Jones Devises a Winning Formula for Grizzlies

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">PHOENIX -- If the past few weeks made up a postseason, these Grizzlies would now prepare for Game 3 of a second-round matchup.

They would have won the first best-of-seven series, 4-3, and established a 2-0 lead in the next.

OK, so this may sound far-reaching -- sort of a trip away from reality.

This also happens to be a hint of NBA Arithmetic taught by Professor Eddie Jones. The veteran swingman is imploring his teammates to approach the season as though it is a number of seven-game series.

"How many times will seven go into 82?" Jones asked.

Um, 11.

"Let's just say you win four out of every seven games," Jones said. "That's 44 games, right?"

Um, yeah. What's with the math lesson?

"That's how I look at (the regular season)," Jones said. "And you'll have a couple of times when you go 3-4. But you're going to have a segment or two where you go 6-1 or 5-2. I look at it like that to get to 46 or 48 wins. We get 50 and we're definitely in the playoffs.

"This (formula) just gives you something to think about. It's a goal. It keeps you with something to shoot for."

In other words: Grizzlies playoff to the third power equals 82 divided by seven.

"I have no problem with that," said Griz coach Mike Fratello, whose team resumes a three-game road trip Saturday at Utah. "We, at some point, need to put strings of wins together to get ourselves space above .500. Blocks of seven are good."

The Grizzlies' second set of the mini-series actually began Monday in FedExForum when they beat the Los Angeles Lakers. After winning again Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns, the Griz look to continue their roll with games against the Jazz, Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks during a span that runs through Thanksgiving.

Pencil in a good start to the third set, which begins on the road Nov. 30 against the toothless Toronto Raptors before the Griz return home to host the Orlando Magic.

"Sometimes you start right at the beginning of the year," Fratello said. "Sometimes you wait to see where you are after a couple of months when you have a new team. This is good for the guys because this team wanted to get off to a good start."

Mission accomplished given the Griz will finish with an above-.500 record after the first 10 games for the first time in franchise history.

Several players on the Grizzlies' roster already are used to playing seasons within a season. Former coach Hubie Brown implemented three-game segments that focused on winning at least one of every three road games and two of every three contests at home.

"It's good to do something like this," Mike Miller said, "because it keeps you focused on every game."

Brown told that 50-win team of two seasons ago that it could record 60 victories based on the formula. Jones's point is to prevent long losing streaks. He'd like the team to also float atop the standings early so that earning the fourth or fifth playoff seed never seems out of reach later.

"I look at the Western Conference and everybody is so close to each other," Jones said. "You've got San Antonio but everybody else is right there, including us."

Just do the math. </div>

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I think Eddie Jones found the fountain of youth. He looked young in the Laker game and was all over the place in that game. I would never guess he was 34, playing the way he was. He's only played on a losing team once his entire career. The guy is just a proven winner and is definitely a positive influence on the Grizzlies this season.