<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jerry West came to Memphis partly because of the challenge to revive a moribund franchise. A sudden need to resuscitate the Grizzlies after a successful but distressing season is why he'll stay. West, the Grizzlies' president of basketball operations, will honor the final year of a four-year contract and manage the Grizzlies at least through the 2005-06 season. His public rededication ended months of speculation that he would leave the organization following this season. "I made a commitment to Mike (Heisley)," West said, referring to the team's majority owner. "There's no reason for me to leave now. Actually, there are a lot of reasons to leave. But I have a responsibility to him and this franchise. When we need to get better, what we need to do is try to find a way for us to get better. ... So I'm going to be back. I've always said I like challenges." After Hubie Brown retired last fall it was widely reported that West would soon follow because of stress associated with the job. West signed a three-year contract with his option to return for a fourth. West acknowledged frustration but sounded as though he looked forward to completing unfinished business given the Grizzlies' failures in the postseason. The Griz were swept out of the playoffs twice in as many years, this time losing a first-round series, 4-0, to the Suns. "It's not that we didn't have a good year. The (2004) Western Conference finalists were sitting at home in the playoffs," West said, referring to Minnesota and the Los Angeles Lakers. "You have to give other people credit. Phoenix was really competitive. We just weren't competitive enough against a really good team. And we certainly weren't professional enough. Those are things we need to work on internally." </div> Source This should be a very interesting off-season with West still around. He is not trigger shy and he will roll the dice on the trades he makes. I expect a lot of smoke screens coming out of the Grizzlie camp as the off season and draft start to pick up.
I'm not a huge Jerry West fan. I don't like the staff that he has on the team, and I don't like the deals he's pulled so far. He's generally pretty innactive. All he gave us this summer was Brian Cardinal. On the other hand, I <u>was</u> a huge fan of Billy Knight. He was able to get Gasol, Wright, Knight, and Person (who was shipped for Wells) for Shareef Abdur-Raheem. Without Knight making that move, where would the franchise be today?
