Monday, April 29 Grizzard will sign with agent, leave Alabama -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Andy Katz ESPN.com Alabama junior forward Rod Grizzard will declare for the NBA draft, sign with an agent and not return for his senior season, Alabama coach Mark Gottfried confirmed with ESPN.com. The school has scheduled a 3 p.m. ET news conference Monday. "He's not coming back, he's going for it," Gottfried said. "We'll support him. He feels like it's time to do it." Grizzard, who averaged 14.3 ppg, 6 rpg for the SEC West champs, is the second player in two seasons to leave the Tide early. Freshman forward Gerald Wallace left Alabama last season and was a first-round draft pick of the Sacramento Kings last season. NBA scouts project Grizzard as a potential first-round pick but one that has to prove he belongs in the first round at the Chicago pre-draft camp June 6-8. Grizzard has the skills as an athletic wing who can score from all over the floor but his 3-point shooting (27.7 percent) has to improve for his stock to rise. "This hurts us a great deal," Gottfried said. "We're losing a big-time player." The Tide isn't expected to lose junior forward Erwin Dudley, the SEC player of the year. Gottfried said Dudley told him he wouldn't declare but will make a formal announcement later this week. The Tide will likely go with incoming freshman Kennedy Winston, ineligible freshman Lucky Williams, JC transfer Emmett Thomas or sophomore-to-be Earnest Shelton in place of Grizzard. Winston still has to win an appeal with the national letter of intent committee to be eligible after getting a release from his NLI at Cal
Grizzard is talented. Excellent rebounder, point forward type, great NBA SF body (6'8'', long arms). He has a nice stroke, just needs to get consistent with it. I wouldn't feel terrible if we drafted him #15.
I think he would be a steal at 15, I'm sure he's going to fall that far. If we get the first pick we can take Ming. If we get the 8th, maybe we can get Ely and then take Grizzard with the 15.
If we throw snake eyes and draft at #8, I'd rather take Stoudemire or even Marcus over Ely, aka Cato II. From all I've read, Ely is undersized for a center (we don't need a PF), unmotivated and flat lazy about using his talent. I agree with the Grizzard part.
I also agree about Grizzard, but I can not help but feel that we should give that pick to Vancoucer. Ely would be terrible, and I think that we have to do everything possible to get Woods. His rebounding at 3 would be a great help to our lack of rebounding. And they also say that he is even NBA ready. I also like the fact that like Francis he was undersized when he was developing his raw skills, and then had a growth spurt, I think that that helps skill development.
Good news for the Rocks. Definitely (should) make trading #15 harder, now. Grizzard could help at 2 & 3, and even play a little emergency PG. And you want to hear something crazy: I would draft him at 15 even if Woods was drafted at #5! I just don't think there will be any big men available at 15 with more talent than Grizzard, or with the ability to help the Rocks. After Ming & Williams, there will be a run on PF\Cs & PGs (except for Woods and Butler). Draft both Woods & Grizzard, and hope that Mo comes back healthy & Griffin comes back bigger, better, and with a post game. Lineup: C - Cato, (MCE\trade?) PF - Mo, (KT), EG SF - (KT), Rice, Woods SG - Cat, Grizzard PG - Steve, Mooch (If KT isn't traded) IR - TMo, Oscar, Brown
I would have to agree - Grizzard is the next Lamar Odom or an upgraded Walt Williams. If he is there at #15 he is worth a shot.
When he's available with the 15th pick,let's take him!I think we wouldn't do anything wrong if we grab him there!
is he really as good as this threadis making him out to be? i didn''t see much of his play over the year, although knew he was a talent. Here is Andy Katz's take, if anyone cares... Grizzard is a super athlete who could climb dramatically with NBA scouts if he works out well and plays equally well in Chicago. A number of scouts like him, even more than Gerald Wallace (who left Bama after his freshman season last year) because of his overall game. He's not as athletic as Wallace, but has the potential to do more offensively. Grizzard has to improve his 3-point shooting. He should be an intriguing player to watch over the next two months.
When I saw him play, I swear he looked like he was 6 foot 8, 215-220 lbs. Apparantly, he is listed as being 6 foot 8 205 lbs. He should probably think about putting 10 pounds on his frame to make him strong enough for the NBA.
Is Jason Jennings better than Grizzard? (I'll go ahead and answer this one: NO!!) Anyone that can be signed with the MCE?
Living in Alabama, i have seen Grizzard play a great deal, but i dont like him. I think he did the most he could to play himself OUT of the first round. He's very talented, but just doesnt seem to care. He is so enigmatic, and in the tournament he shot so poorly (except for one game against tennessee) that the announcers were saying he was hurting the team. Gottfried had to take him out during crucial stretches because he would jack up bad shots. He threw up horrible brick after horrible brick. I figured he would stay at Alabama because he seemed to get much worse than he was as a sophomore. After averaging about 20 points that year, he has gone down to 14. Some games he scored like 2 points, and just didnt want to to charge of the team. So, that's my take on Grizzard. I felt that someone needed to provide the opposing viewpoint.
On paper, Grizzard seems like a nice fit. However, I fear the curse of the Crimson Tide that seems to be an affliction peculiar to the Rockets. Hey, I just noticed. I'm no longer a newbie but have graduated to Apprentice Senior Poster Second Class!
Horrible 3pt shooter, worse as a junior than as a sophmore, didn't we already draft this guy from Maryland?
