Gaining Interest In the Grizz

by Steve Weinman on Aug 12, 2008 12:00 AM EDT in NBA Articles

A Daily Babble Production

Confession: A little less than a year ago, I made the ultimately doomed-from-the-start prediction that the Memphis Grizzlies would be the Western Conference's eighth playoff team in 2007-08. My, that worked out embarrassingly.

Embarrassing for a team that won 22 games and traded the best player in its history for approximately 14 cents (plus some cap space) on the dollar. Embarrassing for yours truly.

As the landscape currently stands, the plan here is to avoid making any such prediction this year - particularly with the Grizzlies failing to snag Josh Smith away from the Hawks last week via offer sheet.

But considering the possibilities for Smith in Memphis got me thinking about the rest of the cast with which he would have played. While the Grizzlies assuredly don't look like they'll be making a playoff run in the West as currently constructed, there is plenty about them that merits intrigue.

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At the top of that list is O.J. Mayo. The enigmatic rookie from USC should be nothing if not compelling this season, and I've already found myself going through internal struggle about him. His high school history was enough to make me queasy - from his disciplinary track record to the final play of his career, in which he threw himself an alley-oop off the glass and then earned a tech by heaving the ball into the stands - but he was also hands-down one of the most well put together prospects on media day and draft night. The guy is also super-athletic and has the potential to be a force in the back-court for years to come in this league. Looking forward to the explosiveness, the growing pains and the discovery of what type of dude this guy really is - or as mucch of a discovery as we can get as observers.

Also of intrigue will be Mayo's running mate in the back-court, second-year point guard Mike Conley Jr. Conley took over the starter's job over the second half of last season and experienced his share of rookie struggles on a bad team, and it will be worth monitoring how he progresses in year two. He drew me in by being a southpaw, and the quickness and passing vision he displayed while playing alongside Greg Oden at Ohio State didn't hurt either. It would be a pleasure to see this guy make a big jump forward this season, and he may have to because - at least for now - young point guards Kyle Lowry and Javaris Crittenton continue to wait in the wings.

In the front-court, Hakim Warrick and Darko Milicic are two young vets to keep an eye on. Warrick is a personal favorite because of his athleticism and tenacity. He stands 6-foot-9, has a great wingspan and quickness and jumps well to boot. Warrick likes to play defense and has the tools to become one of the league's more versatile threats and one of its best energy guys.

Meanwhile, Milicic needs to demonstrate himself worth the lucrative free agent contract the Grizz gave him a summer ago. He showed shot-blocking prowess and some effectivness on the boards toward the end of his time in Orlando, but in year six, it's really time for the former number two pick to show why he was so highly touted back in 2003. Milicic, Conley and coach Marc Iavaroni are all in their second year in Memphis, and all have something to prove.

Marc Gasol should no doubt be an interesting NBA study. Looking forward to seeing what he can do at the NBA level.

And of course, Antoine Walker is currently this team's highest-paid player.

Lots of young talent, still plenty of cap space, and 'Toine: The Memphis Grizzlies don't project to be great this season, but they should be captivating at the very least.

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The Grizzlies pick would have been a lot more interesting if the team ever got a chance together. They only about 10 games together with Conley and Gasol on the court, easily Gasol’s best Grizzlies portion of the season. It’s a shame it didn’t get a real shot. A premature and bad decision.

Having a head coach who knew what he was doing would have been nice too (why not play through Gasol?)… but hopefully another year’s experience helps him out there. Iavaroni is still an interesting prospect.

West went crazy and they ended up having no hope for the Playoffs but the Grizzlies could have been one of the more promising teams in the league during the second half.

Quality young point guard. Good seven foot power forward. Dynamic and developing scorer in Rudy Gay. Good fourth option in Mike Miller. Young defensive minded center in Darko Milicic. That was a nice group. Add a few role players and guys who can play some defense and it was a really nice group. They had the offensive firepower of a playoff caliber team, some changes around their burgeoning trio to develop more D and you have a very nice squad on your hands, especially if Rudy Gay develops into a high level scorer.

