Memphis Grizzlies Report #15 - Leave Thabeet Be

Enslen talks about Hasheem Thabeet leaving the D-Leagur and owner Michael Heisley.

Memphis Grizzlies Report #14 - Thabeet in the D League

Enslen talks about the demotion of Hasheem Thabeet and his future with the Grizzlies.

Memphis Grizzlies' Hasheem Thabeet Should Be Happy Going to D-League

(Column cross-posted at Bleacher Report)

Seriously, Hasheem Thabeet should be smiling today.

The Memphis Grizzlies sent their 2009 second overall draft pick down to the NBA's Developmental League Thursday. The surprising move made Thabeet the highest draft pick ever relegated to the NBA's minor leagues. 

 

I have to be honest. I knew so little about the "D-League" that I did not know players could be sent down like in minor league baseball and hockey.

 

But going to the Dakota Wizards could be great news for Thabeet. In fact, I am floored he was not assigned to the D-League earlier.

 

In 50 games for Memphis this season, he averaged 2.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 10.3 minutes. Despite moments of decent play, Thabeet's minutes are not going up with Memphis.

 

If anything, they are decreasing. With the emergence of center Marc Gasol, minutes were going to be hard to come by all season.

 

Uneven playing time will not help his development.

 

I had always thought that Thabeet needed playing time to get into the flow of the pro game. He was never 

going to get that this season with the Grizzlies.

 

He will reportedly by available to play for Dakota in a game Friday night in Erie, PA, according to the Wizards website .

 

The easy reaction is to label Thabeet a bust and mock the Grizzlies front office. Goodness knows, I mock the Grizzlies front office regularly.

 

Thabeet may prove to be a bust. But it is way too early to tell.

 

Everyone knew that Thabeet was a LONG way from producing for the Grizzlies. Sitting on the bench in Memphis was not going to help.

 

This gives the team a chance to view him in game situations without hurting the team's playoff run.

 

It could have been last week's game against the New Jersey Nets that was the last straw. The 7'3" Thabeet failed to contest 6'5" guard Courtney Lee and allowed him to score a layup.

 

In that same game, Thabeet threw an inbounds pass to Sam Young instead of point guard Mike Conley. The pass sailed over Young's head, and the Grizzlies turned the ball over.

 

Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins sat Thabeet, and he did not play in the game again. Hollins later said that young center Hamed Haddadi would become the backup center. 

 

Is it embarrassing for a lottery pick to play in the D-League? Yes.

 

Will he become a target for other players in the D-League? Yes.

 

But he needs the league to prove that he belongs in pro basketball. If he cannot make it in the D-League, he will likely rank high on any list naming the biggest busts in NBA Draft history.

Memphis Grizzlies Report #13 - Midterm Grades

Enslen gives midterm grades for the 2009-2010 Memphis Grizzlies

Memphis Grizzlies Report #12 - Zach an All-Star

Enslen talks about Zach Randolph making the All-Star team and trade rumors.

Memphis Grizzlies Report #11 - Pipe Dreams

Enslen talks about the Grizzlies winning when FedEx Forum has a fire drill.

Memphis Grizzlies Report #10 - Lionel for Coach of the Year

Enslen talks about Lionel Hollins winning Coach of the Month, Memphis' trade rumors, playoff race, and the upcoming schedule

Memphis Grizzlies Report 9 - No Love for Zach

This week, we talk about Marko Jaric moving to another team, the Grizzlies and the playoffs and Zach Randolph got robbed.

No Podcast This Week

Because of the Christmas holiday, the podcast will go dark until Dec. 28.

Ep. 8 - Grizzlies Cancel LeBron Show

Enslen talks about his new role as Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. He also talks about Memphis' win over Dallas and Cleveland.

Here is the information about the tickets for Friday's game against Oklahoma City (from Memphis Business Journal):

Starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, the Memphis Grizzlies are offering a limited number of $3 tickets in the Terrace level and $33 tickets in the Plaza and First Tennessee Club levels for Friday night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Grizzlies defeated the Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers during consecutive home games Dec. 3 and Dec. 8.

Greg Campbell, president of business operations for the Grizzlies, said the team is trying to give fans “a reason to cheer off the court” with the discounts. The team is 9-12 overall and is 8-4 in its last 12 games. The Grizzlies are 6-3 at home this season, their best home record since the 2005-06 season.

“We’re hoping that all of our fans throughout the Mid-South take advantage of this special $3 offer, so that on Friday night all of the members of Grizz Nation can help lift the Grizzlies to another win,” Campbell said in a statement.

