"the emperor has no clothes" circa 2003 Memphis style

[CeltsSteve@xxxxxxx]

<A HREF="http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/grizzlies/article/0,1426,MCA_475_2073893,00.html";>http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/grizzlies/article/0,1426,MCA_475_2073893,00.html</A>


Let's wait a while before grading picks

By Geoff Calkins
<A HREF="mailto:calkins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx";>calkins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx</A>

June 28, 2003


How do you ask a legend if he's lost his touch? 

Uh, Jerry. 

You think, maybe, possibly, under the circumstances, the people who are 
saying this Grizzlies draft wasn't your very best ever, you think they might, you 
know, be right?   
    
"I could care less," said Jerry West, the legend in question. "I really could 
care less about what people say." 

Well. 

Glad we cleared that up, eh? West introduced Troy Bell and Dahntay Jones, the 
Grizzlies two first-round draft picks, to the media Friday afternoon. 

He did not hide his head in shame. He did not apologize for what he had done. 


"All I know is these are two guys that are going to help us," he said, "and 
two guys who would have been taken in the first round."  (CeltsSteve: That's 
verrry debatable, JW.)

There are those who disagree with this assessment. Those who have suggested, 
politely, that West must have lost his mind. ESPN.com gave out grades for the 
draft. Nobody got a lower grade than the Grizzlies' C-. 

Memphis fans seem to be less than impressed. Some of you have written to say 
so.

"Many years ago I read an interesting fairy tale called the emperor has no 
clothes," wrote Bill Massey. "Now I read the same story this morning, cast as a 
sports story in the CA." 

And that's one possible view of West's brief tenure with the team. He's 
living off his considerable rep.  (CeltsSteve:  He is living off his rep. He's been 
labeled as a "genius". He's nothing of the sort. What he IS is a 'risk 
taker'. He's not afraid to fail. There's a huge difference between a "genius" and a 
'risk taker'. It doesn't take a "genius" to spend the $121M of the owner's 
money to sign Shaq to a FA contract, either.)

West drafted a first-rounder last year he gave up on before the season was 
over. He drafted two first-rounders this year that ESPN's Chad Ford says would 
have been available in the second round. Of course, that brings up the obvious 
question: Who exactly is Chad Ford? 

"Do I think someone at ESPN is a better judge of basketball than Jerry West?" 
asked Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley. "If I did, I would have hired him 
instead." 

Heisley has an interesting perspective on all this. Before the draft, West 
explained to Heisley exactly what he was going to do. Plan A was to try to trade 
up and get a mystery guy. Plan B was to wait and see if Mickael Pietrus fell 
to the Grizzlies at pick 13. 

Plan C, the most likely plan, was to execute a trade with the Boston Celtics 
that had been in place for several days. That's right, the trade was all but 
done. West woke up the morning of draft day figuring he'd probably get Bell and 
Jones. 

Does that make them smart choices? Not necessarily, no. But the Grizzlies pay 
West to exercise his judgment. These are the guys he liked. Until there's 
more evidence to suggest West really has lost his touch, it seems reasonable to 
give him the benefit of the doubt. 

Another reason to keep the faith emerged at the Grizzlies budget meeting the 
morning of the draft. The bean counters were going on about credits and debits 
and blah blah blah blah. Heisley interrupted their spiel. 

"That's all fine and well," he said. "But I want to build a winning team." 

In other words, the Grizzlies aren't done yet. They're going to be players 
when the free-agent market opens July 1. What are they after?

West said Thursday that the team is now two players deep at every position 
but center. 

"And we're going to get a player," he said, "who will fill our needs."

That doesn't mean a fifth point guard. That means a big guy who can clog up 
space. 

The most prominent free-agent centers are Alonzo Mourning, Brad Miller and 
Michael Olowokandi. If the Grizzlies could stick one of those three in the 
middle of the lineup - Olowokandi would make the most sense, if only because by 
picking Chris Kaman, the Clippers indicated they're willing to let him go - would 
you still think the team isn't substantially improved? 

So my advice is to watch how it plays out, to judge West when training camp 
reconvenes. Yeah, ESPN gave the man a C-. You should probably give him some 
time. 

Contact columnist Geoff Calkins at 529-2364; E-mail: <A HREF="mailto:calkins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx";>calkins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx</A>    
 
            
CeltsSteve