. Fans wishing to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital can log on to http://www.stjude.org/.

May you have a speedy recovery and all of our prayers are with you Eric. Your presence will be missed at the games but you will not be out of our thoughts. Throught out the season different teams mascots will be dropping by to support Eric and keep the home crowd entertained. A very nice gesture by the teams and the men who work as the mascots.

Links: Recognition for Rudy, Toy Drive

Short on news today, but I'll give you what I've got.

You can add Sports Illustrated to the list of those who have recognized the improvement and progression Rudy Gay has made in his 2nd year. Ian Thomsen ranked Rudy as the 4th Most Improved Player for this year. It is a good article with this great quote:

"He's picking up the whole idea of seeing what are they giving me," coach Marc Iavaroni said. "If the defense says you should be going to the basket, then you should be going to the basket. If they give you a shot, then it's your duty to take that shot."

The Memphis Grizzlies are holding their annual Toy Drive on Monday, December 10 from 6-8 PM at the Hilton. You can find out more details at Grizzlies.com.

Website/Blog of the Day: The Painted Area

Links: Damon's Charitable Efforts, Rudy's Improvement, Kelly Dwyer, Blues Music, Hollinger, Tight Pants

Fresh off of the Grizzlies feed in the sidebar comes the news that Damon Stoudamire will take 100 children on a Christmas shopping trip to Sam's Club next week. According to Grizzlies.com, photos of the trip will be available on December 14th. As always, it is great to see members of the Grizzlies organization doing their part to help out the community.

The Bleacher Report lists Rudy Gay amongst its "Polished Gems", players they feel have improved their games the most.

Kelly Dwyer (formerly of SI.com, now with Yahoo! Sports) listed last night's contest with Houston as his "Game to pay attention to". KD seems to have a good grasp of what the team is trying to do right now. I wish I was able to look past the disappointing losses and do the same.

The Blues Foundation reports that the Grizzlies are looking for help in finding blues music to use on Blues Night on January 30th. Send your ideas to The Blues Foundation.

John Hollinger has a new toy. Don't know how accurate it is but it should put the 'playoffs now' people in a tizzy. Hollinger's PER Ratings are up as well and you will never guess who the two Grizzlies are rated in the top 50 of the league.

This is about a week old, but it is still good stuff. FreeDarko is calling for a return of the tight pants that dominated the NBA landscape until Air Jordan appeared.

Website/Blog of the day: Hardwood Paroxysm

One Thing We Shouldn't Have Forgotten

I can't believe we forgot to mention this in the Indiana game recap but the Grizzlies once again did something great during the game.

Military Appreciation Night was the promotion. They did the normal things like having tons of military kiosks available to give out information about the different armed services, the military band performing the national anthemn and honoring returning veterans from Iraq. While incredibly nice for the team to honor our military service that part wasn't really anything special. The Grizzlies have been honoring military servicemen for years (and should continue to do so in my opinion). For more information about the Grizzlies efforts to recognize military members and their families, go to Grizzlies.com.

What they did that was special was arrange for a live phone call for one family to talk to their son/husband/father serving in Iraq. I have no idea how they arranged that but it was truly special for the family and the fans. The soldier even asked how the game was going (his mother politely said we were making a run to win even though we were way behind at the time) and he gave a cheer for the team.

I just wanted to point out how the Grizzlies are doing things different this year. They really went the extra mile for that and it made an otherwise dissappointing night somehow better. I think it says a lot about the franchise that they would do this for a soldier working to protect us from enemies abroad. The Grizzlies deserve a salute for a job well done.

UPDATE: Memphis was visited by the committee members for the Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy. They awarded the 2007 Award to the Memphis Grizzlies in case you didn't remember. The Grizzlies have given over $19 million to charities and non-profits in our community since arriving in 2001. Everyone is very proud of the Grizzlies contributions in this area. If you are more interested in this please read the CA's cover story.

Grizzlies Giving Again

I read an article today that reminds me of the good that the Grizzlies have brought to the Memphis scene since their arrival 7 years ago.

Sure the team was disappointing last season with their 22-60 record and attendance was down accordingly but the team has continued thier self-enforced mission of giving back to the community anyway. It was reported yesterday in the Memphis Business Journal that the Grizzlies handed out $345,000 in grants including money to such notable charities as Agape Child and Family Services, ArtsMemphis, Church Health Center, Exchange Club Family Center, Memphis Child Advocacy Center, The Leadership Academy, Memphis Leadership Foundation, Memphis Mentoring Partnership/Volunteer Memphis, MIFA, STREETS Ministries, The Works and Youth United Way.

No other organization in all professional sports gives back as much to their communities as the Memphis Grizzlies give to our city. The team just passed the $19 million mark in donations to the city's school and non-profit organizations since 2001. Just this summer the Grizzlies were awarded the 2007 Steve Patterson Sports Philanthropy Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy signifying their constant endeavors in the community. For an organization that reportedly loses millions of dollars every season to continue to give as much to help promote this city is a wonderful thing. The little things this organization does to promote a better living environment for the city are truly admirable.

The Grizzlies are not only helping to build a world class franchise in our city. They are helping to develop a future generation of leaders in our community while helping families make ends meet today. If you would like to learn more about the work this Grizzlies Foundation supports check out their webpage on the Grizzlies Web Site.

I hope people think about this the next time they consider to buy tickets for a game. The Grizzlies find a lot in their hearts to support Memphis. Maybe it is time Memphis can find it in their hearts to support the Grizzlies as well. It would benefit our local business and our community as well.