The Memphis Grizzlies are Top 5 in the West at this point

[jman3134]

Memphis doesn't need to move Mayo to pg, their starting lineup was I believe the highest scoring in the league but their bench was the at best bottom 3 in the NBA. The Grizzlies will easily make the playoff this year because they addressed the weaknesses that hurt them last season.
1. Grizzlies blew the most double digit lead last year
Solution: Get better bench players in Tony Allen, healthy Darrell Arhtur, Xavier Henry, improved Sam Young, Hasheem Thabeet monumental improvement
2. Grizzlies constantly abused by wing players
Solution: Get Tony Allen, Thabeet also helps with his presence
3. Grizzlies one of the worst 3 point shooting teams in the NBA
Solution: Get Grevis Vasquez, Xavier Henry and Sam Young shoot 39% from 3 in summer league

Don't expect him to keep that up. Based on the entire history of the NBA, it's reasonable to expect for him to become an average 3 point shooter (35-36%), but him improving to 38.6% or above would put him in the company of 18 other players in NBA history. In the entire history of the NBA, only 18 players have improved upon their college 3 point percentage by a significant margin in the NBA.

Would Channing Frye happen to fit in this category?

[vincecarter4pres]

They'll win games in the mid 30's if they don't make a trade or two IMO.

They don't have nearly enough playmaking in that starting lineup, 2 of them are blackhole, ballstopping chuckers, their defense is suspect, their point guard play is below par, Randolph is going to be crying about his extension all season and Rudy Gay can't get along with O.J. Mayo because Mayo just so happens to like winning and personal accountability on the court, what a novel concept.

I think Mayo is as good as gone though. He probably has pretty damn solid trade value and they're not trading Gay after giving him that contract because not many teams are going to want him now and they aren't going to get a player they can sell the fans on for him. Gay's pretty much become the face of the franchise even though he's the 4th best/4th most important player on the team.

Add to this inevitable injuries, which they dodged last season...

Your whole post is rife with careless inaccuracies and trite memes.
I'm not going to get into the specifics of where you're wrong (because frankly there are too many misapprehensions and blatant falsehoods in your "analysis" for me to address right now). But just for future reference you might want to actually watch a team before you make any lengthy pronouncements about its composition, injuries, player personalities, team chemistry, etc.

Basically anyone who actually watches and follows the Grizzlies on a regular basis knows you just made a bunch of stuff up and presented it as some kind of informed assessment of the team.
Nearly as ridiculous as the OP's proposition btw, congrats.

Haha, you're so full of **** it's coming out of your ears.
Try countering anything I said and proving me wrong instead of flexing your vocabulary and grammar skills to mask the fact you haven't said anything of substance and your entire response was nothing more than a, "Nah ah, you're wrong!"...

[jman3134]

In terms of the Grizz's production this season, I had originally assessed that they would be worse than a season ago. This is due in large part to the assumption that they may lose one of their starters to injury at some point in the year. Of course this can't be predicted, but it really is a huge impediment for a team with a very thin bench.

As for how they will fair, Xavier Henry seems to be promising and maybe can provide some scoring output off the bench in time. Tony Allen brings a defensive presence that would be welcomed.

The point guard situation is downright awful though. And while some posters have suggested that our starting 2-5 is above average to downright better than that of other teams, we are lacking at arguably the most important slot in basketball. (unless we were to play the triangle) If you look at the talent around the NBA at the 1, it becomes obvious that we need an upgrade. We are not going to play Mayo at the point, as his efficiency is already not where it needs to be. I can't imagine what it would be like if he were to take on such a role. Conley Jr. is going to be given the reigns again, and probably will not fair all too well.

While are bench is starting to get better with the aforementioned additions and the improved health of Darrell Arthur, I wonder if Mayo and Gay can become more efficient. I believe that the reasons people suggest Gay is not improving are his statistical output. But, year after year, he has been paired with Mayo and has been missing a dominant point guard. If you look at his Olympic contribution, his output per minute was solid, and he was able to be a factor. His field goal percentage has improved over the years, as he has adjusted to his personnel. The one element I expect may change this year is his defensive intensity- for this I can only hope though. Everyone knows that he has had the tools in his bag all along. But, the instincts and intensity have never really been there.

Overall, I see some weaknesses in the west. I expect the Clippers to be in contention for the last spot with a breakout year from Blake Griffin. If Oden can ever reach full health, Portland will be solid, and may advance in the playoffs. Yao and the Rockets may end up towards the bottom of this list because he is not going to log huge minutes. (injuries could be a factor again there as well) The Suns probably still have a better team without Amare. The Nuggets will be good again. The Jazz may slip a bit, and maybe the Grizz could take a spot away from them.

