With OJ Mayo suspended by the NBA for taking a banned substance and Rudy Gay out with injury, the Memphis Grizzlies found a way to outscore the Oklahoma City Thunder 105-101 in overtime on Tuesday night.

It should come as no surprise that All Star snub Zach Randolph led the way for Memphis, scoring 31 points and pulling down 14 rebounds.  But the story of the night for the Grizzlies was Tony Allen.

Allen filled up the box score, scoring 27 points, getting three rebounds, three blocks and a ridiculous five steals.  Most of Allen’s work came in the second half.  Allen played great defense on Kevin Durant, forcing him into 17-foot fade aways with a defender draped all over him.  Memphis fans haven’t seen defensive play like Tony Allen’s since Shane Battier.

Allen’s play sparked the rest of the team.  Randolph badly twisted his ankle in overtime but pleaded with head coach Lionel Hollins to stay in the game.  His effort on the defensive end of the court led to a Durant turnover and Mike Conley free throws.

Conley’s clutch 3-4 free throw shooting in overtime helped Memphis to victory and half game behind the Portland Trailblazers for the eighth and final seed for the playoffs in the Western Conference.

The Grizzlies will face the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night at the FedEx forum.  Buy tickets for the game, for the next 24 hours all February home games are half off face value.  You can’t beat that deal.

What a cool time to be Memphis Grizzlies fan.  The Grizz are one game from .500 and still we can’t help but expect the worst.

Wanna-be 3-point threat O.J. Mayo just got hit with a “trade me” 10-game suspension for taking over-the-counter steroids.  What a piece?

Your team is trying to make the playoffs and you Juice?

With or without Mayo, Memphis will fall well short of this year’s expectations.  Mark my words, no Mayo = No Playoffs.  Right now is a critical stretch in the NBA.  Does Memphis have the mustard?

Inaide-outside only works with an outside threat.  Rudy?  Xavier?  Mike?  Who can hit a 3?

With Z-Bo and Marc there is something, just nothing that exciting right now.  Thanks O.J.  Keep it up, you’ll be a star for someone else.

Despite shooting 49 percent the Memphis Grizzlies lost to Chicago Bulls on Monday 96-84  at The FedEx Forum.  Obviously that’s a joke as the Bulls shot damn near 70 percent.  Love the defensive effort.

I’m just sick of the inconsistecy in the team.

For the first time all season I actually went to a Grizzlies game on Saturday night.  They hosted the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk came back and what?… Memphis smashed Dallas and I went 4-0 in the last 4 years of the Grizzlies win when I show up.

But to the point, Memphis dominated on Saturday night, slept on Monday afternoon.  Uninspired play seems to be the only defect.  The bench is better than last season and the starters have to be  better, right?  I mean, Z Bo is killing it.  Rudy is having a career season.  What is the problem?  Why do they play well against good teams and like  garbage against mediocre teams?

If I could answer that I wouldn’t right for free.  (pun)

I do know that Memphis does a poor job of supporting their team.  I know that the team does a poor job of winning.  I know that Z Bo deserves a contract extension.  But most of all, I know that owner Michael Heisley’s “3-year plan” ain’t never going to happen.

The odds the Griz make the playoffs have to be awful.  If they don’t win against the better teams in the Eastern Conference, like the Bulls, how will they ever get a playoff win against the Lakers?

I hate to be the guy that bashes his team, but let’s go gents.  We are all tired of overpaid players, incompentant leadership and losing basketball.  .500 won’t cut it this year and we have a long way to go.

So the Grizzlies are 4-8 and go on the road to face the Wizards on Friday night.  What can we say about how the season has gone so far?  Let’s take a look:

Playing to the level of the competition.  The Grizzlies seem to play their best games against the best teams, see the Boston game or the Phoenix game, but then resort to poor basketball against what, on paper, seems to be inferior competition.  Obviously this style of play is not going to get Memphis into the playoffs.  Likely it would deny them even 40 wins, a number they hope to eclipse this season, their 10th in the city.

This is an easy thing for a fan to notice and very difficult for a player to notice.  An athlete gets into the mindset that the competition is as good as they are, or is having a great night.  It’s an idea that invades their skills like a plague.  Settling for jumpers, playing lazy defense (relying too much on help), not running the fast breaks, not making the extra pass.  Sometimes these are just some of the deficiencies in a selfish player, but in the case of the Grizzlies, this happens almost nightly.  The only player immune seems to be Zach Randolph.  He been the only consistent player for Memphis, grabbing a double-double in half of the team’s games so far.  Marc Gasol has a foot injury that is clearly holding him back.  He looked good against Shaq, but the frustration on his face let’s you know something is wrong.

