Why the NBA is Rigged. Z Bo is Stripped of History.

The NBA is rigged. The NBA is fixed. The NBA is influential in making certain teams chances of winning much higher than others. It is now obvious. For the longest time, I tried to tell myself that the NBA is a game where teams play and the game is unaffected by the referees or as I call them the zebra’s. I try not to complain about the refs when I write or talk about sports to my friends because I don’t want to be seen as a sore sport or make excuses for my beloved team’s play.

But after what the NBA did on 5/2/2014 in suspending Zach Randolph for game 7 in the hotly contested 1st round series against the OKC Thunder is the last straw. It is clear to me and I am trying to get the word out that the NBA has a direct interest in seeing certain teams advance to make the NBA and the owners money.

The NBA has a revenue sharing plan that I am not going to get into, but basically all of the teams and owners share revenue to an extent with a lot of exceptions and loopholes. There are also t.v. advertisements, commercials, endorsements, and a whole host of other ways the NBA makes money. During the NBA playoffs, there are a ton of ads bought up by major corporations. The better the ratings, the better it is for the NBA. It is exactly like a business. When ratings are up and everyone is watching, that is good for business and the NBA.

And that gets me to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Memphis Grizzlies are one of the smallest market teams in the NBA and don’t have the superstar on their team that the fans of the NBA are so used to obsessing over. When you think of the current superstars of the NBA, you think of Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and Kobe Bryant. The Grizzlies, who actually do have some pretty good players on their team, are never mentioned with these stars and for the most part are never talked about in the national media.

While the Grizzlies-OKC Thunder series has been one of the best 1st round match-ups of 2014, it will not be good for ratings if the Grizzlies advance to the second round. I am sure the NBA looked at last year and the amount of money it made when the Grizzlies went to the Western Conference Finals and thought about this year. Who do you think is going to get ratings worldwide? Basketball is a worldwide sport. The Grizzlies or Kevin Durant and the Thunder? The world loves super stars and Kevin Durant is one of the best players in the league. He is likely going to win the MVP this year. He is explosive, fun to watch, and has countless endorsements from multi-million dollar companies.

Not many people enjoy seeing the Grizzlies style of Grit & Grind basketball. It is ugly, slow, defensive, and hard to watch at times. But when it works and there is success, which the Grizzlies have had over the past 3 years, it is a thing of beauty. Let’s look at why I think the NBA is out to screw the Grizzlies this year.

1. Nick Calathes gets suspended for 20 games for essentially taking rogaine. Everyone in Memphis knew how important Calathes has been for us this season. When Conley got injured during the season, Calathes had a coming out party and was a solid backup for Conley. The series may have been over already if he had been playing. 20 game suspension is very harsh for a young bald guy taking a product that is banned by the NBA. I know he should have known and is ultimately responsible, but 20 games? Give me a break. That smells.

2. The zebra’s. The referee’s in this series have unfairly influenced the game. Just re-watch the 3rd quarter of game 6 of the Grizz-Thunder game. It was the most poorly refereed quarter I have ever watched. The calls all went against the Grizz. No calls against the Thunder although both teams were playing just as hard and fouling just as hard. There were phantom foul calls. It was hard to watch. I kept asking myself why do I pay so much money to support the Grizzlies when the outcome is influenced by the NBA and that outcome is to call the game OKC’s way.

3. Z Bo’s suspension. The last straw. While other players around the league can fight or step out on the court without getting fined or suspended, Z Bo throughs a shove/punch/fist in one of OKC’s bruiser’s and is suspended after the fact. Z Bo did not even get a foul called on him during the game, but after the game, the NBA’s power mongers sat behind closed doors and figured out another way to screw the Grizzlies.

I still think we can win. The rough is going to be tough, but let’s get behind our Grizzlies and cheer them on. Win or lose, Memphis Grizzlies fans should know that the cards were stacked against us and we should be proud of our team no matter what. Call me crazy, but the NBA is rigged. Grind on!

 

Can Grizzlies Turn Season Around?

The injury bug has plagued the Memphis Grizzlies this season. With Gasol out for the majority of the first half of the season, Tony Allen missing well over a month, Quincy out for the remainder of the season, and now with Conley out with a likely return until after the All-Star Break, questions have come up on whether the Grizz will make the playoffs.

Right before Mike Conley went out with a grade 2 ankle sprain, the Grizzlies were hitting their stride. Head coach Dave Joerger won the best coach of the month of January where the Grizzlies were one of the hottest teams in the NBA. The Grizz went 12-3 in January. Conley was having an all-star like season and would easily have made the All-Star team if the Grizzlies played in the east. Conley was averaging a career best 18 points per game and was the general on the floor. It is obvious that his absence has hurt the Grizzlies with constant shot clock violations and bad shot selection going on. Nick Calathes has stepped up in Conley’s absence and the front office moves of getting James Johnson and Courtney Lee are working out so far.

