SB Nation - Zach Randolph

Backsided: Randolph Carries Grizzlies Past Warriors 121-108

djturtleface — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:46:57 -0000

More photos » by Joe Murphy - NBAE/Getty Images

about 19 hours ago: MEMPHIS, TN - DECEMBER 22: Zach Randolph #50 of the Memphis Grizzlies smiles after his buzzer beater before halftime in a game against the Golden State Warriors on December 22, 2009 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

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Two nights after Zach Randolph led the Grizzlies to a big win over the Denver Nuggets, he took the Grizzlies back to the promised land, leading the pounding of the Warriors 121-108.

Z-Bo led all scorers by dropping 33 points and snagging 18 rebounds, 6 of which were offensive, which was a huge boost for Memphis tonight.

He was complemented by the rest of the starters though. O.J. Mayo and Marc Gasol each had 22 points (Marc's stat line was stuffed tonight, with 9 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 4 blocks) , while Rudy Gay only managed to score 16 with 2 blocks in limited minutes. Mike Conley rounded out the bunch with 11, the low total a result of some serious shooting woes (5-15 from the field).

Another good home win for the Grizzlies, who are pushing ever closer to .500 despite their difficult schedule lately. Our residents by the Bay, Golden State Of Mind, have their own take, and I'll have more in the morning.

Get Deep: Grizzlies Close to Signing Von Wafer

djturtleface — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:56:05 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

8 months ago: Houston Rockets' Von Wafer celebrates a dunk against the Portland Trail Blazers during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 5, 2009, in Houston. The Rockets won 102-88. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

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***UPDATE***

Apparently Von Wafer is now signing with Rockets, though rumor has it that it may only be on a 10-day contract. Wafer and rookie Chase Budinger fill similar roles, so this is somewhere between a "what the hell" and "I hate history" moment.

***END UPDATE***

The Memphis Commercial Appeal is reporting that the Memphis Grizzlies put guard Von Wafer through physicals today and could announce his signing as soon as this afternoon. Both parties interest has been acknowledged by multiple sources for over a week, though it now appears that Von Wafer will join the team sometime this week.

Von Wafer is a 6 foot 5 inch tall shooting guard who specializes in just what his job description belies -- shooting. Wafer is known to be occasionally explosive off the bench; as last season with the Rockets he was readily able to get his own shot and sink it at will on many nights.

That being said, Von Wafer doesn't just have a reputation as an explosive scorer, but also as an explosive locker room influence. While Wafer seemed to fit in well for the bulk of the season last year, he shouted at Rocket's coachRick Adelman in the playoffs and was immediately expelled from the team. The Rockets made little to no effort to bring Wafer back this season.

Of course snap reactions to the prospect of adding Von Wafer are over the jump, and be sure to add your own comments as well.

Another downside to Von Wafer is his oftentimes questionable shot selection. Like most scoring guards who primarily rely on their jumper, Wafer oftentimes looks out of control and will do nothing to improve the shortage of assists for the Grizzlies. His game is actually fairly comparable to O.J. Mayo, which could be a bad thing (lack of a "change of pace") or a good thing (consistency) for Memphis

And then, piled on top of those negatives, there is the question of playing time. The Grizzlies starters are logging enormous minutes, so it wouldn't seem like carving out a few minutes would be a struggle. The problem, however, is that the Grizz's bench has proven itself too terrible inefficient to warrant taking back any of those minutes from the starters if Memphis wants to keep winning.

Adding Von Wafer could improve this problem, yes, but I'm not sure how much better he is than Sam Young. With Wafer the Grizzlies would have a full lineup off the bench -- Jamaal Tinsley, Von Wafer, Sam Young, DeMarre Carroll, and Hasheem Thabeet. Consider me skeptical, however, that this lineup is good enough to play together without support from the starters.

Still, every bit of support off the bench will help this team, who, as Kevin Pelton has pointed out, can't keep relying on Sam Young as their primary backup scorer. His efficiency is simply too poor too rely on, especially since his shooting stroke is clearly not NBA ready from 3-point range.

Von Wafer will give the Grizzlies significantly more shooting and offense, but fans need to hope that Coach Hollins's magic is going to need to keep him playing a positive role just like the Grizzlies last two productive castaways, Jamaal Tinsley and Zach Randolph.

