Tag: Marc Gasol

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Sports Sports Feature

Grizzlies at the Break

Anyone who says they thought the Grizzlies would be in this position — 38-13, second in the Western Conference standings, with Marc Gasol as an All-Star starter and Zach Randolph playing the best basketball he’s played since the Griz knocked off the top-seeded Spurs in 2011 — is probably not being truthful. My season preview in these pages said that the Grizzlies had a good chance to have the best season in franchise history, and even I didn’t quite think they’d be doing this.

That’s not to say that all of the questions about this year’s team have been answered. In the aftermath of Tayshaun Prince’s and Quincy Pondexter’s trade for Jeff Green and Russ Smith, the Grizzlies’ offense — already much diversified from the way they used to play during the Lionel Hollins years — continues to evolve. But even though Green’s athleticism gives the Griz a whole new element to deploy, his lack of outside shooting (Green is a career 44-percent shooter, 33 percent from 3-point range) means that the Griz still have to operate in the narrow windows of floor spacing they’re able to create.

Vince Carter’s recent injury is a depressing exclamation mark on an underwhelming season, with Carter never quite finding his shot nor becoming the outside threat the Grizzlies signed him to be. Though he’s expected to return this season, teams weren’t even guarding Carter from three-point range before the injury, leaving him wide open to miss. With the addition of Green and Carter’s continued struggles to get on track (followed by his absence), the Grizzlies still haven’t solved the problem we’ve been talking about for years now: the lack of a floor-spacing knock-down 3-point shooter. Courtney Lee filled the role earlier in the season but has slowly begun to regress to his career averages. Shooting is still something the Griz just don’t quite have enough of — but it may be a moot point, now that the offense is beginning to fully integrate Green’s athletic attacks on the rim and his ability to draw attention away from Gasol and Randolph just enough for those two to operate.

The biggest stories of the season for the Grizzlies are, without question, the two guys who were the most important players coming into the season: Gasol and Randolph. Gasol continues to play at a level that has him getting serious discussion as an MVP candidate, aggressively carrying the Grizzlies’ offense when he has to. Randolph, meanwhile, is playing the best basketball he’s played since his 2012 knee injury, having ceded his “first option” duties to Gasol and Mike Conley only to reclaim them in a lengthy streak of double-doubles in January and February.

The real question is whether the Griz can win an NBA title this year, and with the Western Conference still wide open, it seems like all of the preseason talk about “this could be the year” is still very much in play: This really could be the year. Assuming the rest of the conference standings shake out somewhat close to the way they are now, the Grizzlies could catch the Spurs in the first round, which wouldn’t be optimal, but barring that, a return trip to the Western Conference finals seems like a reasonable outcome.

The Griz are good enough to make it to the NBA Finals this season — whether or not they do seems like it will come down to playoff matchups and which teams they have to face to get there. There are few teams with whom the Griz don’t match up well, and even those teams don’t feel impossible to beat the way the Grizzlies’ archrivals have in years past. (I don’t expect the regular season troubles, mostly injury-related, that the Spurs are experiencing to carry over to the postseason. Betting against San Antonio doesn’t seem wise , no matter the situation.)

This is already the best team in the history of the Grizzlies franchise, regardless of what they’re able to accomplish after the regular season. They’re a veteran group used to playing with each other, with a great deal of trust and faith in each other and a real shared desire to bring the NBA title to Memphis this June. With the remaining games of the season, the challenge is whether they can continue to improve and steel themselves for the approaching challenges of playoff basketball, and whether they can continue to win games at the rate they’ve been doing it so far.

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Sports Sports Feature

Grizzlies Turn Up the Heat

The Grizzlies came into the 2014–15 season poised to get off to a hot start, but no one expected them to be this good. At the time of this writing, they’re 12–2, with one loss coming at the hands of the Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors while missing five rotation players due to a stomach virus. They’ve got the fourth-best defensive rating in the NBA and, miracle of miracles, the fifth-best offensive rating. Head coach Dave Joerger, after a rocky start in his rookie season, has the boys in Beale Street Blue firing on all cylinders, playing to their strengths and dominating teams in a way we haven’t seen before.

The question, then, is: How long can they keep winning at this rate? The first 10 games of the season were against inferior teams, at least compared to some of the teams they’ll face in the next 20 games: the defending NBA champion Spurs (twice), their Finals opponents, the Miami Heat, and the Golden State Warriors (the only team higher in most power rankings than the Grizzlies), to name three.

At 12–2, the team is off to the same start as it had for the 2012–13 season, when the Grizzlies played .500 ball for most of January and February, before trading Rudy Gay to Toronto and making a run to the Western Conference Finals. In this year’s ultra-competitive Western Conference, a couple of months of .500 basketball might put them at the back of the playoff pack in January, something they certainly want to avoid.

There’s really one big (seven-foot-tall) reason the Grizzlies are playing the way they are: Marc Gasol, in the final year of his contract, is performing at a level we’ve always talked about in hushed tones, barely hinted at in his previous outbursts: “If Gasol would only …” or “If he ever figures out that he should shoot …” and so on and so forth. It’s early in the season, for sure, but Gasol’s name is already coming up in MVP candidate discussions. He’s scoring at a prolific rate — he just had back-to-back 30-point games against the Celtics and Clippers, the first such double of his career — and his rebounding numbers are up as well. The only thing Gasol is not doing more than he did last year is assisting, and that’s because this season Gasol is taking those shots himself.

The cynical explanation is that Gasol is playing this way because it’s a contract year and he wants to make himself a more lucrative free agent. The more generous explanation (and probably more accurate, given what we know about Gasol) is that Gasol has realized that he has to alter his game to take this team from “perennial playoff team” to “legitimate title contender,” and that given the talent around him this year, if he can sustain his current level of play, that’s exactly what the Grizzlies are: one of the best teams in the league.

I don’t expect the Grizzlies to keep winning 85 percent of their games. There are too many other good teams in the league, especially in the West. There will be nights when they are tired, nights when the other team is more fired up, nights when they just can’t hit the shots that are open, nights when it just isn’t happening. The NBA season is long and it’s littered with nights like that. But, on the flipside, this is a team that won 50 games last year, despite the injury plague that bit them from November on. A team that has won more games than anybody since Gasol returned from injury last season. If they won 50 last year, how many can they win this year?

Joerger has taken the good bones he inherited — let’s not pretend Lionel Hollins didn’t win with a similar (if less deep) roster — and turned them into a team that can beat any team in the league. They can play inside-out, and this season, when that’s not working, Courtney Lee’s hot shooting has saved the day more than once from outside, providing just enough floor spacing on offense to keep defenses honest. Beyond that, the whole team has bought into this season. They’re playing like a veteran team of guys who know each other, and who are motivated to get to somewhere they haven’t been before. The great thing about that for the city of Memphis? There are only two places they haven’t been before: the NBA Finals and an NBA title. Opportunities like this don’t come often for franchises, or cities, or teams. The Grizzlies seem determined to make their own luck, and seize what’s in front of them.

They’re stepping up to the occasion, and the whole basketball world has taken notice.

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From My Seat Sports

Frank’s Thanks 2014

It’s a week for counting blessings. I’ve got my share, to say the least, including some from the world of sports. Here are a few that stand out this year. (And Happy Thanksgiving.)

• I’m thankful for Justin Fuente. This line is getting longer and longer.

• I’m thankful for new life for professional tennis at The Racquet Club: The Memphis Open.

• I’m thankful for the glimpses I got of Oscar Taveras. I’ll tell my grandchildren about seeing him play at AutoZone Park (and one game last August at Busch Stadium in St. Louis).

• I’m thankful for Mike Conley in the fourth quarter.

• I’m thankful for FESJC director Phil Cannon. And the best golf tournament Tiger Woods has never played.

• I’m thankful for the unexpected (Mississippi State number one?!) and the unlikely (Ole Miss over Alabama?!).

• I’m thankful for #wigsnatch.

• I’m thankful for sunsets at AutoZone Park. Find a place beyond rightfield and gaze over the Peabody.

• I’m thankful for a Tiger sweep of Louisville, reigning national champs at the time.

• I’m thankful for Joe Jackson’s block of Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski. King for a day.

• I’m thankful for the NFL’s “No More” campaign. Overdue.

• I’m thankful for Wolo and Bash on Sports 56 (and that other blue-eyed Frank’s rendition of “Come Fly With Me”).

• I’m thankful for linebackers named Tank. Two sacks (one a safety), a forced fumble, and an interception . . . in the same game.

• I’m thankful for the Grizzlies’ annual Martin Luther King Day game. Sports can contextualize larger dreams.