[vincecarter4pres]

In terms of the Grizz's production this season, I had originally assessed that they would be worse than a season ago. This is due in large part to the assumption that they may lose one of their starters to injury at some point in the year. Of course this can't be predicted, but it really is a huge impediment for a team with a very thin bench.

As for how they will fair, Xavier Henry seems to be promising and maybe can provide some scoring output off the bench in time. Tony Allen brings a defensive presence that would be welcomed.

The point guard situation is downright awful though. And while some posters have suggested that our starting 2-5 is above average to downright better than that of other teams, we are lacking at arguably the most important slot in basketball. (unless we were to play the triangle) If you look at the talent around the NBA at the 1, it becomes obvious that we need an upgrade. We are not going to play Mayo at the point, as his efficiency is already not where it needs to be. I can't imagine what it would be like if he were to take on such a role. Conley Jr. is going to be given the reigns again, and probably will not fair all too well.

While are bench is starting to get better with the aforementioned additions and the improved health of Darrell Arthur, I wonder if Mayo and Gay can become more efficient. I believe that the reasons people suggest Gay is not improving are his statistical output. But, year after year, he has been paired with Mayo and has been missing a dominant point guard. If you look at his Olympic contribution, his output per minute was solid, and he was able to be a factor. His field goal percentage has improved over the years, as he has adjusted to his personnel. The one element I expect may change this year is his defensive intensity- for this I can only hope though. Everyone knows that he has had the tools in his bag all along. But, the instincts and intensity have never really been there.

Overall, I see some weaknesses in the west. I expect the Clippers to be in contention for the last spot with a breakout year from Blake Griffin. If Oden can ever reach full health, Portland will be solid, and may advance in the playoffs. Yao and the Rockets may end up towards the bottom of this list because he is not going to log huge minutes. (injuries could be a factor again there as well) The Suns probably still have a better team without Amare. The Nuggets will be good again. The Jazz may slip a bit, and maybe the Grizz could take a spot away from them.

Thank you for the honest and unbiased observation and scouting report of your team, along with your expectations.

It seems like a lot of posters get butt hurt over people making educated predictions about their team when they aren't on the same level as their lofty expectations, when it was in a prediction style thread to begin with, so they just fire back with a bunch of wordy jargon instead of logically debating the points they disagree with.

[Prospect Dong]

I certainly don't see the Griz as a top 5 team, but then again, I didn't see them winning 40 last season, and neither did most others. So I guess I could be pleasantly surprised.

Arguments for expecting the Griz to win less than last season:

They were unusually healthy

They got an uncharacteristically good year out of Zach

Backup pg situation maybe even worse than last year

Other teams more likely to be ready for them

Arguments for expecting them to improve on last season:

Youngest and least experienced roster in the league last season, as well as the youngest and least experienced starting lineup. Four out of five starters were still on their rookie contracts, and three key reserves were all rookies, with two more backups, Arthur and Hadadi, being in their second season. Very few NBA players peak in their first few years, so its reasonable to expect some level of improvement from most of the starters and most of the bench.

Worst bench in the league last season. How much it's improved depends a lot on the development of the first and second year players from last year, and the kind of impact the rookies can make. At a minimum, Tony Allen should be better than anyone we had coming off the bench last season. They will be better, and could be a lot better.

Zach avoiding injury was lucky, OJ and Rudy avoiding injury seems to be the norm, not the exception. As with the championship-era pistons (with whom we don't otherwise compare) we may suffer less injuries simply because we have less injury-prone players. We did lose Gasol for a key stretch of the season, and key backups, Arthur and Brewer, for most of their possible games - so its not a given that next season will be much worse, though I'd predict a few more missed games.

You should look at their record without the initial losing streak. They started, what, 1-9 last season. Normally I think that mediocre teams go through winning and losing streaks, but in this case you had a young team with a very specific distraction in the form of AI. It's reasonable to suggest that they turned a corner after he left the team, and their subsequent record seems to bear that out - it's not like we're just cherry-picking a stretch of games to ignore.

Zach's in a contract year. Might lead to black-holedom, but at least he won't be inclined to take it easy. Same goes for Conley and Gasol and, to a lesser extent, OJ and Thabeet.

Overall, I don't know how those effects will weigh against each other, but I'd take the over on the vegas line of 40 wins.

[OJMayoMVP32]

We are going to be a good team this year. The West is still very deep, but up for grabs even the Lakers aren't healthy at the moment.

[Luigi]

It's a shame a topic like this gets this many pages. I know I'm just adding to the problem here, but one more post to point that out seems like it could only be a good thing. This is the problem with internet message boards. Someone says this crap in real life, and everyone stops listening.

