Suppose both teams had the same quality coaches. Which group would have a better shot of making the playoffs? Code: [B]Rockets Grizzlies [/B] 0 Aaron Brooks PG 11 Mike Conley PG 7 Kyle Lowry PG 5 Marcus Williams PG 01 Trevor Ariza GF 32 O.J. Mayo SG 31 Shane Battier SF 3 Allen Iverson SG 10 Chase Budinger SF 55 Marko Jaric GF 8 Jermaine Taylor SG 22 Rudy Gay SF 4 Luis Scola PF 2 Trey Gilder F 14 Carl Landry PF 1 DeMarre Carroll F 43 Brian Cook PF 4 Sam Young F 44 Chuck Hayes C 50 Zach Randolph PF 13 David Andersen C 0 Darrell Arthur PF 21 Pops Mensah-Bonsu C 33 Marc Gasol C 15 Joey Dorsey C 15 Hamed Haddadi C 45 Steven Hunter PF 34 Hasheem Thabeet C
The Rockets. Memphis has a lot of high lottery picks and young talent, but most of those guys have under achieved at every level. The Memphis roster is loaded with malcontents. Allen Iverson - malcontent Rudy Gay (UCONN) - malcontent Marcus Williams (UCONN) - malcontent Hasheen Thabeet (UCONN) - malcontent Marko Jaric - malcontent Zach Randolph - malcontent
I think the Grizz are a more talented team, when you look at the entire roster. But like Shape pointed out, I wouldn't want to depend on a lot of those players over the course of the season. Overachieving teams are usually built around high-character players who can completely buy into a coach's philosophy/gameplan. Zach Randolph? Allen Iverson? Rudy Gay? Definitely don't fit those criteria, IMO.
