I disagree. Compared to what some other bad teams have been able to do in the draft, what the Grizzlies have is nothing to write home about. Guys like Rudy Gay, Kyle Lowry, Lawrence Roberts, and Hakim Warrick have alot of question marks in their games. I don't think they have alot of promising young talent, and I think he could have drafted a whole lot better.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mobruler @ May 28 2007, 11:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I disagree. Compared to what some other bad teams have been able to do in the draft, what the Grizzlies have is nothing to write home about. Guys like Rudy Gay, Kyle Lowry, Lawrence Roberts, and Hakim Warrick have alot of question marks in their games. I don't think they have alot of promising young talent, and I think he could have drafted a whole lot better.</div>Gasol is already an all star, and I think Gay and Warrick both are very promising. Of course they both have question marks, but that is the risk you take in the draft when taking highly skilled players that aren't quite polished.I think it is a nice core to build on, and much better than where they were at pre-West.
Pau Gasol is 26 years old, I wouldn't call him 'young talent' anymore. Jerry West didn't even draft Pau Gasol. I fail to see the 'ton' of young talent on that roster. Other than Rudy Gay you can't possitively call any of the other young guys future NBA starters. The Bulls, Bobcats and Celtics have a ton of young, very good talent, I don't think the Grizzlies do.
The Kobe trade is overrated. He only wanted to play for the Lakers organization to begin with, that's why so many past.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Universe @ May 29 2007, 01:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The Kobe trade is overrated. He only wanted to play for the Lakers organization to begin with, that's why so many past.</div>It's not true that he would ONLY play for the Lakers. He liked the Lakers, he was a fan of the Lakers growing up, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't have wanted to play for anyone else. Jerry West saw the potential in Kobe Bryant right away, much like everyone else, but he was the only one to have the balls to predict he'd be a star publicly. He made a deal for him, he's now viewed as one of the greatest players to ever live.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ May 29 2007, 09:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Pau Gasol is 26 years old, I wouldn't call him 'young talent' anymore. Jerry West didn't even draft Pau Gasol. I fail to see the 'ton' of young talent on that roster. Other than Rudy Gay you can't possitively call any of the other young guys future NBA starters. The Bulls, Bobcats and Celtics have a ton of young, very good talent, I don't think the Grizzlies do.</div>Thats not because their GMs are great, they have talent cause they were in the gutter for a while, as in Memphis has been a playoff team and has still gotten young talent.(with the exception of the Curry trade and getting Ty Thomas)Question mark on Hakim Warrick? He averaged 15 and 7 as a starter...those are better numbers than most 2nd year players.Rudy Gay has a question mark? He averaged 14ppg, 7rpg, 1bpg 1spg in the 2nd half of his rookie season. I think its obvious hes going to be pretty good.Tarence Kinsey might actually be THAT good. Its not like a unsigned rookie hasnt ever been good. He could turnout to be a steal of the draft.Alexander Johnson was supposed to go in the 1st rnd, dropped to 2nd rnd and Jerry West finally got him. Like I said above..and any griz fan will tell you...Alexander Johnson was our best rookie in the first half of the season. Hes athletic, hes extremely tough, he doesn't back down,...he even has a solid jumper. Hes a starter in this league.A GM that built a 3-peat team, and turned a horrible team around into a 50win team is a pretty good GM IMO.All GMs are going to make mistakes...nobody ever said West is perfect.Like I said before, im going to believe people who have actually been associated with the NBA and its process who says Jerry West is a awesome GM rather than a couple of fans who are just trying to be different.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Like I said before, im going to believe people who have actually been associated with the NBA and its process who says Jerry West is a awesome GM rather than a couple of fans who are just trying to be different.</div>More like he's the gm of your favorite team.Edit: Also, I'm not trying to be different, I look at his moves overall and really only two moves transcend his career and make him look great. But overall, I don't see anything special that makes him above other gms.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ May 29 2007, 09:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Pau Gasol is 26 years old, I wouldn't call him 'young talent' anymore. Jerry West didn't even draft Pau Gasol. I fail to see the 'ton' of young talent on that roster. Other than Rudy Gay you can't possitively call any of the other young guys future NBA starters. The Bulls, Bobcats and Celtics have a ton of young, very good talent, I don't think the Grizzlies do.</div>Gasol still is another 2-3 years before reaching his prime assuming a bunch of injuries don't hinder his progress. I definately would call Gay and Warrick future very good role players.I know those teams have better young talent, but I like the talent and core of Gasol/Gay/Warrick a lot.