[jman3134]

Read the discussion then. Many posters offer pretty substantive stances on how the Grizz will fair in the west. (disregarding the original post)

[mid-post]

Try countering anything I said and proving me wrong instead of flexing your vocabulary and grammar skills to mask the fact you haven't said anything of substance and your entire response was nothing more than a, "Nah ah, you're wrong!"...

Now that I have some free time, I'll do a rundown of all the stuff you got straight wrong and/or just made up ok? It might take me awhile because you managed to f*ck up most of your "facts."

They don't have nearly enough playmaking in that starting lineup

You know how dumb that sounds? Of course not, you don't watch the Grizzlies (but you sure spout off as if you do). Anyone who knows anything understands it was their bench, and not the starting lineup, that was a problem last season:
http://www.nba.com/statistics/plusminus ... it=9&team=
http://www.nba.com/statistics/plusminus ... it=9&team=

2 of them are blackhole, ballstopping chuckers

Which is why their starting five was so inefficient and struggled so mightily last season.

Randolph is going to be crying about his extension all season and Rudy Gay can't get along with O.J. Mayo because Mayo just so happens to like winning and personal accountability on the court, what a novel concept.

Oh look, more of you just making up pure speculation and presenting it as reality. Let me guess, you're from the "Mayo would be a savior if only the pathetic franchise would let him blossom" crowd.

Add to this inevitable injuries, which they dodged last season...

It's good to know that Marc Gasol never played through a torn neck muscle or that it ultimately forced him to sit out the rest of the season.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/35876841/ ... ayer_news/
http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2 ... eck-injury
Oh wait, he did? Never mind, I guess you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

[mid-post]

Just as a follow up, there are several important factors that could easily keep the Grizzlies out of the playoffs:

-The bench needs to be much better than it was last year. It has potential to be significantly better than last year, or it could be the same as last year. No way will it be worse. That's just not possible.
-Defensively the Grizzlies weren't/aren't good. The one player that could have helped in that respect (Brewer) was hurt for a large part of his time with the Grizzlies. Who knows if Tony Allen will help much, but he won't hurt.
-The Grizzlies need another guard who can run the offense at the same level as Conley in spot minutes. Conley isn't a good point guard, he's mediocre. But outside of him last year there was nobody who was remotely competent as the primary ball handler and initiator of offense.

[Soupman]

wut?

you mean barely make/miss the PO.

[lilojmayo]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore?gid=2010101225

As I said yesterday, Grizzlies are without question better than Thunder, ball don't lie. Blow out city. Grizz starters are clearly 10x better than theres. Thunder live off of Durant and the refs bailing him out. If Durant is going or the refs aren't bailing him out on a rare occasion this team is done.

Grizzlies as they showed can kill you with the inside game with Gasol or Z-bo it is like take your pick. Rudy can get going from the ouside. Conley can hit some shots occasionally. We all know what OJ Mayo brings to the table, he doesn't need to waste his energy in preseason.

Even our bench is now better than there bench. Sam Young was like 3rd in Summer League in scoring. The dude is so one dimensional but he can surely score, like a Corey Maggette. 6'6 very strong and physical and athletic. Xavier Henry has some upside to him, he is just like what James Harden was to the OKC last year. Tony Allen bringing the lockdown defense. Hasheem Thabeet controllling the point with blocks.

This team is ready.

4-0

[dream_catcher_9]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore?gid=2010101225

As I said yesterday, Grizzlies are without question better than Thunder, ball don't lie. Blow out city. Grizz starters are clearly 10x better than theres. Thunder live off of Durant and the refs bailing him out. If Durant is going or the refs aren't bailing him out on a rare occasion this team is done.

Grizzlies as they showed can kill you with the inside game with Gasol or Z-bo it is like take your pick. Rudy can get going from the ouside. Conley can hit some shots occasionally. We all know what OJ Mayo brings to the table, he doesn't need to waste his energy in preseason.

Even our bench is now better than there bench. Sam Young was like 3rd in Summer League in scoring. The dude is so one dimensional but he can surely score, like a Corey Maggette. 6'6 very strong and physical and athletic. Xavier Henry has some upside to him, he is just like what James Harden was to the OKC last year. Tony Allen bringing the lockdown defense. Hasheem Thabeet controllling the point with blocks.

This team is read.

I wouldnt read too much into this game. Mullens is starting at center for us, and Ibaka is backing him up who is a PF. I also dont know why Aldrich is getting 0 playing time.

[ahonui06]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore?gid=2010101225

As I said yesterday, Grizzlies are without question better than Thunder, ball don't lie. Blow out city. Grizz starters are clearly 10x better than theres. Thunder live off of Durant and the refs bailing him out. If Durant is going or the refs aren't bailing him out on a rare occasion this team is done.

