I have to say I'm not the biggest Rudy Gay fan in the world and think he's style of play can often be to the detriment of the team. Though, it left a hole in the team losing him, because you have to remember at that point the Grizzlies didn't have OJ Mayo or even an upcoming Greivis Vasquez to offset his lost. Replacing him with Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye, and giving Allen and Bayless bigger roles. It just doesn't make a team contender as a result.
Losing Gay wasn't the problem... it was getting very little back for him that sucked the life out of this team. Prince has been a no-show, and Davis is not going to grow much behind Randolph & Gasol. Conley is a great defensive PG, and can run the show pretty well offensively, but isn't going to ever be a major scoring threat. They need more talent around their guards and wings. They can still pull their team together with a mid-season trade to bring in someone like Granger or even some talented guards like Dragic, Lou Williams, etc. If they just stay pat they are going to have a real tough time competing in a Western conference that has some of the best scoring from the perimeter the league has ever seen.
Regardless of how you feel about Rudy gay. He is a helluva lot better than an over the hill tayshaun prince, especially when you have no perimeter offense
I'd love to have him over McHale. Deep down though, I dream of Thibs returning to Houston, not that Chicago would let it happen.
This. Don't be surprised if Memphis fails to make the playoffs and struggles to stay above .500 this year.
Everyone needs to stop saying that any owner cares more about making money than winning, this is just false. Yes, owners care more about money than anything else, but winning is a part of that. If a team is a winner then the owner will make money.
The guy who got fired for being too old school and not embracing analytics? For some reason, I don't think he would work out too well down here either.
I think this is just what the new owner wants. The guy bought a house and wants to remodel it to suit his taste. I mean, what's the fun in owning a franchise if you don't make your own moves and just follow the blueprint of the prior owner? Succeed or fail, at least you are doing it your way. The Hollins situation kind of reminds me of the JVG situation and the Adelman situation with Houston. Neither coaches was having losing seasons when they were let go, Les just wanted to try something else. After being used to playing a certain way for several years now, the transition will take some time to make (if they are to succeed at it at all) and maybe some different players. One thing that perhaps cannot be blamed on the management is Zbo's apparently decline. It's just aging. People like to say that "Player X doesn't rely on his athleticism so he should still be good when he gets older." Not really true. Everybody relies on his athleticism to some degree, and even an below average athlete will be affected by a decline in athleticism from, say, the 30th percentile to the 20th percentile.
Right, so they really need 11/37 Rudy Gay, who is under 1 point per shot for the SEASON, to boost their offense. That's it. Your agenda here is obvious, but you're still as wrong as you've ever been. If you want to use traditional evaluation, their team has won 0 playoff series with Gay and 3 without him.
Z-Bo is on the move for sure. I think they'll blow it up and try to quick rebuild around Gasol - Conley -Davis.
They didn't replace Rudy Gay with those guys - they replaced him with more touches for Gasol and Randolph, which is why they became a much better team after he left. The classic addition by subtraction example. That's what made the Grizzlies a contender - last year. They didn't replace $19 million Rudy Gay's 10-37 shooting with $3 millions Bayless and 3-7 shooting - they replaced him wtth Gasol and Randolph shooting. Gay's role in the offense was irrelevant to their offense - that's one of the reasons why they ditched him for parts and he is now leading the Toronto Wiggins Recruitment Project.
Or maybe it's the front office. Doesn't John Hollinger have a big say now? The Spurs signed Jackie Butler on Hollinger's advice when they had him on as a consultant. That move ultimately cost them Scola. The only other media guy turned NBA front office guy I can think of is David Khan.
