FanHouse KyleLowry

As teams get eliminated from the 2009 NBA playoff picture, Fork 'Em figures out what went wrong.

"The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress." -Philippe de Comines

It's also paved with the 2008-2009 Memphis Grizzlies and their fans.

The Grizzlies entered the season with a bizarre self-awareness. They were a young team with a coach that preached speed and aggression, but who had been told by his boss to instill defense, or else. They had lost their longtime franchise player in a rebuilding trade that resulted in much of the league mocking them, then pulled off a brilliant draft day trade to acquire O.J. Mayo. They had a deep set of guards, a great combination of young frontcourt players, returning superstar Rudy Gay, and a possible superstar in O.J. Mayo. And they were still expected to only win only 20-25 games.

The 3 PM ET trade deadline in the NBA has come and gone, and while there were plenty of big names rumored to be on the move, few teams actually had the guts to pull the trigger. There were plenty of deals made, however, including one that might have one Eastern Conference team feeling like it's back in the title conversation. A wrap-up of today's events after the jump.

Memphis' No. 4 in the vaunted 2007 draft, point guard Mike Conley, has been a bust by all measures. It's early of course, and point guards take a minute to mature. But Conley has lost his job to Kyle Lowry twice, and Lowry's headed toward a career as an Earl Watsonesque role player. Conley's been rumored as trade bait since he entered the NBA, but things have heated up now.

Every time I sit down to watch a Grizzlies game, I know I'll be getting one of two teams.

The Good Grizzlies are young, athletic, and hungry. They play defense with focus and intensity, they rebound, they rely on terrific plays from Rudy Gay slashing and OJ Mayo nailing jumpers, and Marc Gasol beasting around the interior. Their role players don't turn the ball over, and Hakim Warrick provides the spark off the bench while Marc Iavaroni manages good rotations and timely, effective timeouts.

The Bad Grizzlies make immature decisions, foolish passes, execute poorly, get freaked out on defense when a team comes right at them, fail to crash the boards and let Kyle Lowry shoot a lot.

Today was a Good Grizzlies day.

There's a lot to be said about the Grizzlies' 102-82 win over the Mavericks, which snapped a 13 game losing streak to the division "rivals." And a lot of it has to do with things like Jason Kidd, Erick Dampier, and Devean George, three of the starting five, combining for a whopping five points and six assists. There's surely a lot of negativity on the Mavs' plane tonight, but they should save some respect for the Grizzlies, who put out their most complete performance in several weeks.

And as has become the norm, O.J. Mayo was at the front of the charge.

Via BDL, Ronald Tillery writes at The Memphis Edge that a recent Grizzly practice got all sorts of heated. That's a good thing.

For the first time in Memphis Grizzlies history – and I'm the only beat writer the team has worked with – a fiery, healthy, competitive spirit is evident AND we're talking about practice.

Tillery tells of O.J. Mayo getting furious at a pick-up loss and getting into it with Darko. (!) Also, Mike Conley's two pips, Javaris Crittenton and Kyle Lowry, have gone hard after each other and Rudy Gay is popping off at teammates. As Tillery repeats, this is good news.

Memphis has a severe talent deficiency, at least until Conley and Mayo develop and one of the bigs (Darrell Arthur, Darko, Marc Gasol, Hamed Haddadi) joins Hakim Warrick among the living. But energy and spirit can make up for a lot in the long march of the NBA season. Last year, the team's only fire seemed to come from Mike Miller and Lowry (and occasionally Warrick). Pau Gasol resembled a dead man walking. The veterans Memphis added in the Gay-Love swap aren't exactly your everyday leaders (Antoine Walker, Marko Jaric).

So the kids propelling the team's effort will have to be the way it's done. Who knows how many wins it could possibly mean -- that's not the important part. Again, this team needs development. That work is only buoyed if the game is exciting and fun, something the cats can't get enough of. Having spirit means you're in more games, and that means the good feelings bubble up. (Sacramento was in a similar situation last year: the loud effort provided by guys like Mikki Moore and Francisco Garcia helped keep the most important players driving and playing hard ... at least from my vantage point.)

The hot rumor all over Memphis, apparently, isn't that David Lee rubbish. Michael Beasley's the new objet de la coeur for the Grizzlies, who -- according to numerous reports -- are trying to figure out how cheaply they can get him from Miami. Chris Herrington of the Memphis Flyer adds two and two:

Over the past couple of days, I've heard from three different team-connected sources that something may be happening with Beasley. Mind you, these are all people without direct connection to any potential negotiations and no-one has quite the same tale to tell: One source says Mike Conley is included but not the #5 pick, another says Mike Miller is included but not Conley, and the third didn't have any particulars but had the sense that something is afoot involving Beasley. I don't put much stock into any of these tips individually, but, collectively, it's clear that there's a lot of scuttle about a potential Beasley deal surrounding the team.

ESPN's Chad Ford pushed the Conley version Tuesday, but this morning both the Miami Herald and the Memphis Commercial-Appeal indicate Conley is off the table.

