OT: Brian Grant

[GameTime_3]

Slow season starts with a bang for its game time. lol

Today i got a chance to talk to Brian Grant. The guy is a warrior. Let me first say that he was one of my favorite players. The guy played with a chip on his shoulder and gave it his all. But back to the conversation. I asked him why he retired and he told me that he that his knees went bad and he is going to have surgery in the coming weeks. The guy also said that he thinks the team will bounce back. He also said "He really thought that he was going to win the chip when he got here"He told me that he played in a lot of places but the little time he was here he loved it and now calls it home. The guy is a Warrior.

[Lane1974]

Rasta Monsta = Heat for life

[BFRESH44]

If Zo never got sick, man there was most certainly a chance for that team to come out of the East....

Getting swept by the Hornets was terrible..

[unowen85]

Brian Grant made me believe in myself.

[mitchco]

Brian Grant made me believe in myself.

when no one else would

[jaseda510]

Slow season starts with a bang for its game time. lol

Today i got a chance to talk to Brian Grant. The guy is a warrior. Let me first say that he was one of my favorite players. The guy played with a chip on his shoulder and gave it his all. But back to the conversation. I asked him why he retired and he told me that he that his knees went bad and he is going to have surgery in the coming weeks. The guy also said that he thinks the team will bounce back. He also said "He really thought that he was going to win the chip when he got here"He told me that he played in a lot of places but the little time he was here he loved it and now calls it home. The guy is a Warrior.

(picture)

dude how do u get to talk to all these heat guys? Man you're lucky

He was my 2nd fav. player after Zo even when he was on the Blazers because he had the same attitude towards the game. Always played better than he was capable of.

I will always remember him for giving that grimaced look whenever that camera was on him, it seemed like he was always playing through pain or just had a burden on him, I dunno I kind of liked that

Oh yeah, he's a Heater for life, no question

[HEATVols865]

Bring him to coach big guys along with McAdoo.
Do it Riley!

[Lane1974]

BG & Kurt Thomas are two excellent examples of guys who played excellent post defense more with their heads than their athleticism - especially as the years wore on, they used positioning, leverage, and anticipation to their advantage.

[HeatFanSince87]

Yup..to me BG was a mini Zo man. I always liked him and loved him when he was here. He was brought here to be the 4 to Zo, yet ended up trying to take Zo's 5 spot and never complained. We may have over paid for him but he was a HUGE piece for us on what really could have been our best team ever! If Zo doesnt get sick..we win the championship no doubt in my mind. Zo was in his prime when he got hit..

I mean..look at this team. Even without Zo for basically 70 games we won 50 games and were a 3 seed!

Pg-Timmy, AC, Eddie House
Sg-Eddie Jones, Thunder Dan
C-Zo
Sf-Bowen,Mason, Ricky Davis
Pf-Grant, Mason

[G.cracker]

The knock on BG was his contract, though EJ took the brunt of it.

I thought it so admirable that he basically played out of position at center the entire time he was here. Did I think he was better than PJ Brown? No. But he brought great intagibles. I remember the magical 03-04 season with him, LO, EJ, Caron, Wade, UD and Skip. When the playoffs were arriving, he pulled all the bigs aside and made them to extra "big man" trainign as he called it to get ready for the post season pounding. Though he was complementary at that point, his role in tjhose playoffs was large and he really helped LO and especially UD develop.

[GnarlsOakley]

i remember that so vividly. im a knicks fan and i was so scared when the Heat traded PJ Brown and Mash for Mase and EJ, and then signed Brian Grant. that seriously would have been the best defensive team of all time. ZO was reigning MVP if i remember correctly; Mase, Brian Grant and EJ were all in their prime.

PG: Tim Hardaway
SG: Eddie Jones//Dan Majerle
SF: Anthony Mason//Bruce Bowen
PF: Brian Grant
C: Alonzo Mourning

.....ridiculous, all those players were top defenders at their positions, except for Hardaway. even as a knicks fan, i was sad when ZO got sick.

[colombianbrew]

^Yeah, that team has to be one of the biggest "what could have been?" cases in recent NBA memory

[BBallFreak]

^Yeah, that team has to be one of the biggest "what could have been?" cases in recent NBA memory

Exactly. And they managed to win 50 games that year, even without Zo for most of it, and Timmy banged up (which meant a lot of Anthony Carter). Riley had them playing such ferocious defense. They were brutal and physical, and could just wear away at you. They could post up with Mase and Grant, and shoot from the outside with Eddie, Bruce, Dan, and Timmy. They stopped you inside and out, and then found a way to score.

BTW, Mason was supposed to be our 6th man, which means either Majerle or Bowen was going to start at small forward, while the other backed up the 3/4 spots, and Mase coming off the bench to backup Zo and Grant.

Pg: Hardaway / Carter
Sg: Jones / House
Sf: Majerle / Bowen / Davis
Pf: Grant / Mason
Cc: Mourning (at 22 and 10) / Grant

They would have been the beasts of the East. Too bad Zo had to get sick. We never got to see that team at it's potential best...

[unowen85]

I actually spoke to Riley during that summer and asked him if he was planning on starting Mason at the 3, and he told me that was his plan. I was like, "I don't know about that."

[GameTime_3]

That team was going to be great. Grant was the perfect complement to Zo, Outside shooting PF, with above average defense. Eddie jones was a big time SG (But is probably the most unclutch player in the NBA).

Zo-BG-Mason-Jones-Timmy !! wow that would of been defense at its greatest.

[GnarlsOakley]

Anthony Mason led the Heat in scoring and rebounding in the 2000-01 season and I think he made the All-Star team as well.

[CB4MiamiHeat]

who else remembers Brian Grant scoring like 40 points in a preseason game, that game really gave me false hope .. he was overpaid but i never had a dislike for him.

[Flash3]

who else remembers Brian Grant scoring like 40 points in a preseason game, that game really gave me false hope .. he was overpaid but i never had a dislike for him.

BG was one hell of a player, definitely gave it his all each and every night. The man might have been overpaid, but they are many players like that today, but he earned his paycheck each and everynight.

[CB4MiamiHeat]

i dont think he played at the level that we paid for him..but its not his fault, he gave 100% effort and played at his full potential and thats all you can ask for.

[Ballings7]

Man, that would of been one hell of a team on both ends of the court...

I wish I could of seen some of that team even as it was just for the defense, energy, and effort. I didn't watch the NBA nearly as much back around then, or was as evolved as a follower.