• I’m thankful for Kevin Lipe’s infusion of humor in his Grizzlies analysis. It’s basketball, people.

• I’m thankful for those who will infuse humor as the Tiger basketball season unfolds. (I’ll try.)

• I’m thankful for Penny Hardaway’s continued presence and impact on his hometown.

• I’m thankful for a volleyball court and soccer field at Tom Lee Park.

• I’m thankful for the ever-growing Green Line, and bike lanes(!). Memphis is getting healthier.

• I’m thankful for the MLB Network. I somehow reached adulthood without it.

• I’m thankful for a wife who can play catch with me. With a baseball. And gloves.

• I’m thankful for Vince Carter in a Memphis Grizzlies uniform.

• I’m thankful for talented college point guards. They’re out there.

• I’m thankful for New Year’s Day bowl games we can all watch together: the Cotton, Rose, and Sugar (with winners of the latter two playing for the national championship).

• I’m thankful for Steve Selby, especially when the Redbirds are out of town.

• I’m thankful for Marc Gasol in the high post.

• I’m thankful for the idea of the NBA Finals at FedExForum. Idea now . . . .

• I’m thankful for Jamie Griffin’s coverage of high school sports on Local 24 and at MemphisFlyer.com. Often the best stories, certainly the most local.

• I’m thankful for two daughters who recognize that sports fuel the mind as well as the body. They’re my favorite athletes.

• I’m thankful for each and every reader. (And those readers keeping me sharp.)

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Cover Feature News

HOOP CITY!

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

The Window

The Grizzlies are back with one of the best, deepest rosters in team history. It may be the best shot they’ve ever had at an NBA title.

by Kevin Lipe

“This is the year.” It’s a thing fans say to each other all the time. This is the year that the team gets over the hump. The year that everything lines up, the year that they catch the lucky breaks a team has to take to make it to a championship. This is the year. The year that we finally get to stop asking, “Are they good enough?” and just bask in it, revel in it, feel what it’s like to have something that isn’t an “almost.”

This is the year.

NBA teams are like the peonies in my backyard. They spend a lot of time looking like dead weeds, and then a lot of time as tender shoots coming up out of the spring ground. One morning they burst forth, beautiful, heavy in the dew, the air around them sweet — and then, just as suddenly, they’re gone, nothing to look at for the rest of the year. There’s a window, a time in which they’re at their peak, and then there’s the rest, three-and-a-half other seasons.

How’s that for a strained analogy? And yet, the Grizzlies are one of a handful of teams in the Western Conference that could legitimately win an NBA championship this year. Anyone who tells you any different isn’t paying attention. They’re deeper than they’ve ever been, the key players are either reaching the peak of their potential or not yet much past it. The front office has added pieces that strengthen them, but the competition is not going to stay static for long.

Larry Kuzniewski

Marc Gasol

Marc Gasol‘s Contract Extension

Marc Gasol is currently in the last year of his contract, making $15.8 million. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent when this season ends. Even if his intentions are to re-sign with the Grizzlies without ever testing the free agency waters, he can wait until the season is over and sign whatever deal the Grizzlies offer him at that point.

Gasol himself has said almost nothing about the situation, preferring to talk about winning basketball games, winning a championship, and how the team can improve. That doesn’t mean the rumors aren’t flying — the Knicks, now run by Pau Gasol’s former coach Phil Jackson, have already surfaced as a team very interested in acquiring Gasol’s services, and they likely won’t be the only ones.

The whole year is going to be like that, as general managers and agents spin up the rumor mills and try to pry Gasol away from a Grizzlies team and a city that he unabashedly loves. At some point, there will be reports that any and every team with max contract space is pursuing Gasol; that Gasol could “possibly” sign with them; that Gasol will leave the Grizzlies; that he’ll stay. It’s going to be a circus. That comes with the territory of having one of the best centers in the NBA.

It’s going to be hard for the team to keep the chatter from becoming a distraction in the locker room. Remember the run-up to the Rudy Gay trade? The whole team said they were just going to go out and play basketball and let the trade rumors fly, that they weren’t affected by it. Once the trade happened, though, every last one of them admitted that it had bothered them — especially the longest-term Grizzlies, Gasol and Mike Conley, the guys who had been with Gay all along. These guys are professional athletes, but they’re also people, and that sort of speculation is hard to shut out. If anyone can do it, it’ll be the no-nonsense Gasol, but it’ll be a major storyline going forward.

Larry Kuzniewski

Vince Carter

Whither Vinsanity?

The Grizzlies were able to land Vince Carter this summer in a deal that surprised most everyone, including the Grizzlies. Talks weren’t going well with fan favorite (and apparent LeBron James favorite) Mike Miller, and Dallas signed forward Chandler Parsons away from blood rival Houston, which left no money for Dallas to use to re-sign Carter. He and the Grizzlies started talking, and soon enough, Carter was a Grizzly, and Miller went off to sign a deal with the Cavs and chase another ring with LeBron.

At any rate, Carter (once healthy — he’s still recovering from offseason ankle surgery to repair an injury) gives the Grizzlies a new dimension of wing play that they haven’t had since, well, the Rudy Gay trade or earlier: someone who can shoot well, get to the basket when he needs to, defend, and create offense when a play breaks down. Carter, even at 37, is an upgrade over Miller in every category save three-point shooting percentage and promises to open up the floor for the Grizzlies’ bigs in ways that were impossible with the team’s roster in recent seasons.

It remains to be seen whether Carter will end up starting or fulfilling the same Super Sixth Man role he played in Dallas (though signs point to the latter, and I think that’s probably the best use of his skills at this point in his career). If he can recover fully from his surgery and integrate himself into the Grizzlies’ second-unit offense, he has a chance to really change the complexion of the Grizzlies’ bench and, of course, to be a “closer” in crunch time.

Larry Kuzniewski

Tony Allen

The Tony Allen Conundrum

Even though he arrived in Memphis a full season after Zach Randolph (in case y’all forgot the fun 40-win 2009–10 team that fell apart down the stretch), Tony Allen feels like the epicenter of the cultural explosion that is the Grit ‘n Grind Grizzlies. He’s the one who said “all heart, grit, grind” in the first place (lest “The Sefaloshas of the world” forget). It was his face and his quote that radio host Chris Vernon put on the T-shirt that launched an entire industry of bootleg/unlicensed Griz gear, lots of it bearing Allen’s likeness in some form or another.

It’s his insane, addled, ball-hounding defense that is so fun to watch in big moments, when he ratchets up the pressure, as the saying goes, and turns somebody’s water off. That and his ability to miss every single point-blank layup he gets… except the one that ties or wins the game for the Griz, his flexing on the sidelines, and his constant walking around the court mumbling to himself while everyone else is off huddling or doing some other team activity.

Allen is a major reason for the Grizzlies’ recent run of success. He is one of the key figures in the deepening of the city’s love affair with its pro basketball team, establishing roots in this city that would be hard to pull up.

Allen is also a bit of a problem: The things that make him one of the most tenacious perimeter defenders in the league also make him a wild card on offense. Sometimes, he decides to pull up for an 18-foot jumper. Sometimes, he tries to drive through three defenders to the basket and his layup bounces off the bottom of the rim (this has already happened this season). Sometimes, he makes a brilliant cut to the basket for a go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter. Sometimes, he goes rogue and tries to win the game himself, when there are other, better options on the floor. Allen’s offense is unpredictable to the point that he’s generally a liability on that end of the floor — not only because he can’t shoot very well, but also because he seems incapable of slowing himself down to process what he needs to do.

Beyond that, Allen’s stint on the bench last year clearly rubbed him the wrong way. After an extended hand injury that turned into a wrist injury that turned into “maybe they’re just sitting him so they can trade him” speculation, Allen returned to the court and started playing some of the best basketball of his career. The only problem with that, from Allen’s perspective, was that he was doing it coming off the bench. He wasn’t happy about it and made that known off the court, in the locker room, everywhere but in interviews. One gets the impression that he feels like his leadership role on the team means he’s guaranteed a starting spot, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in the eyes of head coach Dave Joerger. Allen is starting again, for now, but if someone else is playing well enough to claim that job, will Allen be pushed back to his sixth man role? And, if so, what will happen to the team’s chemistry? Do his defensive abilities outweigh his offensive limitations enough that starting him for morale/chemistry reasons makes sense from a “trying to win a championship this year” perspective?