But Conley’s confidence and presence on the floor cannot be denied. He is coming into his own this year and really is the team’s future leader. Z Bo will always have a place in my heart, but Conley is ready to take the reigns over. If the Grizz can stay healthy in the second half of the season, watch out. The Grizz are the team that nobody wants to play. Yes, they can lose games they are supposed to win like the recent game in Cleveland that went to overtime, but then they can beat a Thunder team at home that is one of the best teams in the league. The All-Star Break could not come at a better time. The Grizzlies need to regroup and refocus.

I think the Grizz will make the playoffs as a 4 or 5 seed. ESPN has our schedule as one of the toughest in the NBA and it certainly feels like it. Dave Joerger has implemented his offense and it is finally looking like it’s working. Unfortunately, the Grizz starting 5 of Conley, Gasol, Z Bo, TA, and Prince has not played a game together since last fall! Watch for the Grizzlies to have a strong second half of the season and make some noise in the playoffs. This Memphian still believes.

All I Want is a New Grizz Team for Christmas

This season under new head coach David Joeger has been somewhat surprising. In a bad way. At this time last year, the Grizzlies were being talked about as being the new class of the Western Conference and a contender for the foreseeable future. Fast forward to the Golden State game in a 108-82 (rout in front of a small crowd. See Memphis Ice Storm 2013) and my how things have changed. Some have said that karma has hit the Grizzlies in letting Lionel Hollins go last year, some say it is the new offense under the new head coach and poor shooting, and some say it is injuries. I think it is a little of all of that. One thing, no matter how bad a NBA team is, one thing that can always have an impact on the game is effort and I just have not seen that this season out of the team.

I will first address the letting go of Hollins. When you don’t get along with your boss at work and you openly admit it to everyone around you, it is not going to be good for you when your contract comes up at the next meeting. Now, there is a lot going on behind closed doors that we will never know about. What was clear to me was that the owners of the team wanted to take the Grizzlies in a different direction and Hollins was just not on board. Hollins was an old school feel guy for the game while the new owners were into advanced statistics and player efficiency. There was a lot more that I will not get into, but what is clear to me now that Hollins is not on the team is that he was a big part of the Grizzlies success. The team usually rallies around their coach and takes on his personality. The Grit and Grind that defined the Grizz was sparked by Tony Allen and Z Bo, but Coach Hollins was definitely one of the believers in this philosophy and it’s obvious the players miss him.

In an exclusive interview, former assistant coach Barry Hecker gave a great inside to the coaching situation. “Why would you hire a guy with no wins in the NBA and get rid of another guy who took you to 56 wins?” Hecker said. “Just from a strict business standpoint, why? They were afraid of Lionel, because they couldn’t control Lionel. … Joerger, because he had worked it so hard, they felt comfortable with him. They said they didn’t need Lionel, they could just hire (Joerger). He was taking all the credit, basically, anyway.” (For the whole interview, please see article link below.)

http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2013-12-09/barry-hecker-firing-dismissal-grizzlies-lionel-hollins-dave-joerger-rudy-gay-trade-memphis-front-office?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitted

Now, I know what you are thinking. The Grizzlies have been immersed in injuries and that is the reason we are not good this year. Well, there is some truth to that. When you have arguably your best player in Marc Gasol go out with a serious knee injury with a likely return date of January/Feb., Tony Allen out with a bruised hip, and Ed Davis and Q Pon go out with ankle injuries, it is going to be hard to win. But this team, as Pete and Brevin will tell you, has a “Next Man Up” motto. And that is how it should be. This is the NBA and players need to step up when their name is called. I was really high on Nick Calathes before the season started, but after watching him play closely against the Warriors at home, I don’t think he is the answer. He has been given a couple months to adjust to the NBA, but he may just not be the back up point guard the Grizzlies had hoped for. I miss Tony Wroten. Why did we get rid of him? Jared Bayless has been inconsistent and before Quincy went out with an ankle injury, he just has not been the guy that went off against the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals last year. I want all three of these players to be successful and hope they turn it around. The bench hasn’t been consistently good and the results haven’ been there on the court this year. The shots are just not going down.