Payroll Lost: Marko Jaric Signs in Spain, Buyout Likely

djturtleface — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:23:21 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

"Marky" Marko Jaric will forever be remember for his very, very terrible defense. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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Our very own Tom Ziller of SB Nation has broken the news over at Fanhouse that Grizzlies's payroll weight Marko Jaric appears to have signed with Real Madrid -- the lesser known basketball version of the club -- and is likely to be bought out in the near future. The Memphis Grizzlies have not yet publicly acknowledged his signing, neither have any other news outlets by my estimation, so terms of any buyout are all speculation at this point.

Grizzlies fans will remember Jaric forever for being absolutely piss poor, overpaid, a tremendously bad defender, and having a smoking hot wife. In fact fans around the entire league will probably remember Marky Marko more for her than any of his own basketball attributes.

Here is his summary of the matter:

The Grizzlies had previously given Jaric permission to find a new team, either by trade in the NBA or an outright signing in Europe. The most likely scenario -- which seems to have played out here -- is that Jaric would find a deal abroad and Memphis would buy out his contract, which runs $15 million for this and next season. [...]

Jaric has now left some portion of his 2009-10 Memphis pay on the table. His contract with Real hasn't been reported in the Spanish media, but I imagine Jaric's Memphis buy-out will be the difference between his owed $7.1 million and his new salary. If that's $4 million, well, that's more cash saved for the Grizzlies.

Now, if you read the entirety of the article it becomes clear that it is, in fact, not at all about the Grizzlies buying out Marko Jaric, which is the real story among Memphis Grizzlies fans, but about Memphis owner Michael Heisley's supposed interest in fielding a team that costs him under the league minimum salary.

Get over the jump for some analytics of that point, as well as considerable raging anger.

Ziller's argument here is centered around a piece of information that he discovered earlier this summer: Zach Randolph's contract is heavily back-loaded so that he is only owed $11 million dollars of his deal this year; the remaining cash is paid to Z-Bo in 2012.

Because some believe that Heisley is actively shopping the team, Ziller asserts that their current ownership is attempting to sell the franchise prior to that enormous bill coming due.

He closes the post with this nice concluding quip:

Of course, the Grizz are winning for the first time in years, and Randolph has been a pleasant surprise. Just be careful not to buy into Heisley's line that he's paying for a winner. No team is cheaper, and it really seems as if the Grizzlies are winning in spite of management's blueprint for minimizing payroll. The franchise's desire to keep the league's tighest payroll will be evident this summer, when Rudy Gay moves on and Memphis struggles to replace him on the cheap.

This is where I believe there is a huge disconnect between Ziller's argument and the reality in Memphis. I've never heard a line from Heisley that he's paying for a winner. I didn't even ever hear Heisley claim he was paying for a winner while he paid the luxury tax earlier in the decade for two teams of overpaid role-players complementing Pau Gasol just enough to get both squads swept in the playoffs.

What I have heard from the Memphis Grizzlies and Grizz fans is that Heisley is rebuilding the Memphis Grizzlies, that Michael Heisley blew up the Grizzlies to get the necessary draft selections to do the rebuilding, that this is a rebuilding team showing a lot of resilience and giving their fans hope, but also that the core of this squad is still too young to really compete meaningfully this season.

Could Michael Heisley have added another meaningful piece in free agency this off-season? Financially speaking, yes, he could have added some depth to the bench. But would it have been smart for Memphis's long-term outlook? Now that one's slightly more difficult to answer.

I appreciate Ziller getting to the bottom of what very well could be an incredibly interesting story and a story that every Grizzlies fan should track. But I'd also caution fans who are keeping faith in the franchise to remember that once you start digging deep, sometimes you're too far down to see what's going on right above you.

Fast Times: Grizzlies Stun Nuggets 102-96

djturtleface — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:57:39 -0000

More photos » by Nikki Boertman - AP

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Remember what I said about the Denver Nuggets having a serious problem with focus? It showed tonight.

