<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">When Damon Stoudamire was shopping for teams during the offseason, he narrowed the choice to Houston and Memphis. The wise guys all said he had to pick Houston. Because, you know, at his age he should want to win. Stoudamire picked Memphis. And when he takes the court at Houston tonight, he'll be a part of the second-best team in the NBA's vaunted Western Conference. That's right. They're No. 2! 1. San Antonio, winning percentage .800. 2. Grizzlies, winning percentage .688. The Grizzlies are ahead of Dallas, ahead of Sacramento, ahead of Denver and Phoenix and Houston, too. "I don't want people to get too excited with what's going on," Stoudamire said. "But at the same time..." At the same time, the Grizzlies aren't slipping by their opponents any longer, they're pummeling them. They beat Dallas by 20. They beat Toronto by 26. And Friday night at FedExForum, they beat Orlando by 22, 91-69. "That's the NBA," said Grizzlies coach Mike Fratello, by way of explanation. Yeah, well, maybe it is. But it's not like any version of the NBA we've seen in these parts before. Eleven wins in 16 games? Three straight blowouts? An 18-point lead by the end of the first quarter that never went away? Fans were left to ponder the great imponderables, as in: Wouldn't it be great to hang Jake Tsakalidis' knee-high socks over your fireplace? Who's older, Stacey Augmon or Keith Richards? Why is Bo Outlaw the only former Grizzly who gets cheered when he comes back to town? How come Travis Diener looked so much more dangerous when he was with Marquette? How can the Grizzlies win by more than 20 when Tsakalidis gets more shots than Pau Gasol? How's that for a stat? Tsakaldis has three shots and Gasol had two. Yet there was Gasol, getting dressed for the trip to Houston, chipper as he could be. "I'm happy," he said, mildly confused as to why he wouldn't be. His team won. That's what mattered. How great is it to have a star player who understands that? "It's rare," said Shane Battier. "You're not going to find that in any sport." One locker over, Mike Miller nodded in happy agreement. Miller returned from a concussion to score 25 points. "It's amazing how well you can shoot when you can't see," he said. Or when you see in triplicate. Pick the middle one, Mike! "It's great having someone like Pau," he said. "Nobody cares about numbers on this team. If you get it, you pass it. If you're open, you shoot it." Simple, eh? So there was Gasol, looking like a woolier Jason Williams, collecting five assists in the first quarter, while this thing was still a game. He drove and dished to Battier underneath for the game's first basket. He dropped a pass to Lorenzen Wright from the top of the key. He found Miller and Jackson for open jumpers. Then, taking a feed from Miller in full stride as he passed half court, he slowed for half a step to create a fraction of space, then slipped a one-handed, no-look pass to Eddie Jones for a layup. "I hope he never changes his outlook on the game," said Fratello. "Why would I?" said Gasol. "We haven't won anything yet." Which is true, naturally. The NBA doesn't give out trophies for winning 11 of 16. But when you look at what the Grizzlies have done under Fratello, it's hard to consider the start a fluke. </div> Source
Thanks for that, was a great read. It further confirms my view of Pau. The guy is so unselfish and so focused on winning games for this club. Sadly these days the number of players focused on their own statline/contract far outnumbers the Pau's and TD's of this world.