Fans can visit the FedExForum Box Office, any Ticketmaster location, ticketmaster.com, grizzlies.com or by phone at (800) 4NBA-Tix or (901) 888-HOOP to purchase tickets.

Next Podcast will be posted on Wednesday

Hi everyone,

The new podcast will be coming out on Wednesday. We will be talking about the team's win over Dallas and Tuesday night's game against Cleveland. Look for it here and on iTunes Wednesday.

Memphis Grizzlies Report #7 - Is Conley the Point?

Enslen talks about the first three games of the road trip and Mike Conley.

On-Air Comments About Grizzlies' Hamed Haddadi Merit Suspension

(Cross-posted from Bleacher Report)

The Los Angeles Clippers' television broadcast team was suspended for one game because of on-air comments made about Memphis Grizzlies' center Hamed Haddadi.

Longtime Clippers announcer Ralph Lawler and broadcast analyst Michael Smith were pulled from the Clippers' game last Friday against Denver. Because the Clippers' feed was not seen in Memphis, the comments about the Iranian-born player did not get a lot of attention and became a footnote in a 106-91 Grizzlies win last week.

The team got into trouble because of one Clippers fan sent an email saying that the Lawler pronounced Iran as "Eye-ran," the Los Angeles Times reported. The fan only wanted to highlight the issue and was not demanding punishment.

But FOX responded with an apology and suspended the broadcast team.

In other on-air comments, the team also asked if Haddadi was "Borat's older brother" and "If they ever make a movie about Haddadi, I'm going to get Sacha Baron Cohen to play the part."

Everyone mispronounces words, including me. I hate that I do it. I thought that the the "Eye-ran" error was not worthy of a suspension, only because we would not have cable news anchors because most of them would be suspended for making the same mistake.

It does not make it right, but that is not a reason to pull them for one game. However, the "Borat's older brother" comment went a little over the line.

So I can live with the announcers sitting for one game. Lawler and Smith were cracking jokes (bad ones) during garbage time of a blowout loss. So a one-game suspension is fine with me.

Hey, they are forced to sit through 82 Clippers games every year. That is enough punishment for anyone.

You can watch a video of the comments here .

You can see a story along with a written transcript from the LA Times here .

One footnote: The Clippers will be hosting "Iranian Heritage Day" featuring Haddadi. They will offer discounted seats and fans who purchase tickets iwill also have a chance to meet the player and get an 8x10 photo.

What did you think of the decision? Justified? Not justified? PC run amok?

Note: You can listen to my weekly podcast called Memphis Grizzlies Report . Go to the website for past shows and show notes.

Ep. 6 - Four out of Five

Enslen talks about the Grizzlies' winning four of five games, the departure of AI, and more.

Grizzlies' Owner Michael Heisley Should Show Allen Iverson the Door

(Reposted from Bleacher Report)

This morning, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has finally taken a stand with Allen Iverson.

Show up or else.

“I’ve treated this like Allen told me it was—a personal leave,” Heisley said on the paper's website. “But either he’s retiring or coming back to play. I’m not upset with Allen. We’ll be happy to accommodate Allen. If he retires, then he retires. If he wants to come back, we’ll gladly accept him back. But I have personally made it clear that there’s going to have to be a decision made. We’re expecting an answer in a couple of days.”

It is about time. The future Hall-of-Famer has been away from the team for 10 days and counting. The article said that there has been no contact with the team in that time.

It's clear that the signing of Jamaal Tinsley last week has put Iverson on the clock. He can either choose to join the team or he can go away.

Personally, I do not think Iverson adds to a 2-8 team. The Grizzlies would be 2-8 with him in the starting lineup, if he was the sixth man, or if he were in Charlotte, Cleveland, or sitting at home in Atlanta.

Heisley should acknowledge that his Iverson experiment was a screw-up from beginning to end and get rid of him. He should not play the waiting game for Iverson, if does not want to play.

The Iverson-Memphis relationship did not make sense from the beginning. But Allen, it is time to earn your $3.1 million contract.

If you do not want the money, retire.

Note: You can listen to my weekly Memphis Grizzlies podcast at Memphis Grizzlies Report .

Memphis Grizzlies Report #5 - Grizzlies Win

Enslen talks about Memphis' second win and the signing of Jammal Tinsley.

An Indefensible Truth: Lack Of Defense Dooms Grizzlies

(Cross-posted at Bleacher Report)

I was listening to one of the talking heads on ESPN talk about the NBA the other day.