After watching all of the games this season, the poor outside shooting has been a problem for the Grizz. Against the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, it was clear to everyone that if the Grizzlies were going to take the next step, the outside shooting had to improve. Well, as much as I want to say it is getting better, I can’t. I don’t see how I can watch other teams in the league drain 3’s day in and day out, but when it comes to the Grizz, there is not a consistent guy that knocks down open 3’s. Mike Miller is a great addition, but he hasn’t turned into the spot up shooter I’m sure the owners were hoping for. But it hasn’t been completely been his fault. Guys are not finding him for the open 3 and he is being forced to dribble and drive to create his own shot and that is not Mike Miller’s game. Maybe Jason Levien will makes some moves before the trade deadline or maybe we have to make our bed with the players we have. Either way, something needs to change or it is going to be the season of disappointment.

I believe in karma. Maybe letting Hollins go was a mistake? The Grizzlies were on top of the world last season. Maybe the fame of success has gotten to us? Fame and success come with a price. I feel for the teams in LA and New York who constantly are getting hammered by the media. Memphis is one of the smallest markets in the NBA, but that doesn’t take the passion away and desire to win from the players and fans. The Grizz can still turn this thing around and I will always believe. The Grizz have come a long way since the days of losing were common. Fans should rally behind the team win or lose. The players need to see the city behind them to give them the confidence that they need.

All Grown Up Grizz Fizzle Out

The hardest part about being a fan of any team is accepting reality. For me right now, it is accepting that the Memphis Grizzlies season is over. No matter what I say, do, think, or wish, the Grizzlies run at a championship is over. I will have to wait until this fall before the whole thing starts over again and every team is in it with hopes of winning a title. But only one team can win it and the Grizzlies were one of 4 teams that outlasted everyone else this year. I don’t want to come off as being critical in my post and want to remind everyone how far we’ve come and where we used to be.

I remember being at the Pyramid, the Grizzlies old home-court, back around 2001 just excited to finally have a NBA franchise in my hometown. The next 7 years of the Memphis Grizzlies history was exciting and painful to be a part of. There were ups and downs, but let’s face it, it was mostly downs. Fast forward to 2011 and the Grizzlies won their first playoff game in franchise history and went on to win its first playoff series EVER. There are firsts for everything and I was hoping this was THE year of a first championship, but you can’t always get what you want. The Grizzlies made it a first with an appearance in the Western Conference Finals against the Spurs.

I am very proud to call the Grizzlies my team. The Grizz finally have made it. We have come a long way, battled through many changes with players, coaches, and even owners. We may have got caught up in all of the glamour and the spotlight may have been too big. Everyone in the media had picked Memphis to win the championship already and the Western Conference Finals had not even started. Then it started and it was over before it began. Z Bo no showed. Gasol missed shots that he normally hit, and Conley tried to do too much and didn’t just let the game come to him. The Spurs exploited the Grizzlies weaknesses with a great display of coaching by Greg Popovich.

The Spurs showed up and beat the Grizz at their own game. They out grit and grinded us. Popovich out-smarted Hollins and took away our bread and butter inside game. The Spurs made us beat them with the outside shot and Memphis finally realized what most tried to ignore all season long: that our team did not have someone who was that outside threat. Don’t get me wrong, Quincy Pondexter showed up big for Memphis. But at the Western Conference Finals, Pondexter shouldn’t be the Grizz’s leading scorer. Jerryd Bayless took too many shots that didn’t go in and made some questionable decisions on the floor at key moments. And while Mike Conley and Tony Allen tried to will our team on their backs to get a W, it was just not enough in the end. Gasol and Z Bo were uncharacteristically shaken and not confident in the end. Both missed easy shots that were normally buckets all season long. Overall, the Grizzlies did not play well enough to play for a championship.

At the beginning of the season, if you told me the Grizzlies would be playing in the Western Conference Finals with a chance to play the Heat in the finals, I would have taken it and NOT cared at all about what happened next. Once the Grizzpression goes away and the heat of summer hits, I will remember what a great season it was.

Looking forward to the future, there are some big questions that ownership will have to answer. Will Jason Levien and Robert Pera keep coach Hollins around? I think you have to. The team has a personality of Hollins and it would be a huge mistake not to keep the guy that has improved the team each year he has been here. I would be devastated to see Hollins let go and go to another team to make them better. Hollins built this team from the ground up. Come on, just sign him and let the speculation end. Will the Grizz keep Z Bo around? He did recently buy a house in Memphis and the fans love him in Memphis. Would Z Bo would be willing to take less money or has he played his way out of Memphis? And then Tony Allen. Tony Allen is also a fan favorite and the fan base would hammer ownership if they failed to give him a new contract. Tony Allen coined the phrase grit and grind. It would really surprise me if Memphis didn’t re-sign Allen.