The Nuggets came out playing some seriously uninspired basketball, seemingly lacking any sort of respect for these upstart Memphis Grizzlies. After the Grizz took a 33-19 lead, the Nuggets quickly found some respect. After a little more effort in the 2nd quarter still kept the Grizzlies securely in the lead, Carmelo Anthony quickly realized that the Nuggets weren't playing in the FedEx Forum of old and turned on the jets.

And dang did Melo sure put on a show tonight in Memphis. He dropped 41 points, picking it up to make up for the absence of Denver's spiritual leader, Chauncey Billups.

But Carmelo's 41 weren't enough to net him Rockness Monster or the win. Get over the jump to see what our main man Zach Randolph got done, hear the Grizzlies side of the story, and to drop a line in the comments.

Rockness Monster: Zach Randolph- Zach Randolph had a season high in rebounds tonight -- not a personal season high, a league season high. He snagged 24 boards, including 9 offensive rebounds, even against defensive stalwart Kenyon Martin.

But Z-Bo didn't just hammer the boards. He scored 32 points also, including a set-play 3 pointer that seemed to stop the bleeding with under a minute left to go. The man just makes things happen for the Grizzlies. He keeps plays alive with his rebounding and has started to look like a legit leader. The Nuggets didn't have their spiritual leader tonight, but the Grizzlies might be finding theirs. By the way, that's terrifying.

U-Turn: The Bench- After a horrible, horrible, horrible, and terrible game last night for the bench, the Grizz bench played surprisingly nicely tonight. They might not have logged many, or hardly any, minutes out there, but they filled in nicely. Hasheem Thabeet and Jamaal Tinsley continue to be the most solid, consistent contributers -- yes, that Hasheem Thabeet.

Bitter Limon: O.J. Mayo- I can explain this one pretty quickly. O.J. Mayo: 5-19, 1-6 on threes. At some point you got to know when to start passing O.J. I've heard of shooting your way out of a slump, but in O.J.'s bad games it seems like he shoots his way into slumps.

Even with Chauncey Billups chilling on the sidelines, this is still another huge win for the Memphis Grizzlies. Yes, you're right, the Denver Nuggets were missing Big Shot and don't travel well, but this win was still every bit as momentous as those few against Cleveland, Dallas, and Miami.

The only difference is that all these wins against good teams are no longer shocking Grizz fans or even basketball fans across the country. Sound like pretty soon other teams are going to stop being so surprised too.

The bad losses start adding up... (Nuggets/Grizzlies recap)

Andrew Feinstein — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:11:41 -0000

The Nuggets are off to one of their best starts in NBA franchise history. But you wouldn't know it by watching their last two games...

All of the NBA's elite teams would be in serious trouble if their top players/alpha dogs went down due to injury. If the Lakers lost Kobe Bryant, they'd be finished. The Spurs sans Tim Duncan? Season over. The Cavaliers minus LeBron? Roll out the white flags. The Mavericks Dirk-less? Ditto.

But while I'd include our Nuggets among the NBA's elite, one thing seems to separate us from the rest of the pack: without one of our top four or five players in the game, the Nuggets stink. Ever since the Nuggets finished a respectable 5-2 out of the gate sans J.R. Smith (arguably the Nuggets fourth or fifth-best player), they can't win a game when one of their top-five guys goes down. Especially one of their two defensive stalwarts, Kenyon Martin and Chauncey Billups. And today's matinee loss at Memphis (even though the Nuggets had a full day of rest prior) was further proof of this.

In three games without K-Mart and now two games without Billups, the Nuggets are 0-5. Comparatively, the Lakers were 8-3 when their second-best player, Pau Gasol, opened the season in a suit and loafers. The Spurs managed to go 2-2 without the services of star guard Tony Parker. While Rashard Lewis served a drug suspension, the Magic finished 7-3. Since Greg Oden went down with a season-ending injury, the Blazers have hung in at 3-4. And minus Josh Howard, the Mavericks are 13-6 on the season. Even the Jazz managed to play .500 basketball in the two games Deron Williams, their best player, missed.

And yet the Nuggets can't seem to reel off victories unless all five star players - Carmelo Anthony, Billups, J.R., K-Mart and Nene - are on the floor. If the Nuggets couldn't beat the hapless Pistons, Bobcats and (admittedly improved) Grizzlies while missing one of their top-five guys, I cringe to think what happens when the Nuggets face a real NBA team without one of their best players on the floor.