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rok @ May 29 2007, 02:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>More like he's the gm of your favorite team.Edit: Also, I'm not trying to be different, I look at his moves overall and really only two moves transcend his career and make him look great. But overall, I don't see anything special that makes him above other gms.</div>I was refering to BCB really...theres a few topics like these hes made.But you cant just look at who he brought in, you have to look at the teams situation, what they needed, how much it helped the team, what he did to change the team. And Jerry West has changed the Grizzlies for the better, and the Lakers as well. Hes not a average GM people.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32 @ May 29 2007, 02:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>He made a deal for him, he's now viewed as one of the greatest players to ever live.</div>Here's one thing that gets me about Kobe. People will say that Kobe is one of the best of all time and yet the man has played 11 years without a single MVP.Sure he's won 3 titles, but that was because of a healthy and hungry Shaq IMO.Without a doubt he's a great scorer, so was Dominque Wilkins. Wilkins never gets mentioned amongst the all time greats and in time I'm not certain Kobe should either.I'd attribute his renown as an all time great more a media hype in today's society and because of his scoring outburst IMO. Does that make him an all time great? I'm skepticalSure he's a very good player one of the top 5-10 players in the league today, but what would make him an all time great?he'd have to win at least 1 MVP and possibly more to be considered an all time Great IMO. When you list the 10 best players of all time, they have at least 1 MVP do they not?When we look at this era of NBA basketball, Tim Duncan, Shaq, Steve Nash, KG, Kobe, Dirk and possibly Kidd, Lebron and Wade will be consider the greats of this era.Shaq, TD will be at the top for the titles and MVP's Nash will be recognized for the 2 MVP's as will KG and Dirk.Kobe will have the titles, but without the MVP's he shouldn't be considered an all time great IMO.He's a HOF'er for sure, just not in that special list of players that transcend eras. At least not for me.P.S. this is not directed just at you CB32, lots of people have a similar view I just felt like replying to this comment
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nitro1118 @ May 29 2007, 02:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Gasol still is another 2-3 years before reaching his prime assuming a bunch of injuries don't hinder his progress. I definately would call Gay and Warrick future very good role players.I know those teams have better young talent, but I like the talent and core of Gasol/Gay/Warrick a lot.</div> Pau Gasol turns 27 next month. Thats generally when players hit their prime. It's clear that he's a 21/10 type player when healthy. There's not much mystery anymore with him. We know what he is. I think everyone likes the core of Gasol, Gay and Warrick, but the Grizzlies don't have a ton of young talent like you said. Outside of Rudy Gay, there isn't a starter, Warrick is going to be a nice guy off the bench for a long time.
IMO, Warrick, Kinsey and Alexander Johnson are all capable of being starters in this league. As well as of course Rudy.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (austingriz @ May 29 2007, 03:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>IMO, Warrick, Kinsey and Alexander Johnson are all capable of being starters in this league. As well as of course Rudy.</div> Only one player on that list could be a starter, and it's Hakim Warrick when the real PF gets injured and he has to start.
For the 2nd half of the season, Warrick started with Gasol with Gasol at C. He played best during that time.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (austingriz @ May 29 2007, 03:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>For the 2nd half of the season, Warrick started with Gasol with Gasol at C. He played best during that time.</div> Ahhh, my bad, because you don't have a center, he started at PF.
Warrick was PF, Gasol was C.Before that, it was Gasol at PF with AJ at CBefore that it was Warrick at PF with AJ at C.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (austingriz @ May 29 2007, 03:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Wilkens is known as a all-time great.</div>no, not really.when you talk about the greatest players of all time, Dominique Wilkens does not come up.Larry, Magic, Wilt, MJ, Oscar, Kareem, Dr. J, Jerry West, Bill Russellthose names come up.Nique, Barkely, Malone, Isiah all come up a level lower than those players do.
true..but hes a all-time great still.And IMO, Kobe Bryant has become better than Bird or Johnson...in terms of complete talent. Kobe would be getting rings left and right if he had Parish and Mchale, or Kareem.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (austingriz @ May 29 2007, 07:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>And IMO, Kobe Bryant has become better than Bird or Johnson...in terms of complete talent</div>Please. Kobe a more complete player than Magic Johnson!?!? Magic could play all 5 positions well and he's probably the most complete player EVER. Kobe also is not on the level of Bird, please stop.Austin, I also remember when you told me Shaq has never had a back to the basket game. Please stop this.
