Scrimmage Impressions
Let me start off by thanking the Grizzlies for thinking outside the box again. This franchise is obviously making serious efforts to reconnect with the fans despite never saying that is what they are trying to do. I find it interesting that last season when the disconnect was a hot topic of discussion it seemed that no one was really interested in dealing with the problem outside of Andy Dolich. This year everyone from the GM down to the assistant equipment manager (who was so kind to get Rudy Gay to sign a photograph for my nephew) is interested in letting the fans feel appreciated.

The scrimmage was incredibly well attended for a short lunchtime lightly promoted event. Half of the lower bowl was open for fans and it was packed. Seats were actually hard to find. Read the rest of this entry »

I am sure most Grizzlies fans held their breath when they heard Kyle Lowry, last season’s surprise standout PG until he broke his wrist, had hurt his ankle in practice. Well today you can let that breath out. Ron Tillery reported on his morning radio program, the Morning Rush with Peter Edmiston, that Kyle not only won’t need surgery but the preliminary forecast was upgraded. While the exact amount of time Kyle will need to recover is still uncertain it sounds like it will be less than the expected week that was originally reported.
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The Grizzlies have started training camp running at full speed…literally. One of the first exercises involved the team trying to score 100 pts in under two minutes using the full court. While the team only reached 98 pts the message was sent loud and clear. Not only can the team run but they will be expected to run and run to score not just to play at a fast tempo.

Day two of training camp began defensive planning and all indications are that the team will be focusing on defense at a fast pace as well. This should be good news for fans of the Grizzlies as previous seasons the team was less than interesting at the pace they usually played. Read the rest of this entry »

For those that read my first blog on the Edge you may remember it was about the Isiah trial and how ridiculous it was on face value. Apparently Bill Simmons at ESPN actually took the time to read the transcripts (I hope he didn’t attend the trial) and has some curious perspectives in his article “Idiots Guide to the Isiah Trial.”

Pau Gasol has hit the media circuit, joining Chris Wallace and Marc Iavaroni. Pau Gasol was interviewed by NBA.com via a confernce call, by Sports YA ( a Spanish site I believe but written in English) and Ron Tillery in today’s Commercial Appeal. Apparently Damon Stoudamire believes he is fully recovered from his knee surgery and will be competing for playing time with the young guns at tke point. Good luck Damon. We old folks are pulling for you! Read the rest of this entry »

With media coming tomorrow and the start of training camp on Saturday there isn’t a lot of new reports to let you know about today. I did talk to Bruce Kreuter at Suwanee Sports Acadamy about Mark Price working out with the team as their shooting instructor. Apparently Mark’s involvement with the team will be more detailed than originally perceived. After Mark Iavaroni called, Mark was in town working with players for 3-4 days this month, will be back in town to work with the team during camp until the the team leaves for Spain and will return when the team does. He is not going to be travelling with the team but he will be on call for players when they want refreshers. Read the rest of this entry »

The pre-season officially kicks off on Sept. 29th when training camp opens but already the buzz is starting to pick up over the internet. For those devout fans interested in reading about your Grizzlies and what they are doing (and in one case dealing with) here are your links:

1) 3 Shades of Blue did a little investigative reporting on why Mark Price was working out with the team the other day and found out some very interesting information. The article is nearly buried already on the sight with more news but it is titled Mark Price Shoots Straight.

2) Thanks goes out to the Memphis Grizzlies message board and Grizz777 for finding an incredible YouTube clip of Mike Conley working out. You can see it on YouTube but be warned, if you are old and feeble like me you could throw out your back just imagining doing the dribbling stunts he does in the video.

3) 3 Shades of Blue via AOL Fanhouse also reported that Damon Stoudamire apparently isn’t out of the long grasp of the law yet for the 2003 altercation with aiirport police. Apparently he didn’t realize that hiding things in aluminum foil won’t fool metal detectors!
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With training camp opening in 4 days there was good news from the Grizzlies that a new fan event is starting this season. The Blue-White Scrimmage game will be held on Oct. 3rd at the Forum. While I haven’t been able to find an exact starting time I was told to expect it around lunchtime this year. I will have more news on that as I found it out.

There have been a few stories hitting the press lately about the Memphis Grizzlies. If you want to find them just follow the links:

1) Chris Herrington is back to blogging after spending the summer in denial that the Grizzlies still exist. Welcome back to 2007 Chris. You were missed this summer.

2) Mark Stein over at ESPN had some nice words for the Grizzlies summer activity. Interesting take on who did best this summer in the Western Conference.

3) Marc Iavaroni, the new Grizzlies head coach, has been making the rounds in the talk show circuit and has really been available for the media. He has interviews on NBA.com, WHBQ56 sports talk radio and the CA’s own Ron Tillery. This follows the excellent press Chris Wallace got two weeks ago for my blog on 3 Shades of Blue that got no less than Henry Abbott of ESPN’s TrueHoops talking about how cool a guy Chris Wallace is.

4) Mike Conley, Jr. got an interesting story written by Bethlehem Sholes at AOL’s Fanhouse. This is a good blog spot for stories and since they were kind to me about a blog I wrote I wanted to return the favor.