I think the point was, with the current roster, they are good for a playoff spot but will never be good for the championship. The Rockets, however, have two franchise players who has the potential of winning a lot of rings with the right supporting cast. Anyway, the true test of Jerry West is whether he will be able to build a champion caliber team in a short time.
And Hubie has Texas A&M's own Tony Barone as an assistant! I don't know where he got his cred cuz A&M's basketball team has always been HORRIBLE. I guess cuz he's a Duke grad.
First, I'm a Griz fan. But really, this discussion is absurd. West has taken a franchise which has never come close to contending for the playoffs (much less a championship) and in a year and a half, they're looking at a 6th seed. And he's done it with people criticizing many of his moves - trading Gooden/Giri for Miller, hiring Hubie, signing Posey ("for too much $"). Yet the Griz have gone from a team winning 23 games in a season (in their best season!) to a 34 win team (and looking at 45+ wins). Plus, it's not like he caught any breaks - he lost the chance to take Carmelo because of the actions of a previous GM. Yet he still made the team better by picking up Posey. Will this line-up win an NBA championship? Of course not. But he's put together a deep line-up that he can use to make deals to bring in a star. And if he fails on this front, he's at least turned the Griz into a playoff caliber team. Compared with many other GMs, I'll take what Jerry's done in a heartbeat.
Addition** SG James Posey SF Mike Miller SG Bonzi Wells PG backup pt. guard Gone** Wesley Person Drew Gooden Giricek I'd say he's done a great job. A lot better than CD IMO. Jason Williams and his point guard play has a lot to do with their great play of late. James Posey, Wells, and Gasol have been playing great too.
BobD- Well said. Memphis is now a respectable franchise. I don't think that would have been said anytime soon were it not for Jerry West.
Ok, let's be a little objective here. Gasol is a very good player and is going to get a lot better. How many atheltic 7 footers with a versatile game are there? KG, Duncan? There's nobody else except Gasol. He'd be putting up better numbers if they ran a different style offense but who cares? They're winning and they're terrorizing the West this year.
Good post. What some posters here lack is objectivity especially regarding other teams, especially against other midwest teams. I like what Memphis has done and they and Hubie sure have impressed me greatly for what they have accomplished. To be on track to almost DOUBLE wins from the previous season with basically the same group of players is almost unheard of. Denver and Cleveland might do the same but it took a star player to be added for that to happen which Memphis didn't have the luxury of. Make no mistake, Gasol is a damn good player and will give Yao and the Rockets a lot of competition in the future.
Objective? Just because I think Gasol isn't a top franchise player doesn't mean I am not objective. I can give you about 20 players that I would rather have to start a franchise. Gasol is a very good player but he is a #2 option on a championship team.
