This thread is interesting. Some very good, albeit Rocket biased, thoughts. The funniest thing is people saying that the Grizzlies are at their ceiling. Hmm..well maybe they are. They are on pace to win 54 games. Usually only truly special teams win more than that when the conference is this tough. I think the Grizzlies have room for improvement, especially since their best player is only 23 years old. We also have many more assets to use for improvements. Salaries are very much under control as players like Swift, Battier, Posey, Miller, and J Will are or will be signed to market value deals. Like others have posted. More will be known this summer as both of our teams solidify the nucleus they will use to make championship runs. Will Houston keep SF and Mobely? Will Memphis use it's depth to bring in a proven All Star? I think this summer will be critical for both franchises. Remember it was just last summer when it looked like Dallas was a player or two from a championship. A lot can change over the summer.
This is in response to your post and that of MFW2310: What is this so-called low ceiling? Last time I looked, both Memphis and the Rookets (good one Clutch!) play the same teams in the same division. Both teams should be working toward the same goal: winning the NBA Championship. The facts are that date, the Grizz have simply done a better job of advancing toward that goal. If you were to chart the progress of both teams in terms of wins and losses side by side then it is the Grizz who come out on top this year. So the so-called primary reason the Rox are "supposed" to be so much "better" is the fact they have Yao while the Grizz do not. Well, at the risk of being flamed, I feel compelled to point out Yao's presence alone is not enough to guarantee that the Rookets will be champions sometime in the future. The Lakers had Chamberlain for years but it was Russell's Celtics that took home the championship in their head-to-head contests. We may have Yao but we also have Carroll Dawson while they can counter with Jerry West which gives them a HUGE advantage because they have a GM who can actually recognize and acquire NBA talent while the Rockets have a GM who can waste 1st round draft picks and wouldn't be able to find players if he was locked in a closet with them. Does ANYONE here actually believe that Jerry West is finished remaking the Grizz? And where did anyone get the idea that the Rockets are closer to becoming NBA Champs because of Yao? And just WHO do you suppose will be in charge of finding the players to complement Yao to round out this "championship" Rockets team? (hint: It won't be a guy named West...) I restate my contention that until the Rookets actually prove something on the court, we have no right to turn our collective noses up and look down on any team - much less one that has proved themselves to be the better team by beating us. All we are doing is looking like sore losers.
i think the grizz are kind of like the florida marlins in the sense that they have talent all around but the thing that truly is making them special is their chemistry. their chemistry is just amazing this year and that isn't because of jerry west...its because of coach brown. i know west hired brown but it is brown who is doing all the spectacular work. west has made some moves but the biggest one he made was hiring hubie....that is the day the franchise started to turn around and the team got a coach who made them believe in themselves. hubie has taught the lost art of BASKETBALL to the grizz and its really something great to see.
Brown is a great coach, but Brown has been on plenty of loosing teams before (How bad were the 80's Knicks with him?) and I can say that without the proper GM (west) Brown wouldn't be nearly as effective. Look at the Grizz this year and two years ago, just look at the Rosters, you can see a heck of improvement, coaching or not.
Nice thread, good responses. I think West as GM is the difference maker - his record at LA and now MEM is evidence. Further, H.Brown's system does not deliver results in playoff's, this is also supported empherically I believe. Team's have time to rest up slow the game down and leverage matchups better against his system in playoffs. That being said - I don't think one can draw a fair conclusion about Rox v. Griz. until conclusion of 2nd year of JVG. Having just moved to Houston my only complaint about the team is that their marketing is very lame - in that regard they are the converse of the Chicago Bulls my previous local team - I leave that to another thread - but suffice to say I'll take Rox and their childish 'Be Big' campaign any day.
I couldn't agree with you more. I think many of us have forgotten the Rox slogan of the championship days. Stay humble and Stay Hungry.
It is absurd to say we are closer to contend a title than Griz just because of Yao. How can ppls ignore the obvious facts that Griz beat us 3-1, blew us out in the last meeting, already won 48 games and had a chance for division title while we are still trying to secure a playoff seat. We have Yao now, so what, we are still not making the playoff yet. Griz reminds me Mavs 3 years ago, a team is about to break through. And does Rox give you that impression? Yao, SF and Cat already play along for 2 years and you can hardly see chemistry between them like Griz do, although you can say they have a good relationship. The pieces just dont' fit for Rox, and I bet if we kept Posey, he wound not have played this well as he did for Griz. He is just fit for Griz. style, run and gun, forcing turnovers. We are not that kind of team. I will still say we have to make significant changes in the summer to improve.
