23. "Cause jerseys in the rafters aint got nothing to do with PPG" In response to In response to 22 Fri Jul-07-17 02:29 PM by hardware
Players get their numbers retired when they mean something to a fanbase. like REALLY mean something.
Pau never did that for the fans. Pau never connected with the city. Pau didnt look like Memphis. Pau didnt act like Memphis. It never really felt like Pau wanted to play here and thats a big deal for a young, small market team with no flash and no expectation of success. Back then the Memphis Tigers could walk into any restaurant and they'd get a ticker tape parade, but a Grizz player may as well have been a panhandler. That didn't change with Pau. Pau was a great player, but he was just that. These guys get on ESPN and represent the CITY, not just the Grizzlies. They're the one constant out of these 8 years, 3 coaches, and about 70 other players.
To 98% of us TA is the one that brought the identity to the Grizzlies. We like the defense, you'd come down here and you can see us get hype for every steal, broken play, and every 7-foot superstar that cant manage to find a pass around a guy thats 6'9 and in his 30's. We couldn't hit from outside, but Mike and Tony were gonna make sure you had to play in the Mississippi mud with Zach and Marc.
First Team
Pau aint have no airbrushed bootleg tshirts. Pau ain't pay electric bills. He scored some points. But i can remember more fun losses with Tony than i can exciting wins with Pau.