Now that the season is over with, post your final marks for each of the players. Don't grade them based on talent but rather how they met your expectations and how they developed. Jake Tsakalidis - <font color=""Red"">A</font> - I had said all along that all Tsakalidis needed was a little more playing time to be effective, and it turns out that's true. While only finishing the season with a seemingly meager average of 5.0 ppg and 4.2 rpg, Fratello started giving him playing time towards the season and he had several dominating performances where he looked like one of the top centers in the NBA (19 pts, 16 rbs vs. Boston; 17 pts, 12 rbs vs. Philadelphia; 17 points, 15 rebounds vs. Seattle, etc.). While Fratello should be blamed for not playing him as much as he should have, at least Tsakalidis got more action than he ever had before as a Grizzlie, even starting three out of our four playoff games. Shane Battier - <font color=""Red"">A-</font> - I can't say enough about Shane Battier. He improved upon his averages from last season, and his defense this season would rank among the best in the league. The only reason I didn't give Battier a full 'A' is because he's still a little passive on the offensive end, and if he were more assertive it'd probably benefit the team. Pau Gasol - <font color=""red"">A- </font>- Without a doubt, Gasol is the best player on the Grizzlies, and he also had a career year, even aside from averages. He added a midrange jumper to his game, and he came into the season playing with a certain degree of aggression that he had always been missing. He seemed to lose that spark half way through the season though and start playing timid, which is one of the main reasons we lost the Dallas series this year. Mike Miller - <font color=""red"">B+ </font>- You could argue that Mike Miller was inconsistent this season, but so was his playing time. Having Eddie Jones on the roster really worked against him. As the best player in the league off the bench though, it's hard to give him anything much shorter than a 'B+'. He would have gotten an 'A' from me, but he disappeared in the playoffs. Eddie Jones - <font color=""red"">B </font>- His numbers went down, but he was consistent and reliable all season long. It really showed how having veteran players like Jones can impact a team's chemistry, and he was the only player in the playoffs outside of Battier who showed the same spark he showed during the regular season. Dahntay Jones - <font color=""red"">C </font>- Jones didn't really exceed expectations this season, but then again, there weren't really that many expectations for him. Hakim Warrick - <font color=""red"">C</font> - Warrick could have done better statistically had he gotten more playing time from Fratello, but I was unimpressed. Everything that the critics said was wrong with his game during the draft turned out to be spot on. He just doesn't have the game to translate to being a PF in the NBA. He's too weak, too skinny, and has no post moves. He gets all his points off his freakish athleticism and length. Antonio Burks - <font color=""red"">C-</font> - We didn't really see much of Burks this season, so it's hard to rank him, but from what we did see, he was a solid contributer off the bench, not the liability he has been in the past, or maybe my perception is just altered because now instead of comparing him to great point guards like Williams and Watson, I'm comparing him to Atkins and Jackson. Bobby Jackson - <font color=""red"">D</font> - I honestly didn't know much about Jackson's game before he came to the Grizzlies, but I knew about all the honors he had won, so I was really eager to hand him the reigns of our team. He turned out to be much more selfish than advertised though, always looking for the shot first rather than trying to create for his teammates. If I had to do it over again, I'd reject the offer for Bonzi Wells 100% of the time. Lorenzen Wright - <font color=""red"">D </font>- This was his contract year, and yet he showed the least heart and the least effort all season long of anyone on our roster. For someone who was a consistent contributer as the anchor in the post for our last two playoff-caliber seasons, he was a no-show this season, rarely getting off the bench and playing uninspired when he did. Chucky Atkins - <font color=""red"">F </font>- Like Bobby Jackson, I didn't know much about his game before he came to Memphis, but he single-handedly blew several of our games this season. He's selfish, a shoot-first point guard, and the worst defender I've seen in my life. Brian Cardinal - <font color=""red"">F</font> - For someone who we pay so much money to, he sure had little to no impact. When he did play, he got burned defensively, and he didn't really provide much help offensively. Most of his season was spent on the sidelines wearing suits two sizes too small. Anthony Roberson - <font color=""red"">Incomplete</font> - Did not play enough to evaluate. Lawrence Roberts - <font color=""red"">Incomplete</font> - Did not play enough to evaluate. Damon Stoudamire - <font color=""red"">Incomplete </font>- Did not play enough to evaluate.
Bobby Jackson has always been a scoring spark off the bench in Sacramento, but injuries have kept him out and I think not seeing much of him for 2 years a lot of people might of forgotten how he was effective. I think you guys are lucky that you got Bobby off that trade because we got "The Tag's Farwell Tour" for Snyder, Bochardt, and Lopez's contract.
good grades voodoo. if you look at the grizzley's roster, they are probably just one player away from contending for a championship. you guys have tons of veterans and tons of great role players, but the roster is still missing one "piece".
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting J_Ray:</div><div class="quote_post">Bobby Jackson has always been a scoring spark off the bench in Sacramento, but injuries have kept him out and I think not seeing much of him for 2 years a lot of people might of forgotten how he was effective. I think you guys are lucky that you got Bobby off that trade because we got "The Tag's Farwell Tour" for Snyder, Bochardt, and Lopez's contract.</div> Bobby Jackson's a decent scorer, but that's the problem. As a point guard, he shouldn't always be looking to score. He's not good at running the offense, setting up his teammates, and playing unselfish basketball, so he becomes a liability when you play him at anything but shooting guard, where he also borders on a liability because of his size. And I'm not even going to touch on B-Jax's defensive problems...
^^ Bobby is also extremely unintelligent. He NEEDED to cheat to stay in school at Minny and always seem to just try to score. He really doesn't seem to know how to play the point at all.