You know what's funny? Not one single team in NBA history ever won a ring without a true star and only one team in NBA history ever won without at least a decent inside presence. I mean, sure, we CAN bet against probability, but doing that is nothing short of idiotic. Essentially you have 10 mediocre players in Memphis, the best of which is SAR II, albeit with lower stats. Well I'm sorry, but that just simply isn't good enough. Some people say, well hey, they can combine 2 or 3 of them to trade for a superstar, yet they forget that any team smart enough wouldn't give up a championship calibre superstar for mediocre players (unless it's Sterling, last time I check, he didn't have anything left). How's the ROY's team doing btw? Last year the Suns were the "team of the future." What are they this year? Memphis is the same. Likely they will fade next year. We can whine and b*tch all we want about the Rockets, but hey, at least they are steady. So go ahead and bet against probability all you want. I'll just sit here, sip my tea and watch my Rockets.
Take a look at the NBA champions for about the past 25 years. All of them except for Detroit had a candidate for best player in the league. What player on the Memphis team can you say has the chance to become that player? GMs don't win championships, coaches don't win championships - players do, specifically GREAT players. The chances of Memphis getting a player like that aren't good - 1) they don't have one now, 2) their record should be good for the forseeable future, so they won't have the draft positioning required to get one, and 3) teams that get players like that don't trade them. With the CBA the way it is now, max players stay with their teams b/c they can offer far more money. Shaq went to LA before the new CBA - under the current CBA, Shaq most likely stays in Orlando, and Jerry West isn't a genius.
anybody notice that our great GM has NO first round pick AGAIN this year.... since we had to give it to Utah for taking Rice off our hands - who we had to take from NYC because of Shandon Anderson ?!?! and please don't say "first round picks don't make a difference" - ONLY OUR first rounds picks don't make a difference - save for Yao we got lucky with Yao and we took advantage of the situation with Francis - other than signing JJ - CD (and Rudy) has been brain dead for the past 5 years !!!
Then i guess you should be rooting for the rockets to miss the playoffs that way they do get the 1st round pick that is lottery protected.
Uh...hmmm....Pau Gasol. At 23 years of age and putting up the numbers he has in his fist 3 years...He has the ability to have an MVP type season.
It's easy to forget the Eddie Griffin and Mo Taylor incidents. But that is probably a few games right there.
Here are some questions for MemphisX. 1. Do you and other Griz fans really think this team is good enough to win a championship? A deep team with talent spread around dosen't tend to win in the playoffs. And the only team to come close were the Portland teams of a few years back(they were a 4th quarter collapse away from the ring). Yet that team is MUCH more talented than Memphis. Despite their win totals, it just seems to me that the Griz don't really have the firepower to win four 7 game series necessary for the Ring. Unless you can get two of your players to turn into All-Stars. 2. How do you feel about Hubie? Is he a turnaround guy whom the players will eventually tune out? It's one thing to have success for a season. But is there any reason to think it's sustainable, especially to the degree of a Yao-caliber player? How will the player adjust to a new coach if Hubie's effect starts deteriotes?
1. The Grizz are not title contenders this season. However, I think to many people just blindly dismiss Pau Gasol. I mean has Yao Ming shown anything more to make it a forgone conclusion that he will dominate the NBA? I will hold off on dismissing the 10 man rotation's chances of success in the playoofs until I see it fail. 2. I don't think players who 'tune' Hubie out will wear a Grizzly uniform for long and they definitely won't play much.
i think you're pretty rational overall memphisx and i agree that people dismiss pau but to say he has shown more ability to dominate than yao is pretty weak. yao is clearly a better shooter, rebounder (look at the numbers), and he effects offenses more than pau can. i know yao isn't a great shotblocker but he is still huge and he changes shots and forces teams out to the perimeter simply because of his size. plus i don't think we've ever seen pau go head to head with shaq and simply outplay him. i think pau can be a great player but he simply doesn't have everything yao has and that yao has shown when he is playing to his potential, which he seems to be doing more and more often.
You do understand Pau is a PF and Yao is a center. I have seen Pau go head to head with KG and dominate him. Does that count? Pau comes to play every night, 63 straight double figure games. No games missed in his career. Best player in the Euro championships this summer. IMO their numbers are close and more a product of the systems they are in right now. However, those 6 inches do make a difference.
I'll answer the first question this way: we have a far better shot than the rockets do to win it all, and though it is unlikely that our first entry into the playoffs will yeild a title--and the safer money is to say they won't--I wouldn't count the grizz out by any means. Now, I am sure that if and when the grizz get knocked out in the playoffs all the naysayers will beat their collective chest in victory with the I-told-you-sos. But consider this: to say the grizz will get knocked out is easy. It doesn't take any special knowledge to pick a team to lose since you have many more changes to be right than the other side. However, if the grizz make it to the second round of the playoffs, that validates this style of play in my opinion since we will most likely play the spurs and they have won it before, assuming tim stays heathly. And I for one think we will beat them. Question 2 is ignorant. You have no bases to ask that question. Hubie has won the coach of the month 2 months in a row, and has guided the team to a record setting year. All indications of losing control of the team has been answered.
