Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Memphis Grizzlies!
Tony Parker: The unquestioned leader and motor for our team. NBA Finals MVP who is just now entering his prime. Will be our go to scorer and the force behind our pick and roll offense.
Rudy Fernandez: The Spanish sensation. He plays a bench role in Portland because there's an all-star playing in front of him, but in his reserve role he was remarkably produtive. A player with a high ceiling, his offensive versaltility and ability to hit the long ball make a nice compliment to TP at the off guard.
Wilson Chandler: The versatile swingman. Has the offensive acumen and defensive skills to play either the two wing positions, but we like how he causes matchup problems at the three. A great shooter/slasher, he will get a lot of iso plays, but will also benefit from TP's drive and dish abilities. His jack of all tade defensive skills gives us the neccesary wing defender to put in front of the elite wings of the NBA.
Boris Diaw: The point forward. The multitalented Power Forward's shooting ability spaces the floor nicely for TP and Chandler, as well as givng our young center the room to operate. Also, his passing skills will allow him to make the extra pass after TP kicks it to him.
Brook Lopez: The young man. Already a force in the post, in his rookie season he was top 10 in blocked shots, the Stanford man has shown that he has the offensive moves to grow into being one of themost complete post players in the NB. His defense and low post game gives our team the balance we need to really compete.
8 man rotation:
We can just end the 6th mn competition and give it to this man...
Mo Williams: Boom goes the Dynamite. A dynamic scorer who fits in perfectly either with TP in the game or along side him. With our admitted lack of bench depth on the wings, Mo's Ability to play the 2 in spurts will be useful. And for all the talk about Mo's "mouth" , all his trash talk has been about how good he thinks his team is. We think Mo is a cocky chemistry guy and we feel that his antics, when not exacerbated like they were in Cleveland, are great for the team.
Andrea Bargnani: The Italian Stallion. As number 1 picks go, Il Mago is an enigma. Not quite good enough to justify taking over Brandon Roy and Rondo, but not bad enough to call a bust. We are of the belief that playing alongside another face up big in Bosh has stunted his development a little. But Bargs had a remarkable turnaround last season as his scoring improved and he aquitted himself nicely as a weakside defender.
Daequann Cook: Dae Dae. The three point specialist for Miami last season, ha quietly become a very useful bench player. Like Fernandez, he's a very capeable 2 who plays behind an allstar ( and the player who should have won the MVP last year... but thats another story), but Dae Dae happens to also be able play either wing position, as evidenced last year when Miami wanted both he and Chalmers surronding Wade on the Perimeter. The reigning 3-Point Champ will fit in nicely.
Could Crack the rotation if they turn out to be good:
DJ White: Reggie Evans? DJ spent most of the year in the D-League last year... for the Thunder. Which would be a red flag if they hadn't called him up towards the end of the season and he produced. We think DJ has the ability to be the tough big offf the bench. We think at minimum he becomes a Reggie Evns type, at best Jason Maxiell. Either way, we need him.
Omri Casspi: Maccabi. The versatile forward has an NBA SF skill set that must have been plucked from King Solomon's mines. If he turns out to be the playr we think he's capable of being, then it gives us the option to move Chandler to the 2 and create huge match-up problems on the wings. If he doesn't develop right away, we still have minutes for him behind Chandler.
The Bench:
Travis Diener: Better than Dan Dickau, not quite as good as Luke Ridinour. Also he played with Dwayne Wade. In all seriousness, Diener posses all the abilities you'd want in a 3rd PG, a steady hand, solid passing skills and the ability to nail the open shot.
Louis Amundson: Just look at that smile. A solid fifth big who can step in if I'm wrong abot White.
Sun Yue: We love China!
Nando De Colo: Who can say no to a name like that? Also, he gives Tony someone to be snooty with in French.
DJ Mbenga: He brings championship experience... AND... DAKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Team Stats:
G GS MPG FG% 3p% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
Tony Parker 72 71 34.1 0.506 0.292 0.782 0.4 2.7 3.1 6.9 0.9 0.1 2.58 1.50 22.0
Rudy Fernndez 78 4 25.6 0.425 0.399 0.839 0.6 2.1 2.7 2.0 0.9 0.2 1.10 1.40 10.4
Wilson Chandler 82 70 33.4 0.432 0.328 0.795 1.1 4.3 5.4 2.1 0.9 0.9 1.70 3.00 14.4
Boris Diaw 59 59 37.6 0.495 0.419 0.686 1.6 4.3 5.9 4.9 0.9 0.8 3.02 2.80 15.1
(Diaw's numbers are from his time in Charlotte, not Phoenix.)