Let's call the Nuggets inability to put a game together without both Billups and K-Mart in the game "Problem #1." And we'll call their woeful rebounding and porous interior defense "Problem #2." The Grizzlies put in 27 second-chance points and grabbed 18 more rebounds than the Nuggets today. Last time I checked, that's not Chauncey's department in the first place.

The two problems point to one glaring need: the Nuggets need an extra big man. Marc Gasol may not be walking through the door in a Nuggets uniform anytime soon, but any competent big will do at this point. Perhaps we should convert my summer wish list for a big man into a Christmas wish list...

Stiffs of the Game

-J.R. Smith, Ty Lawson and Kenyon Martin: J.R. built off his great game at New Orleans by shooting 12 shots and making just two of them. He also had three careless turnovers and no assists. Meanwhile, Lawson rewarded Nuggets head coach George Karl for anointing him as starting point guard by dishing out just two assists and missing all three of his shot attempts. And K-Mart was assigned to guard Zach Randolph who...

Non-Stiff of the Game

-Zach Randolph: ...lit up K-Mart and the Nuggets for 32 points and a stunningly high 24 rebounds (nine offensive). Z-Bo was so dominant over K-Mart that K-Mart's +/- at game's end was -20. Ewww. Last time I checked, Randolph is out of shape and can't jump. So how the @#$% did he grab 24 rebounds? (In fairness to K-Mart, a current NBA assistant coach once told me that no one is smarter at using his body to score and grab caroms than Randolph.)

Opposition's Recap: Straight Outta Vancouver

Photo courtesy of AP Photos: Nikki Boertman

Doing Dirt: Grizzlies Hammer Pacers 107-94

djturtleface — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:45:30 -0000

More photos » by Joe Murphy - NBAE/Getty Images

4 days ago: MEMPHIS, TN - DECEMBER 18: Rudy Gay #22 of the Memphis Grizzlies dunks past Troy Murphy #3 of the Indiana Pacers on December 18, 2009 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)

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Well I picked the winner in this one, and it's good to see the Grizzlies managing to definitively beat the teams that they should beat.

The Pacers, short breakout star Danny Granger, struggled on offense despite pushing the tempo for the bulk of the night. They only shot around 40% from the field, which is especially poor given the Grizzlies inability to hold much of anybody below 50%.

Instead of listing all the guys who played well for the Memphis Grizzlies, I suppose it would just be easier to list off the starting lineup: Mike Conley, O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol. All of them got busy last night.

And Z-Bo got especially busy, dropping 26 points with 16 boards, 3 assists, and 3 blocks. The dude has been playing inspired ball for Memphis.

A little bit worrisome, however, is that even with extended minutes the bench only managed to score a measly 7 points. They didn't shoot much, with only 11 field goals attempted, but that's probably warranted since they only made 3 shots in the entire game.

Next game, against the Denver Nuggets, is going to be tougher than this one. And judging by both team's play lately, it looks like it will be a shootout between the starters.

IC Cold Links: Hansbrough Gets Hometown Crowd In Memphis

spstevenson — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:18:50 -0000

More photos » by Lance Murphey - AP

Mike Dunleavy, O.J. Mayo and Tyler Hansbrough chase down a loose ball during the Pacers' loss Friday. Hansbrough had a large following in the FedEx Forum as nearly 1,500 fans from Poplar Bluff attended the game.

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It wasn't exactly no place like home, but Indiana Pacers rookie Tyler Hansbrough was as close as he is going to get last night.

In the Pacers 107-94 loss to the Grizzlies Friday, Hansbrough played to a crowd of his hometown faithful who made the trip from Poplar Bluff, Missouri, to the confines of the FedEx Forum in Memphis. Jeff Rabjohns of the IndyStar estimated that nearly 1,500 people from the small town crowded the arena to get a look at their favorite son. It's a 2 1/2 hour drive from Poplar Bluff to Memphis.

Here's Hansbrough after the game: "It's exciting to see everybody from my hometown coming out supporting me. It means a lot. There are people out there I haven't seen in a while."