The Grizzlies need the best Allen they can get this year, and they cannot afford for him to be a net negative. If they can keep him happy, and he can play to his strengths instead of holding back a team that needs all the offensive firepower it can get, things will be fine. If anything happens to throw that equation out of balance (whether injury, age, or Jordan Adams) the ride could get turbulent.

How Much Z-Bo Are We Getting?

Over the summer, Randolph signed a three-year contract extension with the Grizzlies for $10 million a year that will keep him here through the 2016–2017 season, at least. Randolph had a great season last year, carrying the team’s offense on his back (with no small amount of help from Mike Conley) through the dark days of Gasol’s injury.

As Randolph (who is 33) ages, his game will decline in some form or fashion, but for the Grizzlies’ title hopes this season, he’s got to be able to duplicate his success from last year, a return to form for Randolph, who suffered a major knee injury during the 2011–2012 lockout season.

There are signs of decline creeping in around the edges for Randolph: his field goal percentage has dropped, his shot gets blocked more often, he has a harder time working through his post moves to get baskets, and — most worryingly — his defense fell off a cliff last year. Randolph has never been a great defender, but in the last year or 18 months, teams have figured out that they can run pick-and-roll plays involving Randolph’s man and regularly get a pretty easy look at the basket. If he can improve on defense, or at least not get worse, he’ll probably be fine this year. This year’s new look, contract-year Gasol is only going to make the opportunities easier for him.

If he can stay healthy and can keep himself from being the main point of weakness in the Grizzlies’ fabled defense, Randolph, at $10 million this season, is likely going to be a bargain.

Back to the Window Thing

So what does this all mean? It comes back around to the idea that NBA teams have a limited window of time in which they can win a championship. There’s no guarantee of anything in sports. Things that no one can predict happen on a regular basis and change the course of entire teams, entire careers, entire franchises.

Everything is lined up for this Grizzlies team to be the best one the franchise has ever put on the court, including the 2013 team that made it all the way to the Western Conference finals. Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (and now Russell Westbrook) have both suffered big injuries. Houston didn’t improve much this summer because it gambled on Chris Bosh and lost. Dallas added Chandler Parsons and bolstered its roster but didn’t improve dramatically. The Clippers have an even bigger hole at small forward this year than the Grizzlies did last year. The Spurs are and forever will be the Spurs.

Beyond this year, even if one assumes Gasol will return, there is no guarantee of what will happen. Things change. Players age and retire. Chemistry doesn’t work out. Trades happen for financial reasons. Other teams improve. Last year — the slow start, the Gasol and Allen injuries, the Randolph Game 7 suspension in a winnable playoff series — should’ve taught Griz fans that no season can be taken for granted.

Will this be the last year of this run of playoff success? Who knows? The team is poised to be good for the next several years, assuming they can hang on to Gasol and Conley. But every window closes at some point, and usually you can’t tell it’s happened until after your chance at winning it all is gone. When eras end, things tend to collapse under their own weight, leaving wreckage and years of rebuilding to be done.

On paper, this appears to be the deepest and best Grizzlies team of all time. Grizzlies fans should cherish this team and this year, because for once, they really could win the NBA championship — and because nothing is guaranteed and nothing lasts forever.

This is the year.

…

Guarded Optimism

The 2014-15 Memphis Tigers will lean on a pair of veteran pillars as a new backcourt finds its way.

by Frank Murtaugh

Rarely has the University of Memphis basketball program undergone the kind of personnel transition Tiger fans will witness over the course of the 2014-15 season. Just last winter, the Tigers rode the play of four guards — all seniors — to a record of 24-10 and a fourth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. Those guards are all gone, of course, leaving the ball — and the Tigers’ hopes for a return to the Big Dance — quite literally in the hands of players with exactly zero minutes played in a Memphis uniform. If you haven’t seen Pookie Powell play, or Markel Crawford, or Dominic Magee, or Avery Woodson, pull up a chair and join the crowd. Add Vanderbilt transfer Kedren Johnson to the mix and you have a quintet of new faces, each aiming to take the Tigers new places on the college basketball map.

“We’re so inexperienced, so young,” says Josh Pastner, who aims to become just the second Memphis coach (after Dana Kirk) to take the Tigers to five consecutive NCAA tournaments. “I won’t know [what we have] until we play actual competition. I have no clue. Everything’s brand new. Every game we play this year will be a new experience for a lot of these guys. We basically have three guys with game experience. That’s it.”

The “Perfect Guard”

If you combine the premier qualities of the five players likely to man the Tigers’ backcourt, you might just have the perfect college guard. Sophomore Powell may be the most versatile scorer (he averaged 27.8 points as a senior in high school). Redshirt freshman Crawford may be the best perimeter defender. Sophomore Woodson could be the best shooter (37.6 percent from three-point range at East Mississippi Community College). Freshman Magee is likely the best penetrator. (“I can drive and finish or drive and kick it out,” he says.) And Vanderbilt transfer Johnson may be the best ball-handler (he led the Commodores in assists as a sophomore in 2012-13). But how does Pastner best combine these skills on the court? And who is the guard (or guards) versatile enough to stay on the court when his go-to strength is failing him?

“There’s talent,” emphasizes Pastner. “But they have to develop a better understanding of the game, a better feel for the game. Retention is important, especially at that position. I think we’re going to be a good team, but it’s a hard read [now]. Sometimes when you least expect it, you have a breakout year. We need to find guys who know the system, know what I want, and can execute it. They’ll be the first with opportunities for game time.”

Powell spent last season with the Tigers but wasn’t allowed to practice. If there’s a player bursting for minutes on the floor, it’s the Orlando native with a toddler’s nickname. “Last year actually went by kinda quickly,” he says. “I’m just glad to be back out here, doing what I can do. I’ll bring energy every time I step on the court. And I want to show Coach I can win. I’ve never really won anything in my career.”

Larry Kuzniewski

Shaq Goodwin and Austin Nichols

The Returnees

Despite the veteran presence in their backcourt last season, the Tigers looked hopelessly overmatched against Connecticut (in the American Athletic Conference tournament at FedExForum) and Virginia (in the third round of the NCAAs) as their season came to an unceremonious close. The few current Tigers who felt the sting of those losses — most notably forwards Shaq Goodwin and Austin Nichols — will be tasked with infusing this year’s team with a dose of motivation and toughness. Along with Nick King, Goodwin and Nichols are the only returning rotation players. Kuran Iverson is also back, intent on significantly increasing the 9.1 minutes he averaged in 19 games as a freshman last season.

“I’m not looking for a leadership position,” says Goodwin, who averaged 11.5 points last season and led the Tigers with 6.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore. “Once you start singling out people, that’s where different expectations come that you don’t need. Once we’re one big team, we’ll be fine. My thing this season is staying consistent. Coach [Robert] Kirby has worked with me on rebounding and staying consistent at the free-throw line, two areas where I struggled last year.” (Goodwin shot 59 percent from the charity stripe.)

The Tigers will need Goodwin to be as fierce on the floor as he is genteel off it, and the same goes, really, for Nichols. The Briarcrest alum started every game last season, averaging 9.3 points and 4.3 rebounds on his way to Rookie of the Year honors in the American Athletic Conference. Whereas Goodwin lost weight after his freshman season to make more of an impact, Nichols added close to 20 pounds this summer in hopes of the same. “Conditioning is a huge thing,” he says. “If Shaq and I can play large minutes and not get tired, that’s huge. And staying out of foul trouble. Be smart; no easy fouls.”

Larry Kuzniewski

Nick King

King will likely start at small forward, returning the Tiger lineup to a conventional two-guard, three-forward look at tip-off. The East High alum averaged just 4.9 points and 11.1 minutes per game as a freshman, but showed flashes — like 23 points against Oklahoma State in his second college game — that suggest he could be an offensive force (if his defensive limitations don’t force him to the bench).

And Iverson is excited to settle into a power-forward slot, even as a reserve. “I like being in the paint,” he says, “where I can make my moves easier, near the hoop. I can block shots, play defense, and rebound.” Adds Goodwin, “Kuran can be whoever he wants to be. He can dribble, he can shoot. He just has to put it in his mind. He’s on the right path. I see a big difference between Kuran this year and Kuran last year.”

Like his entire fan base, Pastner looks at Goodwin and Nichols as the stabilizing forces for a team desperately in need of on-court leadership. “They have to be consistent,” he says. “We have to depend on them and know what we’re getting every game.”