And last but not least, what can the Grizzlies do to improve our team AND the offense. Consistent outside shooting has been a problem all season long. The group of Prince, Bayless, and Pondexter does not seem like they all will be around next season. Bayless can get hot quick, but his failed heroics and bone headed decisions at key moments in games tell me he is not the answer. Pondexter could feasibly be that guy and can play some defense. If he can become more consistent with his 3 ball, then I could see him staying with our team. And Prince who is owed over 14 million for the next two years? I don’t think Prince has enough in the tank anymore to be a productive starter next season and we may need to deal for a younger talent. Then you start to think of Ed Davis and Darrell Arthur? Will they stick around? Davis has potential to be a good big man, but Arthur has not shown up this playoffs. I still like both of them as backups to Z Bo and Gasol.

I think with a core of Conley, Gasol, Z Bo, and Tony Allen, assuming that we re-sign Allen, the Grizz are in good shape. The off-season decisions loom large in Memphis, but one thing is for sure, the Memphis Grizzlies have gained the hearts and minds of the nation with the blue collar grit and grind mentality. I love this city and I love my Memphis Grizzlies. Here’s to a great season. Thank you Memphis Grizzlies and I look forward to cheering you on to another great run next year.

Tigers Go Dancing, But it’s a Short Song

The 2012-2013 Memphis Tigers basketball season is over. Michigan St. plain out owned us in the round of 32. It was a game where I saw a hall of fame coach in action against my coach, Josh Pastner, who showed me that he ‘s got some work to do. Michigan St. beat us 70-48 in front of an essentially home crowd at the Palace of Audburn Hills.

Joe Jackson, Geron Johnson, and D.J. Stephens played to win today and displayed heart. They are the real deal. Geron Johnson willed the Tigers back into the game in the first half, D.J. played against Michigan States’s bigs, who are future NBA players, like he was 7 feet tall. On the other side, Chris Crawford, who was one of our leaders all season, laid and egg. Adonis Thomas did not meet expectations either and is not ready to play in the NBA.

The inside tandem of Andrien Payne and Derrick Nix dominated Tarik Black and Shaq Goodwin. Garry Harris lit our defense up for a game high 23 points. And the Tigers offense never showed up. In the second half, the Tigers missed 23 of its 30 shot attempts and got owned on the boards by a well coached team.

The Tigers had a great season and fans need to remember that. Going undefeated in a bad conference is still something that is hard to do at the high school level as much as division 1 sports. The Tigers won their conference, won the conference championship, and won 1 NCAA tournament game. I am happy with that. But this fan wants more in the future and I think this city deserves more. The expectations were high this year and losing always hurts.

The soft conference and the weak non-conference schedule hurt Memphis this year. We played a quality opponent in Michigan St. and got ran out of town. Coach Tom Izzo is a hall of fame coach, as Pastner let everyone know before the teams played. I almost thought he was trying to lower people’s expectations of him if Memphis lost bad. And he did. It was a 3 point game at half and the Tigers faithful really thought we were going to give Izzo’s club a run for their money in the second half. And then poof. It was over. Izzo made some adjustments and Pastner did not. The Tigers relied on outside shooting and we could not buy a basket. Obviously, Pastner is not all to blame. The shots were not going down and the players have to make shots. The coach can’t. But with the offensive system Pastner has in place, or lack there-of, it ain’t gettin it done. And something has to change with the offense next season.

The competition gets tougher and the road will not be easy. The schedule and quality of opponents will help our future success in the tournament. Tigers go to a new conference and get new conference teams like Louisville, U Conn, Cincinnati, and Temple. All tournament teams this year (except U Conn b/c of sanctions.) With the talent the Memphis Tigers had this season, we should have competed better. In the big games this season, we fell apart. Some of the blame has to go to the coach in these type of situations, but I am a Pastner guy as I will explain.

When the lights are on and the national media was watching, the Tigers would fall apart. Look at the tournament in the Bahamas,  look at the Louisville game, look at the Xavier game, and look at the Michigan St. game.  John Calipari did a great job at Memphis, love him or hate him, and really put our program on the map. I understand that Pastner has big shoes to fill and he has done a darn good job. A lot of people in Memphis think that our team should be in the final four every year and those expectations are ridiculous. However, it has been 4 years now that Pastner has been our coach. The knock on Pastner is that he can’t beat high quality top 25 opponents. If you do not count the St. Mary’s tournament team (I believe they were ranked #25 in one of the polls,) Pastner has not won one game against a top 25 team. And that causes concern going forward.