The coaching staff needs to be able to see when their team starts to drift into complacency and shake things up.  To head coach Lionel Hollins’ credit he has tried to insert different players into the lineup.  The recent increase in minutes for rookie Greivis Vasquez is a testament to that.  Vasquez has been able to make the most of his opportunities when they come, too.  Since his electrifying seven-point break-out game he has struggled, going 2-11 from the floor including 0-6 from three.  Because of his intensity and unwillingness to be outplayed, however, he has gotten more minutes each night.  He played 17 minutes in the loss against Portland Tuesday night and finished with five points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal and two turnovers.  Not bad for a rookie playing significant minutes for only the third game of his career.  John Wall he is not, but it’s a good sign for Grizzlies fans that Mike Conley can sit on the bench for a little while each night.  Not to mention Vasquez’s playing time only steals from Acie Law’s playing time and that is never a bad thing.

Now that I have spewed out all my frustration I realize that I put two things in the same category: playing to the level of the competition and bench play.  Both are areas that the Grizzlies have been lacking and must improve quickly.  I think rotating bench players in for 10-12 minutes per game can’t hurt much right now.  The starters have already logged in quite a few and it’s time to see what these guys can do.  They have all been on the team for a while now and I think everyone wants to see why.  Darrell Arthur is great and Tony Allen is growing on me, but I want to see Hamed Haddadi play.  What about Sam Young?  He looked great last year.  I think I’ve seen enough of DeMarre Carroll, though.

It is still early in the season, but these things can stick around for a long time.  Hopefully not long enough for the Grizzlies to feel they need to blow up the roster just to make the playoffs.  I like the roster, at least I think I do, but that tends to happen when a team keeps the same players around for awhile.  We’ll see what happens Friday.  The Wizards should be a good Litmus test for the Grizzlies.

The Memphis Grizzlies are in Orlando tonight for a matchup with the Magic.

The Magic have lost two straight at home and won’t be expected to let the Grizzlies leave without a fight.  Memphis touts a 4-6 record after coming off a 116-110 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics at home on Saturday night.

Memphis is 4-10 all time against the Magic and the teams split the series last season, with each winning a game at home.

Greivis Vasquez is slated to play tonight despite rumors that he had been demoted to the Developmental League.  Vasquez had approached the team about going to the D-League to get more minutes.

“It’s better than sitting on the bench,” said Vaszquez.

Vasquez had his most impressive game as a rookie against the Celtics, scoring seven points on 3-3 shooting, one of those being a three pointer.

Zach Randolph posted his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in 41 minutes of action.

The Grizzlies were the victims of some suspect officiating on Saturday in the overtime period after Mike Conley was clotheslined by Paul Pierce.  Pierce was called for only a personal foul on the play, which usually would result in a flagrant foul because Pierce grabbed Conley by the neck and shoulders and brought him to the ground.

A few plays later, Randolph got tangled up with Kevin Garnett and pulled him by the shoulder to the ground.  Both players were fighting for a rebound and it appeared that Garnett made the first contact.  However, a flagrant foul was called on Randolph, giving the Celtics two free throws and the ball with under three minutes to play in the overtime period.

Hopefully tonight Memphis will not have to rely on better officiating and can build off of the momentum they have established this season, taking two playoff mainstays in the Phoenix Suns and the Boston Celtics into overtime.  Now let’s see if they can finally finish a team and get a big win against an Eastern Conference powerhouse.

In the past, Rashard Lewis had mauled the Grizzlies.  It has always been a mismatch for Memphis because Lewis can play inside or outside and he is a legitimate three-point threat.

Watch for the Grizzlies to try Rudy Gay and Tony Allen to try and stop Lewis tonight.

Days after suffering a heartbreaking triple-overtime  loss in Phoenix the Memphis Grizzlies needed only regulation to defeat the Suns.

The Griz were lead by forward Zach Randolph who posted 23 points and 20 rebounds.  Memphis is now 4-4 overall with a 2-1 record at The FedEx Forum.

Rudy Gay added 22 points and eight rebounds in the win.  Phoenix falls to 3-4 on the young NBA season.

The Suns were led by the ageless Grant Hill, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds.  Steve Nash scored 16 points and dished out 11 dimes.

Randolph’s double-double was the fifth 20-20 type of his career.