Hansbrough played 22 minutes, went 4-of-13 from the field for 14 points and four rebounds. Check out more links after the jump.

AP Story
NBA.com Recap/Box Score
Photo Gallery
The Pacers Inside The Game looks into how the Pacers blew a first-half lead by managing only five points in a 10-minute span that allowed Memphis to take control of the game.
Indianapolis Star reporter Jeff Rabjohns recaps the game by focusing on the exploits of local legends Zach Randolph and Mike Conley against their hometown team. It was linked before the jump, but Rabjohns' notebook has a lot of good stuff about news surrounding last night's game.
Rabjohns took over the Pacers Insider blog and reported on Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy struggling from beyond the arc in last night's game.
Andrew Perna of Real GM looks into the blue and gold's recent success without star Danny Granger in the lineup.
Eight Points, Nine Seconds previewed yesterday's matchup against the Grizz, while Always Miller Time sets us up nicely for today's tilt with the Spurs.

Grizzlies 107, Pacers 94: Indiana Boys Help Put Away Pacers

Tom Lewis — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:17:40 -0000

Zach Randolph (Marion) and Mike Conley (Lawrence North) have a combined four Indiana High School state titles between them and Friday night they combined to help take down Pacers, 107-94.

Conley came out firing for the Memphis Grizzlieswith a couple of 3-pointers to help push the Grizz to an early 20-8 lead over the sluggish Pacers who took their time getting up to game speed. After the Pacers battled back in the second quarter to take a lead at the half, Conley fired up the Grizz in the third quarter by getting his teammates involved and once Memphis took control of the game Conley hit a couple more 3-balls to help seal the deal.

For the game, Conley was 5-6 from 3-land and finished with 19 points and 8 assists continuing his strong play of late. It really is nice to see Conley's game beginning to mature at the NBA level despite the pain inflicted on the Pacers tonight.

Randolph's game on the other hand, provided no pleasure, just pain. Once the Grizz re-asserted themselves in the third quarter by minimizing the perimeter shots and maximizing their interior options, Z-Bo went to work with a few back-breaking and 1 3-point plays. Randolph and Marc Gasol were just way too much for the Pacers to handle, and with Troy Murphy's shot abandoning him the front court mismatch was the difference. Randolph finished with 26 points and 16 rebounds while Gasol chipped in 17 points and 14 rebounds.

The Pacers problems were pretty easy to diagnose. For starters, they didn't bring a consistent level of play for 48 minutes and with the slight margin of error this team carries, simply putting up a big second quarter isn't enough. The other obvious problem was the amount of iron the Pacers rattled. The Pacers have to shoot well to give themselves a chance on most nights. If they don't shoot well, forget it.

3-21 from 3-land? Yeah, forget it.

Seriously, pretend this game didn't happen, it's just not worth the grief. Besides there are more pressing issues to consider, like facing the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night. Hopefully the Pacers find their shooting touch in Texas.

Five Game Cycles: New Year Early

djturtleface — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:31:35 -0000

More photos » by John Amis - AP

The Grizzlies got off to a bad start to this five game cycle, getting blown out and dunked on regularly against the Hawks last night. (AP Photo/John Amis)

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The Grizzlies had a tough set of five games, which is how Coach Hollins has told the young team to see their schedule, over the past two weeks. With Dallas, Cleveland, and then Oklahoma City at home, Memphis saw some serious superstar scoring.

They then took it onto the road against Miami, and then came back home against the Celtics. For those of you that don't really follow the rest of the league, that's five teams currently in the playoffs with a combined 82-41. For those of that don't really follow mathematics, that means they win twice as often as they lose.

And yet the Grizzlies came away from this five 3-2, which is one win better than Coach Lionel Hollins wants to average on the season, and two wins better than I predicted in the last edition of 'Five Game Cycles'

Get over the jump to see how the Grizzlies made dreams come true and also what to expect from this five game cycle.

The Breakdown- (3-2): Talk about some kind of goodness. The Memphis Grizzlies just lit it up on offense, just torching some big time defensive squads. The Grizzlies averaged a nice 105 points per game.