The Tigers have the talent and recruiting to win some of those games. There is no doubt in my mind that Pastner can recruit. He plain out can get players to play for him. What I am having trouble buying and ultimately down the road may be the thing that gets him fired, is that he is not a good in game coach. But I believe in Pastner and I am going to give him more time to show me something. He is young at the ripe young age of 35 years old, which makes him 4 yrs older than me. And I like to think that makes him very young and inexperienced. I do not know how you become a good in game coach or what Pastner needs to do to make that leap. But when I look at the guy’s career path and resume, I think he is not far away. Yes, Pastner was out-coached by a hall of famer in Tom Izzo. But was that really unexpected? The Tigers were in the toughest region this tournament and it was unlikely we would be able to come out of it on top.

Looking to the future and 2013-14 season, I know D.J. Stephens will not be back and man, will I miss his heart and his high flying dunks. I don’t think Adonis Thomas is NBA ready and at this point, there is no indication he is leaving. The game against Michigan St. showed me that Thomas should stay another year and step his game up to become a lottery pick next season. Chris Crawford should come back and get tougher mentally this off-season. Geron Johnson should be back and ready to go. Tarik Black and Shaq Goodwin should be back and have a lot of off season work to do. The bigs need to play like bigs next year and focus on rebounding and posting up in the offense.  Joe Jackson should be back for his senior season and better than ever. Not to mention the top 5 recruiting class Pastner has coming in should have the Tigers ranked high next season.

The Memphis Tigers Are Human After All

And so it’s over. The 18 game winning streak.. gone. The longest winning streak in the nation, and then Memphis blinked. Poof. Gone. Xavier beat us.

Everything that could have gone wrong, did. The early foul calls by the refs that took Shaq Goodwin out of the game. Going 6-17 from the free throw line. Anybody thinking of the ghosts of the old Memphis Calipari teams? It was also Xavier getting almost twice as many free throws as we did.

It would be easy for me to blame the refs and say there’s some national conspiracy by the NCAA to screw us out of a win and a good seed in the tournament. But I don’t think the refs can really be blamed for the loss.

It was the lack of focus and effort. Simply put, Xavier just seemed to want it more. Xavier out-rebounded us, out-hustled us, and pretty much beat us at every facet of our own game.

(It was easy to see that Memphis was the more talented team out there, but basketball is a team sport and Xavier proved that tonight.) And the missed free throws killed our chances to win the game. Free thows…

The Memphis Tigers played one of their worst halves of the season, scoring only 20 points in the first half. The Tigers gave a huge effort in the second half and almost came back.

With less than a couple seconds left in the game and the Tigers down 3, DJ Stephens caught the ball and was fouled. He made the first and then had to miss the second.

DJ threw the ball against the backboard but the ball failed to hit the rim and the ball was Xavier’s. The game was officially over. Devastating.

Moving forward, I’m thinking about what this means in terms of seeding for the big dance and for the long term. The talking heads in the national media will surely write the Tigers off after this nationally televised game on ESPN. The announcers really talked us up before tip-off, but the Tigers’ play didn’t back up all that talk. If the Tigers win the rest of the season and the C-USA tournament, I believe we can get an 8 or 9 seed, at best.

There was no room for error this season and the Tigers, and Pastner knew it. Did the Tigers let the hype get to them? Did the refs really screw us? Is losing to Xavier what the Tigers needed to make a deep run in the big dance? I don’t know. All I know is that this Tigers fan had great expectations for this season, and now I can only think the Tigers are a sweet 16 team, at best.

The selection committee won’t be easy on us, and I predict an 8 or a 9 seed in the big dance.. And that seed doesn’t bode well for success in the tournament.

Does this only beg the question of Josh Pastner’s ability to coach? Pastner still doesn’t have a win against a top 25 team, not that Xavier is a ranked team or, let’s face it, even that good. Any Tiger fan will tell you, however, that this nationally televised game was huge for seeding implications and flat-out respect.

There is no doubt that Pastner can recruit talent, but the knock on him has been his constant inability to be a good in-game coach. Critics will hammer Pastner until he can prove them wrong. I remain optimistic about Pastner and still think we can make a run in the NCAA tournament. Pastner is one of the youngest coaches in the league and his wins in his career almost equals that of some of the hall of  fame coaches at his age. Hope is the constant thing that keeps this Tigers fans engine running.

Memphis Grizzlies Needed a Major Move, So Deal With It.. Please.

Guest post by Cheryl of the Stylist Quo.

If you’re steadily getting B-‘s, class after class, what do you do?

Well, it depends on what you want.

