The NBA 2007-08 season kicked off in the middle of last week, starting a very long 82 game season that will go through April 2008. The Memphis Grizzlies are the Pope's hometown NBA team, and had their home opener on Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs.
Opening night was exciting, despite the Grizz losing by 3 points to the defending world champions. Now the Grizz sit at 0-2, which has fizzled any initial excitement, and put fans in Memphis back to their expected, "wait and see mode". I am hoping fans stay excited but more importantly, stay patient and realistic. Improving our win total by 50% would be great right? Yet this would still not get us into the playoffs. We need to make strides and contend nightly before we can get into the playoffs and do some damage. Now on for the off-season review.
Off-Season Review
Coming off the worst record in the league last season, the Grizzlies are seeing season season ticket sales and attendance drop tremendously. Another season like last year could really hurt the financial viability of this team, already in a small market. This offseason was probably the most important ever for this franchise, which needed to replace a coach, GM, and draft a lottery pick, on top of signing a few players. Now on for the Pope's "grades". Take this with a grain of salt and some holy water, because obviously the scores are very premature at this point.
New Coach --> Marc Iavaroni - I love this guy. He is disciplined with his players, but at the same time, he is not an old school tough guy thats all hot air. He is very well liked by his players, but still a disciplinarian, which is a difficult combination. It will take time to get this team more organized on offense, more capable of pushing the ball upcourt, and more disciplined defensively, which seem to be his three tenants thus far. A former assistant from Phoenix, he seems to have what it takes to be a successful coach. Pope's Grade: A-
New GM --> Chris Wallace - He seems fine. Im not overly excited or disappointed with him, just lukewarm. I think he will largely be defined by Darko and Mike Conley Jr, as well as other players he signs in his first two years. He came from the Boston Celtics, who have been awful for a long time. Hopefully he was learning what decisions not to make. Pope's Grade: B-
Lottery Pick --> Mike Conley Jr - He was a good consolation prize after Memphis lost out on the draft pick lottery and fell to the #4 pick, despite having the best chance in the league for the top pick. Mike is a very in control and classic point guard - pass first, shoot second. His complete game is going to need the addition of more physical play and better shooting. Right now, he has the quickness, vision, and passing skills needed to be an elite point guard. We'll see. Pope's Grade: B+
New Big Man --> Darko Milicic - Darko is a big fella, and a much different player than my initial impressions of him coming out in the 2003 NBA Draft at the #2 overall pick. I thought he was another Dirk, a big guy who could handle the ball and shoot. In reality, he is a big body that is much thicker, bigger, and stronger than Pau Gasol, and gives us the physical prescence we need. I think if he gets 10 pts and 10 boards a night, as well as a block or two and some defensive stops, we will be getting what we need from him. He played great defense on Tim Duncan on opening night, but has an issue with taking plays off apparently. Hopefully he will mature and know his role, which is to be a defender and rebounder first. Pope's Grade: B
In short, I think the offseason was a success. Questions remain about our team defense, which has been not much better than last year's disastrous effort. We need more consistency offensively, as we certainly have scorers. However, I think its going to take a season for everything to come together, and this team to really learn how to win. My prediction is 35-47 as the Grizz record, improving by about 50%. I think we are one player an maturation of a few young guys away from being a contender. But isn't every NBA team?
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