After being a part of the Gizzards exhibition win in their first game in Memphis: "Well, I'm 1-0," Battier said. "Can I quit? Retire in a few days?" If he doesn't he is going to have to be ready to lose more games in his 1st month of pro ball than he has in college/HS. It is a no brainer Duke will win more games than the Gizzards next year. Gizz or Bulls really might make a run at the Clips record, good thing they play each other.
Shane's even smarter for growing his hair out. He's taking preemptive action against the inevitable "Ruffle Head" chants he would've heard during road games.
Just wanted to go on the record to say I don't think the Grizzlies will be the worst team in the West. Denver will be.
Well, McDyess' injury will hurt the team right off the bat. This, coupled with the fact that Rider is a headcase who has never been able to lead a team to victory, spells doom for the Nuggets. Don't get me wrong; I like the Nugs and think that Van Exel is waaay underrated, but I just don't see them doing very good at all this year. Then again, they do have the thin Denver air on their side, so you never know...
Don't get me wrong, the Nugs are gonna suck this year, with or without Dice (ISSEL!!!!!). I just don't think we'll be at a Memphis level of sucking. We have talent. Van Exel, Raef, Posey, Ceballos, Rider (yes, he has questions), Willis, Abdul-Wahad (yes, he has talent). I like our team, just wish we had more in the frontcourt. And a new coach.
I know we've got some Nugs fans here. Please don't be offended: I'm not making an argument that they're the worst team, only a prediction that they'll finish last. I don't think Memphis will do as badly as other people seem to think. And, while Denver has some very good players, I have no confidence in Issel/management to properly use the talent they've got.
I also think Memphis will be okay. I don't know how Jason Williams and Shane Battier will mesh... but I think that Battier and randoms could pull out 15-20 wins just by themselves. If Williams plays mature like it's a contract year or something, they could hit 30. Now, the Nuggets???. I think it's up to GSW and the Nuggets to choose who will represent the West in the land of the pathetic.
Vancouver couldn't hit 30 wins with Shareef and Bibby, they will be lucky to get 15 replacing them with Gasol/Battier and Williams. GSW will be much better than them, Denver even w/o McDyess is still probably better than them.
It's obvious that Vancouver's problems last year was not an issue of talent. They had a nice lineup with Rahim, Bibby, Dickerson et al. They had an attitude problem. Hopefully with the (relatively) new ownership, new roster, new city, will come a new atmosphere. I can see it going either way -- that the poison will continue and they'll suck again, or that the roster shakeup will give them some renewed life and they'll start the climb. At least they have that crossroads. GS and Denver are the same as they were last year when they were crappy.
The Gizzards had "some" talent, but so did everyteam in the West last year. The Gizzards had the weakest bench in the league and the weakest starting C/PF combination last year. The only thing they had going for them last year was an above average backcourt, and an excellent SF. They traded away their excellent SF and half their backcourt, exactly what talent to they have? Poor MD too, he is very good at hitting the open shot but nobody in the right mind is gone to leave him open now and he not exactly a creator on offense. He, and they, are going to be miserable, IMO.
