This past summer, my good friends and fellow Grizzlife contributors Jumpstop Montague, Jordan Griesbeck, and Paul Billings sat around Griesbeck's living room and predicted wins for the season, how long Hollins would last as head-coach, next Grizzlies playoff appearance, and other various Grizzly-related statistics. The list of our expectations, based on pure conjecture as well as the assumption that AI would play for more than three games, is currently stored in Jordan's dormitory, so I do not have access to the exact numbers that I foresaw; however, I do remember that, looking at the future through the lense of my teams' past failures, I projected 20 wins, Hollins being fired early in the season, and the next Grizzly playoff appearance occurring in the 20-teens as the Las Vegas Grizzlies, while Memphians rued the name of Heisley and wondered what to do with their second under-used downtown entertainment venue.
The season began, and, as I expected, fielding a team with three scorers, no good passers, and a disgruntled ex-All-Star on the bench led to selfish-play, poor defense, less chemistry than a blind date between an Asbergian physicist and an inbred UK basketball fan, and losses. Lots and lots of losses. Never a gracious winner, I took the opportunity to remind my friends who were more optimistic than I that I am never wrong, ever. Not happy with the results, but right, I saw the wheels come off of the very small Grizz bandwagon as Allen Iverson "retired," and felt further vindicated with my pre-season projections that were said to be excessively pessimistic, even for me.
However, a strange thing happened once Iverson left: Memphis won. Z-Bo wasn't a cancer. Rudy played a little bit of defense. OJ didn't look depressed out on the court. Gasol became Lausanne's most successful alumnus and better liked in the community than his whiny brother ever was, and Conley wasn't awful. My friends took that opportunity to let me know that, no matter how often I may say that I am never wrong, I am always completely full of it.
Stranger still was that I began to secretly expect that Memphis would win. Despite his never actually positively contribute to the team in any way, shape, or form, Iverson's departure followed by wins seemed somewhat similar to Bill Simmon's Ewing Theory, where the loss of a star leads to success for the star's former team, and as a sports disciple of Simmons despite his consistent derisive writing about both the Grizz and Jay Cutler, I am a strong believer in the Ewing Theory.
Following the Portland road victory over Thanksgiving break, I have become a full-blown optimist, and I must say that believing in Memphis basketball, the clutchness of Mayo, the flummoxing abilities of Randolph to score and rebound despite his inability to leave the floor, the athleticism of Rudy, and Conley's court-vision has been the most satisfying sports experience in my life. Good things will happen for this team, as was further evidenced by the burst-pipe miracle of tonight's win over the Clips. The ball will bounce straight into the hands of the Ga-Z-Bo, Sam Young's random drives to the basket will result in points, OJ will kill more teams with clutch shooting than the other OJ killed people, and the Grizzlies will stay at or above .500 and make the playoffs, where we will win at least one game. These are my expectations, my new predictions, my almost mid-season projections, and they are not tainted by 19 years of pulling for terrible teams; instead they are based on the play a team of destiny, a whole which is greater than its parts, and players that are young and hungry in a city that is hungry for hope and change.
To echo the student section of my beloved alma mater, Memphis University School(that's for Jordan), I believe that we will win!
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