Frontcourt Newbies

Two new arrivals should add muscle to the Tiger frontcourt, particularly on the defensive end. Calvin Godfrey (6’8″, 233 lbs.) transferred from Southern and is actually the only senior on the team. Chris Hawkins (6’6″, 230 lbs.) averaged 15.2 points and 6.8 rebounds last season at Southwest Tennessee Community College but was limited to nine games by ankle injuries. Yet another Memphis rookie, Trahson Burrell, could earn minutes at forward, guard, or both. More wispy than Godfrey or Hawkins, Burrell (6’6″, 169 lbs.) was a scoring presence over his two seasons at Lee College in Texas, averaging 20.7 points on 52-percent shooting.

Each of the transfers will don a Tiger uniform with expectations for impacting the Memphis program immediately. “I didn’t bring them here to be 10th or 11th guys,” Pastner says. “They have to produce for the program. Calvin is 23. He has a maturity about him. Kedren started at Vanderbilt. They have to get the job done, and they know it. If there is a bruiser [on this team], it’s Calvin Godfrey.”

The Rotation

By the time conference play arrives in January, a dozen players now in the mix for significant playing time should be whittled to eight (or even seven). Pastner will go deeper on his bench only if forced. “A seven- or eight-man rotation keeps it organized,” he says, “and lets everyone know their roles. But that rotation won’t be defined in November. We’ll know by the end of November, though, because of the teams we play early. We’ll be tested.” After opening their season against Wichita State on November 18th (in Sioux Falls, South Dakota), the Tigers face Baylor on Thanksgiving day (in Las Vegas).

A Transition Year?

No team in any sport wants to be considered part of a “transition year.” The tag implies losses, growing pains, the only silver lining, perhaps, a preview of better things to come. But it’s hard to look at the roster of the 2014-15 Memphis Tigers and not have the T-word at least tickling your consciousness. “It does feel like a transition year,” says King, another sophomore thrust into a position of veteran leadership. “New faces, new attitudes. But I think we have great team chemistry. The new players are great people. If you’ve got a good person, you can make a great player.”

The way Pastner sees things, forget any notion of transition. “This is a start-fresh year,” he says. “If you’re forecasting, you’d say we’re loaded for the future: everybody’s coming back, the recruits we’re getting. But people are anxious to see how we do this year. This is a brand-new team, starting from ground zero.”

And does the 37-year-old coach feel any of that anxiety himself? “I’m rejuvenated, excited about it,” Pastner says. “There was a lot more managing last year. Every second is more teaching this year. If I wanted to, I could stop every possession of practice to teach. But that’s not reality. I have to let them play, adjust, recover on the fly. I wish they’d give us 10 more games to play.”

There’s a photo mural that runs the length of the Tigers’ practice court at the Finch Center on the U of M campus: 12 players, arms linked, only their torsos visible. No faces. The mural says, “One team. One goal. No egos.” The 2014-15 Memphis Tigers will not be a faceless team. That’s impossible in this town. Whether or not those arms remain linked (at least metaphorically) come March will depend on how trying the next four months become for a team that will spend most of the winter learning how to get along, on the court and off.

…

Schedule Highlights

• For a team learning to play together, the Tigers have a schedule luxury: nine straight home games, starting December 2nd (Stephen F. Austin) and ending January 3rd (Tulane). Oklahoma State (December 13th) will highlight this stretch. If you want to circle a few dates on your 2015 calendar, start with January 15th, when Cincinnati visits FedExForum (the Bearcats are picked to finish fourth in the American, right behind Memphis). League favorite (and defending national champion) Connecticut visits February 19th and SMU will be here February 26th.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Grizzlies Close Season With OT Win Over Mavs

It took overtime and parade of clutch and not-so-clutch plays to get there, but the Grizzlies managed to squeak out a last-second 106-105 win over the Dallas Mavericks at FedExForum, Wednesday.

The win secured the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs, which kick off Saturday in Oklahoma City for the Griz. By losing, Dallas gets to face top seed, San Antonio.

But for all practical purposes, Wednesday was playoff basketball — a game full of lead changes and momentum swings and even what appeared to be a Tony Allen meltdown in the fourth quarter. More about that later.

The Griz started strong and maintained a five-point lead after the first quarter, but Dallas scored 29 in the second and took a 53-51 lead into the locker room at halftime. The second half saw at least a dozen ties and lead changes, with neither team able to pull away. Late in the fourth, Tony Allen presumably thought he was fouled and just walked off the court while the game was in progress. He was quickly pulled from the lineup. Presumably, there will be some sort of explanation forthcoming today.

Despite that brief weirdness, Memphis had the ball and a three-point lead with 20 seconds left in regulation. But Mike Conley was called for an improbable charge and the turnover led to a quick three-pointer by Monta Ellis. The Griz got the ball back with 13 seconds left but were unable to get a shot off.

The Griz fell behind in overtime, trailing 102-98, after Ellis cruised by four Grizzlies on his way to an easy layup. Coach Joerger called timeout, and according to a tweet by Gary Parrish, Zach Randolph yelled to the coaching staff, “We gotta get TA back in.” Coach ZBo’s words were heeded and Allen re-entered the game with little more than 2 minutes left in OT.

Allen quickly made a difference, dumping off a pass to Randolph for a layup, then following that with a layup of his own to tie the score at 102. After an exchange of buckets, the Griz found themselves trailing 105-104. Conley got a rebound after a Dallas miss and streaked upcourt with 6 seconds left. He was fouled going to the hoop with 1.1 seconds left. In highly un-Memphis fashion, Conley made both shots to seal the win, though Ellis managed to get off a good last-second shot from near the top of the key that clanked off the back rim.

The Grizzlies’ Big 3 came up big in this one: Randolph had 27 points, 14 rebounds; Gasol socred 19, plus 9 rebounds and 9 assists; Conley had 22 points and five assists. The Grizzlies finished the season on a five-game win streak and earned another 50-victory season.

Bring on the Thunder. It’s playoff time in Memphis.

Categories
Cover Feature News

Hoop City 2013: 20 Questions – pt. 1

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

The Grizzlies had the most successful season in the short, mostly futile history of the franchise last season with their run to the Western Conference Finals. There was a sense last May that anything was possible: The team could bring an NBA championship to Memphis, or they could get swept by the San Antonio Spurs (which is what actually happened, since the Spurs were on their own star-crossed run to a seven-game finals with the eventual champion, Miami Heat). Either way, it was Memphis’ time to shine. The Grizzlies, in what felt like a culmination of something that started in the 2011 first-round victory over San Antonio, put the whole city on their backs and tried to take us to the promised land. It was a magical couple of weeks, even if it didn’t end up going according to plan.

Since then, a few things have changed with the Grizzlies: Lionel Hollins — whose contract was up at the end of last season — wasn’t brought back, and assistant coach Dave Joerger — who won multiple championships in the NBA D-League and the CBA — was promoted to the head spot. The bench was completely overhauled, bringing in several new faces to play alongside some of the familiar ones — players like Kosta Koufos, Nick Calathes, and incoming rookie Jamaal Franklin. The offense is being retooled around the tandem of Mike Conley and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol. Things are different, and there are a lot of unanswered questions facing the Grizzlies as they head into the 2013-14 regular season, questions we probably won’t know the answers to until the season is well under way. Here are 10 of them, along with a brief discussion of “what we know so far” with each.

1: Was hiring Dave Joerger instead of bringing back Lionel Hollins the right move?

The question of whether Dave Joerger is the right head coach for the Grizzlies and the question of whether Lionel Hollins should have been brought back on a new contract are really two distinct issues. As to Hollins, I’ll just say this: The Grizzlies’ new ownership and new front office didn’t hire him, and they didn’t think he was the right kind of coach to implement the philosophy with which they want to run the organization. Whether or not he was winning basketball games, he simply didn’t have the approach that the front office wanted in their head coach, and thus his fate was sealed.

Joerger is more of a question mark, but, to my mind, not much of one: He’s got clear winning credentials at the minor-league level, and he’s been with the Grizzlies since 2007 as an assistant. He’s a guy who excelled at player development in the minor leagues, and that capability goes hand-in-hand with the way the new Grizzlies leadership wants to run the team. We heard it from owner Robert Pera himself on Media Day: The Grizzlies want to emulate the Spurs’ model of creating a perennial contender through player development and smart roster moves. Joerger’s coaching credentials and his approach to developing raw young guys make him an important part of that equation.

2: Will Zach Randolph be in Memphis at the end of the season?

