Grizz Summer Improvement

A hot stove" of Grizzlies activity over the past couple of weeks:

• Grizz hire Kevin O'Neil as defensive expert/assistant coach



• Grizz officially sign Marc Gasol from Spain



• Arthur and Mayo make summer league debut

Kevin O'Neil is known as a defensive specialist, and his hiring is a welcome one. Experience on both the college and pro level will give him a better chance than most at fixing the biggest problem the Grizz have - defense. Hard to measure the impact of an assistant coach. Boston hired Tom Thibodeau, a defensive specialist, before this past season, and we all saw what happened there - the best defensive team in the league, and a NBA Championship. Certainly the big acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were the most important ingredient, but defensive coaches can bring an attitude and a commitment to the defensive end that the Grizz sorely lack. Lets hope the former coach that appeared in "Hoop Dreams" can do the same with the Grizz.

Marc Gasol is an exciting signing for the Grizz, but certainly one that most fans will not blink twice at. I've covered Gasol quite a bit, and made no qualms about my thoughts - Gasol will be more liked and better for the Grizz than his brother. That doesn't mean he will be an all star, but he will be a better fit, being younger, tougher, and bigger than his older brother. Gasol is a big center that is a much more natural center than his "softer" brother Pau who is more of a forward without power. Marc can bang, get tougher points and rebounds, and play some defense. He doesn't have the shooting or post skills of Pau, but he will develop and certainly be more palpable to Grizz fans.

At the end of the day, OJ Mayo and Darrell Arthur will need to be the sparkplugs to get this city back to the FedEx Forum. They perform well, the Grizz are in pretty solid shape. They bust, the Grizz are in trouble. Mayo has already brought excitement to the city, as he is having a great summer league week (scored 26 points last night, including a 69 foot buzzer shot!). That said, I think Arthur is the key. Mayo is money in the bank to be a productive NBA player. If Arthur can turn himself into a fundamentally sound starter that can give us rebounding and athleticism at the PF position, then this past draft would be considered an enormous success. There have been numerous comparisons between Arthur and New Orleans' David West - if those hold true, the Grizzlies are going to be darn good in 2 or 3 years.

With the signing of Marc Gasol, plenty of cap space, and rookies Mayo and Arthur, things are looking up for the Grizz. Interesting article here on Sporting News. The writer mostly makes fun of the Grizz, just like all the other national media looking for a story in July, the sahara of the sports writing calendar. But I enjoy how he leaves room at the end of the article for the Grizz to "surprise" him. I really do think a lot of the pundits out there are starting to realize that the Grizz are getting younger, gaining assets, and preparing for a surge in a few years.

Most still laugh at the Pau trade, but lets recap the Pau trade, yet again: The Grizz received cap space, Marc Gasol, Javaris Crittenton, Darrell Arthur, and a 1st Round pick in 2008 for Pau Gasol. As I've said over and over, lets wait for 2-3 more years before judging who got the better of whom in the Pau Gasol trade with LA.

Busy week of posts coming . . .

Been a long last week for the Pope. Even the Vatican is on a fiscal calendar and has to make quarterly reports/adjustments etc. There are tons of great topics out there including updates on the ND Athletic Director search, ND football player and recruiting news, the Cardinals at the All-Star break, and the beginning of the OJ Mayo era for the Memphis Grizzlies. Plenty coming your way, sorry for the outage last week.

Happy July 4th - Go Cards!

Big weekend for America and Baseball, particularly for the Cardinals and Cubs. The midwestern rivals are 1-2 atop the NL Central, and meet in a 3 game series at Busch Stadium this weekend. Here is a quick preview of the games, with the Cards pitcher first:

• Friday - Looper (9-5) vs Zambrano (8-3)


• Saturday (on Fox) - Lohse (10-2) vs Lilly (9-5)


• Sunday - Wellemeyer (7-3) vs Marshall (0-2)

Zambrano is making his first start since missing a few starts due to a slight injury. The Cardinals are set up pretty well with their best 3 pitchers right now, throwing in the series. Would be nice if we had Wainwright, Carpenter, Clement, or a few of the other pitchers that are stashed away on our DL. But I like our chances. The walk-off HR by Troy Glaus last night was very exciting, good for momentum heading into a big weekend series at home. Should be a lot of fans there also given the holiday weekend.

These games are important, for a few reasons:

1. Cards are 2.5 games back of the Cubs; the winner of the series gains serious momentum heading into the 2nd half of the season


2. The Cards have not yet played at Wrigley this season - there will be 6 games at Wrigley in August and September, while only 3 more after this series at Busch [interesting note: the Cards and Cubs play 15 times this season total - 9 at Busch, 6 in Chicago - that's the definition of the "unbalanced schedule" that you hear about]


3. These games are always important - two midwestern teams with fans in very close proximity of each other. Very similar to the Red Sox and Yankees at least geographically, in that everyone in the entire region typically favors one team or the other.
   

If the Cards can get a sweep or even 2 out of 3, I think the Cardinals will show they are here to stay. If the Cubs dominate, the tone could be set for the second half. Hard to project so much in one series, but I'm a big believer in letting the first place team know that you are going to take their spot if they slip just a little bit. Have a great weekend.

LaRussa's Cardinals

My Cardinal posts have all had similar themes this season - blah blah blah, the overachieving Cardinals continue to win even though no one expects them to. Players you have never heard of are overachieving and together they are doing something special.