Do you want to graduate with honors, get into a top university? Or do you want to just.. get by? If you’re stoked just getting by, day to day, don’t do anything! Why would you? After all, “C’s get degrees,” and you’re one little bump above that standard.

But if you strive for a greater endpoint, you need to do something different. What you’re doing isn’t enough. You may be following your honor society friend’s study recipe to the letter! You may be paying for after-school tutors, reading books on superior study habits, and visiting several doctors across town for adderall prescriptions. 

But if the results aren’t enough for you, it’s time to do something differently.

Enter the Memphis Grizzlies and our new ownership.

Over the last few years, we’ve gotten better. We’re filling the stadium; we’re reliably making the playoffs; the fans are more used to winning than losing.

But, let’s face it, we’re not an all-star team. We’re the underdog in the playoffs; we shock the talking heads when we make it to the second round. We still cringe when anyone goes for a 3-point attempt, knowing we’ll most likely end that play cheering, “At least get the rebound!”

Now, I’m not saying I would have done the exact same thing as the new ownership did with the recent major trade. I’d have kept the players more in the loop; I think they feel a bit hurt and ignored. As any business owner knows well, your team needs to feel involved in the big decisions. Without this crucial outstretched hand, invitation into the inner circle, the team loses loyalty. They feel unimportant.

You can’t have that in sports, especially not with such an essentially team-oriented team.

The Grizzlies are sensitive. They’re loyal. None of them is an all-star; we build our grit and grind on a group of guys working together towards the same goal.

Tony’s totally stepped up as a huge leader and solid player since the trade, but I can’t find pictures of anyone else on the floor. Does that surprise anyone?

Such a move is going to shake up guys like that; it just is. But we’ll settle down, regain focus. The new guys will feel welcome, comfortable; the vets will get attached to our new guys. We’ll take back that feeling of team. It’ll happen..

just give it a little time.

I stand behind the decisions of the franchise. I think a major move is necessary if we’re going to be a championship-winning team. If we’re going to keep Tony Allen, the so-called most beloved player in Memphis, and I know I’ve been calling for Rudy Gay’s trade for years now (watch his stats–especially FG%–steadily fall since 2010 and reach an all-time low this year).

You can sulk all day long and conspiracy-theorize about long-game plans to reduce game attendance to the point when a move would be justified. But you’d probably tell me that the landing on the moon was a spoof, too.

Keep calm and grind on.

—

Cheryl is a lifestyle blogger at the Stylist Quo and runs social media marketing agency SQ Modern Media. Follow her on Twitter for more sports ramblings and game-time eruptions at @thestylistquo. She also happens to be Omar’s dear fiancée. She’s not sure he would have let her guest blog otherwise.

Don’t Forget about the Tigers

The Memphis Tigers are quietly having a great season. With all of the recent buzz about the Grizzlies, the Tigers have been forgotten about. Not this Tigers fan. Josh Pastner is coaching his team to 13 straight wins and the Tigers are 18-1 in there last 19 games.

Let me take a second to tell you how much I bleed blue. I remember growing up going to the C-USA tournaments at the Pyramid when the Tigers would match up against Marquette and Depaul. The days of Elliot Perry and “Penny” Hardaway. And then John Calipari comes to town. It was an unbelievable run. While I have a lot to say about Cal, which I will not talk about now, he did take the Tigers to a Final Four and should have won our city a championship. I will never forget the national championship game against Kansas when we were up 9 points with less than two minutes left to play. It was the worst loss I think I have ever experienced as a fan and do not think I will ever forget that day. Epic fail. What could have been…

While some will say the C-USA is a bad conference and the Tigers success does not mean anything, I say to you that going undefeated in conference play, no matter if it is the Big East or C-USA, is impressive. Ever since the Tigers trip to the tournament in the Bahamas, Pastner has the team on the same page.

Joe Jackson is having his best season as a Tiger. He is one of the most consistent players on the floor and has really been the general that every fan was hoping he would be when he was a freshman. D.J. Stephens is a fan-favorite with his sky high dunks and blocks and the tandem of Shaq Goodwin and Tarik Black is turning out to be one of the most formidable front courts in the NCAA.

The knock on the Tigers nationally the past few years is that they do not play anybody good and their RPI ranking is always high. With losses to Minnesota, VCU, and Louisville, the Tigers do not have that signature win to get us a high ranking in the big dance. The Tigers may be almost forced to win the C-USA tournament to gain a berth into the tourney, especially if we lose one game the rest of the way. There is really no room for error, which probably puts immense pressure on Pastner.