Obviously, the previously rumored Kyle Lowry-Miller-#5 package -- even with Mark Blount coming back -- would be a stellar swap for Memphis. Miami isn't likely to get a better offer, and if they land Brook Lopez at #5, they could be getting 3/5ths of their 2008-09 starting lineup in the deal. But this is Michael Beasley. I'd reject the deal. But unlike Pat Riley, I'm not all that worried about the kid's future.

Allen Iverson had until today to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Denver Nuggets, and his agent Leon Rose just confirmed to the Rocky Mountain News that his client will play out his current deal, which will pay him more than $20 million in 2008-09. This was certainly expected -- Iverson has said he wanted to remain all season, and Marcus Camby predicted his teammate would return earlier this week -- but you can never take anything for granted.

Just because Iverson decided against opting out doesn't mean he'll necessarily be playing in Denver next year: his hefty expiring deal is an interesting bargaining chip for teams looking to make a move, and guys like Carmelo Anthony and Camby have also been mentioned in their share of rumors. Plus J.R. Smith, whom AI is essentially blocking from the starting lineup, is a restricted free agent -- while Denver's up-and-down style of play fits his game, he may be able to find a starting gig elsewhere.

Even if the Nuggets can't find a blockbuster to their liking, expect at least a small deal: ESPN's Chad Ford reported a rumor yesterday involving the Grizzlies sending Kyle Lowry and the 28th overall pick to Denver for Linas Kleiza. That deal coud. make sense for both teams, considering Grizzlies' glut of point guards and the fact that Anthony Carter, the Nuggets' starter last year, is now a free agent. Whatever happens, expect the Nuggets to be one of this summer's most active teams.

There's more than one way to play defense. Everyone celebrates the ones most commonly found on highlight reels -- the vicious block that sends the ball five rows into the stands, the sneaky steal at mid-court that results in an easy fast-break dunk -- but people tend to ignore another fundamental tactic: holding your ground and drawing a charge.

As Alex from BrewHoop pointed out this weekend, Andrew Bogut is one of only a handful of players who excel at both the highlight-reel block and drawing charges:

While the Bucks finished dead last in the NBA in defensive efficiency, Andrew Bogut completed the 2007-08 season with exactly 100 more blocks than he had the previous season, good enough for 1.7 per game. The third-year center also broke through with career highs in points (14.4), rebounds (9.8), and steals (0.8).

There's more: Bogut finished second in the NBA in offensive fouls drawn, with 53. He's placed in the top three overall each of his first three years in the NBA. Drawing charges is arguably more beneficial than blocking shots, which can result in the opposing team still holding possession.

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

Cup of Coffee
If you don't get the Bad Boys reference, I'm sorry. It appears my time has passed me by. Anywho, Kyle Lowry got the most run of the trio of young Memphis point guards last night, seeing 32 minutes and scoring 24 points with four assists and two steals. Javaris Crittenton had 30 minutes and scored 17 points with four assists and a steal, while Mike Conley, Jr., scored zero points (0 for six shooting) with one assist and a steal in 16 minutes. All of this is important, because for the rest of the season, the Grizzlies are essentially having a tryout for point guard. Whoever is playing well will keep getting the run. I love Conley, and he's legit, but I think people undervalue Lowry. Since it appears he's not going to have a tremendous leash, well, adjust accordingly.

Hot Cakes
Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes are both starters now (do these guys have dirt on a slew of NBA coaches?). Hughes put up eight points with five assists and two steals in 25 minutes while Gooden went nuts, albeit against Memphis, for 21 points and 14 rebounds. It's classic sell high on either guy, although they're certainly doing their best to spite LeBron James at this point.

Mike Miller has been out almost the equivalent of a week in NBA games for the Grizzlies, but is expected to return tonight. Consider holding him out one more game because back injuries = bad field goal percentage.

We were all pretty surprised to see how quickly the Pau Gasol-to-the-Lakers thing came together. Usually there are days of rumors leading up to something like this (see: Kidd, Jason), but this came down almost out of nowhere. That being said, the general consensus around here was "Wow," but here are some more in-depth reactions to the big trade.

Tom Ziller: This is way, way better than getting Kidd. And it sort of makes all that Chris Webber talk look silly. Everyone knows the Laker hole was up front until Bynum returns, and there's not a player on the market better to fill it right now than Gasol. Even the inside defense should be fine by the time Bynum returns for the postseason, and this could now be a top-3 offense.

Will Brinson: Okay, initially, I thought this was maybe a little too much. Then I realized I'm an idiot. The Lakers don't need the draft picks and if they keep this team together those picks will be late anyway. I still like the deal from the Grizzlies side of things though, because they get a very good young player (at least one I think will be good) in Crittenton, Kwame clears a ton of cap space and they have ample picks to begin maneuvering for draft position. I will admit as a Bynum fan/fantasy owner I'm a little nervous just because, well, because I'm paranoid. If he's healthy though, it won't matter and the Lakers suddenly might be favorites to win the West.