Well here is another post that falls right in line with the same message. Only thing is that lots of people - everyone really - is beginning to notice what Tony Larussa and the Cardinals are doing this season. Articles are pouring in all over the place, from ESPN to Sporting News to even the New York Times. Here are a few good ones:

• ESPN talks LaRussa and St Louis Cardinals Success - Very interesting article on the front page of ESPN.com this evening. Talks about how the Cards have not had an easy season - 2nd most appearances this season on the DL by any team, most blown saves of any team this season in all of baseball, and 74 different lineups through 82 games. Did you know LaRussa has been the Cardinals manager for 13 seasons? Pretty Cool.
• Sporting News piece focuses on LaRussa and Dave Duncan, long time pitching coach. What Duncan has done with a rotation of has-beens fully solidifies his place among the great pitching coaches of all time. As a former catcher, he has a great perspective on pitching that pushes pitchers to use their heads as much as their arms. Countless hours of studying hitters is a Duncan trademark.
  
• New York Times piece on Ryan Ludwick, journeyman outfielder having a breakout year for the Cardinals. Its good to see a 30 year old that has had 2800 at bats in the minor leagues "sticking" in the big leagues.
  

LaRussa is the real story here. With over 2400 wins as a Manager for the White Sox, A's, and Cardinals (1100 wins), he is 3rd place all time on the Managing win list. Third . . . of all time . . . trailing only Connie Mack and John McGraw. Ahead of Bobby Cox, Sparky Anderson, Joe Torre, and anyone other great managers you can think of. A lock for the Hall of Fame, and one of only two managers to win a World Series in both the AL and the NL (A's in 1989, Cardinals in 2006).

Coaching stability is too often taken for granted, especially by fans. LaRussa is the foundation that has allowed our team to be relevant and competitive for a long time, including a fantastic World Series Championship in 2006. He has gotten plenty of credit through the years, but with his best managing job possibility occurring this season, its time he gets his full due. Kudos Tony. Ok love fest is over . . . Cubs are coming to town in t-minus 45 hours . . .

Grizz Taking Form

After the draft, the Grizz now have a bit more clarity as to our starting lineup. Lets dive right in and look at our likely 2 deep lineup, as of now, given a few assumptions. Juan Carlos Navarro is gone, signing with a Spanish team for $20M guaranteed, a huge pay increase from what he could get in the NBA. It also appears that Marc Gasol (pictured)will officially sign a deal. Another assumption is that newly acquired player Antoine Walker will be bought out or traded in the coming weeks.

So given all of that, I believe this is our best starting 5 (backup):

• PG - Mike Conley (Javaris Crittenton/Kyle Lowry)



• SG - OJ Mayo (Marko Jaric)



• SF - Rudy Gay (Greg Buckner)



• PF - Darrell Arthur (Hakim Warrick)



• C - Darko Milicic (Marc Gasol)

Looking at this lineup, you can then see where we have holes (Power Forward) and where we have excess (Point Guard). I will be surprised if Kyle Lowery, Crittenton, and Mike Conley are all still on the opening night roster. I will also be equally surprised if Arthur or Warrick are starting at power forward. Arthur is a rookie, and Warrick is just a backup. Neither is a huge guy that can bang with bigger PFs. Arthur certainly has some promise, but definitely not a lock to be a starter quality guy.

How can we address the two issues - excess at PG, lack of true PF? There are really 3 choices:

1. Trade Lowry/Crittenton for another "asset" - The Boston Celtics went from last to NBA Champions, because they gathered enough young assets to make a few trades. Giving up 4 young players with promise, and a few draft picks, netted them Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Lowry, Crittenton, and Warrick are players with a few years experience that are young and can be very capable backups for a lot of teams. Trading a combination of these guys for a veteran power forward that can defend would be a fantastic get.



2. Sign some free agents - Signing free agents doesn't necessarily mean signing a top guy. We could sign one big name, or 2 to 3 smaller names for the same $$. I think its going to be costly and expensive to get any free agent to Memphis, so how much value we get by trying to sign a big time guy is questionable. Here are a few big time guys that I would love us to go after, but certainly are not likely: Elton Brand, Emeka Okafor, Josh Smith. Of all of those, I think Okafur would be my dream sign. He scores a bit (17ppg) rebounds a lot (11.8 boards) and plays awesome defense (2 blocks per game). He is a restricted free agent with Charlotte, meaning that they can (and likely will) match whatever offer he gets from another team. This would instantly give us a top 5 front court with Gasol, Darko, Okafor, Arthur, and Warrick.



3. Do nothing but let the youth play - Letting Lowry, Crittenton, and Warrick play will help them approve, or "appreciate" as assets. We likely won't be a playoff team next year, so this would just improve their values and make them possibly more attractive and able to fetch more on the trade market. However, getting Conley, Arthur, and Mayo playing time will be much more important, so I really think we need to do a combination of #1 and #2, at least with regard to one of the point guards.

I wish I could suggest some lesser priced veteran Power Forwards that we could sign. This is where the research of Chris Wallace and team comes in. Someone that is a tad bit younger but like a Kurt Thomas or PJ Brown, both power forwards known for defense, would be a fantastic get for the Grizzlies. If Arthur pans out, that would be the most ideal and cheap way to address our PF issues.

There is definitely excitement in Memphis for the first time in a long time. Ticket sales are doing well, even though most of them appear to be season ticket renewals. The fact that most of the ticket holders are renewing their season tickets is huge, because the Grizzlies were expecting a significant drop off after the Draft lottery put the Grizz picking at #5.

This excitement is somewhat artificial - it must be validated on the court this fall. If people see a young team that is exciting and improving, they will come win or lose. Winning must happen at some point for the fans to stay. But an exciting and competitive brand of basketball would be a huge step forward. Fans aren't stupid, as they know we need to take small steps before the giant leap of making the playoffs. I think the fans will respond positively if this team shows progress and promise, even if they still lose a lot. This fall, I guess we'll find out.