They were talking about Mike Brown, the head coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The talking head said that the one thing Brown did was to bring a culture of defense and rebounding to the franchise.

That phrase struck a cord with me. I immediately thought about the 1-6 Memphis Grizzlies, the second-worst team in the Western Conference.

What is the culture of the Grizzlies?

For the first seven games of this season, it is clear that the team is more concerned with scoring than defense.

The team wants scoring: They got Zach Randolph, a 20-10 power forward who is having a great season. They bring back young players such as O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay, and Marc Gasol, each can average 20 points a game. All four players have produced points for the team.

Here are a few examples from the first seven games of the season.

• Memphis had a 51-49 halftime lead against the Lakers. Los Angeles shoots 67 percent from the field in the third quarter and cruised to an easy win.
• Rudy Gay scored a game-high 33 points against the Los Angeles Clippers. Memphis goes ahead by as many as 11 points in the first half. They lose the game 113-110.
• In three of their first seven games, the Grizzlies allowed an opposing player to score 40 or more points.

There are halves when Memphis plays great defense and halves when they disappear. There are games when the Grizzlies get a double-digit lead, but you know they can never hold the lead.

There are games when the opponent's best player has a huge game and sinks Memphis.

"Hopefully, once we get through this tough stretch," Hollins said to the Commercial Appeal, "we can get back to where we have a couple of hours of practice time to work on things."

Tough stretch? Golden State, Sacramento, the Clippers?

Yes, they had Denver and the Lakers. But there is little excuse to go winless when three of the five teams in this "tough stretch" have losing records.

"What can I say?" Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said to the L.A. Times about Kobe Bryant following their game against Memphis. "This is a guy that sees a weakness in a team and exploits it, and tonight [the Grizzlies] didn't seem to want to put the finger in the dike. They just let the leak continue. It was a killer instinct out there [by Bryant]."

Translation: Defense is "want-to". Memphis does not want to play defense.

Is the Allen Iverson situation a distraction? Yes. Is it the reason they are 1-6? No.

They are 1-6 because the team's lack of defense costs them games.

That is not something two practices and an off day can solve. They can play decent defense for moments.

Memphis Grizzlies Report #4 - No More Answers?

Enslen talks about a bad roadtrip and the departure of Allen Iverson

Memphis Grizzlies Report #3 - West Coast Swing

Show notes: Enslen talks about Memphis' first win and the beginning of a five-game West Coast road trip.

* * Grizzlies-Pistons: Memphis Falls to Detroit in Opener, 96-74

(Cross-Posted from Bleacher Report)

The new-look 2009 Memphis Grizzlies showed a lot of the same weaknesses as teams in the past.

Memphis had 17,000 fans fill FedEx Forum Wednesday night for the 2009 season opening 96-74 loss to the Detroit Pistons (1-0). They saw two glaring holes that must be filled for this team to gain respectability: bench depth and defense.

Preseason injuries did hurt the Grizzlies (0-1) and forced the team to go deeper into their bench. Allen Iverson did not dress for the game and Darrell Arthur is out for four months with an injury.

But the stat line for the current reserves were less than stellar. Rookie DeMarre Carrol, guard Marcus Williams, and second-overall pick Hasheem Thabeet played at least 10 minutes each. The trio combined for only six points, one assist, and nine rebounds. Thabeet had no points and two rebounds in 12 minutes.

Most of the starters played well. Marc Gasol finished with 21 points, 15 boards, and three blocks in 30 minutes of action.

Forward Zach Randolph had 14 points and nine rebounds in his Grizzlies debut. Rudy Gay had 16 points. Only O.J. Mayo (nine points on 2 for 12 shooting) and starting point guard Mike Conley (three points and three assists in 32 minutes) did not play well.

Memphis also could not force turnovers. Detroit committed only nine Detroit turnovers. The Grizzlies had only three steals for the night.

Two of the three steals were made by the reserves after the game was decided. Rip Hamilton scored 25 points on only 19 shots and Ben Gordon came off the bench to score 22 points in 26 minutes by shooting 4 of 7 from three-point range.

Detroit was able to build a 10-point lead just before halftime and Memphis could never challenge.

Things are not going to get easier for Memphis as they host Toronto on Friday. The Raptors (1-0) topped Cleveland 101-91 on Wednesday despite a triple-double by LeBron James.

Notes: The Grizzlies set an NBA record with their ninth straight season-opening loss...Detroit has won eight of their last nine regular season games against Memphis, including a five-game winning streak.