Grizzlies sign F Miles to second 10-day contract

We pretty much agree. The 15th man (or 13th man in Miles' case) is pretty much irrelevant. Which makes Miles on the Grizzlies even more puzzling (alleged ulterior motives aside)

Does Miles help them win games? Evidently not. Does he fit into their long terms plans? I don't see it. Is he an injury waiting to happen? Multiple independent doctors seemed to think so. So, why Miles over some young guy who actually has a chance to improve and stick with your franchise?

BNM

 

Yes, and some, given the chance, are actually capable of doing so.

BNM

 

You got me curious to look at their schedule now and considering they couldn't beat OKC, this might be tough to find them a win here.

Jan. 31 vs Lakers - 12 in a row
Feb. 2 @ Washington - (maybe?)
Feb. 4 vs Houston - 14 in a row if they can't get past Washington
Feb. 6 vs. LA Clippers - (maybe?)
Feb. 7 vs. Toronto - 16 in a row
Feb. 9 vs. New Orleans - 17 in a row
Feb. 11 @ Philadelphia - 18 in a row
Feb. 17 @ Utah - 19 in a row

And who would be their landmark 20th loss in a row if they make it that far?

Feb. 18 @ Portland! - Back to back road games. First game back for Darius. That'd be quite the landmark. I'm now rooting for Memphis to lose every game until we get them so we can give them No. 20.

 

Perhaps they're calculating it a different way, becuase that number has to be a lot bigger than that. Two games ago he had a -23. I don't recall an instance where his number was ever positive.

 

This, I think, is where the problem may lie.

I am guessing that Miles HAS BEEN a distraction for the Grizzlies.

The transparent attempt to play games with other teams, to tweak a "rock star" GM, to thumb your nose at a rich and obnoxious owner, has nothing to do with what the young players on that squad are trying to do and build.

Imagine you are Gay, Mayo, Gasol, Conley, etc. You are trying to build a team, get better, learn how to play a team game, all while being competitive and stealing a few games here and there. And this is what happens early in the season.

Along comes this Miles thing, and as a player you can't fathom what the heck this dude is brought it for. And you get miffed when the reporters mostly want to interview him, and when they do talk to you it is to ask questions about Miles. Then it starts to dawn on you that the ownership and management are clueless and not committed to builiding a competitive program.

Kinda sucks the life out of the effort. Being confronted with the reality of the situation. Collapse follows.

 

Well, since they haven't won a game since Miles set foot on the floor (11 in a row, by an average of 13.2 points), I'd guess they don't have a single player with a positive +/- during the Miles "era".

They don't list the +/- in the player game logs atnba.com, but if you go to Miles' game log you can click on the individual game scores to see the complete box score for each game he's played in. I didn't bother to check them all, but Miles did have a +1 in the last 1:46 of that 20-point blow out win over Dallas that unleashed the curse. I'll leave it up to you to check the other nine games and do the math.

BNM

 

Yeah, I didn't have the energy to compile those figures from the box scores. My bad about missing that +1, however.

 

Not doomed, cursed.

BNM

 

You are right.

All of this could just be one big crazy set of coincidences.

But, then again, all this circumstantial evidence and conjecture could be as it seems in a plausible scenario.

Think of it this way. You mention that Memphis is a bad team. This is true.

They are a bad team because they are run badly. On balance, they have made too many poor trades and botched too many drafts.

Teams that are run badly are run by poor managers. Poor managers that make poor decisions.

Being fixated on the Blazers and/or KP, instead of focusing on your own situation, would be an example of poor management.

Thus, though we cannot prove that Memphis has acted the way we claim, we cannot exclude this behavior on the theory that good managers would not act this way.

 

Get off it, will you?

 

Sure, just as soon as the Grizzlies win.

What's wrong? Can't I have a little fun at the expense of a franchise that deserves to be mocked?

BNM

 

Imagine you are Gay, Mayo, Gasol, Conley, etc. and you aren't really concerned about the guy on the end of the bench because he's well down the list of your concerns. Is KG losing sleep over Patrick Bryant? The media attention DM's drawing over contractual nonsense is not only unrelated to you but it's become a convenient distracting storyline averting attention from how badly the season is going for all the Griz guys who do see court and make more then minimal salary. Lord knows you aren't looking to do media after yet another loss... who enjoys facing that music?

I'm guessing my fantasy world is much more like reality then yours

STOMP

 

What part of "guessing" did you have a problem understanding in my post.

Your attempt at a comeback is therefore entirely redundant.

 

12 in a row.

The curse lives. Long live the curse.

BNM

 

I'll point out that the curse is over at least in terms of a losing streak, but I'll add that Miles has played 29 minutes in the two games since he was signed for the year. His stats:

2 points on 1-3 shooting
2 blocks
2 turnovers
2 fouls
1-3 FGs
0-0 FTs
1 rebound
3 assists
1 steal

Contract signed, and aggressive Darius apparently no longer exists.

 

Well, they played the worst team in the league. Somebody had to win.

BNM