Brook Lopez 82 75 30.5 0.531 0.000 0.793 2.7 5.4 8.1 1.0 0.5 1.8 1.79 3.10 13.0
Mo Williams 81 81 35.0 0.467 0.436 0.912 0.6 2.9 3.4 4.1 0.9 0.1 2.21 2.70 17.8
Andrea Barnani 78 59 31.4 0.450 0.409 0.831 0.9 4.4 5.3 1.2 0.4 1.2 1.73 3.10 15.4
Daequan Cook 75 4 24.4 0.375 0.387 0.875 0.3 2.3 2.5 0.9 0.5 0.1 0.56 1.70 9.1
DJ White 7 0 18.6 0.520 0.000 0.769 1.4 3.1 4.6 0.9 0.4 0.7 0.43 1.40 8.9
Omri Casspi
Louis Amundson 76 0 13.7 0.536 0.000 0.442 1.7 1.9 3.6 0.4 0.4 0.9 0.74 2.00 4.2
Travis Diener 55 0 13.1 0.413 0.390 0.800 0.1 1.5 1.6 2.2 0.5 0.1 0.38 0.80 3.7
Sun Yue Does it Matter?
Nando De Colo
DJ Mbenga DAKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS!
Draft PhilosophyOnce we received the 9th pick, there was little doubt in our mind we would tradedon and pick up an extra second. To the Grizz, and at this point I'm still counting CiO, there were 7 elite players in this draft, and then about 13 in the next tier. There was no chance one of the 7 would fall to us at 9 so why not trade down?
If you've heard (read) me talk basketball befoe, you know I'm a big believer in having talented bigs ( 1 in the post andone who can roam the high post to the perimeter) ad floor balance. Also, If I'm goingto put any effort into this game, I have to look at it like I'm starting a franchise. So I tried to put together a team of the future that was viable now.
At 19 we targeted eithr TP or Pau Gasol, and jumped at having an all star point guard with multiple rings and a finals MVP who was just now entering his prime. We did this because we thought there was achance to steal a LaMarcus Aldrige in the 2nd round (we had been targeting Brook wit the latter pick.) When that didn't happen, we picked not only who we thought was the best player available but also whose defensive and offensive abilities complimented TP nicely, Rudy gay. And additional bonus was that Gay's rebounding and shot blocking would make up for that weakness in our inevitable perimeter big.
In tre fourth round, we were excited to pick up both Bargs and Diaw, although we debated picking up Azubuike, Crawford and Pietrus. Eventually I decided that front court deth ( and chemistry) mattered ore than a wing scorer. Cook was a solid pick up and the rest of the bench was bolstered by the Gay trade.
I think I did a good job building this team around Tony Parker. Putting shooters around him so as to make his driving game much more dangerous and allowing him more attempts at the basket because of defenders not being able to leave their man. There was an idea, that I don't know how it came about, that my team would HAVE to be a an up and down team. I see it the opposite, thi team will run te most viscious half court offense you will see in the fake NBA. Each of the players in the starting 5 didn't play on a fast break team last year ( with the exception of Chandler, but his skill set can allow him to play any type), but rather flourished in a pick and roll system. T obviously ran that ystem in SA. Rudy played off of Roy's peetration. Diaw played excellently off Felton's penetration as well as spacing the floor for Okafor and Felton. Lopez playd off Harris' game and is the funamentally sound big that TP is accostomed to, making tis transition easier.
In summation:
Stengths:Startng 5's offense
Depth at 1,4,5
Combo of youth and experience
3-Point Shooting
Play-off experience
Weaknesses:Reounding
Wing Depth
Best Move: Both trades I made, I feel I won. Which is a big change from last year.
Outlook: I like us to win the division and be a first or second round out. But in two years I like us as tite conteders, as we're already experiened in he playoffs we just need more seasoning. So I believe we're definately theteam of the future.
Topic: CB Draft '09 Mock Press Conference: Southwest Division (Read 62850 times)