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As we all know our bench production has not been on point so far in 7 games. Sure the season is young and new. Our bench includes new players and vet players who been around for a while. Lets evaluate for a minute.

New Rookies

Henry and Vasquez- These two are rookies who are trying to find their niche in the NBA. Henry has played in six games compared to Vasquez who played in two games. Although Henry is showing the reason why the Grizz drafted him in the first place. Keep in mind he has some ways to go towards establishing himself as dependable player on the squad. Vasquez has yet to be apart of the rotation as much this season and like Henry, he has a long way to go towards establishing himself as a dependable player in the league.

2nd Yr Players

D.Carroll- Outside of being a hustle player who may benefit from an uptempo team with quick transition offense. This team isn't the right fit for Carroll at this point. It's only a matter of time when the light will dim on his time here as a Grizzly.

S. Young- Young has shown signs he can be a solid contributor from last season with the Grizzlies. This season, Young has not been that player from season's past. Since the season opener where he scored 17pts and 5rebs, Sam has averaged 4.3pts and 1.2rebs a game since. That's signs of inconsistancy. Is there a confidence issue? If so where did the breakdown started and can Sam get back to the Sam we know?

H. Thabeet- Thabeet or Thabust to his critics still has a long way to go towards proving himself being capable of being a player in the NBA. After spending the offseason working on his game with Mutombo and Olijuwon. Thabeet has showm miminal signs of trying on effort. Lateral movements and staying on his man is still an issue that still needs work. To me as long as he's willing to help the Grizz on the defense by rebounding and playing smart defense that can help the Grizzlies out worth dividends. Get aggressive and play with more tact.


3rd Yr Players


D. Arthur- After three yrs of struggling to find his niche on this team, this season so far has been Arthur's best. He's stepped in for ZBo when he got injured in the opener. He averaged 12 and 6 as a result. Now that Zbo is back and DA's coming off the bench. The Grizz need him to produce just as well as he did as a starter. The Grizz bench are hurting for pts on offensive production. DA however can't do it by himself. It takes a team effort.


A.Law IV- Since his good days @ Texas Tech. Law has simply stunk it up. He has not step up in any catagory for any the teams he's play for and the Grizz s one of them. Law is simply another reminder of Grizz PG past(see Marcus Williams and Jamaal Tinsley). I know the Grizzlies can find a better decent PG who can bring up the ball, set up the guys, and can shoot the rock a bit. Just drop Law and find someone else please!


H. Haddadi- Has brushes of potential of being a decent bench player in the league. Some fans probably prefer him to Thabeet in the rotation some of the time. His time been next to non-existent in the rotation and really has earn an incomplete at this point.



Veteran
T Allen-TA was brought in to Memphis in a surprise move in the summer over bringing back Ronnie Brewer. TA's main specialty is defensive stopper and chip in on offense when neccessary. So far, it's been so-so. TA hasn't play to that reputation on defense like he did back in Boston. For whatever reason Coach Hollins has not place TA in situations where he can be more effective on defense against the star backcourt player. Something's got to give. What's the point of going after a defensive specialist if he isn't use approiately?

Xavier skipping summer league and GV's ankle surgery have hampered the bench's development for sure. Not that they would instantly contribute, but the Grizz still don't have a take on the true potential (GV especially) of either yet).

This isn't anything new. We discussed a fair bit about whether or not the bench was improved during the offseason. Some felt that Vasquez, Henry, Allen, a healthy Arthur, and a bit more experienced Thabeet and Young were enough to make a difference. Others, like myself, saw it as another upcoming season where we better hope the starters stay healthy once again.

The problem as I see it has more than a couple wrinkles. There's the catch 22 where they need to pay sizeable contracts in order to keep their starters, which in turn puts them in the situation of having to load up the bench with lower paid players, which in turn means solid bench guys that earn more money aren't in the cards, which ultimately means the bench ends up being a lesser caliber. Round and round it goes.

There are a couple of things management can do if they really want to upgrade the bench. Look at trading one of their high draft picks such as Thabeet or Henry that still have the "potential" label and could be attractive to a team( I loved GrizzledGrizzFan's idea of Varejao for Thabeet and Henry). Or Wallace really needs to put a big emphasis on searching for that hidden gem role player that for a variety of reasons has fallen out of favor.

<<< Still mad the team didn't pick up a veteran center and veteran point guard.