Pastner has had trouble winning games against good teams. A lot of people say that Josh Pastner is one heck a of a recruiter (which I completely agree with,) but can’t coach and win the big one. The Memphis Tigers had one of the best recruiting classes of 2010 and Memphis already has a top 5 recruiting class of 2013 coming in, which is so impressive when you look at the other teams up there (Kentucky, Kansas, Indiana.) One criticism on Pastner is his inability to with games against ranked teams. A lot of that is inexperience and I believe Pastner is getting better as an in game coach. I support Pastner and with time think he can take us to the Final Four and maybe even one day win us a championship.

The Tigers have a tough road test at Southern Miss this weekend. There is a possibility that the Tigers can run the table the rest of the way and with the C-USA tournament. The Tigers should gain national attention if that were to happen and maybe a decent ranking in the big dance. But that is a big IF. The Tigers have a long way to go.

The Rudy Gay Saga Ends in Memphis

And so it is over. On January 30, 2013, the Grizzlies management announced that Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi would be traded across the border to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Ed Davis, Jose Calderon, and a second round draft pick in 2013. The Grizzlies then traded Jose Calderon to the Detroit Pistons for Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye.

Now that I have had time to digest all of the tweets, articles, radio talk shows, and my friends thoughts on the trade, I will weigh in. But I first want to make it clear that I do wish Rudy Gay all the success with the Raptors and appreciate all he has done for the Grizzlies and Memphis. Rudy Gay was a true class act and has a great attitude. It cannot be easy to be in the public’s eye so much and to act as he has with all the whirlwind trade news circulating the past month. When one thinks of the Memphis Grizzlies, one will always have to think of Rudy Gay. He will always have a place in my heart as a Grizz and I wish him the best of luck in Toronto.

I was a huge Rudy Gay fan and a huge Rudy Gay critic. I have had my ups and downs with him since he joined the Grizz in 2006. He has been with us since he started his NBA career. I have seen him posterize NBA players with Top 10 dunks at the Forum. I have also seen him hit game winning shots at the buzzer. On the other side of the spectrum, I have seen him fall apart in the playoffs, turn the ball over continuously, and have horrendous shooting nights. It almost can be said Rudy Gay has a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde personality as a Grizz player.

My thoughts on the trade can be pretty much summed up in one word, bittersweet. Rudy Gay has the type of body and athleticism that could make him a Lebron or Kevin Durant type player. But he has not shown it in about 6 years. The bottom line was that the Grizzlies organization was paying him more money than he is actually worth as an NBA player in comparison to other players. A lot more. He has had too many inconsistent shooting nights and his ball handling skills have not improved. But on the Grizzlies, he was the only player we had who could create his own shot and create match-up nightmares for opposing teams. Most people would want him with the ball if you had to take the last shot to win it.

A lot of fans are outraged. Some see the move as purely financial on the part of the owners. Season ticket holders are trying to find the receipts to the Rudy Gay jerseys they just bought. Let’s make this clear. Memphis is the smallest market team in the NBA and was about to get hammered with the new CBA rules in the NBA if a move like this was not done.

Gay signed a five-year, $82 million maximum contract in July 2010 with Memphis. Gay is due $16.5 million this season with $37 million more over the next two years. Those numbers were likely too big of numbers for Robert Pera and CEO Levien to swallow. Pera and Levien are quickly becoming known in Memphis as financially sound owners who are about saving money. The Grizzlies franchise was in a financial mess that the former owner created and I believe the new ownership was somewhat just trying to deal with the bad hand that it had been dealt.

Moving forward, it is hard to say how this trade will have an affect on Lionel Hollins and all of the Grizzlies. Mike Conley tweeted earlier, “Wow.” I will always wonder what could have been this season if we end up missing the playoffs or not showing up in the playoffs. The Grizzlies team this season has shown that they can beat the top teams in the NBA and they have also been inconsistent. But for the first time in my life, I truly believed we were contenders this season after having beaten Oklahoma on the road and Miami and New York at home.

And a shout out to fan favorite Hamed Haddadi. When the Grizzlies needed a boost from the bench, put in Haddadi and he seemed to spark the crowd. You will be missed. I hear Toronto is waiving you and you will no longer have a job in the NBA. I would imagine some team will be interested in you due to your size. We will miss you Haddadi. Sigh…

Logic tells me that it is always bad to break up the chemistry to a good team mid-season. The Grizzlies had it going on this season. They are off to the best start in franchise history. For better or for worse, I will stick by my team and see how this plays out. Trying to be optimistic about the trade, the Grizz will end up saving a ton of money when it is all said and done. We also will not miss all of those shot attempts Rudy took in exchange for more efficient players in Ed Davis and Austin Daye a la John Hollinger. I hope this improves the teams offensive troubles lately. I know some of the Grizzlies are upset right now, players and fans. But remember, Robert Pera is one of the youngest billionaires in the world. If there is anyone that I want to have faith it, it is him. But only time will tell.

