What’s going on Grizzlies fans… Its’ been awhile since the last time that I checked in. Been a busy first half of the season, but I wanted to get back at the blogging to let everyone know what’s going on.
The first half of the season was great for us. We exceeded a lot of expectations, and I attribute a lot of that to the work that everyone put in during the off-season and the job Coach Hollins has done with the team. I’m looking forward to the second half of the season because the All-Star game allowed us to get our legs back. We’re ready to get back out there and win games.
I was recently selected to be one of the members of the US Senior National team program, which includes 26 of the best players in the league. I’m honored to be a member of the team and have the chance to represent my country. Last year when O.J. and I participated in the Team USA mini-camp and Showcase game I really learned a lot from the other players that were there, so the chance to be around guys like LeBron and Kobe and see how they work on a daily basis will really be a great experience for me.
Being a part of the national team is something I dreamed about since I was a kid. I remember when I was really young watching the original Dream Team with Michael, Magic and Larry when I was at a family reunion. We were supposed to be doing all these different things with the family, but all I wanted to do was watch the games.
I’m really glad O.J. is going to be a part of the team with me. I promise we’ll represent the city of Memphis well while we’re there. I know that the Grizzlies are planning on honoring O.J. and I for making the team at Friday’s game against the Heat, and I’m looking forward to sharing the honor with Grizzlies fans.I don’t know what number I’m going to be yet, but once I do I’ll let you know.
Gotta go now… we’ve got a tough couple of games coming up, but I’ll be sure to get back to everyone in the next couple of weeks to let you know what’s happening…
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What’s up Grizzlies fans? Wanted to check in with everyone on what’s going on in Grizzland.
It’s been a great season and we’ve grown a lot as a team. Z-Bo has been awesome, O.J., Marc, Mike and the bench guys have all done a lot. We’ve exceeded a lot of expectations, but this is only the beginning for us as a team. With only a handful of games remaining we’ve dedicated ourselves to finishing with a record above .500 for the season. Our improvement this year from the last three seasons has been great, but we want to finish the season off strong and continue to give our fans something to be proud of. Knowing where we’ve been as a franchise and where we came from as a team when we started 1-8 at the start of the season, this has easily been my favorite year in the NBA.
Even though my UConn Huskies aren’t in the men’s tournament this year, our women’s team is such a powerhouse that it almost makes up for the guys not being in it. Its incredible how good they’ve been, and they make all of us former Huskies like Hasheem and Marcus proud. On the men’s side of things, this has been an enjoyable NCAA tournament to watch because a lot of good schools who don’t get a lot of attention sometimes in college basketball have got attention. Butler has really had a Hoosiers-like run and even though they didn’t make it to the Final Four, Baylor did a really good job of making a name for themselves in this tournament too.
Speaking of Baylor, Ronnie and I stopped by FedExForum during the NCAA Women’s Regional championship to check out women’s basketball star Brittney Griner. Griner was awesome. Duke ran a zone to try to stop her, but she still managed to almost get a triple double (with nine blocks!!!). With her talent she’ll definitely be a household name soon, if she’s not already.
I also recently hosted Staxtacular for the third time. Mike and I are old pros at Staxtacular at this point, since it’s the third year in a row that we’ve hosted the event. Z-Bo joined us as a host this year, and Ronnie, Marc, DeMarre, Coach Hollins and the rest of the coaching staff was there as well. It was a fun night, but I couldn’t stay too long and show off my Michael Jackson dance moves because we had practice the next day.
Before I go I wanted to give everyone a head’s up about the Hoops Camp that I’ll be hosting at FedExForum on April 17. I love the game of basketball, and I want to share that with kids. This camp is for 7-14 year old boys and girls, and all skill levels are invited. I might even throw down a couple dunks to entertain the boys and girls once the camp is done. Get Details!
Got to go now, practice is about to start. I’ll check back in soon.
What’s going on Grizzlies fans? I’ve had a busy summer and its good to get back at it this week. Camp was tough, but it’s was good being in Birmingham as a team. Right now we are really getting in step as a team.
Coach has been running practices in a very controlled setting. So far we’ve only really had one bad practice, but that’s the good thing about training camp two-a-days… It gives you a chance to correct anything that went wrong earlier in the day.
Its been good to get to know all of our new teammates this week. Our new guys are fitting in with our core group, and I’m looking forward to the start of the season to really get things going.
Next week we’ll be in Richmond for our first preseason game against the Wizards. AI and I had a lot of family in Richmond for our first preseason game against the Wizards. It was a lot of fun.
I gotta go, but I’ll catch up again soon!
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