Comments on: It Would Take A Room Of MIT Mathematicians With Calculators Working 18 Hours A Day 7,000 Years To Determine Just Exactly How Stupid The Memphis Grizzlies Are

By: jesse

jesse — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:26:30 +0000

Okay, so stick with me here and let me digest your alleged basketball IQ.

You say that Pau Gasol is not a max player, which we’ll get into, but through your logic you are claiming that Zach Randolph somehow is?! According to ESPN.com we have roughly $14.5 million vs. $15 million. The cap space freed through the Gasol trade, give or take a minimum contract, is now gone. The payoff was Randolph. A less efficient, worse player than the one you got. But for your sake, we’ll throw in the other Gasol (who is destined to join Robin Lopez and Taylor Griffin in Phoenix). So now you traded Pau for a worse, lazier and equally paid version of of Pau and a solid, rotation big who may not even be able to play next to Randolph, and when combined with Randolph will not measure up to what Pau produced but will take up more than he was paid.

And as far as being good enough to make the playoffs and not win? Well as of this offseason if you’re not the Lakers, Spurs, Magic, or Cavs you’re not going to anyways. But fine, so 10-15 years of being in the lottery (where your GM’s competency is questionable anyways–he drafted and quickly trade Joe Johnson, and then Joe Forte and Kedrick Brown over Tony Parker and Giblert Arenas) is completely worth not fielding a middling playoff team.

So, going back to whether or not Pau is a max player. Well in case you didn’t notice, second fiddles on good teams get paid max dollars unless you’re the Spurs. Hell, the finals were a perfect example with Lewis and Gasol overpaid. And Gasol won.

Finally, look at your roster: You have Mike Conley, OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay. All open court players, great in transition, and freakishly athletic. Who fits better in that roster: A fluid, athletic and mobile big man with length and a great feel for the game or a fat, lazy ball-stopper who slows the game to a halt and wouldn’t pass it out of a double team even if he had someone to pass it to. Plus, with Gasol, you probably still have Navarro.

The only thing Wallace has done in his tenure at Memphis is hand the Lakers a championship and build their dynasty while screwing over what could have been their (potentially) biggest threat (Portland) over the next few years. And then, you know, making a Clippers front office look good in a headline for once. Because believe me, outside of Memphis the story headline is Clips dump Randolph, not Griz acquire star forward.

By: smitty

smitty — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:15:50 +0000

uuuh… L-train, maybe you had better get some knowledge. Darko was acquired long before the Pau Gasol trade, so obtaining Randolph had nothing to do with Pau. Crittenton was traded to Washington to reacquire fully our first round pick which we had traded to them conditionally for the rights to Juan Carlos Navarro. Sam Young was selected with our regular second round pick and therefore had nothing to do with the Pau Gasol trade as well.

I do agree, though I do not like the acquisition of Zach Randolph, that the criticism of Chris Wallace is far too harsh.

By: Rockytop98

Rockytop98 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:31:49 +0000

Thank you L-train. Pau was a big flopper who we couldnt win with, so we got rid of his contract and saved money. And Randolph will most likely only be a grizzly for a year then be traded cuz thats 17 million commin off the payroll for someone. The grizz are weak in the lowpost and he should give us some muscle.

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:12:16 +0000

L-train makes some astute points about the Grizz as much as I hate to admit it…

By: steven r

steven r — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:09:49 +0000

Etrur….

you do realize that over the past couple of years Zach Randolph has spent a lot of his free time in Memphis. People see him hanging out around Memphis all the time. He was at the Southern Heritage Classic last year I believe.

I dont know how that makes you think he would hate life here.

By: L-train

L-train — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:56:42 +0000

You guys don’t have a damn clue about b-ball or don’t follow this team. Chris Wallace has been excellent for the team. LEt me explain:
1. Pau Gasol trade – he’s not a max contract player. We tried to build a team around him and the best it got us was 0-12 in playoffs. YEs, Pau is a solid player but do you want to go into every season knowing you’re good enough to get to the playoffs but not win. Plus, you’ve got the 4th highest payroll in the smallest market. Here is what the trade has brought to date (cap space – expiring Kwame Brown, Aaron McKie contracts that lead to Darko signing which lead to Zach Randolph), Jarvaris Crittendon (2nd round pick – Sam Young)solid center in Marc Gasol (10 pts/8reb) and Lakers 2008 (Darrell Arthur/2010. Let me see Pau for Zach Randolph, Darrell Arthur, Sam Young and a 1st round pick next year that hasn’t been used plus 7-9M left over from freeing up his contract – PLEASE GET SOME KNOWLEDGE before you write. How is it bad for the Grizzlies to do it but okay for other teams like New JErsey, Milwaukee and Phoenix and they dont get crap back but it’s okay.
2. He drafted Conley, traded for OJ Mayo and this year pick up Thabeet, Carroll, Young and traded for Randolph. CAn you please name me 5 other GM that have selected and or traded better than him and PLEASE only trades for players in the draft and not veterans. Also, if you know anything about our team last year: we had no low post presence and no bench.
3. I can go on and on but I think you get the point. Don’t just write was national media outlets write b/c they don’t understand either. You guys just look like idiots to basketball hoopsters.

Peace Out.

By: Etrur

Etrur — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:10:30 +0000

At least this trade should make Grizzlies bereable to follow I suppose. You never know what’s coming with Zach Randolph: he might get on the headlines for dropping a 38-18 or he might get in the headlines for being involved in a shooting, beating up a prostitute, smashing someone while driving 100 mph in a 40 mph road.

What I don’t understand is why did the management decide to acquire someone who will be unhappy with the life in Memphis from day one and whose effort has always been questioned when for that price they could have gotten free agents like David Lee and Trevor Ariza.

By: Wut

Wut — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:36:49 +0000

If you had watched Zach vs Pau …you’d know that “16 aint half of fitty”.

By: WildYams

WildYams — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:55:18 +0000

Jesse is absolutely right. I always thought the idea behind trading Pau Gasol was because Memphis either badly needed to save money or because they figured if they stunk already, they might as well stink for cheaper; but adding Z-Bo pretty much nullifies that. Gasol and Randolph have almost identical contracts, both in terms of dollar amount per year and the fact that both expire in the summer of 2011. Pau Gasol for the same price and years wouldn’t be a better fit on the Grizzlies than Zach Randolph is? Really?

By: grizzfan79

grizzfan79 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:58:19 +0000

From Memphis:

Dear Mr. Writer,

Go F*** yourself