This is the fifth and final part of the exclusive Chris Wallace interview 3 Shades of Blue had with the General Manager and Vice President of Business Operations of the Memphis Grizzlies. In part one we discussed the Grizzlies 3 Year Plan and where they go from here. In part two we discussed Chris Wallace's new contract and other issues. In part three we discussed the way the Grizzlies run their pre-draft activities. In part four we discussed the recent draft selections 

3SOB: You've mentioned Greivis Vasquez a lot in this interview. Vasquez by most mock drafts and so called experts was considered a mid second round selection. We took him much earlier than expected. What did you see...

CW: Well let me step back on that for a moment.

While I respect the work that all those guys do in preparing their mock drafts, they do work hard and are around a great deal, but what really counts is what the team is going to do. I don't think he would have made it to the mid or late second round. I really believe he would have been selected within 5 picks of us if we hadn't taken him. 

This is the fourth installment of the 3 Shades of Blue exclusive interview with Chris Wallace, Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager of the Memphis Grizzlies. Part one dealt mostly with the 3 Year Plan and where the Grizzlies go from here. Part Two dealt with Chris Wallace's new contract and more of the business side of the team. Part three dealt with scouting and drafting and the difficulties that this entails. Part four continues with the Thabeet discussion as well as the new workout regimes and summer league expectations.  

3SOB: I remember when Olajuwon and John Koncak played against each other in college as freshman and I never thought they would develop into on the one hand a top 6 player in the NBA draft and the other the top pick in the draft and one of the top 50 players of all time. A that time they were two of the most uncoordinated players I had ever seen but they did develope so I understand the idea of giving Thabeet time. But I have to ask the question, do you believe the Grizzlies got they type of player that can become that type of star that you need to win a championship? 
CW: I can't sit here and guarantee that he or anyone else we've selected is going to be a star. I have a very strict definition of stars. I think that in any particular year there are hardly more than just a handful of stars in the NBA. Just because you make the all-star team doesn't make you a star. You can be an all-star simply because you score a lot of points.

This is the third part of the Chris Wallace interview with 3 Shades of Blue. Part One dealt with the team's 3 Year Plan and where the team needs to go from here. Part Two dealt with Chris Wallace's position with the team, the trade of the draft pick this year and the current situation with the Pau Gasol trade. In Part Three we discuss the new system of evaluating players without amateur scouts and the drafting process in general.

3SOB: The team lost a large amount of their scouting staff last summer for various reasons. How different was it in the months before the draft and on draft night?
CW: Well let's go through this for a minute. We had three people domestically and one guy in Europe who is no longer with us but we still have a very active group. We have coverage in Europe. We have it domestically. In our office we have four people who regularly go out and scout with myself, the Barones and Kenny Williamson. Then we have Ray Jones who stayed with us who lives in Ithaca, New York. Coaches get involved at draft time. It's really not a different process at all.

This is the 2nd part of a lengthy discussion 3 Shades of Blue had with Chris Wallace, General Manager and Vice-President of Basketball Operations with the Memphis Grizzlies. Part 1 dealt mostly with the team's 3 Year Plan and where the team needs to go from here. Part 2 deals with Chris Wallace's position with the team, the trade of the draft pick this year and the current situation with the Pau Gasol trade.  

3SOB: You signed a new three year deal with the Grizzlies. In the statement released by Mr Heisley he said he felt you did a decent job...
CW: Uh-Huh (laughing)

3SOB: How does that make you feel? Do you feel good about your position? Do you feel concerned about the way he made that comment? 
CW: Anytime that you get a new contract you've had a very good day. You've lived to fight another day. You're trying from a team standpoint to win as many games as possible and you hope one day to be standing in the winner's circle. Contractually you want to keep getting on your surf board and keep surfing every day. This can be a very tough business and a very tricky one to navigate at times. So you keep plugging away and plugging away and staying alive. 

