To the Editor:
I was shocked and appalled at the inaccuracies of Stephen Macekura's "No -- Loss of 'Big Aristotle' will spell tragedy in L.A." (The Dartmouth, July 22).
This attempt at sports commentary and analysis named the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns as "other playoff teams" who upgraded their rosters, despite the fact neither made the playoffs. In fact, the Suns finished second to last in the conference, 14 games out of a playoff spot, and while I am no scientist, I do not foresee the acquisitions of Steve Nash, a Canadian, and Quentin Richardson, a former Clipper, improving their record by an entire 14 games in the Western Conference.
The most egregious error of Mr. Macekura's commentary was his blatant disregarded for the true rising star of the Western Conference, the Memphis Grizzlies, who in fact did make the 2004 playoffs as the six-seed.
The Grizzlies, under the leadership of Jerry "The Logo" West and the 2003-2004 Coach of the Year Hubie Brown, posted the first 50-win season and playoff berth in franchise history, while playing with no defined superstar. With a new look Jason Williams running the floor, two past Rookie-of-the-Year recipients respecting themselves (Mike Miller in 2000-2001 and Pau Gasol in 2001-2002) and Stromile "Bird Man" Swift holding down the fort, the Grizzlies win with hustle, teamwork and defense. They are the Pistons of the West -- only they have to endure the physical wear-and-tear of the regular season while Detroit gets to cruise into the playoffs of a weaker conference top-to-bottom.
The bottom line is that Jerry West has created a team not centered on a bling-bling superstar, but instead on a core talent-base.
As a result of his three years as president of basketball operations, no team in the NBA is deeper. When J-Will, Miller, "Pow" Gasol, Swift and swingman James Posey need a break, Hubie sends in the reinforcements: Lorenzen Wright, Bonzi Wells, Bo Outlaw, Earl Watson and poster-child Shane Battier. With a solid 12-man roster, the Grizzlies are the only team in the NBA who actually put their joints down so they can competitively play basketball for a full 48 minutes.
Despite having no first-round draft picks, West picked up University of Memphis product Antonio Burks, Texas Tech's Andre Emmett and Sergei Lishouk from the Ukraine, and signed the free-agent Brian "Custodian" Cardinal, yet again increasing the talent-base of the Grizzlies roster.
Eastern Conference diehards don't agree? Think the Grizzlies suck and don't understand all this hype about the Western Conference?
While Memphis is in the Western Conference despite their geographical location because the powers-that-be deem it so, their 50-32 record would have been good for the New Jersey Nets' two-seed in the 2004 Eastern Conference playoffs, pushing the lowly Celtics back into the lottery where they belonged. Don't hate the player, hate the game.
Did I mention they are abandoning the Pyramid a.k.a. "The Tomb of Doom" for the FedEx Forum and ditching the teal, bear claw dubs for new uniforms that feature trademark colors Memphis Midnight and Beale Street Blue and a distinctive possessed bear logo?
The Memphis Grizzlies are the rising force in the Western Conference (or as Spaniard Pau Gasol would say, "en fuego"), and Mr. Macekura needs to know it. Go Grizz!
