Spotlight on…Memphis

The Skinny

After three straight years in the playoffs, it became pretty clear early on that the 2006-07 Memphis Grizzlies weren't going to keep that particular streak alive. Having stripped itself of many of its veterans (gone from 2006 were Bobby Jackson, Shane Battier and Lorenzen Wright, followed this year by Eddie Jones and Jake Tsakalidis), the club went extremely young and after splitting its first two games, preceded to drop seven straight. By the end of December, the Grizz were 7-25, which turned into 12-35 heading into January. Things haven't improved and with four straight losses heading into action tonight, Memphis is a league-worst 15-46, about to embark on a three-game road swing, which doesn't bode well considering its 4-26 mark away from home is also at the bottom of the NBA. There are plenty of fantastic young building blocks in place, and with the team probably headed for the highest number of Ping Pong balls allowed in the lottery, the biggest building block of all, namely Greg Oden, could be headed to Memphis next season.

Strengths: Offense, especially from outside the arc. This team can definitely score, ranking eighth overall with 100.9 PPG. It makes for some exciting, wide-open basketball, but hasn't resulted in many wins considering how porous the Grizz defense is. Thanks to a career season from Mike Miller, Memphis is tied for second at 38 percent from 3-point land.

Weaknesses: Defense, rebounding. Like I said, Memphis can score but with a defense that's clawless (29th in opponents' PPG at 106.1), it's a formula that's not working. Opponents are shooting 48.6 percent against Memphis – the highest percentage of any team in the NBA. The Grizz are woeful at perimeter defense, tied for last in opponents' 3-point percentage and they are also tied for dead last in rebounds per game and the number of steals they are allowing their opponents per game.

Lineup

PG: Damon Stoudamire's age is beginning to show, but at least he's been healthy this year and Chucky Atkins' current injury has allowed Mighty Mouse to get some extra burn lately. Still, he's only useful in very deep fantasy leagues.

SG: A month ago, Coach Tony Barone inserted Rudy Gay into the lineup in place of Dahntay Jones, and the rookie responded brilliantly, enjoying his finest NBA month in February with 15 PPG and 5.1 RPG. His shooting touch really improved (over 47 percent from the field and 47.5 percent from beyond the arc), while his work at the line was also much better (82.6 percent). It's quite conceivable that Gay is still available in your league, but he's poised for a strong finish, so he won't be on the waiver wires for long.

SF: Mike Miller, as discussed above, is having a season for the ages with his outside shooting. Last year's Sixth Man of the Year has made the transition back to starter seamlessly, averaging a career-high 40 MPG as he's become a much bigger part of the Memphis offense. Miller is getting to the line more often and has improved his rebounding slightly as well. He's absolutely on fire early this month as well, averaging 25.5 PPG so far in March.

PF: Lawrence Roberts's shooting touch has slipped slightly this year, but the 2004 SEC Player of the Year has enjoyed a solid sophomore effort. On a team desperate for rebounding, Roberts has maintained his starting job because of the solid work he's done on the glass. Unfortunately, he just doesn't get enough touches on the offensive end to be of any use in fantasy leagues.

C: Pau Gasol, the topic of many trade rumors, survived the deadline and will remain a Grizzlie for the rest of the season. Gasol has bounced back very nicely from the serious injury he suffered in the summer at the FIBA Championships, and he has re-established himself as the main man in the Memphis attack. He's enjoying his finest scoring and rebounding season while averaging personal bests in both FG attempts (15 per game) and shooting accuracy (52.5 percent). Despite criticism from Coach Barone about him disappearing late in the game, Gasol has been particularly on fire of late, averaging 25.5 PPG and 13 RPG over the past four.

Bench: Hakim Warrick had a great start to the season, but he lost much of his value when Gasol returned from his injury. However, the 2005 Big East MVP has settled in as the sixth man and is enjoying a fine sophomore season, with improvements in his FT shooting, rebounding and especially as a scorer; Tarence Kinsey has had to overcome signing as an undrafted rookie and three surgeries on his right eye in the wake of a broken eye socket suffered in summer league, but he's established a rotation spot for himself and is getting extra burn lately with Atkins out; Junior Harrington was beaten out for a roster spot this fall by Kinsey, but has since been signed by Memphis for the rest of the year. Harrington has no fantasy value, however; Scott Padgett, picked up from Houston last month for Tsakalidis, has not worked himself into Coach Barone's regular rotation; Dahntay Jones got plenty of action as a starter earlier this season and he was getting involved in the attack, but he's found himself written out of Coach Barone's rotation for the time being.

Injured: Stromile Swift, out the past couple of games with the ever-popular flu-like symptoms, should return to the team tonight. He was getting some significant minutes as a starter and off the bench earlier this year, but he's found himself mostly out of the rotation since the end of January; Chucky Atkins, out with a sprained ankle, is expected back this weekend. Even though Stoudamire cuts into his value, Atkins has had a nice season, shooting 39.5 percent from downtown; former Purdue star Brian Cardinal wasn't playing much, but was shooting very well before his season ended early thanks to knee surgery. His loss may hurt tonight, as Cardinal has enjoyed some big games against the Raptors over the years; Kyle Lowry, a big cog of the Villanova machine last year, was lost just 10 games into the season with a broken wrist that needed surgery. Originally, the team hoped he could return this year, but that's not going to happen. Keep an eye on Lowry as a sleeper next season.

