Le Basketbawl

The “Memphis Commercial Appeal” reported Monday that although Memphis Grizzlies Team Owner Michael Heisley is under no pressure to sell the NBA franchise; he would do so if he was given an offer he can’t refuse. Heisley also revealed in an in depth interview with the paper that the team has an iron clad contract with the city of Memphis and can not be moved by him or any potential owners for the next 17 years.

Heisley told the paper that his position on selling the club has not changed. He said “I’ll reiterate my position again. I’m 73 years of age. My family is not going to take over this basketball team. My point is very simple. If the right person makes a reasonable offer for the team I will sell it. If the minority owners want to come up with a reasonable offer, I would love to sell it to them. I think they would make great owners. If it’s not to be, it’s not to be. Quite frankly, I don’t have to sell this team. I’m not in any financial difficulty. We have to be a model for what has to be done in the new era of pro basketball when teams are losing the kind of money they’re losing. Some people have got to be more fiscally responsible. We’ve lived within the rules. I’ve taken the heat. Everybody says I’m cheap. But I’ve shown that it does you no good to just go out and spend huge amounts of money.”

The Grizzlies Owner also made it crystal clear that there is no way that the team can be moved in the foreseeable future. He told the paper “Let me put a close on something. There is a contract that holds the Grizzlies into Memphis for 17 years. People should get off of this. I can’t move it tomorrow. It’s like talking about something that cannot be. All people have to do is read the contract. I’ve never said anything about moving. I’m not ready to be sued and go to jail. The NBA wouldn’t let it happen. What are we talking about? It’s not possible. If somebody calls up, we tell them (relocating) is not possible. Tell the people to wait about 10 years, let attendance never get any better and then they better start worrying. Right now, there’s nothing to talk about.”

The paper also asked the Team Owner about extending the contract of head coach Lionel Hollins before the end of the season. Heisley said “It’s in my hands. But I’m not going to get into the negotiations with Lionel or Rudy (Gay) or anyone else. I’ll tell you that Lionel’s our coach. Why wouldn’t I feel as strongly now about bringing Lionel back as I did in January. You think I’m going to basically change my mind in 30 days? I’m the guy that went and got him. Nobody else was thinking about that. Lionel is an outstanding person. He’s a good coach. He deserves a lot of the credit for the success of this team. That’s where we are.”

Rudy Gay will become a Free Agent at the end of the season and has been one of the core players of an improved Memphis team this season. There has been speculation that the Grizzlies could allow the forward to sign with another team this summer.

Your Old Pal New York Vinnie has told you this before; I truly enjoy when somebody is rewarded for hard work and determination. Not all of us can be blessed with the natural ability that our Elite Pro Athletes have; however we all have the ability to persevere and push as hard as we can so that we can handle a situation in the best way possible. New York Vinnie would far rather have a team of 12 players who might not have the most talent but they will give everything they can; than a team that is blessed with talent but has a Crapolla attitude.

A huge factor in how a team produces in New York Vinnie’s opinion is the guy that runs the bench; in the NBA and NFL the coach in MLB the manager. Part of that of course has to do with coming up with plays; but that is only part of the bench boss’ duties. A key component of their job is the tone that they set which then filters down to the team. Most times on successful teams the players adopt the attitude of their coach which makes for great chemistry on the field and in the locker room.

Monday “The Oklahoman” asked players on the Oklahoma City Thunder if they thought their head coach Scott Brooks had a legitimate shot as being named NBA Coach Of The Year. If you are regulars here at “The House That New York Vinnie Built” Le Basketbawl then you are aware that I have been saying that Brooks is one of three viable choices for Coach Of The Year. In fact New York Vinnie has said since December that Brooks along with Lionel Hollins in Memphis and Larry Brown in Charlotte are truly the three most viable choices this yea. However New York Vinnie would pick Brooks  as the coach who deserves the award.

Thunder forward Jeff Green thinks that the reason the team is having a much better season than last is due to Brook’s influence. Green told reporters “That’s a big, big improvement in just a year. And for him to only have a half a season with us last year and do what he’s doing this year is amazing. We’ve improved in almost every single category. He’s put us in a great position where we can make the playoffs this year. And he’s putting us as players in great positions to showcase what we can do. He’s done a tremendous job each game with getting better as a coach and making us better.”

New York Vinnie has been impressed all this season with the Thunder and it starts with the guy who leads the troops into battle Scott Brooks. If New York Vinnie had a vote this spring for NBA Coach Of The Year it would go to Thunder head coach Scott Brooks.

“The Commercial-Appeal” reported on Thursday that Memphis Grizzlies veteran Zach Randolph will be announced as a reserve for the NBA Western Conference All-Star Team.  The formal announcement of the reserves will be made on “TNT” Thursday night during the televised NBA double-header.  New York Vinnie never expected to write these words but Randolph does deserve the nod. There has never been any doubt about the skill level that the veteran brings to the hardwood. However his problems off the court with both the Portland Trail Blazers and the New York Knicks far outweighed any contribution he made in games.

