"Choose Ignorance over Reality?"

Life is long, but days are short, and relationships even shorter; the meaning? Only God knows, and it's possibly he's asking himself the same thing. After all, he gave us free will, as he thought that would prove for the best. Mostly it has..... but what's up with these natural disasters...... they can't all be blamed on humans for "polluting the earth". Or can it? Then of course, I am still stuck in the middle of it all, like everyone else, and to make sense of it all?

The best way to make sense of it all is to not think of it at all, which is ignorance at it's highest level. But it's also the answer to "happiness" in a way. So......... the question is..... am I willing to accept complete ignorance to be completely happy? Or do I need some cop-out religion or philosophy or science; all things that have basically been the cause of War in our history.

Ranting on this site is my new thing for when I don't have someone to talk to. Yea FaceBook, you'll be hearing from me. haha, friggin cyber-space and technology consumes the reality of the majority of many people's lives.......... so is the future way to happiness to live in this other reality of infinite information, web-sites, games, knowledge, television, films, and so much more, or will the Technoligical Revolution we are participating in somehow die, with our economy...... don't you think that could cause complete chaos if everyone lost access to the internet, to cell phones, to video games online, to all these things that have become expected of.

I'm not sure if a 30 year old man 20 years from now who grew up with an Iphone from
age 8 will be able to accept a reality that is so different. But then again, imagine what an 85 year old man has scene in his life: as a teenager he was either in the war or working or running from it; possibly had a brother in the War who they could find out was still alive once every month or 2 by way or writing letter; of course living in depression before and after, where watching a single Film on a black and white screen was the most amazing thing one could ever witness. Then these "computers" come out, and he has his wife and family and one antenna TV in the house to watch whatever...... and overall the overall feeling was "safe" living throughout the 60's, 70's, then things are discovered, while technology increases, so not only is the evil in people coming out more: rape, murder, etc; but the media is their to let us know about it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The "fear" has then become ingrained in life itself, since we hear about random quotes like "every 6 minutes somebody is murdered in the United States"(that's just a guess)....... wow, thanks for letting me know that Mr. Fox, Abc, Nbc, Nazi, CBS and whatever other organizations are so sadistically enjoying the purely sick and twisted side of happenings around the area, and forgetting about most of the good things in the area. Fear sells. Now Mr. 85 year old is too old to do anything but live day by day, knowing he doesn't understand half the things the younger generations do, and it's all just a confusing concept for me to understand. Just look how much that 85 year old man got to see........ mafia, WW2, great depression, vietnam, counter-culture, the technological boom, the Film industry becoming it's own nation, just like the computer industry; everything improving technologically while everything outside is deteriorating or decreasing. What would you think of your country then?

Meh, I'll end the rant for now. Yes, I have random thoughts, some of which come out of the the left and right brain in the middle of the night.......... I believe there's a God, what he, she, is, form of energy it's in is unknown, but what does that even mean?

"The Memphis Grizzlies are 19-18? How?"

Yes. It's true. This plagued city of Memphis, recently losing it's amazing college basketball coach to Kentucky(who is still undefeated I believe), still has some great basketball to watch. Where's that at someone might ask.... but it's right around the corner where your local Memphis Grizzlies are playing. Sure, they gave the Lakers Pau Gasol for free, and essentially a championship ring with a chance at more. But they weren't going anywhere with him.

Sure, from 2004 - 2006 Gasol carried them to the playoffs 3 straight years. Each year they were completely swept, almost as if they weren't competitive enough to really be in the playoffs. So they ship him off for cap-space(a whole lot of it) and run an organization that is saving money for a two/three year period. Sure, during that time it could be tough to watch them. But there was one thing you couldn't deny: they had some young talent, and would only get more young talent.

Now this is what my bloggin' is really about. Memphis didn't do much for awhile, but on draft-day 2008 they decided to trade Mike Miller and their 5th pick to Minnesota for their 3rd pick, which turned out to be OJ Mayo, a talented rookie from USC who was NBA ready and put up 18+ ppg along with a good sense of overall awareness for the game. That was their first major step in the right direction... or was it?

We all seem to forget that not only did the Grizzlies get rid of Pau Gasol's 50+million dollar contract, but they got his brother, Marc, as a part of that trade. At the time, people didn't know who he was. But I sure know when I watched the 2008 World Olympics, I knew Marc Gasol was going to be one hell of a bruising Center that also had a soft touch around the hoop. This guy isn't Pau; they are quite different types of players, but let's just say that getting Marc Gasol in that trade is something people tend to overlook 99% of the time.