Grizzlies as they showed can kill you with the inside game with Gasol or Z-bo it is like take your pick. Rudy can get going from the ouside. Conley can hit some shots occasionally. We all know what OJ Mayo brings to the table, he doesn't need to waste his energy in preseason.

Even our bench is now better than there bench. Sam Young was like 3rd in Summer League in scoring. The dude is so one dimensional but he can surely score, like a Corey Maggette. 6'6 very strong and physical and athletic. Xavier Henry has some upside to him, he is just like what James Harden was to the OKC last year. Tony Allen bringing the lockdown defense. Hasheem Thabeet controlling the paint with blocks in the D-League.This team is ready.

4-0

fixed

[Pablo Escobar]

Oj Mayo sucks seriously stop overrating the guy he's an undersized sg and can't play pg and if they Griz met the Thunder Durant would avg like 40 points instead of Artest he will be guarded by Rudy lol good luck with that

[ThreeYearPlan]

fixed

Why would you question the blocking ability of Hasheem Thabeet? He's arguably the best shot blocker in the NBA after Dwight Howard

[ahonui06]

fixed

Why would you question the blocking ability of Hasheem Thabeet? He's arguably the best shot blocker in the NBA after Dwight Howard

Use green font next time.

[ThreeYearPlan]

Why would you question the blocking ability of Hasheem Thabeet? He's arguably the best shot blocker in the NBA after Dwight Howard

Use green font next time.

Thabeet's gonna be top 10 in blocks in the NBA and he'll only play around 20 minutes a game, only Bogut and Howard are in Thabeet's category of shot blocking

[mid-post]

Why would you question the blocking ability of Hasheem Thabeet? He's arguably the best shot blocker in the NBA after Dwight Howard

Use green font next time.

Thabeet's gonna be top 10 in blocks in the NBA and he'll only play around 20 minutes a game, only Bogut and Howard are in Thabeet's category of shot blocking

Yeah, and he's probably going to average 5 fouls in those 20 minutes.
"The Presence" is getting better, but still, I think it's a bit early to say he's that good a shot blocker.

He fouls something like 1 in 5 defensive possessions (I don't know the actual number, but that's not a hugely exaggerated estimate ).

[vincecarter4pres]

Try countering anything I said and proving me wrong instead of flexing your vocabulary and grammar skills to mask the fact you haven't said anything of substance and your entire response was nothing more than a, "Nah ah, you're wrong!"...

Now that I have some free time, I'll do a rundown of all the stuff you got straight wrong and/or just made up ok? It might take me awhile because you managed to f*ck up most of your "facts."

They don't have nearly enough playmaking in that starting lineup

You know how dumb that sounds? Of course not, you don't watch the Grizzlies (but you sure spout off as if you do). Anyone who knows anything understands it was their bench, and not the starting lineup, that was a problem last season:
http://www.nba.com/statistics/plusminus ... it=9&team=
http://www.nba.com/statistics/plusminus ... it=9&team=

2 of them are blackhole, ballstopping chuckers

Which is why their starting five was so inefficient and struggled so mightily last season.

Randolph is going to be crying about his extension all season and Rudy Gay can't get along with O.J. Mayo because Mayo just so happens to like winning and personal accountability on the court, what a novel concept.

Oh look, more of you just making up pure speculation and presenting it as reality. Let me guess, you're from the "Mayo would be a savior if only the pathetic franchise would let him blossom" crowd.

Add to this inevitable injuries, which they dodged last season...

It's good to know that Marc Gasol never played through a torn neck muscle or that it ultimately forced him to sit out the rest of the season.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/35876841/ ... ayer_news/
http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2 ... eck-injury
Oh wait, he did? Never mind, I guess you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

How does any of this disprove anything I said?

So you're going to tell me there is sufficient playmaking in your starting lineup by providing +/- stats?

And you're going to tell me Rudy Gay and Zach are not chucking black holes?

Actually not from the O.J. Mayo fanboy club. I like him as a player a lot and believe he is your 2nd best player, but he's not even close to a star.

And what's your point about Gasol playing through injury. All I said is it's almost inevitable that your team suffers some injuries this season. I never said your players were injury prone or weren't tough, but teams in general tend to lose players to injuries, even if minor ones that cost guys maybe 6 or 7 games out of the year and with the exception of Gasol no one important on your team missed more then 2 games.

All I have done ITT was give my opinion of how I think the Grizzlies will fair this season, but it seems as though you have a problem with anyone that disagrees with you that the Grizzlies are some sort of playoff lock. I'm not asking or telling you to agree with me, but no need to curse at me and go all over the top hyperbolic as if I came to your house and didn't flush.