 The Knicks acquired the forward from the Portland Trail Blazers  on the night of the 2008 NBA Draft one of the last major moves made during the “Isiah Thomas Reign Of Terror.” Last season New York traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers after 11 games in the the season. Randolph became a Free Agent last summer and signed on with Memphis. He has become a team leader on the Grizzlies and fits in quite well with young core of talent the team has assembled.

This would be the first All-Star game for the forward now in his ninth season in the NBA. He has averaged 21 points and 11.6 rebounds per game and is a big part of the improvement that Memphis has shown this season.

Marc Gasol took over the game down the stretch Wednesday night scoring the last 8 points of the night as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Detroit Pistons 99-93 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The younger and many would say tougher brother of Lakers big man Pau Gasol recorded a double-double as did Zach Randolph in the Memphis victory. Rodney Stuckey and Richard Hamilton would each notch a double-double for the Pistons in the loss. The Grizzlies have won their last 3 games as Detroit has lost three in a row. Memphis is now 8-2 in their last 10 games and the Pistons have gone 4-6.

The Grizzlies started out the contest in fine fashion pulling out to a 27-21 lead at the end of the first. Both teams shot well in the second and would each score 29 points in the period and Memphis walked into the locker room at the half on top 56-51.

The Pistons would cut the Memphis advantage to as little as 3 points in the third but they could never get any closer in the quarter and the Grizzlies led 79-74 as the period came to an end. With 2:56 left in the game Rodney Stuckey drained a mid range jumper and gave Detroit a 93-91 lead. Those would be the last p0ints of the night for the Pistons and Gasol just kept pushing Memphis further aned furter ahead until time expired.

Gasol recorded a double-double with a game high 25 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals while Zach Randolph also had a double-double ass the veteran scored 24 points, 13 boards, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 steal. Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo would add 16 points apiece while Mike Conley put up 14 points in the victory.

Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons also with a double-double as he had 17  points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals while Richard Hamilton also had a double-double with 16 points, 10 assists and 1 rebound. Ben Wallace scored 14 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals while Charlie Villanueva had 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Tayshaun Prince and Jason Maxiell each added 12 points in the loss. Memphis is now 25-19 and will play in San Antonio Friday while Detroit slips to 15-29 and will play host to the Heat on Friday.

Go take a look at the NBA Draft for 2003 and New York Vinnie guarantees that your Frickin jaw will drop in Frickin amazement of all the talent that entered the NBA that year! Here is a great example; All-Star forward David West was taken with pick number 17 by the New Orleans Hornets. Dwyane Wade  who is on just about every body’s top five list as the one of the NBA greats was taken number 5 by the Miami Heat.

You want to talk about a Frickin Treasure Chest  this was the year! It was really tough to mess up that year; however one team did and they may have set the Frickin wheels in motion that made a young man’s time in the NBA seem like a Frickin nightmare. And unfortunately this player has been so badly burned by his experience that he will leave the NBA and head back to Europe at the end of this season.

Out of the top six players picked in the 2003 NBA Draft; four have already been named to NBA  All-Star Teams and in New York Vinnie’s opinion a fifth player Chris Kaman should make it this year. But what about that sixth player? Why  has he not been as successful as LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh or D-Wade? Quite possibly because the team that picked him took him with far too high a selection and then allowed him to rot on the bench.

If you have not figured out by now New York Vinnie is referring to current New York Knicks forward Darko Milicic who was taken with the second pick by the Detroit Pistons.  He then spent the next two and a half years collecting splinters on the bench as he was used in limited games and given incredibly limited minutes. You know the old saying;  “Use It Or Lose It.” If you are not playing your skills will Frickin decline and even more importantly your confidence will suffer.

“Mlive.com” spoke with the player now in his seventh season in the NBA and asked him if he thought that the Pistons had lied to him during his time with the team. Milicic responded “Yes, they did. “They lie to everybody. It’s the NBA. The NBA, all around the league, same (stuff). ‘Your chance is going to come.’ All that kind of (stuff). (Forget) that! I’ve got enough of that kind of stuff, so I decided I’m going to Europe. I don’t know why they took me with the second pick if you’re not going to play me. I never understood that, you know. I was happy being the second pick and all that kind of stuff, but I never knew what I got myself into. I never knew I was coming here not to play. Nobody was telling me anything.”

Darko told reporters he was now looking at his situation realistically. He said “I’ve got to be real. There is no team in the league that is going to give me the chance that I’m looking for. My only chance is back in Europe. I’m going to do that. I want to be happy. I want to play.”

A couple of weeks ago when Milicic told the press he was going back to Europe New York Vinnie was pretty Frickin hard on Darko. New York Vinnie called him a quitter and a baby and I was wrong! This young man was sold a Frickin bill of goods with every team he went to. He wants to play so he is heading back home to do that rather than just sit on the bench for an NBA team and take their money! New York Vinnie has nothing but respect for that!

We will never know what would have happened if Darko was taken with a team he could have played for. What we do know is this young man was given a Frickin bum ride for seven Frickin years and he wants to go home!