So Memphis spent it's last 2 years in the gutter, hoping to maybe win 20 games on the year. The team looked like they weren't clicking as a group, and then Memphis made that ever-so-tempting pick for Hasheem Thabeet, the 7+footer out of Conneticut. Now he hasn't been a "bust" or anything, it usually takes about 3 years of Olawakandi style basketball to be a "bust", but he is not an NBA ready player. Many criticized them for not picking a PG, because Conley hasn't necessarily wowed them like they thought he would; people always talk about how they should have Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio(who said he wouldn't play there I believe), or Brandon Jenings(I think a PERFECT fit for Memphis). But they went the risky way; it's not often you get a 7'3'' big man that can literally anchor an entire college team and lead the nation in blocks for a few years straight.

So that leads us to the now. Almost half-way into this NBA season and Memphis is looking good with a 19 - 18 record in the SouthWest conference(toughest of all). Now, if the playoffs started today, they would be the 11th seed in the West... obviously not the playoffs. But teams a game or a few ahead of them are very, very passable after the All-Star break. Portland looks solid, but they did just lose not only their starting center Oden, but their backup Przybilla as well. That really puts them in a fragile situation. Chris Paul is keeping the Hornets afloat, but not by much, and can he do it all year? The Thunder, another young team like Memphis, is a couple games above .500% right now as well; will they be able to keep their game going come crunch time?

So why am I writing SO MUCH about the Grizzlies past to present, and why they are 19-18. There is one simple answer: Zach Randolph. This last off-season, after drafting Thabeet with the 2nd overall pick, they made a strain of trades that basically sent out Darko Milicic and brought them Zach Randolph from the Clippers; the 20 ppg, 10 rpg power-forward that is known for being selfish and a "team killer". So many people I talked to said that this was the end of Memphis; "the worst possible player to bring around their younger players"; "a cancer that would make them even worse than before". I heard so many comments about it ruining the Grizzlies year(and taking on Randolph's HUGE contract) as well as ruining them financially.

But I, for some weird reason, disagreed with them all. "How many shots does that team need between Mayo, Gay, and Z-Bo". That was one major comment used by people that I did a quick analysis on. I told them, "Around 45 - 50 shots on most nights", and all they did was laugh. I think they forget that each of those players plays anywhere from 37 minutes a night to 39 minutes a night.... and they must of just simply forgotten that a regular NBA game tends to have usually 70-90+ shots, depending on that teams pace. Guess what? Memphis runs a faster pace than the average team....... so say they take 85 shots a night, that basically means Mayo, Gay, and Randolph are shooting basically half the shots, maybe even a tad bit more. What's wrong with that when they are shooting almost 50%? Please, enlighten me?

My thoughts were simple: Memphis has a great young SF that is an extremely versatile scorer; a SG that is one of the better shooters in the game, not only from 3pt range but from anywhere; a solid young Center who is not a star, but more your average role player; and a PG that is still very young, and does his job on both ends of the floor for his teammates.

So I guess getting a guaranteed 20 points, 10 rebounds from the PF position on over 50% shooting is definitely a "bad thing"..... that makes sense, right? It's amazing how word spreads and something happens, and that player is then considered a cancer, a bad influence, etc. While it can sometimes be true, it appears this 28 year old has changed his ways. The result: a Memphis team with one of the best, young starting lineups in the game that could be there for years to come. And believe me, if this roster keeps improving, including their young bench and Thabeet, this team is going to be competing for titles with the Thunder all decade.

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So while I think Randolph is a special reason as to why they are

-5- Gasol has been and is the perfect complement at Center to ZBO at PF; not only has Gasol improved his defense on man, but he's increased his NBA defense and offense awareness/IQ; he's no longer a European playing the NBA game.... he's just an NBA player playing it. It's shown in game and stats. This dude is shooting 60%+ from the field... somehow scores 14.8 ppg on like 9 shot attempts(mostly put-backs, cuts off of doubles to Zbo; but also had a decent post game and soft hands for a 15 footer). He's their 4th option basically, and he's putting up 15 ppg, 10 rpg, 2.2 assistsand 1.5 blocks, and 61%FG shooting(I believe that leads the NBA). Can you PLEASE READ THAT AGAIN? Marc Gasol is averaging 15 ppg, 10 rpg, 2.2 assists, 1.5 blocks, on 61% FG shooting. His brother, you know the one who they "DONATED" to the Lakers, Pau Gasol, is currently averaging 17 ppg, 12 rpg, 3.4 assists and 1.7 blocks right now on 56% FG shooting. Now I am not comparing the two, but do you really think Memphis really "donated" Pau... and didn't realize his brother was actually going to be solid?