Yes, that number is somewhat high because the Grizzlies battled, and beat, the Cavaliers in overtime, though they probably also would have dropped a few more buckets had they needed to play the starters longer during a blowout against the Mavericks. And against Miami the Grizzlies offense barely even had to play to score 118, all they needed was to put the ball in Rudy Gay's hands -- he scored a career high 41 points.

The two losses came against Boston and Oklahoma City. The Grizzlies looked flustered by a very motivated, and increasingly talented, Oklahoma City Thunder. But when Boston came to town they worked out Boston's defense, getting up and down the court, shooting 50%, and scoring 105. It was too bad Boston had even less trouble on offense.

What Feels Good- Big wins against big teams always feel good for the Grizzlies. But this five game cycle was special because it also included two blowouts against playoff teams, not to mention the young Grizzlies leaving their hearts on the court in losses against the Celtics and the Thunder.

Rudy Gay continues to prove that he can contribute in more ways than highlight reel dunks. Rudy is racking up steals and rebounds like never before, and is sharing the ball better than ever also. Most importantly though, in my opinion at least, that extra muscle is helping. Rudy is now averaging a career-high number of free throw attempts per game -- if only he could start making some.

You've also got to like seeing Marc Gasol coming out of his relative slump, Mike Conley has been scoring much better at times, Jamaal Tinsley has made some serious intangible contributions, Sam Young and Hasheem Thabeet are both playing better, and O.J. Mayo is getting some consistency on his stroke.

Tell Me What Hurts- We're going to harp on this all season, I think, because the Grizzlies defense is just downright poor at times. It's definitely improving, but I also have a feeling that no amount of cohesion and growth under Coach Hollins is going to get rid of this problem.

I mean Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, and O.J. Mayo all have significant shortcomings as defenders. Zach just isn't that great and, more importantly, isn't respected by the other team. No matter how many hands he puts in their face, other power forwards just shoot right over him with confidence because they have no fear. Mike is too small and isn't strong enough, and O.J. Mayo arguably is as well.

Also there has to be some serious concern over the minutes these starters are playing, especially Rudy, who is around 40 minutes per game and still doesn't really have a sub. If Von Wafer is signed, he will slide to backup shooting guard and Sam Young will be at the forward spot, but our sub teams definitely need at least one starter on the floor with them at all times.

Into the Horizon- Here's a big prediction: the Grizzlies are going to lose to the Atlanta Hawks 110-97. Joe Johnson will handle the much, much smaller O.J. Mayo. And Rudy Gay will roll his ankle, which is more than a little bit worrisome without much depth on the bench.

But the next four are Indiana, Denver, Golden State, and then Dallas again. Indiana has some serious problems without Danny Granger, and T.J. Ford is one of the few good matchups for Mike Conley. Denver will be somewhere between tough and impossible, especially if Rudy Gay is laying on the sick bed all game. Golden State should be a win, but even in their dilapidated state, that franchise is always dangerous. And Dallas certainly isn't planning on crapping out against against Memphis, especially not at home.

So I'll give us a number that will make Coach Hollins nice and happy. The Grizzlies should come out of this stretch 2-3, and this next couple weeks is definitely going to test their staying power. The national media is starting to give respect -- the Grizzlies are 16th in ESPN's newest power rankings -- and this week, especially possibly dealing with Rudy's injury, is going to go a long way towards proving they deserve to be there.

'Sheed Doin' Work...In the Paint

Greg Payne — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:53:56 -0000

More photos » by Michael Dwyer - AP

'Sheed's play down low has been noticeable the past two games. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

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Prior to the season, I begged the question: Why don't Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace play in the paint more often? I then spent a considerable amount of time chronicling the rather atrocious shooting slump Wallace suffered through at the start of the season. Playing down low clearly was not 'Sheed's personal preference, but after watching miss and after miss after miss from three-point nation, the paint looked more and more like a five-star resort where 'Sheed could vacation for a while in order to get his game back on track.

Alas, even in the midst of some truly horrendous shooting numbers Wallace was persistent about launching them from deep and throughout the team's early season struggles, he became something of a scapegoat. But, the Celtics worked their way out of their funk, hit the road and began piling up the wins. The sky was no longer falling, we were taking our hands off the panic button and that sense of inescapable dread had morphed into insurmountable confidence.

