Steve Francis to Grizzlies

[SD2042]

Yeah, Wallace has done some things more efficiently that Jerry West done in the past. Outside of the Pau blockbuster, I really want to see what Wallace is capable of in terms of getting a deal done that will really benefit the Grizzlies for the better.

[dark-child]

Well Chris Wallace has the added advantage of being Chris Wallace. No GM was anxious to take a phone call from Jerry West and get schooled. I mean where is the guy today that traded Kobe Bryant to the Lakers for Vlade Divac? Chris Wallace seems to have a comfort level with a few GM's and organizations that he regularly does business with, and the Rockets seem to be one of those teams along with the Wizards.

[GrizzledGrizzFan]

Hold on a sec. Let's not go overboard here. While I wholly agree that Chris has made some great moves and has done more to change the culture of the franchise. For example - during his tenure I rarely saw Jerry at Grizz games - unless I was watching at home and they caught him in the suite. Earlier this season as I entered the Forum, Chris Wallace was there shaking hands with folks and thanking them for coming. Blew my mind. Awesome, little touch IMO.

All that being said - West turned the franchise around and had them in the playoffs for the first time within a year and a half. Sorry, but that's beyond impressive IMO. Wallace is on the right track, but he's not there yet.

[Cubboo]

I have difficulty agreeing that Jerry West turned the franchise around. They did have some success in the first year with him as the GM (28-54) and I give him credit for selecting the right coach at the right time (Hubie Brown). Other than that, his time in Memphis seemed to be a flop. He came with a big reputation and I always felt as if he had an ace in his back pocket, but he never played it.
.
His drafts were less than bad:
Drew Gooden, Robert Archibald, Matt Barnes (with Nick Anderson traded immediately for Wesly Person), Marcus Banks & Kendrick Perkins (traded immediately for Troy Bell & Dahntay Jones), Andre Emmet (for 2005 2nd rd pick) , Gordan Giricek (for 2004 2nd rder),Sergei Lishouk, Antonio Burks, Hakim Warrick, Kyle Lowry.
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His trades and signings were average at best:
Fired Sidney Lowe
Cezary Tribanski - signed as a fa
Jake Tsakalidas
Awarded Shane Battier big money contract
Awarded Pau Gasol max money contract
Brian Cardinal
Earl Watson
Damon Stoudamire
Gordan Giricek & Drew Gooden - for Mike Miller (2003 1st rd and 2004 2nd rd-Sergei Lishouk)
Bobby Jackson & Greg Ostertaag - Bonzi Wells
James Posey - Free Agent
Tribanski, Robert Archibald, Brevin Knight - Bo Outlaw & Jake Tsakalidas
Tsakalidis - Scott Padgett
Shane Battier - Rudy Gay & Stromile Swift
Hired Mike " the crowd killer" Fratello
Chucky Atkins
Fired Mike "the crowd killer" Fratello
Reassigned Tony Barone to the interim Head Coaching position
Jason Williams, Andre Emmett & James Posey - Eddie Jones & Raul Lopez

The single greatest accomplishment, imho, is hiring Hubie Brown as head coach. Logo won Executive of the year (same year as Brown won coach of the year), so I would argue that Hubie Brown was the turnaround factor, not West. If you believe that West should receive the credit for making the right hire, then I would agree. Credit rolls upwards, bs rolls down.

[SD2042]

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/20 ... grizzlies/

[ADRajX]

soooooooooo


... is francis gonna play anytime for you guys this season?



just curious

[SD2042]

I could say sometime in the next few days, but don't take my word for it.

[hptmatthew]

I'd be very surprised if he didn't see minutes as soon as tomorrow (1/4 @ home v. DAL). We are really dying for someone else to score, with Rudy being mired in perhaps his worst slump yet.

I'm also pretty tired of seeing Greg Buckner try to guard ppl six inches taller than he is, with knowledge that Buck has no chance of scoring to balance it out. Franchise at least has a shot to score to make his time on court worthwhile.

[ADRajX]

yeah... i actually liked steve-o when he was here in orlando

his 1st season with us, he was just spectacular... career highs in pretty much every category

then the 2nd season with us, he started off great... then ... late december and january things just got messed up

it wasn't his faulth, but, our head coach was an idiot (johnny davis), he got the boot... then it was all chaos afterwards, we traded cutino mobley for doug christie and then the seattle incident happened

... it's a shame it happened to steve... so we traded him to ny for trevor ariza, which was actually a good trade for us at the time, but... that whole winter where all that chaotic mess had occurred really took him out of his swag and rhythm... and he's been like that ever since (and the new york situation didn't help him either... and then houston's coach didn't want to play him)

so i want to see him bounce back to his old form; he's only 31 or 32 years old, that's still young in this league (Nash, J-Kidd, KG, Allen, and Shaq are all in their 30s and still producing high numbers)

i want to see the franchise back

[Closer2God]

Soo.. where the **** is he? he gonna play next game or whats the deal?

[dlee7283]

for some reason people hate Stevie Francis but as a Grizzlies fan I would like to see him get some time and contribute. I would love to see someone else take shots besides Mayo and Gay.