D-League: Rookie Alexander Johnson was getting a good look in December and January, but after barely getting off the bench last month, the Grizzlies wisely sent him down to Arkansas of the D-League. Success in the D-League (he's currently averaging 11 PPG, 7.5 RPG and 1.0 BPG) will really help Johnson's confidence.

On the Rise

• Greg Buckner (knee) returned to the red-hot Mavs this week, and although he immediately grabbed the starting SG job from Devin Harris, Buckner didn't see much action in his first two games. Last night, however, he saw his most minutes and recorded his first double-digit scoring game since January 30. He wound up with 10 points and a steal, shooting well (4-for-7) in what limited touches he received while nailing both of his 3-point attempts. Buckner doesn't have much offensive upside, especially in the balanced Maverick attack, and the job share he's in with Harris (complicated even further by the return of Devean George last night), makes it difficult for him to get significant enough minutes to contribute regularly.



• Emeka Okafor's calf injury (which won't require surgery, but may shut him down for a while) and Primoz Brezec's penchant for early foul trouble has opened the door for Jake Voskuhl to get some significant PT off the bench. While he's no one's idea of a fantasy stud, over the last three games, he's played at least 20 minutes, scored at least six points and pulled down at least five boards. What has me mildly intrigued, however, is Voskuhl's line from Monday: 29 minutes, 3-for-5 shooting, six points, five boards, four steals, three blocks and an assist. If this dude could fill the stat like that on a regular basis, he might be worth a look if you need help at center in a deep league.

• Austin Croshere was getting some pretty good burn (back-to-back games of 21 minutes off the bench last week), but his rotation spot has been squeezed by the return of Buckner, as he's seen just 27 total minutes in the last three games. He's one of those players who every now and again will jump out at you from the stat sheet, although since that career game he had on January 30 (34 points), Croshere has failed to reach double-digits in scoring. And being on the periphery of the rotation makes it even less likely that he'll be a factor.



• Josh Howard barely managed to reach double figures on Tuesday, limited by foul trouble and ineffectiveness. He's struggled from the outside (0-for-5) and on the glass (just 3 RPG) over the past two, but one or two off games shouldn't be cause for concern, should they? Not unless they are part of a larger trend, and here's one that Howard owners should be aware of. Check out his scoring averages over the past four months: December -- 20.3 PPG, January -- 19.9 PPG, February -- 18.5 PPG, March -- 16 PPG. Now add the fact that Dallas clinched a playoff spot last night and you wonder if Howard, having dealt with several ankle injuries this season, will be one of the players that the team will choose to provide ample rest for down the stretch.



• Chris Wilcox looks like he's in one of his funks again, although he snapped a 5-for-18 shooting skid with a strong night from the floor on Tuesday. Still, his rebounding is way down the past couple of games as is his PT (although a shot to the head he took last night explained his fourth-quarter absence). Every so often, Coach Hill cuts Wilcox's PT to get him going, and it usually works, so expect him to bounce back soon. In the meantime, less minutes for Wilcox has opened the door for Johan Petro (who, ironically, delivered the aforementioned shot to Wilcox's head) to see some significant minutes for the first time in a couple of weeks. He had eight points and two blocks (that's three swats in the last two games for the Eiffel Tower) in 27 minutes on Tuesday, but where are the rebounds? Unless Petro can help out on the glass, he won't challenge anyone for PT for long.



• Damien Wilkins looked like he'd have value for about five minutes when Ray Allen had to sit out a game earlier this week and talk of season-ending surgery on his ankle began in earnest. But Allen plans to gut it out, so Wilkins has returned to the bench and is not seeing significant enough minutes to be a consideration.

• Luke Ridnour's neck injury, an ailment expected to keep him sidelined until at least the weekend, has allowed Earl Watson to reclaim to starting PG job in Seattle. Watson has racked up 19 assists in the past two games, and judging by his performance last night, he has no desire to give up the gig. Watson went crazy against the Knicks, matching a career high with 23 points while nailing six from long distance.

• Ridnour's injury has allowed Mike Wilks to get out of the DNP Zone the past two games, seeing 25 minutes of action. He had zero fantasy value before and now he has the chance to have slightly less than no value, but considering he's just 1-for-3 from the field (0-for-1 from beyond the arc) with no assists since Ridnour got hurt, Wilks doesn't appear to be taking advantage of the sudden surge in PT.

• PF Tyrus Thomas, taken second overall by Portland and then flipped to the Bulls in a draft day deal, has gradually seen increased minutes as the season has progressed. While his slam dunk competition comments proved he still has some maturity issues, Chicago plans to give him a good look down the stretch. Thomas got a couple of starts recently with P.J. Brown out, but even though he's now returned to the bench, Coach Skiles is committed to playing Thomas over 20 MPG with Andres Nocioni still out indefinitely. The rook's recent performance – 14-for-19 in the past five, over 10 PPG in the past three and 6 RPG in the past two – makes him an intriguing waiver wire option for those seeking late-season help. Here's what we had to say about Thomas back in July.