Rebounding and defense were the keys to victory for Memphis who stole the ball 12 times from visiting Phoenix and forced 23 turnovers.  The Grizzlies are the best in the NBA in theft, averaging 12.6 steals per game.

The Grizzlies also overcame Friday night’s poor free-throw shooting to shoot 85.7% as a team, going 24-28 from the foul line.

Rookie Xavier Henry finally found his touch, scoring 14 points off the bench for Memphis.  O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley both added 16 points while Marc Gasol finished with 10 points and eight boards.

So now that we have looked at the box score let’s evaluate the team so far in the season.  In just four games the Grizzlies have gone from what looked like a certain lottery pick-bound season to possible playoff contenders.  It is still early, but this team has the talent, at least in the starting five, to make some noise.

The biggest concern for Memphis right now, same as last season, is the bench production.  Last season the starters logged almost all the minutes and that trend seems to be continuing this season.

That is never good news considering how long the NBA season is and how physical the game itself is.   Consider Gasol’s shoulder injury last season.  It came at a bad time (when the Griz were trying to make a playoff push) and he rushed back too early.  I like the competitive fire, but let’s think long-term here guys.

It helps that Darrell Arthur is playing much better this season after sitting out 56 games last season due to injury.  He is rebounding well and making shots.  He only had two points and two rebounds last night, but he was able to play 20 minutes.  That allowed Gasol to only play 28 minutes.  Little things like that add up throughout the year.

While that is a positive, there is a much larger negative.  Only four Grizzlies came off the bench last night.  Four.  That means they played a nine-man rotation.  This was not due to injury, all coach’s decisions.

Not to mention Randolph needed 41 minutes to post his huge numbers.

Sam Young only played 9 minutes off the bench.  He was the best player from that position last year and he had a great summer league.  One can only wonder what has landed him in coach Lionel Hollins‘ doghouse.

Somehow Acie Law made the roster this season and played only 12 minutes against the Suns while Henry played 25.

It is always nice to get wins, but the bench situation must improve for this team to have any hope of a playoff birth this season.

The Grizzlies will next play host to the 4-2 Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.

The Memphis Grizzlies will finally open the season tonight against the Atlanta Hawks at the FedEx Forum.

After going undefeated in the preseason, expectations are high from the fans and the organization.  The Grizzlies hope to make the playoffs this year in order to stay true to owner Michael Heisley’s “three-year plan,” which is now entering its’ final year.

Rudy Gay earned his long-term, big money contract this off-season, and depending on which Zach Randolph shows up early this season for Memphis, he will get paid as well, probably around the All Star break.

Enough with the old information.  If you are reading this blog, you already know about the Grizzlies.  Let’s start the new season.

With 8 1/2 minutes left to go in the first, Z-Bo has went down hard on his tailbone after mixing it up with Al Horford for guess what, an offensive rebound.  After a timeout it looks like he’ll be okay, but that is worth keeping an eye on, not just for this game but for the early part of this season.

Early injuries to star players will kill this team.

So far in the first quarter the Grizzlies have looked sluggish, indecisive and confused.  Rudy Gay can’t buy a bucket and nobody wants to run.  I’m not really seeing the playoff desire yet.  That worries me because if there is a knock on this team, it’s the “want-to.”

Randolph was sent to the locker room.  As a note, Marc Gasol did not start and will not play tonight, no word as to why on the broadcast.  Also a note, Gay did not learn how to play defense yet.  That apparently was not part of the contract.

Rudy picked up two fouls in eight minutes after missing shots and losing defenders.  The crowd booed him as he walked to the bench and cheered new addition Tony Allen as he got his first real action in a Grizzlies uniform.

At the end of the first quarter, I find myself wondering if Hasheem Thabeet will ever make a shot two feet away from the rim.  Also, nice play by Tony Allen at the end of the quarter; blown layup as time expired.

To make up for it, Allen stole the ball early in second and proceeded to miss two layups in a row.

The Hawks lead by 10 early as the Grizzlies can’t stop turning the ball over or start giving a crap.  The crowd at the Forum has noticed.   A resounding boo has been the response for opening night in Memphis in 2010.  That is disappointing considering the crowd is pretty decent in size.

Sam Young can still finish!  Nice to see a steal and a reverse jam on other end.  Obviously you can’t expect that to translate on defense as Atlanta came right back and scored easily.

