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Tuesday, October 31, 2000
Grizzlies: They'll try, but they won't win
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Team page/schedule | Stats: Preseason / 1999 | Roster
Last year: 22-60, seventh in Midwest, 12th in conference
Coach/GM: Sidney Lowe/Billy Knight
Arena, first game: General Motors Place (19,193); Nov. 5, 1995
All-time franchise record/NBA titles: 78-300/0
Notable: Were 0-20 vs. Lakers, Wolves, Suns, Spurs, Sonics
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THE TOP EIGHT
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Pos
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Player
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Key Stat
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Skinny
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PG
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Mike Bibby
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8.1 apg
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On the verge of becoming All-Star type PG
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SG
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Michael Dickerson
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18.2 ppg
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In Francis deal, he scored just as much
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SF
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S. Abdur-Rahim
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10.1 rpg
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Deserved to be All-Star last year
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PF
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Stromile Swift
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--
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No. 2 pick should at least block shots
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C
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Bryant Reeves
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8.9 ppg
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Would've been run out of most NBA cities
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6th
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Ike Austin
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6.7 ppg
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Has been run out of most NBA cities
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7th
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Othella Harrington
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13.1 ppg
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Might start at PF, but his ceiling is low
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8th
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Brent Price
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.345 FG
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It's Vancouver ... or the CBA
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Defense continues to be the Achilles' heel for this club. The Grizz are a young team that's growing. Offensively there is plenty of talent in Vancouver. Michael Dickerson came on for this team offensively during the second half of last year. Everybody knows the skills Shareef Abdur-Rahim possesses. The guy that really needs to come alive is Bryant Reeves. I'm not convinced Mike Bibby has the skills to be a point guard. He can shoot and handle the ball but his ability to create shots and create opportunities for other players is questionable. Questions also remain about Ike Austin. Will he come to play? Austin played hard and secured a big contract, then his focus seemed to falter. Austin, Bibby and Reeves need to step it up, especially on the defensive end, and this team may threaten for a playoff spot.
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By Marc Stein
Special to ESPN.com
The Good
Shareef Abdur-Rahim, by any measure, is good. Better than good, actually, because small forwards who average double-doubles are priceless. Abdur-Rahim isn't yet the locker-room leader the Grizzlies need him to be, but the Olympic experience -- being around the game's elite for more than a month -- potentially nudges him closer to a take-charge persona. Some good had to rub off Down Under, right? It'll be interesting to monitor which happens first: Reef reaching full-blown leader status or the maturation to impact player of Stromile Swift. Either way, that's two nice pieces for the Grizzlies' future, handy distractions from what figures to be a typically painful present. It might be the deepest Grizzlies team ever, but that barely qualifies as a compliment for the only NBA team that had to ask four of its first five to start all 82 games last season.
The Bad
This franchise has never come close to winning anything. Twenty-two victories in 82 games last season account for the club's single-season record. New owner Michael Heisley and new coach Sidney Lowe have pumped in cash and optimism, but the Grizzlies belong to the perhaps toughest Western Conference of all-time. Acquiring Ike Austin to form a low-post platoon with Bryant Reeves merely gives Vancouver two centers with "underachiever" labels. And for all its power players -- Othella Harrington, Tony Massenburg and the aforementioned big men -- Abdur-Rahim is the team's best rebounder. The backcourt tandem of Mike Bibby and Michael Dickerson shows promise, but both rank a lot closer to solid than spectacular. Swift would have to break out considerably faster than anyone expects for Vancouver to overcome all that. Oh, did we mention defense? The Grizzlies don't stop anybody, either. That's why the shot-blocking Swift will eventually be so huge for them.
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THE BIG QUESTION |
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It's difficult to pick out one. When and where will Harrington be traded? Does Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf have anything left in the tank? Won't Heisley eventually move this team back into U.S. territory? What's Mahmoud's new-millennium stance on the national anthem? But if we have to focus on something, how about the big guys? Reeves. Austin. Combined, do they count as one decent center? It'll be another grisly campaign if the answer is no.
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Whose team is this?
Heisley has made it clear that he will be heavily involved. And after a messy start that saw Heisley and Dick Versace badly bungle the clearout of Stu Jackson's administration, you know the presence of Versace will be tough to miss, too. Lowe, for his part, brings a toughness to the mix, if not a proven track record (33-102 in Minnesota). Everyone knows, though, that this is Abdur-Rahim's team. Instead of forcing a trade out of town, Steve Francis-style, Abdur-Rahim has pledged his future to the league's losingest operation and ultimately reconciled himself with Jackson's ouster after imploring Heisley not to make changes. Reef's a good guy and an unquestioned talent, and the new Vancouver regime -- for as little as its predecessors achieved -- is lucky that he's still buying into the program.
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| Abdur-Rahim |
How they'll play
The Grizzlies are vowing to actually put a body on someone for a change. A few rebounds and tangible defense would be nice as well. Bibby and Dickerson routinely struggle in their guard matchups and Reeves has been a non-factor for two seasons running. Vancouver also struggles to score, Reef aside, and doesn't win on the road (0-44 in March away games since debuting in 1995-96). Lowe, at least theoretically, has options offensively. The Grizz should be able to run a little with athletes such as Abdur-Rahim, Dickerson, Bibby and Swift, but a pound-it-in approach isn't totally inconceivable if Reeves and/or Austin is in the mood to contribute. Defensively, Swift is the stopper by default, whether he's ready or not, since Vancouver has never had one before.
Projection
Heisley went on record predicting or expecting or calling for a 35-win season, however you want to describe it. Funny guy, Heisley. In the West, with what Vancouver has, 25 wins would add up to significant progress. As with many of the West's lottery-bound squads this season, the Grizzlies will soon discover that roster upgrades don't necessarily translate to a better record. Just getting back to 22-60 would surprise us.
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