Randolph, 32, has been a defining figure in the emergence of the Grizzlies on the NBA scene as a legitimate force to be reckoned with, but he’s got a player option in his contract for $16.5 million next year that could potentially cripple the team’s ability to make other roster moves, especially since Gasol, Conley, and Tony Allen will combine for almost $30 million next year. Randolph’s game has started to change as he ages. He’s getting his shots blocked more and having to work harder for every basket. It hasn’t been all bad, as he led the league in offensive rebounds last season, but how many of those rebounds were off his own missed shots? As his game starts to decline, which it will inevitably do at some point, will Randolph accept a more limited role, or will he still want to be the Man? All of these factors will determine whether Randolph is still in town next year or not. At this point, there’s no way to know.

Larry Kuzniewski

Guard-forward Nick Calathes

3: Is Nick Calathes the backup point guard the Grizzlies have been missing?

Calathes, a 24-year-old rookie with a winning pedigree in Euroleague and Eurocup play (you may remember him from his college year at the University of Florida), has already made an impression in the preseason with his playmaking ability and drives to the basket. His size and quickness allow him to use his excellent court vision to find the open man — sometimes when the open man isn’t even looking, sending a basketball zipping into the expensive seats. (Hold on to your beers down there, courtside folks.) Even given the limited reliability of preseason games as indicators for future success, Calathes brings a confidence and maturity to the floor that we haven’t seen from a rookie since Greivis Vásquez, and Calathes moves a lot better than Vásquez. That said, he’s still unproven and has some adjusting to do to the NBA game. If Calathes can be a floor general to spell Conley for large stretches, though, the Grizzlies will be in better shape point-guard-wise than they’ve been in years.

4: How much will the Grizzlies miss Rudy Gay’s offensive efficiency?

Next question.

Larry Kuzniewski

Forward Ed Davis

5: Who is going to be the backup power forward?

The popular opinion is that Ed Davis was brought to Memphis by the front office specifically to be the power forward of the future and that Davis is all but guaranteed to ascend to Zach Randolph’s starting spot when Randolph is inevitably moved. Some national media types even speculated that Randolph would be traded this offseason in order to clear the way for Davis. That didn’t happen and for good reason: Davis still needs time to develop. He doesn’t finish at the rim as well as he probably should, and he spent most of last year on the bench in Lionel Hollins’ infamous doghouse rather than on the court gaining valuable experience. He’s likely to get those minutes from Dave Joerger, who has stressed time and again his belief and confidence in Davis’ abilities. In preseason thus far, he’s been true to his word, playing Davis a lot and starting him in Randolph’s absence against the Bucks.

What’s made it a question is the play of Jon Leuer. Leuer, who barely saw the floor last year after being acquired from the Cavaliers in January, was signed to a long-term (though relatively inexpensive) deal this summer and has entered the 2013 preseason playing like a man with something to prove. He’s looked confident, comfortable, and assured on the court, and his long-range jumper has proved valuable to the Grizzlies’ floor spacing.

With Davis still needing some time to develop before the Grizzlies can really evaluate whether his basket is the one in which the Grizzlies want to put all of their eggs, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Leuer and Davis could share the backup minutes at the four spot depending on matchups. Ultimately, this depth is a good thing, especially on a Griz team that has been severely lacking in frontcourt depth for as long as anyone can remember. But it certainly won’t make answering questions about whether Ed Davis is the future any easier.

6: If the Grizzlies struggle this year, what will that do to their burgeoning fan base?

This is one question nobody likes to talk about. The Grizzlies’ recent run of successful seasons has brought with it a level of Griz Fever heretofore unseen in Memphis. The sales of unauthorized and/or unofficial Grizzlies T-shirts alone have probably been enough to boost the local economy by 50 percent. Everyone is talking about the Grizzlies, and Griz fans are making a name for themselves nationally as loud, proud, and die-hard.

But what happens to those fans if the team hovers around .500 this year and struggles to get itself together under the first year of a new coach? What happens if, God forbid, an important player suffers a major injury and misses a significant stretch of the season? Are the fans who made articles of clothing out of Growl Towels going to stick it out, or will they turn on the team and the front office, in light of all of the changes made by the new regime to a roster and organization that was (from outside appearances, anyway) working?

To be clear, I don’t think the team will trend downward this year, but the Western Conference finals are a high bar that not many teams are able to reach — much less reach two years in a row. If the team’s newly won fans expect the same level of performance this year and things start to go south, it could create some interesting tension around the team.

Larry Kuzniewski

Guard Jerryd Bayless

7: What will be the first in-season roster move the Grizzlies make?

I don’t think the Grizzlies expected Jerryd Bayless to pick up the player option in his contract and stay with the Grizzlies another year. I think they expected him to become a free agent and sign a contract that he earned by playing well for the Grizzlies last year. That’s not what happened, though: Bayless stayed in Memphis, and now the Grizzlies have an awful lot of shooting guards. Tony Allen, Quincy Pondexter, Bayless, and rookie Jamaal Franklin can all play the position, along with the occasional Nick Calathes. Bayless’ responsibilities as backup point guard were absolved last year after he proved to be a much more effective playmaker off the ball, especially when paired with Mike Conley.

At the same time, Tayshaun Prince is probably entering the twilight phase of his career, after many years of making deep playoff runs with the Detroit Pistons, and his conditioning failed him in last year’s playoffs even though he showed flashes of “the old Tayshaun” before getting injured in the Oklahoma City series.

Both of these guys, I’d say, are probably available to a team that makes the Grizzlies the right offer. What that offer would be I can’t say, but given that Prince is owed $7.2 million this year and $7.7 million next year, you’d have to think some salary relief would be involved. Don’t misunderstand me: I think both players could also stick around and make valuable contributions to the Grizzlies this year. I just think that of everyone on the roster, they’re probably the two who would be traded first if the right option came along.

8: Is the Wi-Fi in FedExForum going to work this year?

Robert Pera says yes. We shall see. One gets the impression that it may be even harder to make internet access work for 18,000 people sitting in the same room than it is to evaluate draft prospects.

9: What effect will Kosta Koufos have coming off the Grizzlies’ bench?

Koufos started 81 games for the Denver Nuggets last season, so the fact that the Grizzlies were able to pry him away from Denver for a never-quite-healthy Darrell Arthur and what essentially amounts to pocket lint is surprising. Koufos represents the best chance Marc Gasol has ever had of not having to play 40-plus minutes a night this year. He averaged eight points and almost seven rebounds per game last year in Denver, and his size, toughness, and basketball IQ mean that Gasol has a legitimate NBA center as a backup for maybe the first time in his career. (I’m not counting Darko Milicic.) A reduced workload for Gasol means a fresher Gasol in the playoffs, and anything that makes that happen while strengthening the Griz bench is a win.

Larry Kuzniewski

Guard Mike Conley

10: Where will the Grizzlies finish in the Western Conference this year?

The Western Conference is as competitive and as close as it’s ever been. The Spurs, Thunder, Grizzlies, and Clippers all look primed to make another run, and the Rockets and Warriors made significant improvements in the off-season.

The Grizzlies are going to have to work that much harder for home-court advantage this year, and simply catching one or two unlucky breaks over the course of the season may be enough to put them down to the fifth or sixth seed.

Last year’s seeding battle was close, but this year it looks to be even closer. The Grizzlies could legitimately finish anywhere from second to about sixth in the standings, and the separation between those spots could be as small as a game or two. The breaks of the season will determine it as much as their actual win/loss record will.

The offseason brought with it a host of changes to the Grizzlies from top to bottom. Really, this season is the first manifestation of the philosophy brought in with last year’s ownership change, and we’re just now seeing the fruits of that transition on the court and in the front office.

We know what the Grizzlies organization is trying to do. The only question is whether they’ll be able to do it. As of right now, it’s anybody’s guess — yet another question that remains to be answered.

Categories
Cover Feature News

Who’s Who in Memphis Twitter

It seems like only yesterday that Twitter was being disparaged as a silly social medium primarily used by self-obsessed people who needed to share what they were having for breakfast with everyone they knew. Oh wait, that was yesterday. And we get it. Twitter isn’t for everyone. (Talkin’ to you, Alec Baldwin, and maybe you, Steve Cohen.)

But Twitter’s not just for breakfast anymore, either. Sports figures, musicians, actors, politicians, and other celebrity types have thousands — sometimes hundreds of thousands — of followers. They see Twitter as a great way to connect with their fans and promote themselves.

But what about “normal” folks? Why should anyone follow the non-rich and non-famous here in Memphis? Well, for one thing, there’s not a newsperson, weatherman, or journalist in town worth their salt who doesn’t tweet. Twitter is where news breaks in 2013 — before it gets written or broadcast. Twitter is where you can find out about a wreck on your commute or get a tornado warning or learn the Grizzlies have signed Mike Miller, hours before it becomes “news.” Twitter is the stone tossed in the pond; it’s where the news ripples start.