Hi Artis, you and SamFisher can focus on the 11/37 against Houston or you can focus on the great all around game he just had against his former team or how Gay embarrassed Paul George in the first half of their game at Indiana recently. Who else is going to shoot for that team? It's DeRozan and Gay or bust. Either way it doesn't matter to me, but what is undeniable is the attention he commands on the perimeter, which is why DeRozan has played much better since Rudy's arrival. Just go look at the #s Demar put up after Gay was traded to Toronto last season. Now, did you see the playoffs last year? Opposing wings were collapsing on Memphis' bigs because they had no real perimeter threats. The same is going on this year. That's why Tony Allen is now spotting up shooting threes. I guess you think that's a formula for success. Still the main focus of this thread is how the Grizzlies have a pattern of poor decision making. Look at their former players that have flourished in other places...even Tony Wroten just had a triple-double. Then they get rid of a good coach and now they look lost. But you can keep focusing on one specific thing and ignore the big picture. Why do the Grizzlies currently suck? I know you're delusional, but let me bring you back to reality: The Grizzlies were not contenders last year. Why do you think they're playing poorly this season and might not make the playoffs? What do you think they're contending for now....a lottery pick or 1st rd exit in the playoffs? The teams has nobody outside of Conley who commands attention on the perimeter. Tony Allen is now shooting threes. Opposing wings are collapsing on Z-Bo and Gasol since they don't have to worry about Prince, Allen, etc... being real offensive threats. Say what you want about Gay, but teams hae to respect him on the perimeter, which by default opens up things down low for big men. However, it seems that your hate towards Rudy Gay has convinced you that everything is fine with this Memphis Grizzlies team. Reminds of the Rudy Gay to Toronto thread where he kept hitting game winner after game winner and you would embarrass yourself by coming in and saying that he sucked. Let me break it down for you since you have reading comprehension issues: Letting go of Lowry, Gay, Mayo, Vasquez, Wroten, and Speights and replacing them with Bayless, Prince, Pondexter, Miller, Davis, and Leur is a big net loss in terms of talent. On top of that they got rid of Lionel Hollins, who is a very good coach. As I said earlier, this shouldn't surprise anyone because Chris Wallace and your boy John Hollinger are both terrible. It also wouldn't surprise me if Hollinger is fired by the Grizzlies the same way the Spurs fired him. Let's focus on the big picture: Why do the Grizzlies currently suck? So is everything else management's fault? I can agree with that. They've made what seems to be horrible decision after horrible decision. But I guess they're doing (wrong) things "they're way." I disagree about Randolph. Teams have figured out how to beat the Memphis Grizzlies by double-teaming their bigs from the wing positions. That's why Z-Bo's #s have declined. Just look at his fga per game...this is the lowest amount he's had since his second year in the league (I don't count 2011-12 since he only played in 28 games as a result of ligament damage to his knee). Gasol's #s across the board have declined as well with the exception of ppg, which is slightly up. It's hard to do anything when you're always getting double-teamed and have two guys draped all over you. But this is the formula to beat the Griz....collapse on the bigs from the wing positions since they lack dynamic offensive talent at SG and SF. Teams would much rather take their chances with letting guys like a rapidly declining Tayshaun Prince or a defensive specialist in Tony Allen (he's shooting spot up 3s now!) beating them or having the ball kicked out to guys with poor handles you can easily run off the 3 pt line like Pondexter and a declining Mike Miller. Yup, and then the Spurs ended up firing Hollinger because of that. Exactly, but according to some people on ClutchFans Tayshaun Prince is bettern than Rudy Gay, smh. Bingo! It's just crazy how this team has given up so much solid talent...Lowry, Gay, Mayo, Vasquez, and now even Wroten to name just a few and now they've let a good coach go as well. But some people have convinced themselves that since they made a fool's gold run to the WCF as a result of injuries to key players on the teams they faced in the 1st 2 rounds that everything is fine. I wonder what they'll say when the Griz are in the lottery this season or are unceremoniously dumped in the 1st round of the playoffs. I'm sure they'll think everything is just fine then too....cue the picture of the Iraqi information minister.
Hollins quit because he was unhappy with FO moves. Grizz are perhaps unhappy with their new coach, similar to how the Lowry & co. reacted during McHale's 1st year as coach. However, their main problem is they have no perimeter scoring. It has been their problem even when Gay was still a Grizz; still a problem today.
isn't this a bit early? Like about 2 months early? Toronto took about 50 less shots against Memphis than they did us, and made about 8 less, and it's not like our defense was any good. Basketball is one of those games where scoring variance can be so drastic that it can make the bad look good and the good look bad on any given day.