Surprisingly, Darrell Arthur seems to be the lone, consistent offensive performer halfway through the second quarter.  Mike Conley contributed with some nice jump shooting, giving the Grizzlies a needed boost in the weakest phase of their offensive game.

Zaza Pachulia was all over the glass for the Hawks.  Memphis had no answer for him throughout the first half.  With two minutes left in the first half he had 11 points and eight rebounds with most of those coming against Randolph.

With under two minutes to play the Grizzlies attempted their first three-point shot, which was good from the corner by O.J. Mayo.  He later missed the Grizzlies last shot of the half, which was a three from the elbow.

Rudy Gay picked up a technical foul with 27 seconds left in the first half for running with the ball after a foul call.   Good call on the personal foul, but the technical was a result of the NBA and Commissioner David Stern cracking down on players complaining to officials.

At the end of the first half, the Hawks led the Grizzlies 62-50.  How Atlanta is not up by 40 points I will never understand.  Laughable effort in the first by Memphis.

The Grizzlies were on the court for the third quarter.

In the fourth, this one looks like a check-the-box-score-on-espn.com-the-next-day all over the place.

I found myself going back to the Bulls/Thunder game to see a couple teams that actually play together.  The Grizzlies were less than impressive to say the least.  They look more like individual players than a team than ever before.

Come to think of it, they only look like this when Marc Gasol doesn’t play.  Can you say underrated?

Last year Gasol showed he had heart and skill.  He willed the team to victory at least six times last season.   That is significant considering it was his second year in the NBA and his first year not being overweight.  He will be a legit center in the league for a long time, I just hope he does ALL of that time in a Memphis jersey.

…

Sorry about the tirade, I just needed to focus on the positive.  I didn’t want to settle for a jumpshot before the defense settled in, so to speak.

CLANG.

Let’s just hope it doesn’t last all year, folks.  Out of sync, out of mind.  Grizzlies lose to the Hawks 119-104.

Lorenzen Wright, 34, was found murdered in southeast Memphis on July 27.

The discovery of the player affectionately known as “The Howl” during his playing days at the then Memphis State University, came eight days after 911 dispatchers received a call from Wright’s cell phone in which at least a dozen gunshots were heard before the connection was lost, according to The Commercial Appeal.

Gail Mathes, the lawyer of Wright’s ex-wife Sherra Robinson Wright, said that three men dressed in sport coats with visible weapons showed up at her house six weeks before the player’s murder demanding his location, according to espn.com.

The dispatchers were unable to pinpoint the exact location of the call due to limitations on the equipment.  The call came from outside of the city limits of Germantown, a Memphis suburb, restricting the capabilities of the department’s tracking equipment.

Several media outlets have reported that Wright saved recordings of threats that  Sherra Wright had left him prior to his disappearance and death.  He then gave them to his personal assistant at the time, Wendy Wilson.  Wilson released the tapes to Memphis police because she felt they were “threatening.”

Allegedly, the tapes have Sherra Wright threatening Lorenzen Wright if she founds out the he is having relationships with other women.

The two were also experiencing troubles with lack of alimony payments being made by the father of six, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

On August 1, Memphis police searched the home of Sherra Wright.  They are reported to have focused on a backyard grill and fire pit after neighbors reported seeing smoke from the yard on the night that Lorenzen Wright went missing, noting that it was also one of the hottest nights of the year.

Wright played 13 seasons in NBA for the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings.

Wright should be remembered by Grizzlies fans as a key player in the team’s three playoff appearances from 2004 to 2006.  Wright began his career in Memphis at the same time as the team, 2001.

His best statistical year was in 2001, where he averaged 12 points and 9.4 rebounds for his hometown team.

Wright was also an All-American twice at the University of Memphis in 1995 and 1996.  In 1995 Wright captained Team USA to gold medal and a 7-0 record at the 1995 World University Games in Japan.

Wright became known as “The Howl” because he would howl like a wolf after his numerous spectacular dunks and ally-oops.

Lorenzen Wright was one my favorite Tigers to watch growing up.  He brought energy and excitement to coach Larry Finch’s teams.  He was the high-flying big man who could catch the ball well above the rim and hammer it down with authority on helpless defenders.

His shot-blocking ability made him an asset on defense, and I will never forget his rebounding.  I learned how to rebound from watching Lorenzen Wright stick his butt out and box out bigger, stronger players to pull down the boards.  While he wasn’t Dennis Rodman on the glass, Wright was his own kind of rebounder.  He showed that position can win over size almost all the time.

Details for his memorial service can be found on the Memphis Grizzlies website.