And Twitter is fun. Watching a Grizzlies game or a presidential debate or, yes, Sharknado with Twitter is a communal snark-fest where you can trade quips and one-liners with the likes of Wendi Thomas or Chris Vernon or Shea Flinn or Jerry Lawler.

With that in mind, we present an admittedly subjective list of the Memphis Twitterati, each with a helpful 140-character (or so) descriptor. — @MemphisFlyer, 14,955 followers

Media (Go here to subscribe to all of the Twitter feeds on this list.)

Everybody in media tweets these days. Most of them stick to business, posting breaking news and weather, linking to stories they’ve written, and promoting upcoming newscasts. But some Memphis newsies let their personalities shine a little more. They understand that if you tweet nothing but promo, your followers will be few. Here are a few who get it.

Nikki Boertman @PhotoNikki, 13,827 followers: The CA‘s Grizzlies photographer; gives great in-game tweets. Also likes Memphis music, downtown, general news. 14,000 followers can’t be wrong.

Kerry Crawford @ilovememphis, 12,169 followers: Indefatigable tweeter and blogger has taken a paid CVB social media job and made it fun, with lots of links, Memphis boosterism, and humor.

Wendi Thomas @wendi_c_thomas, 6,344 followers: Twitter Wendi is generally funnier than columnist Wendi. Readily interacts with followers on national, local, and personal topics.

Joey Sulipeck @joeysulipeck, 6,190 followers: Fox 13 weatherman is smart, funny, irreverent, e.g., “To the couple running down Poplar in the right lane against traffic at 5 a.m. REALLY?!?”

Kontji Anthony @kontji, 5,819 followers: WMC newscaster tweets lots of straightforward news and pics but sometimes shows her funny side. She does work with Jason Miles, after all.

Carrie Brown-Smith @BrizzyC, 5,518 followers: U of M journalism professor loves good beer, Green Bay Packers, and running. Tweets breaking news links and other interesting updates.

Lauren Lee @laurenleefox13, 4,663 followers: Sassy Fox 13 newswoman (and new mother) who isn’t afraid to let her hair down, e.g., “Hello hangover. Welcome back, old friend.”

Jason Miles @JmilesWMC, 4,011 followers: The man, the myth, the legend. Channel 5’s Twitter ninja, known for over-the-top 140-character news synopses. Master of the graphic tease.

Melissa Moon @MMoonWREG3, 3,772 followers: With 48,000 tweets, this WREG reporter is one of the most prolific media tweeters in town. Lots of newsy links, many of them crime-related.

Andy Wise @AndyWise5, 3,323 followers: The chief consumer investigator for WMC-5 is on your side with news links, tips, a little humor, and a rooting interest in the Atlanta Braves.

Mike Matthews @bulldogonabc24, 1,803 followers: Typical tweet — “I wish I had ghetto booty. I’m a 59 year old man. My ass has been MIA since 1996.” This newsman’s inhibitions are few.

Mediaverse @Mediaverse, 1,642 followers: The nom du Twitter of former CA reporter Richard Thompson, who offers often insightful — if sometimes cranky — criticism of local media.

John Beifuss @JohnBeifuss, 956 followers: Movie nerds, unite. The CA‘s film critic tweets what’s playing around town, what’s opening this week, review links, trivia, and other filmy stuff.

— Bruce VanWyngarden @sylamore1, 3,604 followers

Sports/Sports Media (Go here to subscribe to all of the Twitter feeds on this list.)

What’s it like to be present at the dawn of greatness? Funny you ask. One night during Tony Allen’s debut season with the Grizzlies, I’m standing in the post-game locker room, near Darrell Arthur and Mike Conley. Over my shoulder, I hear Allen telling someone he’s just signed up for a Twitter account. I about-face, get the details (@aa000G9!?!), and rush to break the news — on Twitter, natch. The rest, as they say, is history: Live-tweets of fender-benders with middle-aged women. (“This lady called 1 of her goons!! Lol”) Channel-flipping commentary. (He loves Duck Dynasty.) Uncharted grammatical explorations. Sometimes, after a loss, even pain as deep as the ocean. If Tony Allen is our spirit animal, his tweets are our battle cry. Or something like that. Leggo!

Marc Gasol @MarcGasol, 550,113 followers: Towers over the local athletic landscape both in terms of physical size and Twitter following. Tweets in three languages and may give you paella tips.

John Hollinger @JohnHollinger, 128,243 followers: Tweets less often — and less freely — since his move from media to management, but the old snark still comes through in the Griz VP’s feed.

Tony Allen @aa000G9, 83,492 followers: Typical tweet (no, really): “S/o 2 the dude At cracker barrel : who keep calling me lebron! Smh,, paint ur face dude!! Like really!! Thas so not whas up!!”

Gary Parrish @GaryParrishCBS, 69,339 followers: A local host but a national columnist, as he’ll remind you. Feed has been all-business of late, which means he’s due for a late-night (tweet) bender.

Quincy Pondexter @QuincyPondexter, 44,431 followers: The Griz’s new man about town put the “social” in social media by securing a date with Miss Tennessee via Twitter.

Ed Davis @EdDavis32, 43,801 followers: Announced his presence with the local Twitter burn of the summer: “@CAGrizBlog yea I was asked by a coach who doesn’t have a job right now.”

DeAngelo Williams @DeAngeloRB, 34,299 followers: The former Tiger football great still reps his hood on his engaging feed and, like everyone back home, is hoop-crazed.

Chris Vernon @ChrisVernonShow, 22,483 followers: Radio-based Twitter raconteur. (Look it up, Verno) RTing wisenheimer. Betting-season philanthropist. @aa000G9’s hype man.

Geoff Calkins @Geoff_Calkins, 15,312 followers: For smart, wry, sometimes punning commentary that spans the local sports landscape. Doesn’t stick to sports (which usually just means pics of his dogs).

Kyle Veazey @KyleVeazey, 12,891 followers: The CA‘s sports-section jack-of-all-trades loves tennis, promoting his paper, and living in America’s Finest City. Not a fan of Nashville.

Jason Smith @TheCAJasonSmith, 8,843 followers: Your go-to source for Tiger hoops news and a friendly, reasonable voice of calm amid the Twittersphere’s rocky fan waters.

Robert Pera @RobertPera, 6,250 followers: The Griz owner doesn’t tweet much but makes them count. You missed his homemade Marc Gasol fan art? You missed out!

Rob Fischer @TheFishNation, 5,669 followers: A must-follow for game-day Griz news, home or road, along with sartorial twitpics.

Rick Trotter @RickTrotter, 4,379 followers: Hey, other NBA cities: Does your public address announcer tweet amid the action, talk a good cultural game, and take you to church on Sundays?

Katee Forbis @KateeForbis, 2,596 followers: Griz fan blogger “NBKay” is a genial, grounded obsessive who gives “superfans” a good name.

Kevin Cerrito @Cerrito, 1,672 followers: MemphiSport mag’s managing editor brings a dry humor and cultural bent that stands out on the local sports-twitter landscape.

— Chris Herrington @ChrisHerrington, 3,642 followers; @FlyerGrizBlog, 6,813 followers

Politicians (Go here to subscribe to all of the Twitter feeds on this list.)

Politicians like to bloviate, and a rare few have learned how to do so within the 140-character tweet limit. A neat trick, but, by itself, that wouldn’t get them on this list. Everybody here can tweet with a personal edge, and for some (“Paging Reverend Whalum!”)

that’s their basic M.O. This cross-section is by no means exhaustive, but everybody here is also an elected official or a ranking political appointee or party functionary or something suchlike. Meaning, all of them have skin in the game. No mere bystanders or kibitzers.

Special emeritus honor to Mike Carpenter, now head of the Plough Foundation, who became famous (or notorious) for his all-too-candid tweets during county commission meetings (sample ripostes for the world to see: “Stop the name calling & debate the issue. Been called worse than RINO”; “we’re putting people to sleep”) and did much to foster the practice locally.

A C Wharton Jr. @MayorACWharton, 12,564 followers: There’s a ghost tweeter behind the resident glad-hander, but those stats are hard to ignore. Informative stuff, covers the urban waterfront.          

Steve Cohen @RepCohen, 8,000 followers: 411 from DC + “Felt slimed by wrongly being n Collins column. no sex scandal only family drama. unprofessional.” Cohen can’t, won’t duck a ruckus.

Kenneth T. Whalum Jr. @KWhalum, 3,604 followers: School board member mostly avoids the ALL CAPs of his emails, but same swagger. Slams biased media, fearful politicians, gives, takes no quarter.