The NBA is a Business

After my twitter account blew up during work about the trade the Grizzlies made with the Cavs, my gut reaction was that this was a bad trade. The Memphis Grizzlies have traded fan favorite, Marreese Speights, 3 point sharp shooter, Wayne Ellington, guard Josh Shelby, and a future first round draft pick to the Cavs for, drum role please, Jon Leuer. John Who? Exactly. The Grizzlies also signed free-agent shooting guard Chris Johnson to have one outside threat after trading our best 3 point shooter.

Coach Hollins response, “It’s a trade that had to be made from a business (standpoint) so that we can keep our core together and we move forward,” Hollins said. “I hate to lose Mo and Wayne and Josh but it’s part of the business of basketball.”

You cannot entirely blame the new ownership group, which consists of majority owner Robert Pera and CEO Jason Levien for this mind boggling trade. Ex-owner Michael Heisley certainly has to be given some blame for putting our team and current owners in this mess. The new ownership was just trying to make the best situation out of something that eventually had to be addressed.

The NBA is not just a game anymore, it is a multi-billion dollar global industry. Terms like the luxury tax did not exist when I was growing up. The Grizz were in serious financial trouble at the beginning of the season. They were set to pay about $4 million in luxury tax this season with a payroll of a little over $74 million. You may ask what is a luxury tax? Google it. Each team in the NBA has a salary cap. The luxury tax is essentially a penalty for teams that spend over the salary cap by large amounts. The NBA has a really complicated formula for determining if a team goes over the salary cap, which I will not go into here.

This trade saves the Grizzlies front office roughly 6 million off their payroll this season, which gets them under the luxury taz threshold. From a business perspective, it makes good sense to me. It also tells me something about our new ownerhip group Pera and Levien. They do not want to spend money if they can avoid it. And it comes at a cost.

“Mo” Speights was a great role player for the Grizz. He came off the bench and was capable of contributing solid minutes with productive numbers. Wayne Ellington, since Quincy Pondexter went down with an injury, has been our most consistent 3 point shooter. The Grizzlies do not have anyone left whose “role” is to spot up and shoot 3’s, which is essential in playoff basketball. Josh Selby really did not hurt us because he never saw the floor. The thing that really hurts is the future first round draft pick. All for 1 player. Some guy that played college ball at Wisconsin and is averaging 2 points per game. Leuer is a big man and is high on John Hollinger’s list as a productive player.

There is no doubt in my mind that John Hollinger had major input on this trade. He was hired by the new ownership because he was the leader in a new school of thought with the NBA, Player Efficiency Rating, or PER. It essentially tells you how productive a player is when he is on the floor using another complicated formula. Critics think stats are not everything because certain players bring in intangibles that stats just can’t keep score of, a` la Tony Allen. Hollinger had Leuer high up on his list of PER.

The Grizz were under huge amounts of stress to reduce their payroll and this gives them a short term solution. I really do not like the trade from a fans view, but we had to do something. Given the Grizzlies recent struggles in December and January, maybe the new ownership thought that this total group of Grizz could not win an NBA title after getting blown away in games against the Clippers and Spurs. So why wait until later? Maybe they wanted to get a jump start at building a solid foundation?

The trade helps our organization either keep the starting 5 until the end of the season or make a trade with Rudy Gay or Z-Bo before the trade deadline of Feb. 21. This gives the Grizzlies organization more leverage in a future trade of our all-stars. Not a bad thing and it may end up working out in the long term for us. Only time will tell.

One positive to take away from all of this is that our 5 starters remain in tact, for now. Z-Bo, Gay, Gasol, Conley, and Allen all should be happy that they play on the same team another day. This should help get their focus back to the game and not trade rumors. The Grizz still have Quincy Pondexter (once he gets healthy) and Darrell Arthur to come off the bench and both of them can be huge role players down the road. The Grizz also get more playing time from Tony Wroten, who I hope will come through for us because we need some luck right now. The main thing is our core is in tact and they have shown they can play with anybody in this league.

Our bench is a little thin now and we really need Bayless, DA, and newby Chris Johnson to step up for the Grizz nation. Ultimately, Memphis is a small market team and the owners have decided that they do not want to dish out money if they do not have to. Smart business decision, but bad trade for who we gave up and who we got. It was probably the only trade that the front office could justify doing given the looming trade deadline and the other offers we have been offered. Here is hoping that it works out for this fan and the rest of Grizz nation.