I thought he always had pretty good form. Hopefully training camp and a repaired hand will make him REALLY look like a bargain for what we signed him for. The only thing I worry about is being a little stacked down low and how the time will be split between him and Speights at back-up 5. It will depend on match-ups I am sure, but Haddadi at times seems able to really control the game with his length and size, especially against other second units.

I think missing most to all of the training camps was a damaging to Haddadi's minutes as anything else. This year he is remaining in the country and should be in Memphis no later than the opening of camp. That alone should help him compete for more minutes.

I think Coach Hollins has all the tools necessary this Season to finally reestablish this Teams inside out Idenity that we were so successful with two Seasons ago. I would love to see him however change his mentality on Offense to better utilize our length. Experience should have taught us by now that we have slacked in defensive rebounding, blocks and given up entirely too many easy points in the paint this past Season. We must protect the Paint better and get more easy high percentage fast break points. I truly believe if you used the Starting Line-Up of MC,TA,RG,MG & HH at least the first 5 minutes of ever Quarter, you would get your Opponents bigs in foul trouble and get us to the free-throw line for easy points throughout the rest of the game. The League caught up with us last Season, turning us over way too many times on bounce passes in the paint when trying to force the ball inside. With the twin Towers in the middle, we should easily be able to go over the top of defenders. It's time we impose our will on our Opponents and become the most feared Team in the NBA. Most Teams will not have the reserves to match up with us in this Set. Yes, I know HH is foul prone and has difficulty staying in the game at times. That's why I believe in these sets you play him at the 5 and MG at the 4. Early foul trouble inside softens things up for ZR, MS, & DA to come in and dominate when called on. It also opens up the lanes for our Slasher's to get easy buckets. RG & TA have got to take it to the rack more often instead of settling for lower percentage outside shots.

I agree with your assessment of the second Team defense that you have listed. I'm not talking about making wholesale substitutions here. The first substitute would be ZR for HH after the first five minutes of each quarter giving ZR about 28 minutes per game. JB needs to sub for MC next for about 4 minutes per quarter. I would also expect him to see minutes during the game at shooting guard. MS needs to sub for MG when opposing Team rest their starting center. Depending on the match-up TA will need about 18 to 24 minutes of rest to be split by either WE, JS or JB. RG will play the most minutes getting rest when needed from QP, WE or possibly DA. I realize the timing of the rotation and minutes of HH at PF for ZR might be difficult for some fans to understand but my strategy is meant to get the opponents bigs in foul trouble by pounding the ball inside therefore putting us into the bonus early in each quarter. This will also open up the lane the last seven minutes of each quarter giving us more high percentage easy shots on the dribble drive. I think our free throw attempts, rebounds, blocks, assist, and shooting percentage all would see significant increases with this line-up in place. The pace of the game also slows down giving our grit and grind defense more needed time to catch their breath with our increased trips to the free throw line. I may be over analyzing our potential in using the Twin Tower concept but I truly for one believe that it gives us our best chance to not only contend but win an NBA Championship. Go Grizzlies!!! I can't wait for the Season to begin!