Mark Norris @SenatorNorris, 3,298 followers: GOP majority leader’s tweets are usually sanguine reports of GOP wins but tweeted to communicate defeats for madcap Stacey Campfield.

Shea Flinn @FlinnShady, 3,135 followers: Saucy, nihilistic, funny, dead serious, tweets on everything. Busy last week defending colleague Fullilove from tweeters wanting her recall.

Senator Jim Kyle @JimKyle, 2,776 followers: Dem’s leader is funny. “Headline: ‘TN Gov. to sell the Smokies.’ Thought, ‘What else is new?’ Then realized they meant the baseball team.”

Bill Gibbons @TNSafetyGibbons, 1,917 followers: TN safety commissioner, ex-Shelby AG cautious in tone, but uses Nashville perch to dish on media, government, willing to cross party lines.

Harold Collins @HaroldBCollins, 1,025 followers: Up-front councilman tweets it like he sees it — e.g., to TV reporter: “Quit playing games and tell people the truth!” Can bark and bite.

Gale Jones Carson @GaleJonesCarson, 718 followers: DNC member, TN party official, does 411 for MLGW, aggregator like Gibbons. Tweets not yet fiery like her Facebook, emails; still hitting stride.

Antonio Parkinson @2_Shay, 615 followers & @TNRepParkingson, 1,007 followers: Ex-Marine, N. Memphis/Frayser stalwart. State representative is ambitious, hip to all things hi-tech, posts government skinny, lots of pics.

Steve Basar @SteveBasar, 461 followers: New commissioner is take-charge: “What’s with the SCS pre-registration?…got to be a better process!”; “Seriously does anyone fax anymore?”

Edmund Ford Jr. @EdmundFordJr, 380 followers: Straight-talking council chair: “Having nothing else to do at 1:36 am but to comment on something I said shows you have nothing else to do with yourself.”

David Reaves @hdreaves, 302 followers: Just starting up but on a roll. Unified SB member, commission hopeful. Tweets politics, cites Plato, and asks, “Why am I listening to Cher?”

A. Keith McDonald @MayorKMcDonald, 301 followers: Another newbie, Bartlett mayor is up-front on munis, will stay prominent in negotiations. Tweets school, political, media, personal matters.

— Jackson Baker @jbaker7973, 1,396 followers

Artists & Entertainers (Go here to subscribe to all of the Twitter feeds on this list.)

I was sitting high up in the nosebleed seats at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, when Clint Eastwood started to berate an empty chair. My first thought wasn’t, “I wonder what Jon Stewart will have to say about this?” I wanted to know if Eastwood’s speech was making anybody’s day back home in Memphis. So out came the iPhone, and suddenly I was no longer in a far-off arena packed with thousands of dismayed conservatives but in the more familiar company of the Memphis musicians, artists, actors, and comedians I follow on Twitter. I wondered what jokes or clever observations might be left by the time The Daily Show aired. Not surprisingly, the best lines had already been tweeted.

If you want to know what people will be talking about, follow reporters. If you want to laugh, cry, or think about the things everybody is talking about, follow artists and entertainers.

Juicy J @therealjuicyj, 1,120,867 followers: Juicy is live 24/7 in the club, in the studio, and even on vacation. Tweets what he eats and who he parties with: “Mane dat new drake song is fire!”

Jerry Lawler @JerryLawler, 751,843 followers: Memphis’ biggest kid tweets about wrestling, Twinkies, comic books, and being the King. Responsible for trending topic #prayforlawler.

Craig Brewer @MyBrewTube, 23,965 followers: The affable Hustle & Flow filmmaker engages fans & critics about movies, Memphis, & family life: “Any thoughts on maple bacon donuts?”

Alexis Grace: @RealAlexisGrace, 9,699 followers: American Idol contender, down-to-earth actress. Fans say, “You never know what she’ll post next.” She says, “I just passed gas?”

Lil Buck @LILBUCKDALEGEND, 3,193 followers: It’s fun to see the world through the eyes of Memphis’ most in-demand dancer. “Follow @tilerpeck… she can jook ON POINT!”

Chris Haley @theChrisHaley, 2,493 followers: Comic book artist. “Under the flickering fluorescent light they refuse to replace, I try to remember a time before I entered this post office.”

Brian Venable: @brianvenable, 1,671 followers: Lucero guitarist owns a hatchet: “this is what a fat screaming naked tattooed bearded man will be holding when he chases you out of his house.”

Morgan Jon Fox @MorganJonFox, 1,428 followers: Large-hearted filmmaker, hardcore Griz fan. Activist. “Best church sign ever: ‘Some people are gay. Get over it.'”

Katrina Coleman @KatrinaLColeman, 1,228 followers: Comedienne, roastmaster: “‘Baby, you make me ovulation horny even when I’m pre-menstrual.’ — most horrifying thing I have ever meant sincerely.”

Ned Canty @poilaparola, 1,068 followers: Not into opera? Opera Memphis’ general director also does puppets and posts to YouTube. “Is it weird that I hide during intermission?”

John Paul Keith @JohnPaulKeith, 1,202 followers: Guitar hero, music fan, wit: “First person in my Twitter feed who wishes Jerry Garcia a happy birthday gets waterboarded.”

Jason Harris @Jasondahater, 884 followers: Midtown MC tweets about BJ & the Bear reruns and gigs. “Da hater has a new EP … horrible music to add to your already horrific collection.”

Dave Cousar @DaveCousar, 233 followers: Tom Waits+Groucho = Memphis troubadour Dave Cousar: “Every relationship I ever had ended the same way. Fighting about where to have lunch.”

Sam Shoup @Samjamm, 63 followers: Arranges for orchestras, jams in bars, sees the future: “Within the next couple of years, every Memphis musician will have his own documentary.” — Chris Davis @peskyfly, 1,347 followers

Foodies (Go here to subscribe to all of the Twitter feeds on this list.)

On May 24th, Restaurant Iris owner/chef Kelly English (@kelly_english) responded to a question via Twitter: “@MemphisACP: Tony Parker tried to eat dinner @RestaurantIris and was denied service by @kelly_english. Can you confirm or deny?” His answer, “Confirmed,” a mere 13 characters, set off a Twitter storm.

Not surprising, considering that it was the evening before the Grizzlies were to take on the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals; the Twit pic of the chef with a forearm markered with “All Heart. Grit Grind”; and the terse “Confirmed, denied service.”

English clarified that the restaurant was already booked shortly after that first tweet, but the story had legs! Spurs fans squawked; English supporters rallied; journalists scrambled; TMZ took notice. Such is the nature of Twitter: Tweets rattling off fingertips like hoecakes flying off the griddle. Here are some of the fun folks in the Memphis food Twittersphere. (Note: We didn’t include chefs, because, well, they all tweet, and it’s easy to find your faves.)

Justin Fox Burks @chubbyveg, 3,513 followers: Veggie guru shares recipes: grilled figs and lemon with gorgonzola and honey, anyone? Occasional RTs of an adorable kitten in a mushroom costume.

Margot McNeeley @projgreenfork, 3,505 followers: Certifies sustainable restos, offers food tips: “If you think Memphis restaurants don’t offer enough vegetarian/vegan options, you ain’t asking.”

@MemFoodTruckers, 2,846 followers: Food truck tracker and one-stop shop for finding new mobile munchies; plus, helpful reminders on upcoming food truck rodeos.

Seth Agranov @BestMemBurger, 2,629 followers: Launched Memphis Best Burger fest; prolific: “So what happens when everyone in town raves about a burger and you thought it was meh at best?”

Thomas Robinson @eatlocalmemphis, 2,061 followers: Tweets local eats, links to blogposts on chef happenings and new restos, with frequent nods to his ladyfriend’s bake shop.

Melissa Petersen @ediblememphis, 1,122 followers: Retweeting queen and culinary ambassador for the city, tweeting farm-to-table tidbits and teasers from Edible Memphis magazine.

@fuzzybrew, 1,010 followers: Top-shelf tips on #freebeer tastings, info on events such as @memphisbeerweek, reviews and updates on local and craft beers, and homebrewing how-to.

Angela and Paul Knipple @PaulKnipple, 577 followers: Authors of Farm Fresh Tennessee and World in a Skillet. “Mustard seed beaten biscuits with sock sausage from the Hermitage Hotel. Yeah boy.”

Pam Denney @Memphis_Stew, 468 followers: Memphis magazine food writer, author of Food Lovers’ Guide to Memphis. “I picked up these persimmons from my neighbor’s tree. They taste like charcoal.” Mmm. —

Hannah Sayle @flyersayle, 289 followers; Susan Ellis @HungryFlyer, 1,452 followers

Keepin’It Real (Go here to subscribe to all of the Twitter feeds on this list.)

