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Hamed Hadaddi appears to be more agile and athletic than Jake Tsakalidis, but considerably less so than Darko or Gasol. He also might have some conditioning issues, as he was by far the last one to finish a running drill. I’m not certain about this, but Hadaddi seems to have a pretty average wingspan for a guy his size, which might mitigate his 7’2” height. Again, I don’t know for certain, but I suspect Darko and Gasol might have a greater standing reach. He was also pretty lumbering with his approach to the hoop. I did see Hadaddi sink a straightaway jumper from about 18 feet.
Good news from our Gentle Giant ... I hope he rips Shaq a new as$hole
Chris Wallace (L), General Manager of the Memphis Grizzlies shows Hamed Haddadi and his wife Beale Street as Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies walks with them after practice during the Memphis Grizzlies Training Camp on October 1, 2008 in Memphis, Tennessee.
when you're as tall as him, you're most likely the slowest on the team so its natural to finish last...as far as gasol and darko finishing before him...they're more professional...so yea give him time, he's new to all this....
Coming into training camp it was likely who the leader of this Grizzlies team is going to be. By the second day it has been confirmed. Everyone in the gym now knows who the leader of the pack is.
Mr. Rudy Gay, please step forward.
Gay, whose scoring average jumped to 20.1 points in his second season from the 10.8 points that he averaged during his rookie season, is ready to lead this Grizzlies squad from the opening tip of the 2008-09 season.
“Last year I was just doing what I was asked to do,” Gay said. “That was my role then, but now I’ll have a little bit different role on this team as more of a leader.”
As a rookie Gay finished third in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting, but was surrounded by veterans like Pau Gasol, Mike Miller and Damon Stoudemire, so he was not looked upon to do much more than take advantage of his abundant athletic talent.
Gay’s second year in the league saw him make a real impact as the future of the team, as his averages spiked across the board, but during the season in flux that was the 2007-08 Grizzlies campaign, the 6-8 forward was not clearly defined as the voice of the team in the locker room.
His time has now arrived.
“He wants to be a leader. He is more vocal,” Grizzlies Head Coach Marc Iavaroni said.
Coming into camp Gay knew that he would be looked to again to score in bunches for the Grizzlies, but he also realized that he would have to work on more than just putting the ball in the basket to help the Grizzlies realize their potential.
“During the offseason I think that I fine-tuned everything that I could,” Gay said. I think that the best players work on everything, not just one thing.”
His coach agrees that Gay is looking to be a force on both sides of the ball this season.
“I think that he is taking more pride in his team defense,” Iavaroni said. “He has always been someone who could stop people individually, and I think that he is becoming more disciplined there. He’s not taking so many gambles and reaching.”
With Gay’s commitment to excellence on both sides of the ball, if his teammates follow his lead according to plan, the Grizzlies will take a step towards returning to the playoffs this season.
“We always want to add on to what we’ve done, and with these new guys we are going to get to show what we’ve got,” Gay said.
Haddadi Watch
I know that a bunch of our readers at Tumble’s Rumbles are wondering how Hamed Haddadi has faired thus far… other than the fact that I saw him bury a sixteen footer and noticing that he has enormous hands when he was handling the ball, I’m going to let Coach Iavaroni tell the story of how Hamed is doing…
Grizzlies Head Coach Marc Iavaroni on why the Grizzlies wanted Hamed Haddadi…
“His size and his talent. His potential. You can’t teach size. He is very big. He’s got nice hands. He’s got good footwork. He’s got good lateral movement. He showed a willingness to play physically in Salt Lake at the Rocky Mountain Revue and that translated into success at the Olympic Games. You have to be a tough guy to lead everyone in rebounding there. You have to be a tough guy to block a lot of shots. We like toughness on the front line and we thought that he fit that mold.”
On when he first heard of Haddadi...
“Our pro scout Gordan Chiesa saw him in the Rocky Mountain Revue and he immediately called Chris Wallace and told him about him, and to his credit, Mike Heisley got involved and said that we should go after him and show a commitment to him financially with a contract, and he didn’t forget that when other teams got involved. We liked that about him because it speaks highly of him and his family.”
On the biggest challenge to Haddadi in coming to America...
“I think that he’ll want to pick up the language as quickly as possible. Culturally it’s probably very different from Tehran. I think that once he gets over that and starts making friends it will become easier and easier for him.”
On what will it take for Haddadi’s rookie year to be considered a success...
“I think that right now it would be to be a part of the rotation. Being on the court and playing important minutes when the score is close I think will help him. He’s going to have to earn that.”
Rumbles Training Camp Rumblings
Here are a few interesting tidbits that I collected from today’s practice…
The Grizzlies closed practice with a full on scrimmage that was had referees calling fouls, etc. From the looks of things the starting lineup after day one is Conley and Mayo at the guards, Gay and Hakim at the forward positions and Marc Gasol in the middle… the second team consisted of Kyle Lowry and Marko Jaric in the backcourt, Antoine Walker and Greg Buckner at the forwards and Darko Milicic at center…
Mayo was consistently knocking down long jumpers during the scrimmage… he has a really smooth, high stroke…
Mike Conley was getting into the lane with ease… dropped a couple of Tony Parker-esque floaters in the lane… if he can do this consistently this season he could be a major threat this season…
Coach Iavaroni to rookie Darrell Arthur after the recent national champion lined up for a free-throw incorrectly… “I know you did that in Kansas, but we are in Memphis now.”
With all the guards that the Grizzlies have on this roster (specifically Conley, Jaric, Lowry, Crittenton, Mayo) this team shouldn’t have too many problems handling pressure, and even though they are young, they should be able to keep the turnovers to a minimum…
Too bad you couldn’t have seen it, but the move of the day came from one of two players… Rudy Gay had a sweet windmill dunk that he threw down with such emphasis that he went straight to the floor… and Hamed Haddadi did his best Kobe Bryant impersonation as he Dream Shaked two defenders and buried a 16-footer at the elbow as the shot clock expired… the team went equally nuts on both plays…
btw click on the link and request for news on hamed hadadi...dont go crazy though because i kinda ****ed up and made 2 comments which are clearly by the same person "seeing as how i started with and in the second comment" but used different usernames for some reason so now the guy might think we are all 1 person lol. My bad. w/e, still vote.
btw click on the link and request for news on hamed hadadi...dont go crazy though because i kinda ****ed up and made 2 comments which are clearly by the same person "seeing as how i started with and in the second comment" but used different usernames for some reason so now the guy might think we are all 1 person lol. My bad. w/e, still vote.
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