-4- ZBO arrived, is having no off-court issues, and is getting along with all his teammates; he's been a beast, and a friendly teammate as well. He's not only putting up 20+ppg/10+rpg but he;s doing it within the teams system, which is more laid back than some teams, but also extremely effective because of the pieces. Maybe he's been humbled getting out of New York and LA, and coming to Memphis in the mid-west with a ton of young talent around him made him realize it's time to mature and be a leader. So far, so good.

-3- Rudy Gay has made strides to be an All-Star "CANDIDATE". After having a somewhat lackluster year last season after his great sophmore year, he's come back in the best shape of his life: physicially and mentally. He's back to being that long, athletic small-forward that has an array of moves to sort of lead the way for them and put up 20ppg a night. He's scoring more efficiently from the field, and while his minutes have almost hit 40 per game, his turnovers have gone down almost 1 per game. That's called becoming a leader.

-2- OJ Mayo has taken solid steps himself with the addition of another go-to guy in Randolph who also needs his touches each game. Mayo's still that same 18ppg guy that is deadly from 3pt land, and he is doing it more efficiently for one thing, as well as stepping his man defense up for real, and more importantly his overall awareness is better, both offensively and defensively. He's becoming one of the smarter guards in the league. While he's at almost identical stats across the board compared to last season, he's simply highered his FG%, 3pt%, and has nearly 1 less turnover per game. That's called becoming efficient; producing the same outcome(points, rebounds, assists, etc), while taking less shots and possessions to achieve those numbers. That's the definition of improvement, but it can go unnoticed because the average fan see's he was an 18 ppg guy last year and is an 18 ppg guy this year.

-1- Mike Conley is the right fit for this team. While we haven't seen a whole lot of statistical improvement from him, he does look more comfortable on the floor, and with all the options he has, there is absolutely no reason for him to do anything but be a passer. His 10 points a game are fine, but his 5 assists per game is sort of upsetting, but you have to look at how the team is made up. Rudy Gay loves to have the ball in his hand and create for himself; OJ Mayo does this a bit, but to a lesser degree. Then there's Z-Bo, who Conley makes sure to always get the ball to when he's in position; problem is Z-Bo is pretty much ALL ISO 1 on 1 basketball, so Conley doesn't get the assist on the stat sheet, even though he made sure to dribble down to the left corner to get Z-Bo the ball. Other than that, he has improved his defense and speed definitely, and his 3pt shooting has reached 40% basically. That means teams have to stay honest guarding him, or they will pay. With stats underwhelming, it's his job to run the team and not worry about his numbers(aka Derrick Fisher). He knows his personnel.

-0- Add in coach Lionel Hollins, a down to earth coach that keeps these players accountable, but also allows them some freedom, and maybe that's why the Memphis Grizzlies are doing so well. I mean they have the 8th best offense in the NBA.... if their defense as a team were better this team would be great.

But who knows, maybe they are just "LUCKY" right? I know I wasn't the only one that thought Z-Bo in Memphis wasn't a bad idea at all, and that he fit well(he just cost a lot.....but I'd of done exactly what they did which was basically instead of pay Q-Rich 10+mil for the year take on ZBO's 2 years left at 17/18mil) and actually get a piece that will work.

I think they will be in the playoff hunt all year, and I actually hope they make it. They could really scare a team with their firepower; and their young bench isn't too bad. Remember that guy Hasheem Thabeet? He's slowly being incorporated like any player his size and mindset should be; SLOWLY. He's averaging 3ppg, 3rpg, and 1bpg in very limited minutes. Not bad at all, especially when you already have a solid starting center, it allows you to bring this possible great young center in slowly and cautiously, rather than throw him out there and either thrive or fail.

So I guess we can all just wait for their next tip off, and continue to watch this team make a push for the playoffs!