Most people mentioned elsewhere in this story are notable independent of Twitter. But the folks on the following list are famous by and large because of Twitter. These are regular Joes and Janes who, sure, sometimes Tweet pics of what they’re eating and drinking but who also, because of the humor and insight they bring their Twitter feeds, make you wish you were breaking bread and imbibing beer right there with them. Real Memphis Twitter is ridiculously deep and rich.

Jon Roser @Jon_Roser, 5,093 followers: The tweets of @chrisvernonshow’s sidekick prove he’s into more than just sports, including rap, TV, movies, and late-night shenanigans.

Roy Barnes @GatesofMemphis, 3,104 followers: Civic brain mixes it up w/pols, media, and non-profiteers: “When it comes to leadership in the built environment, we’re still home alone here.”

J.T. Dobbs @sloganeerist, 2,806 followers: Weird Twitter, 100 percent local, as funny as comedians with six-figure followers. “LEGO Citizen Kane”; “Oh, I can’t stay mad at you, pants.”

Will Askew @waskew, 2,775 followers: Radio-talker turned school teacher Tweets sports, city, politics, family, and ancient history, and RTs links to thoughtful material.

Stephanie Bennett @stephMEM, 2,237 followers: Prolific tweeter and the standard by which “Twitter famous” is measured in Memphis. Funny. Her life is a moveable feast. When does she sleep?

Paul Ryburn @Paulryburn, 1,699 followers: Downtown Mem maven whose “celebrity” preceded Twitter. “I wonder if there’s a PBR Hall of Fame, and if so why haven’t I been inducted yet?”

Beth Spencer @bethykins, 1,513 followers: Hilarious and engaging. “Facebook is also a useful guide for what not to do on Facebook.” “What ya’ll know about eating Krystal’s while sober?”

@gurleygurl, 1,465 followers: Griz, Lionel Hollins, and NY Giants fan. Doesn’t suffer fools. “LIONEL! HEY BOO HEY! I LOVE YOU!” HONK HONK!

@thebaseballjerk, 1,244 followers: High-volume (stream of conscious?) tweeter who, despite his name, covers a lot more ground than just sports and who, despite his name, ain’t a jerk.

@TacoMeat901_7, 1,189 followers: Hilarious, NSFW but mild personality and attentive to socioeconomic culture, pop. “As you all know this is Helen Mirren appreciation central.”

Fakes & Parodies (Go here to subscribe to all of the Twitter feeds on this list.)

@FantasyLapides, 2,406 followers: Originator of fake sports talk in Memphis mimics the catch-phrases and folkways of sports journalist George Lapides. Utterly nails it.

@fakemongo, 1,089 followers: Real Prince Mongo is weird. Fakemongo is weird, only funnier. “Life is too short to spend time trying to cross Union Avenue. Levitate, Spirits!”

@CAcommenter, 802 followers: The internet’s underbelly, the comments section of The Commercial Appeal — sexist, misogynistic, xenophobic — anthropomorphized to hilarious effect.

— Greg Akers @gregakers, 1,306 followers

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Game 3: Grizzlies 87, Thunder 81 — Making Them When it Matters

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Marc Gasol drew a crowd but still lead the Grizzlies to an 87-81 win and a 2-1 series lead over the Thunder Saturday night.

  • LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
  • Marc Gasol drew a crowd but still lead the Grizzlies to an 87-81 win and a 2-1 series lead over the Thunder Saturday night.

From the arena concourse to the locker room to the dais of the post-game press conference, the mood was more one of relief than exultation for the Grizzlies and their fans after escaping with an 87-81 win at FedExForum Saturday night to take a 2-1 series lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Grizzlies won this tight game for much the same reason they had lost Game 1 in Oklahoma City; free throws. The Grizzlies converted 23 of 28 attempts at the line (82%), including a perfect 6-6 from Marc Gasol and Mike Conley in the game’s final two minutes, while Thunder star Kevin Durant — a career 88% foul shooter — suffered a devastating empty trip with under a minute to play. Those Grizzlies free throws were the only points scored in the game’s final two minutes, which began with the teams tied 81-81.

In addition to Durant’s missed free throws, the Thunder also watched Derek Fisher, so strong in Oklahoma City, miss an open three off a turnover on the subsequent possession.

With Lionel Hollins astutely managing offense/defense substitutions down the stretch to mitigate potential mismatches against the Thunder’s small-ball lineup and with Conley and Gasol coming up clutch from the charity stripe, the Grizzlies’ late game execution pulled them through what had been a shaky performance for much of the game.

“I feel like every game we have gotten better and today we were not better than the last game,” Gasol said afterward.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Griz-Thunder Game 3 Preview: Twelve Takes, Part One

CREDIT: Ronald Martinez, Getty Images

Getty_Thunder_Grizzlies_Game1.jpg

  • Ronald Martinez, Getty Images

I was mostly done researching and thinking my way through the elements of a planned two-part preview of Saturday’s game — one part meant to post Thursday morning, with a second part following Friday morning — and had begun the writing process Wednesday night when my laptop decided it had had enough. I lost everything. I’ll spare you the details of how this post came to be — a planes, trains, and automobiles of compositional technologies — but suffice it to say this isn’t quite what I’d intended.

The problem did heighten an issue I grapple with quite a bit: How much should I “show my work,” in math-class terms. I’ve always consulted statistics as a necessary companion to personal observation and other forms of information. Concepts such as pace, usage, efficiency, and other building blocks of “advanced” statistics are not new trends in this space. Often I cite specific numbers to support claims. But sometimes the math is left in the background, an unstated element that helped form an opinion or hone an observation.

I’m not sure which is preferable — some readers like to follow the data; others, I’m sure, grow weary of too much statistical recitation. So I try to find a balance. And this time, with research lost and limits of time and technology weighing against a recreation, I may not show much work. Just know that when I say that Kendrick Perkins is killing the Thunder or that Scott Brooks should really consider using more small-ball or that Jerryd Bayless may be hurting the Griz defense more than helping the offense that there’s something backing all of that up.

So, here’s a somewhat truncated and considerably less precise first installment of my planned twelve takes. Part two will post later in the day Friday if things go well or Saturday morning if they don’t.

1. New Nickname Alert: This has no bearing on the outcome of the series, obviously, but I took great pleasure in the TNT postgame show after Game 2, when Charles Barkley christened Zach Randolph with a new nickname, “Ol’ Man River,” in reference to Randolph’s “old-man game” and the way he keeps rolling along against younger, more athletic competitors. (They get weary, and sick of trying.) This is even more perfect than Barkley knows, given Memphis’ perch on the river the song refers to as well as the song’s own treasured history in Memphis. It’s too bad we can’t have James Hyter bless this with a FedExForum performance.

This isn’t the first time, incidentally, that a national broadcast has made a brilliant musical reference with regard to the Grizzlies — or to Randolph, to be specific. In the 2011 playoff run, there was a package on the Randolph and Gasol combo — before first-round, Game 2, I think; I can’t remember the network — to the tune of John Fogerty’s “Big Train (From Memphis).” This was also perfect. The rumbling, locomotive imagery and insistent, old-fashioned rhythm matching Gasol and Randolph’s rumbling, old-fashioned style.

It occurred to me, thinking of the late Hyter, that perhaps if the Grizzlies advance we could get Fogerty in town for a Griz-specific update of his song: “Big Spain (From Memphis),” anyone?

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Countdown: The 2012-2013 Season’s Top Ten Moments

I wanted to put this up in the meager time between the end of the regular season and the beginning of the playoffs, but was too bogged down. With a two-day break before Friday’s Game 6 and coming off a rousing win last night in Los Angeles, let’s take a moment to remember some of the high points of what was an eventful and thoroughly enjoyable regular season. I’ll return with a Game 6 preview on Friday morning. Let me know what I missed:

10. DPOY:
Not a “moment,” but I couldn’t find a clip of Tony Allen’s extraordinary defense late in that home loss to the Pacers, which I wanted to use. So I’ll lead off with this, Gasol adding to a Grizzlies’ trophy case that already included a Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Sixth Man of the Year award.

9. Rudy Tracks it Down, and Throws it Down (vs. Spurs, Friday, January 11th)
Rudy Gay’s massive contract and middling production necessitated a trade, and the Grizzlies have been better as a result. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t have more than his share of great moments. The best this season came in what I still think was the (regular) season’s best game, a home overtime win over the Spurs.