Game Preview…..Nov 10, AT Memphis Grizzlies

Projected starters
Portland Trailblazers


Andre Miller-PG
Brandon Roy-SG
Steve Blake-SF
LaMarcus Aldridge-PF
Greg Oden-Center

Projected starters
Memphis Grizzlies


Mike Conley-PG
OJ Mayo-SG
Rudy Gay-SF
Zach Randolph-PF
Marc Gasol-Center

Have to confess, its hard for me to take the Grizzlies seriously. It almost looks like their owner has gone out of his way add to his collection of NBA clowns. Maybe he thinks it will help sell more tickets. And maybe it has. All I know is that it was this kind of teambuilding that led Portlands franchise into an era where they were known as Jailblazers. And the end result was not ticket sales, it was a lack thereoff.

Without further adieu ladies and gentlemen, I give you Zach Randolph….Grizzlie power forward, Hoops Family patriarch, and 20 and 10 man.

Zach is famous for a lot of things. When he was in Portland he mentioned regularly that he didn’t really consider himself a Trailblazer, but liked to instead think of himself as a gangsta….a gangsta for life. Thanks to Shamsports we have here for you a list of some of Zachs extracurricular hobbies and activities.

1995: Spent thirty days in a juvenile detention centre for shoplifting. (Note: that kinda reads two ways, but you get the idea.)

Undated, in high school: Spent thirty more days in a juvenile detention centre for possession of stolen property (namely, guns, one of which he sold.) Also served thirty days of house arrest on a battery charge.

May 2002: Arrested for underage drinking. He had the equivalent of one pint when aged 20 and 329 days. What kind of crazy bastard is he?

April 2003: Punched team mate Ruben Patterson in the face, causing some heavy blood loss. Earned himself a suspension. It is not known whether Ruben deserved it.

December 2003: Arrested for driving whilst under the influence of marijuana. Also done for driving without a license.

December 2007: Sued for sexual assault. No criminal charges brought.

6th April 2009: Arrested for driving whilst under the influence, again. Suspended by the Clippers for two games. Initially denied bail. Charge later reduced to one count of reckless driving.
source shamsports.com

And….our friendly gangsta Zach was in trouble again just this summer. In LA he was accused of beating up a man in a pizza parlor.

And next we have their new shooting guard, Alan Iverson. A man who made practice famous.

Memphis isn’t Iversons first stop in the NBA, and he brings along with him his Shamsports resume.

14/02/1993: Given a 15 year jail sentence, with 10 years suspended, for maiming someone with a chair at a bowling alley. Served 4 months before receiving a pardon, and a quashed conviction.

4th August 1997: Convicted of carrying an unlicensed concealed weapon and marijuana possession after the car he was riding as a passanger in was stopped for speeding. In a plea bargain, pleaded no contest to the gun charge so that the drug charge would be dropped. Sentenced to 100 hours community service, 3 years probation and 2 years of drug testing.

July 2002: Arrested and charged on 14 counts, including 12 felonies, after storming into his cousins apartment with a gun he wasn’t supposed to have. All charges eventually dropped due to inconsistent prosecution testimonies.

2000/2001: Recorded a rap album containing violent and homophoic lyrics. Was instructed by David Stern to remove the offensive bits. Then decided not to release it.

Alan Iverson hasn’t been starting in Memphis. And he is throwing the same hissy fit he did in Detroit last year when he was asked to play off the bench. Currently he is at his home in Atlanta either sulking or attending to a personal matter. Either way, it is unclear when or if he will return to the Grizzlies.

Mentoring these young men is Grizzlie assistant coach Damon “Stash” Stoudamire. A self proclaimed marijuana addict who was once arrested for marijuana posession with teammate Rashweed Wallace in a yellow hummer following a Blazer game in Seattle, and at the Airport in Phoenix after trying to pass through an airport metal detector with some weed wrapped in tin foil. Authorities also raided his home in Portland resulting in felony drug posession charges.

Here we have a young Stoudamire with his mentor, Isiah Thomas. I thought this was kind of creepy.

The man charged with keeping this collection of misfits together is former Trailblazer Lionel Hollins. He deserves better.

The next video shows a more serious look at this years Grizzlies.

As always there will be pregame, gametime, and postgame discussion of the game in the Club Blazers gameday forums.