End of Free Agency Grizzlies Link Dump!
By Hal Brown
May 27, 2013; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley (11) brings the ball up court past San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker (9) in the second half of game four of the Western Conference finals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at FedEx Forum. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports
Since it’s Saturday, an Free Agency seems to be drawing to a close (especially for the Grizzlies, after signing Nick Calathes and filling their last real roster hole), we here at Beale Street Bears figured that it was a good time to give you all a link dump to a lot fun stuff that’s been going around the blogosphere; mostly about our beloved Grizzlies.
Grizzly Bear Blues over at SBNation has been really active this last week and has a lot of really interesting stuff coming out.
Grizzly Bear Blues is working on a series breaking down the Grizzlies’ schedule month by month, and they’ve already finished up through December and January
"Though I hate the quote, this December stretch will show us “what the Memphis Grizzlies are made of”. We all remember how well this team started out last year before hitting the wall in December. In hindsight you can say the 7-7 stretch was the difference between being the 5th seed in the Western Conference and a top-3 seed. Now the West is even deeper and more talented than it was last season."
A good summary of the Grizzlies’ Cap Situation to date, also from GBB:
"The point is simple here: the Memphis Grizzlies got better without directly addressing their biggest need in perimeter shooting. Mike Miller is a huge pick-up in that field, but his body isn’t built for heavy regular season play. Josh Akognon is regarded by some as the best shooter currently not in the NBA, but there’s no guarantee he makes the roster."
3 Shades of Blue on how new coach Dave Joerger wants to run Memphis’ offense:
"When asked about his vision of the Memphis Grizzlies and what he wants to do with the team, David Joerger immediately mentioned his desire to push the ball…It’s easy to tell that the thought of easy layup conversions and slews of transition threes has him licking his chops. But is this a viable option for this current squad?"
The always-great Grizz Flyer Blog breaks down the new best teams in the West:
"They lack the ostensible “stars” contenders are supposed to have, but how [good is] the conference’s top returning defense, top returning rebounding team, two playoff proven post scorers, an emerging two-way point guard, and what may be shaping up — pending one last move — as the conference’s best bench?"
Grizz Flyer on the return of Mike Miller:
"Levien indicated that the team had been game-planning a potential Miller amnesty since before the past season ended. Miller revealed that Levien was one of his first phone calls when the amnesty came down. And the tone of the day underscored how close a relationship Miller and Joerger have."
"If there’s a cost to the Grint and Grind mentality of the Grizzlies, that’s it: the totally unappealing nature of watching Grizz games. That has a real cost too, because for every nationally televised Grizzlies game, that’s more tickets sold for Grizzlies games, more ad money flowing into owner Robert Pera’s pockets, and that’s ultimately more flexibility to do things like spend over the tax for a player; and for every game not shown nationally, that’s an opportunity lost."
BSB Grades the Grizzlies’ Offseason Moves:
"By all accounts though, replacing Hollins now is a clever move. Hollins wanted 4 more years – the front office wanted 2, so that they could reevaluate their head coaching options when the team restructures in the post-Allen, post-Randolph era. Locking Hollins in for that length of time would make it harder to develop new and potential talent, as Lionel proved he was not up for playing guys he didn’t think were ready."
And, of course, a reminder that Beale Street Bears is still hiring new writers!