Throughout this revitalizing 11-game win streak, the C's have secured some steep performances from a variety of players not belonging to the very exclusive "Big Three" club. Sure, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen have been tremendous over this stretch, but so has Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins, and now, joining that list over the past two games, is Rasheed Wallace, whose play in the paint has opened my eyes and introduced a whole new weapon for this Celtics team to utilize.

In a word, 'Sheed's performance down low last night was flat out dominant. He tore the Grizzlies apart in the second quarter, which actually was vital to the Celtics, considering they left their defense in Chicago and it failed to catch the red eye to meet them in Memphis. Without Wallace finishing the half with 10 points on 5-10 shooting, the Celtics might have faced a hefty deficit heading into the break. The annual game in Memphis might have been something of a breeze the past few seasons, but we all know after watching that young group last night that they're as legitimate as any team that young can be. Heck, they might even be capable of challenging Oklahoma City for the title of Best Young Team in the NBA right now.

But that potential status made Wallace's work down low that much more important. And what work it was. When he applies himself down there, 'Sheed possesses some of the best low post moves this league has to offer. Take, for example, the short bank shot off the block with 7:56 left in the second. Sure, it was partially blocked by Hasheem Thabeet, but credit Wallace for sticking with the Memphis bigs, digging his nose in, collecting the blocked shot and putting it back in.

Then there was the crisp drop step on the left block around Zach Randolph 40 seconds later, which brought Boston to within a point, 40-39. Fortunately it didn't stop there, as a minute later he was back down low, with a wide base, fending off the still beefy Randolph, receiving hand high in the air, demanding the ball down on the block again. He was rewarded with an over the top pass, which he converted for another layup, making it 42-41 Memphis.

After that, with Marc Gasol now on him, 'Sheed resorted to a somewhat difficult low post jump shot, which he made look very, very easy. By then, I was ecstatic watching this happen. Again, 'Sheed was dominant, plain and simple. He capped off the second frame with his semi-patented low post fade away jumper from about seven feet, which he calmly knocked down with 2:06 left, making it 50-49 Grizzlies. Granted, Randolph isn't the league's most prestigious interior defender, but don't let that fact discredit the effort Wallace put up last night.

Making all of this even better was the fact that 'Sheed's presence down low actually impacted his teammates in a positive manner as well. With 10:41 left in the second, Pierce tossed the ball down low to a posting Wallace, who took the ball, waited for Pierce to cut towards the hoop, fed him a simple handoff and simultaneously acted as screen and watched as Pierce drew a foul and converted down two free throws.

Eddie House also benefited from a Wallace screen inside the arc, with 9:32 left, which freed him for an open jump shot, which he knocked down. These are simple plays from Wallace, but they wouldn't have happened had be been parked outside the three-point arc.

This isn't to say I want 'Sheed to abandon the three-ball entirely. In fact, his lone three-pointer last night came with nine minutes left in the fourth and it gave Boston a 92-87 lead - its largest at the time. But with Wallace, the word that comes to mind is balance. Some of us became irate when his game was strictly made up of threes, yet if he confined himself to the post for the entire game, that would somewhat defeat one of the primary purposes of us bringing him here, since his versatility and ability to stretch the defense are two of his best assets. But taking his low post game and his three-point game and creating some sort of hybrid of the two would work wonders for this team.

By routinely switching up his offensive position he forces the defense to continually adjust and in some ways that keeps the defense guessing. Imagine being a big guy guarding 'Sheed and half the time you feel like you're in your natural defensive element down low and then half the time you're plodding around the perimeter, while also having to keep an eye out for other slashers in case the defensive scheme calls for you to help.

The benefits of 'Sheed playing down low in conjunction with shooting a consistent number of threes far outweigh the hindrances in my eyes. He gives himself more opportunities to score, he opens things up for other teammates and he keeps the defensive on its toes. He can stretch the defense when the situation calls for it, or score at will down low when the team needs that offensive boost. 'Sheed's put that formula together quite nicely over the past two games. Let's see if that formula becomes a consistent part of the Celtics' offensive attack from here on out.