On the evening of July 6th Chris Wallace sat down with 3 Shades of Blue to discuss a number of wide ranging topics including where the team is in regards to the 3 year plan, the trade of the 25th pick to intra-division rival Dallas, the Pau Gasol trade, the recent draft picks, last year's draft picks and more. The interview covered nearly two hours of conversation. 3 Shades of Blue will be transposing the interview over the next week in installments. Here is part one where the discussion focuses on the 3 Year Plan and what the Grizzlies need to do to continue to improve.

3SOB: Two years ago Mr. Heisley announced the 3 Year Plan and said by the end of the third year he expected to be in the playoffs. Do you think we are on schedule as the team is built now to do that?
CW: Well he actually said we would be competing for the playoffs.

3SOB: You're right, I meant to say that. Do you believe the team is in position to compete for the playoffs?
CW: Well yeah, I mean last year we were second most improved team in the league last year behind Oklahoma City - a sixteen game improvement.  You know the history of the franchise better than I do with the second all-star player in the history of the franchise in Zach Randolph.  A wide variety of our younger players all moved forward with their performance.  So, we're a team who obviously have needs to fill as every team didn't that win the championship last year, but I think we have made real growth in the last year and will continue to do so for a variety of reasons.  

3 Shades of Blue was curious about what the Grizzlies had planned this summer so they talked to Michael Heisley, majority owner of the Grizzlies, to get his take on the team. Unfortunately we were unable to do a face to face interview so we sent Mr. Heisley the questions we wanted answered. His replies are brief but pertinent.

This is the final installment of the interview 3 Shades of Blue had with Grizzlies majority owner Michael Heisley. In the first part, second part and third part Michael talked quite candidly about the Grizzlies season, the Allen Iverson situation, his role as owner and decision maker on the team, the difficulty being an NBA team in a small market and other topics. Michael has always been generous with his time and the writers at 3 Shades of Blue appreciate his openness. 

We have removed certain players names from the interview to eliminate any possibility of tampering allegations being made but otherwise the interview is exactly what Mr. Heisley gave to us. 

3SOB: Memphis has a team right now that could be well built for long-term future growth however this is also a team who has every player potentially without a contract within the next two years. Is this a wise strategy for a small market team and you need to hold onto players for longer time? 

MH: Well, I can only hold on to them if they want me to hold on to them. I have every reason to believe that we will reach a contractual acceptance of Rudy and he'll stay with us. We've got a couple of other players that are going to come up in the next year or so, Marc and others. I have utmost confidence that we will be able to keep virtually all of those players if not all of them. 

This is the 3rd installment of the exclusive interview 3 Shades of Blue had with majority owner Michael Heisley of the Memphis Grizzlies. The first part and second part covered the team as a whole, the Allen Iverson situation, the rookies and Mr. Heisley's involvement with the team. Once again this interview was conducted on Dec. 1, 2009 so some items discussed may already have become a bit dated. We apologize for that.

MH: I don't know if I've learned that.

This is the continuation of an interview 3 Shades of Blue had with Grizzlies majority owner Michael Heisley on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009. We left off the first part of the interview with Michael Heisley discussing Allen Iverson and what happened with him in Memphis. We continue now with Mr. Heisley's comments. 

MH: So that's what happened with Allen. Now I don't know why people are having a problem with all of this. That's the reality but it's too matter of fact.

It's very tough to be one of the greatest players to ever play the game and get towards the end of your career, get traded, get injured, go through this process and keep an equilibrium. I'm not sure how Kobe or anybody else would handle that. But Allen's going to have to come to grips with his game and where he's going to play and how much he's going to play and how all of this is going to work out. 

3SOB: Good afternoon Mr. Heisley, the first question we have for you is pretty straightforward. What are your impressions so far about how the season is going?

MH: I think it's been like a roller coaster. I can't tell you how pleased I am with a number of the games. With the way the front line has played. I think Marc Gasol has been a real pleasant surprise. Zach Randolph has been every bit as much as I hoped he would be. Rudy Gay is moving towards being a real star in this league.