The Memphis Grizzlies were looking to rumble on Sunday night and it was very unfortunate for the Miami Heat that they would be the other team involved. Memphis came out fast and furious in the first quarter and the team from Miami never could recover as the Grizzlies mugged the Heat winning the game by a final of 118-90.

The Grizzlies were in a zone offensively as they shot 52.8% (47-89) for the game. Memphis forward Rudy Gay had the night of his life as he scored a career high of 41 points. The Grizzlies center Marc Gasol the younger and tougher brother of Pau had a killer night as he put 16 points on the score-board and tore 15 rebounds off the back-board. Dwyane Wade would be the leading scorer for Miami as the All-Star guard knocked down 25 points in the loss.

Memphis sent a message in the first quarter; that message was they were on a mission and they would not be denied! The Grizzlies were kicking tail and taking names in the first and had themselves a 37-25 lead at the end of the quarter. Things did not get brighter for the Heat in the second quarter and when the game reached halftime Memphis was on top 62-49.

If their was even one Miami fan who had any hopes of their team coming back and winning this game those hopes would be dashed on the rocks in the third. The Grizzlies looked like they could barely miss and Miami looked like they were lost at sea. Memphis led at the end of three quarters 93-67 and all that remained was a quarter of garbage time before they could make it official.

Rudy Gay was as smooth as butter on Sunday night as he scored a career high 41 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2  steals in the Grizzlies blow-out. Marc Gasol had 16 points, 15 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist and 1 block while his teammate O.J. Mayo also added 16 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block. Zach Randolph may have actually found a home in Memphis as the veteran put up 13 points in the victory.

Dwyane Wade was the Man for Miami as he knocked down 25 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds. Dorell Wright came off the bench for the club and rang up 16 points while Jermaine O’Neal back with the team after the passing in his family added 12 more in the loss. Memphis with the upset win improves to 10-13 and they will play host Monday to the Boston Celtics. Miami is back at even with an 11-11 record and will welcome the Toronto Raptors Tuesday.

On Monday night the NBA careers of Chauncey Billups and Allen Iverson once again intersected as the Denver Nuggets took on the Philadelphia 76ers. And once again as has been the case over the last couple of seasons Billups came up on the top end of the exchange as he scored 31 points and led the Nuggets past Iverson and the 76ers 93-83.

The loss dampened the enthusiasm of the Philadelphia crowd who were Frickin Stoked to have Iverson back on the Sixers. This was just the most recent time over the last couple of years that Billups has ended up the on the better end of the exchange between the two players. However it was not always like this with Billups being the Frickin Hero and Iverson being the Frickin Goat. In fact at one time it was completely the opposite.

Allen Iverson came into the NBA during the 1996-1997 season after being selected with the number one pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the 76ers. He would take the league by Frickin storm winning NBA Rookie Of The Year as he averaged  23.5 points, 7.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. “The Answer” would win the NBA Scoring Title in 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2004–05. He was named the NBA MVP for the 2000-2001 season taking the Sixers to the Finals that year. He has been named the NBA All-Star MVP two different times. The only thing that A.I. does not have is that NBA Championship Ring.

Chauncey Billups came into the NBA the following season as his career started in 1997-1998 season after being taken with the third pick by the Boston Celtics in the 1997 NBA Draft. Now Billups was not the sensation that Iverson had been the year before with Philadelphia. In fact Billups did not even last one season with the Frickin Celtics. Rick Pitino who was calling all the Frickin shots back then for Boston and most likely took 10 years off Red Auerbach’s life traded Billups to the Toronto Raptors.

Billups became a vagabond, a journeyman; going from team to team and never really making that much of an impact in the early years of his career. He played with Denver for a couple of years and then with the T-Wolves for a couple more and was Frickin inconsistent at best. It was not until he signed with the Detroit Pistons in the Summer of 2002 that he found himself a home and took his career to the next Frickin level. Now Billups has never won a scoring title and has never been named the MVP of the NBA. However he does have that NBA Championship ring.

It was last season that the trade would happen that would effect both Iverson and Billups and the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets as well. Billups was sent to Denver while Iverson went to Detroit; the deal would work out great for the Nuggets and put the Pistons on a Frickin downward spiral. Billups was the Frickin spark-plug that got the Nuggets engine roaring as they made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals when they lost to the Lakers.

Iverson had just the opposite effect on Detroit as one the elite teams of the decade fell apart at the Frickin seams. They ended up the number eight seed in the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs and were sent home after the first round. Iverson did not even show up for the games and he was onto try finding greener pastures this past summer.

New York Vinnie is sick and tired of writing about the Frickin trials and tribulations of he failed NBA marriage with the Memphis Grizzlies. You most likely are just as sick of reading them so we will skip talking about it other than to say that Iverson after being released by Memphis signed a deal to return to the Sixers last week. And Billups and the Nuggets were the first team he faced.

New York Vinnie has already written that I believe that Iverson will be a big help to the Sixers for the rest of the season but the only way we will find out is one game at a time. Will he have the kind of effect that Billups had with the Nuggets last year? When Allen feels needed and wanted there is not a better Frickin teammate to have; so he just might pull it off.