The Hollins Era Began with a loss

To be honest, the result of last night's game wasn't a surprise to many. Just because we changed coaches, doesn't mean the losing is going to stop. It will take time for Lionel Hollins to get the team on the track that he is guiding them. I did notice that in the 1'st Quarter, the Grizzlies came out with a different philosophy than they have been playing with. On the very 1'st possession, O.J. Mayo brought the ball down court. Then we were playing full court defense and creating turnovers. At the end of the 1'st quarter, we had a lead. I believe this will help them realize, that his system can work.

In the 2'nd quarter, the game started to slip away from us. We lost the quarter by 10. The officiating last night was horrible. I am NOT saying this cost us the win, but it made the game so miserable to watch. There was no flow for the players to get into. O.J. Mayo came into the game and it took him 2 seconds to get a foul called on him so he had to go sit down again. All the foul calls also made the game go very late. The game didn't end until 9:41. That was with it being a 15 point loss so there wasn't all the timeouts and fouls at the end of the game. Normally that game should have ended around 9:20. 61 personal fouls and 2 technical fouls. The refs needed to let them play ball.

The Grizzlies kept fighting and made it close in the 4'th quarter. We got down by only 4 but couldn't finish the comeback. Hollins in his post game press conference said that the players aren't in shape. I believe this is a big cause of the 4'th quarter collapses that keep occurring. Hopefully he can correct this soon and in the 2'nd half of the season we can see some improvement.

Darius Miles provided some great bench points last night. I hope that the Grizzlies will sign him to a contract for the remainder of the season. I believe he has proven worthy of it. We need some scoring off the bench more than just Hak and Lowry.

Hopefully, Hollins can get his first win tonight. Read more!

Lionel Hollins - Really????

Grizzlies fans were excited to hear that Coach Ivaroni was fired. People were throwing names around that we were hoping to be the new head coach of the Grizzlies. Avery Johnson, Flip Saunders, Maurice Cheeks, Jeff Van Gundy. I never heard anybody mention Lionel Hollins. I know Lionel Hollins is a nice guy and still has a home here in Memphis, but we need a veteran head coach that can develop the talent that we have. We need a coach that will be the right coach for the next 5 years. Counting the interim head coaches, this will be Rudy Gay's 5'th head coach in 2.5 seasons. That is instability.

For the sports radio listeners outside of the local area, I don't know if this is even being mentioned on your stations, but here in Memphis, this is getting ripped to shreds. The talk shows are all in an uproar over this hire. Chris Vernon on FoxSports 730 said he could think of 30 other coaches he would have hired before this hire.

Espn story about the firing and mentions the hiring as well.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3853749

Grizzlies story on Iavaroni being relieved of his coaching duties.
http://www.nba.com/grizzlies/news/iavaroni_relieved_of_coaching_duties-090123.html

ESPN is reporting that Avery Johnson was offered a 5 year contract to come coach the Grizzlies. I am glad to see that we made an offer for Avery because I think he might have been a good coach for this team. But when Avery turned down the offer, was Lionel Hollins really #2 on the coach wishlist?

Espn story about Avery Johnson turning down the Grizzlies coaching job.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3855045

I am still going to support the Grizzlies and I hope Hollins proves everybody wrong. Read more!

Iavaroni fired in Memphis

The Commercial Appeal is reporting that the Memphis Grizzlies have fired head coach Marc Iavaroni. This isn't much of a surprise to the fans of the team. Many have been wondering what was taking so long for this to happen. The regression this team has been showing over the last several weeks was justification for this firing.

Since the Grizzlies decent start of 9-15, they have now gone 2-15. This is totally unacceptable. There has been a disconnect between the coach and the players it seems. The Grizzlies games seem to have turned into something similar to the movie groundhog day. The games keep having the same results. The Grizzlies get off to a slow start, battle back to try to get into it then lose it down the last 4 minutes.

http://commercialappeal.com/news/2009/jan/22/source-memphis-grizzlies-fire-coach-marc-iavaroni/

This isn't change for change's sake, this must be change for the sake of growth and progress.

As a season ticket holder, I implore the Grizzlies to make sure they hire the right coach that can help the younger players to grow and learn how to finish games out. We must have a coach that can get this team to play together. Read more!

MLK day in Memphis

The Memphis Grizzlies have a nice tradition going in Memphis with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration game. The day is filled with many events. The Marines present the High School Classic that is played early in the day. Then there is a sports legacy symposium that is held and presented by the Hyde Family Foundation. Then prior to the game, the National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Awards are presented. David Aldridge of TNT hosts the symposium and speaks when the awards are given out. This years recipients were Dave Bing and Dr. Julius Erving. Dr. J commented on receiving this award, that "This makes this Martin Luther King Jr. celebration day the top one since its inception for me." David Aldridge commented on hosting they symposium that "it was very moving and I was privileged to host that today."

The Grizzlies also had Brandy there to perform the national anthem and to perform at half time. Brandy's performance put I believe thousands of people in the seats. It was one of the biggest crowds I have seen this season. The crowd there was very different from what I had seen even in the Lakers or the Cavaliers game when Kobe or LeBron was in town. People weren't leaving at half time to go get food or drinks. I think there was more cheering in the upper deck during half time then the rest of the game.

The Grizzlies did put up a great effort before losing to the Pistons 87-79. The Grizzlies fought hard and even took a lead into the 4'th quarter. But in the 4'th, the Grizzlies could only muster 10 points. Nobody that day was hot. We had 5 players in double figure scoring, but you didn't know coming down the stretch who was going to score. The Pistons knew they were going to Iverson and he was going to carry them to the win. The Grizzlies need somebody to develop into that go to guy that when it comes down to the last 4 minutes of the game, will score and carry them to the win. Right now we keep turning the ball over to much in the last 4 minutes of the game. We didn't even score a point in the last 2:55 of the game. Read more!

Where to eat - Spaghetti Warehouse

My father and I ate at the Spaghetti Warehouse Monday for dinner. We were so surprised at the great special that they are currently offering. They are offering a warehouse trio's special starting at $8.99. Enjoy a 3 course meal at a great price. You choose your entree, it comes with a soup or salad. Then choose an appetizer and a dessert. These weren't small portions either. My father and I couldn't finish our meals. The food was very good. I ordered the lasagna with the soup and had the mozzarella cheese sticks and the brownie sundae. The service we received was excellent as well. I am looking forward to going back there very soon.

Read more!