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http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/20 ... to-a-halt/

Just about sums it up. What does John Hollinger and Jason Levian have to say about it now?

Three games. Three new rotation players to deal with. Give it time. Yes, last night was immensely frustrating. That said, Zach's 3 game wretched stretch, and Marc's disappearance last night are much to blame - that an Zach getting 1 freaking shot in the 4th quarter.

The team needs time to regroup and gel. Yes, another outside threat and backup 5 would be nice, but it's still not time to panic IMO.

If this continues, i hope it at least causes management to bring in a couple more contributors.

What would you give for Dalembert?

linguini8 wrote:What would you give for Dalembert?

Another big is not really a need for us right now.

Well, Hollins seems to think we are missing a backup center. I agree, but I would like to hold out and trade for Gorgui Dieng in the draft. He's an impact shot blocker and exactly what we need up front.

jman3134 wrote:Well, Hollins seems to think we are missing a backup center. I agree, but I would like to hold out and trade for Gorgui Dieng in the draft. He's an impact shot blocker and exactly what we need up front.

I heard that too J and I find it silly. There's nothing that Mo gave you that Davis can't - and Hollins sure as heck didn't play Haddadi.

I heard that too J and I find it silly. There's nothing that Mo gave you that Davis can't - and Hollins sure as heck didn't play Haddadi.

It's actually true. I consider Davis an upgrade from Speights. It's funny because I recall Davis displaying a good jump shot when I last saw him. So, he brings that stretch-the-floor mentality as well.

With that said, I do see Hollins' point. We do not have an enforcer in the paint defensively to block shots and play above the rim against these lengthy bigs such as Javale Mcgee and others. Marc brings that sometimes, but I would not call him an above the rim basket protector. With that said, all of this was a problem pre-trade in my mind as well. Do you have any thoughts on Dieng? We would obviously have to move one of our current bigs to make room for him.

Mo is bigger than Davis and has a fair amount of experience at center.

You're still giving up size if you match Speights up with a long 7 footer. Davis should never receive spot time at center imo.

Hollins need to foget about size.Every body do not know Ed can play at Center just give Ed more oppotunity to play.

Hollins is trolling, acting like he relied on Haddadi's size every night and now he misses him.

I love how Hollins is making a completely logical statement and the entire Internet has ridiculed him on it. The Internet, message boards, blogs, are really for fools. Blog writers at Yahoo... make me laugh.

I wish Lionel Hollins shall read this. this is I am taking about long time.
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_ ... need-space

grizzlies50 wrote:I wish Lionel Hollins shall read this. this is I am taking about long time.
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_ ... need-space

It is excellent analysis.

But you can't put all that on Hollins. A lot of it is personnel. Tony Allen generates most of his scoring through cuts to the basket and offensive rebounding, so he ends up in the paint without thinking. I don't know what's going on with Prince. It could be that because it's been so long since he's played meaningful basketball, he is nervous, and a little bit afraid of going 1-10 from the field. So he's creeping closer for higher percentage attempts.

As for Gasol and Randolph clogging up the paint, that's why I would separate them in the rotation a little bit. I'd prefer to see one of them on the floor at all times, and it might be good if ONLY one of them was out there for long stretches. It is quite possible that Arthur's shooting and mobility will compliment Randolph well, and that Davis's length and shot-blocking ability will help keep Gasol out of foul trouble (by alleviating his help responsibility).

It's also true that, although I feel we have the best bigs in the game - they also may be the slowest pair in the league. If Hollins really wants to play more pick and roll, he probably should split Randolph and Gasol up a little more.

In fact, I think that if Randolph were to sort of take a Ginobili type role - the "starter off the bench" role - it could really help our team chemistry.

I never really understood basketball's obsession with playing your 5 best players together and then your 5 next-best players in relief. In hockey, most teams don't put all their best scorers on the ice together unless it's a power-play situation or something. That seems much wiser.

Despite what Grizzlies ownership or anyone is saying, the Cleveland and Rudy Gay trades were about one thing - money. I'm sure they did what they could to mitigate the impact these trades had on the team and tried to get the best back that they could but no one thinks the Grizzlies are a better team now than they were before these trades. The Cleveland trade was a clear talent dump but it got them below the luxury tax threshold. But the Gay trade was overkill. Grizzlies should have let the team with Gay finish the season. If things didn't work out then you can ship off Gay (or even if they did work out). Point is you save credibility. What free agent is going to sign with the Grizzlies any time soon? Hollinger is great at crunching numbers but the guy knows little about how to build a team. Its more than numbers. Grizzlies will find that out soon enough. Mark my words. Grizzlies will be a middling team for the next several years - never bad, never great - always hovering around mediocre.

Nanogeek wrote:Despite what Grizzlies ownership or anyone is saying, the Cleveland and Rudy Gay trades were about one thing - money. I'm sure they did what they could to mitigate the impact these trades had on the team and tried to get the best back that they could but no one thinks the Grizzlies are a better team now than they were before these trades. The Cleveland trade was a clear talent dump but it got them below the luxury tax threshold. But the Gay trade was overkill. Grizzlies should have let the team with Gay finish the season. If things didn't work out then you can ship off Gay (or even if they did work out). Point is you save credibility. What free agent is going to sign with the Grizzlies any time soon? Hollinger is great at crunching numbers but the guy knows little about how to build a team. Its more than numbers. Grizzlies will find that out soon enough. Mark my words. Grizzlies will be a middling team for the next several years - never bad, never great - always hovering around mediocre.

This is basically my worst fear. So here are some reasons to not believe that:

1) Hollinger is not in charge. It's clear he has some influence, but the final say for now belongs to either Wallace or Levien. It seems pretty clear Wallace was cut out of some of these trade discussions, but it very well may be the case that Levien was simply directed to cut payroll right away, and that personnel decisions will be returned to Wallace, albeit on a tighter budget.

2) Marc Gasol is a rare player. The hardest thing to find in this league is a Center with legitimate size and skill. Gasol is paid well, but his contract is not outrageous. I feel he's been held back a bit so far by being cast in a sort of second-option / facilitator role. But with Gay out and Randolph aging, I think we'll begin to see him assert himself even more. With Gasol in place, whoever is in charge can look to add skill on the perimeter, which is far easier to find than post scoring.

3) The PER that Hollinger seems to rely on in judging players, while flawed, is a decent proxy for judging talent. Also, Hollinger has said many times that it is just one tool: you have to be able to use the "eyeball test" to judge talent as well. I find it unlikely that the Grizzlies will ignore recommendations of their scouting staff.

4) I doubt the new management would be so arrogant as to think they can reinvent the wheel when it comes to team building. Everyone more or less knows that certain kinds of players work well together. We've got a really good C and a solid, do it all PG. It's not that hard to find pieces who compliment those players, particularly since Gasol and Conley are both good facilitators (in other words, they likely fit well with almost anyone).

the funny thing is they said initially during the sale their number one goal was not to get in the way and mess up what a great thing in place. total BS. Or they have a lot of balls and think they do know what they are doing here. I just dont see how Daye, Davis, Leuer are going to put this team past the WCF and get us to win 4 games in the NBA finals. Are those really championship level players??? Daye and Leuer could barely get off the bench on terrible teams. You really telling me those guys are going to take us to the promised land?

I just have to take my brain out of this sport for a while and just watch the games for fun. Right now the Celtics (local team here) are doing amazing things. I'm starting to move back to following them more now.