Make sure you watch the Houston game tonight on NBA League Pass if you have it and tomorrow night I am joining the Shades of Blue bloggers at Jack Daniels Old #7 around 6:00 pm before the Grizzlies game for those who want to come out and party. We will be talking Grizzlies and having fun. I hope to see you there.

According to the Morning Rush with Ron Tillery and Peter Edmiston, the starting rotation for the team is all but set now. Pau Gasol, Rudy Gay and Mike Miller were always on everyone’s expected starter list and Stromile Swift (right) is beating out Darko, who Tillery described as a disappointment so far. The only battle left is at the point where all three players are still in contention. This makes the back to back games with Houston this week that much more interesting to watch. My personal bet is that whoever looks best in those two games will win the job (and I expect that to be the veteran Damon Stoudamire).

MVN.com has posted a few blogs of interest to Grizzlies fans. Some on target and some…well let’s just say I don’t agree with their position. First off is the blog about teams that will surprise this season titled “Which Team Will Surprise the Season”. Memphis is among the list of teams the author believes will surprise. Then you have “Time is Now for Conley in Memphis”. Mr. Weinman makes the arguement that Mike Conley should be given the starting job because the Grizzlies have a chance to compete for the playoffs. Seems to me if the Grizzlies are competing for the playoffs this season the best man should start. Once we are eliminated from serious consideration then play the rookie but that is just me. Finally there was a blog about the expected finish of the entire league from Amar Panchmatia. Apparently Amar didn’t read his co-authors blogs since he has the team winning only 18 games. On second thought, you can skip this blog.

For a more optomistic view of the upcoming season try reading the Memphis Grizzlies 2007-08 Season Preview by Warren Blatt. This guy writes like he has actually seen the team play instead of just looking at the team’s record. Very good depth on the team in the blog as well.

Indy Cornrows (I am not making that name up) ran a quick note last week that Mike Conley Jr wants to be known as Michael Conley now. I hope to get the facts on this report soon.

Finally Hoopsblogging.com did an interesting take on the traditional pros and cons type of preseason post with his 3 Reasons blog.

After watching the Heat-Grizzlies pre-season game Saturday night I can safely say that Penny Hardaway should retire. He has no lift, not a great shot and is simply too slow to play the game. It was painful seeing his skills decrease to the extent they have. Penny was a super player in his youth and could have been a great player in his prime if injuries hadn’t gotten in the way. Right now Penny is so far past his prime that he shouldn’t be on the court. I can only hope someone at Miami realizes and let’s him go before he embarrass himself over a full season.

Other than seeing Penny decline and Earl Barron nearly foul out in the first half the game wasn’t unenjoyable. Rudy Gay was nearly perfect…literally. He was 6-6 from the line, 5-5 from the arc and 5-6 from the line. 22 pts, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a blocked shot. Something or someone has lit a spark under Rudy and he is playing sensational. When Gasol returns we will have 3 legitimate shooters on this team (Mike Miller being the 3rd). They just need time to get comfortable with each other and comfortable within the system. The problem is still that while Memphis has 3 legitimate scorers I don’t know if we have a go to player in crunch time yet.
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After another disappointing first half against an NBA team the question has to be asked: Is this a problem with our starting five’s talent, our coach being over his head or is it simply a lack of cohesion on the team or chemistry if you prefer?

The talent doesn’t seem to be an issue since almost universally the team’s talent is being stated as the best in Grizzlies history. While it is too early to make statements about Iavaroni’s coaching ability he was the unanimous choice among pundits to be the next head coach in the NBA so I have to believe that the slow starts are not a symbol of his being in over his head. If he was a college coach plying his trade in the NBA for the first time I would be far more concerned than I am about a former player and assistant coach who worked with Pat Riley, Mike Fratello and Mike D’Antoni. Iavaroni may need more time to get his message to the players but I believe he is amply armed to be successful in this job.
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Well the Grizzlies left the arena last night feeling pretty proud of their comeback win against the TWolves. Minnesota blew a 16 pt first half lead and a 14 pt second half lead to the Grizzlies as Juan Carlos Navarro (below) and Rudy Gay had huge second halves to lead the home team to victory!

However, Al Jefferson proved to be the most dominant big man in the game last night while Randy Foye, Juwan Howard and Sebastian Telfair failed to make appearances last night. Ricky Davis was hot in the first half but never got untracked in the second half as the Grizzlies turned around the game in the second half with defense limiting the TWolves to 14 third quarter points and 18 fourth quarter points. This after surrendering 61 points in the first half against a more likely lineup for the TWolves.

It is trite to say but it appeared the Grizzlies played Fratello ball on offense and Baroni ball on defense in the first half and then reversed it to be Baroni ball on offense and Fratello ball on defense in the second half. The Grizzlies have some work ahead of them to be truly respectable.
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Sorry I haven’t been writing much lately but I was surfing and scuba diving in Hawaii with my family. A man has to have his priorities after all.

While I was on vacation the Grizzlies started working on their careers in Spain. After a hot and cold night against Unicaja Malaga that resulted in the Grizzlies losing by 3 points, the team rebounded and handedly took care of Estudiantes. The split was acceptable but no team that has lost to an European squad in the pre-season has ever made the playoffs. Something to keep in mind.
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Fox Sports is the first national media to actually predict the Grizzlies make the playoffs. While hedging their bets a bit by saying they made not end up in 7th place you have to like hearing at least one media type realizing that the team has made some good moves this season. This is also the first publication I have seen that didn’t have the Grizzlies in the cellar of the Southwest Division.

Dark Horse
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