It was a premature and wrong decision. 10 bloody games. Give it a chance.

by Who on Aug 12, 2008 1:33 AM EDT reply actions

I’m quite pessimistic about this coming season for the Grizzlies. It looks like they’ll be a bit better defensively but their roster and offense is all over the shop, they’ll be hard pressed to make any progress next season. Another top 5 lottery pick is on it’s way.

We’ll see how OJ Mayo develops but for right now he’s far too dependent on his perimeter shot and isn’t good enough at beating his man one-on-one in a halfcourt setting. He looks great using that athleticism on the break or with an open lane but he isn’t good at using it to beat his man in the halfcourt which limits his offensive ability. We’ll see if he develops it but for right now I expect Mike Miller-like production as his goal for the season. Long term we’ll see how intelligent his work-rate is.

Signing Kevin O Neill should help the coaching staff. A lot of the players have made approving comments about his methods … to the point where you question what Iavaroni had them doing last season … and are happy to get back to the defensive principles they played in HS/College.

They’re likely to get beat up in the paint something awful next season. I don’t see Darko finding his game on a lousy team with zero help from his teammates. Marc Gasol, jeez I don’t see him making an impact, he needs to get in shape and refine his moves to play in the NBA. Darrell Arthur is the interesting name but he couldn’t even manage to be a star in college so role player production is very likely from him, he’s not changing their competitiveness in the paint by much. These three guys are the best interior players, that’s why they’re about to get slaughtered in the paint.

Then you get around to their three points guards ….. that’s a problem. They’re all in each others’ way and limiting each others’ development. Conley is limited by the lack of offensive talent around him, and the addition of Mayo next to Gay means he now has two wings who need plenty of time on the basketball limiting his touches during games which again will limit a player who’s already struggling with some passive play. Basically they’re doing a great job of developing this very good prospect. Crittenton will be the guy to watch, he has serious scoring talent which could break through but I’m hoping he gets traded to a real team before the season starts. Lowry is Lowry, he is what he is and he’s in the way.

Nasty ill conceived roster.

by Who on Aug 12, 2008 1:47 AM EDT reply actions

who knows his nba, no doubt. i think the grizz are bottom feeders and a team i would love to trade with and try and steal one of their promising youngsters. i remember some bloggers boosting iavoroni here but he looked real green and exploited.

by nazzbo on Aug 12, 2008 8:15 AM EDT reply actions

So you wrote a review on a team and didnt put 1 word in it about their best player Rudy Gay…hmmmm

by GaBerkowitz on Aug 12, 2008 8:51 AM EDT reply actions

So you wrote a review on a team and didnt put 1 word in it about their best player Rudy Gay…hmmmm

exactly what I was going to say

by Slick on Aug 12, 2008 9:33 AM EDT reply actions

there was no mention of how Mr Laker , Jerry West gave away Memphis 7 footer 20 pt 10 reb all star for nothing didnt help there cause

by perk on Aug 12, 2008 10:17 AM EDT reply actions

Rudy Gay was an odd omission for sure.

As for the Gasol trade, wasn’t Chris Wallace the GM that traded him? It wasn’t Jerry West.

by Calli on Aug 12, 2008 12:54 PM EDT reply actions

Clarification on Rudy Gay: You’re all certainly correct that I certainly should have at least mentioned him (slams head against desk), and I probably shouldn’t have taken him for granted in this piece, but that’s what I did. This wasn’t intended so much to be a ‘review’ of the Grizzlies but a look at some of the more intriguing question marks surrounding this team. Gay was no doubt the best performer on this team last year and is an important part of the future going forward, but I think we have the best idea so far of what this team is going to get for him. What really interested me about Memphis was the high-potential uncertainties on this team, and that’s really what I was looking to highlight here.

That said, I’m still the dope for not at least talking about Gay enough to clear that up. So thanks to all of you for holding me accountable on that one (slams head against desk again).

-sw

by Steve Weinman on Aug 12, 2008 1:49 PM EDT reply actions

Potential, potential, potential. You can take almost any team in the league, see the “potential” of the current guys and what might or could be. Just about every team can create a rosey scenario for 3 years down the road.

I don’t expect the Grizz to be better than the mid range of the pack for the next 5 years or so- same goes for the Wolves, Oklahoma, Clippers, Charlotte, the Nets, etc.

Nice on paper but….

by docextension on Aug 12, 2008 3:05 PM EDT reply actions