Thursday, January 25, 2007

Did Chucky Atkins Put in a Trade Request Too?

Just asking.

What a surprising win last night. A pat on the back to the players who sucked it up and performed in the face of a lot of distractions. Pau Gasol recorded a triple-double, and yet it was Chucky Atkins who dropped a near-miraculous 29 and 15 assists on Utah after playing extended minutes following Damon Stoudamire's back spasms. Oh, and Eddie Jones turning back the clock for a rare (final?) great Grizzlies performance that was sealed by hitting the game-winning jumper. Lots of interesting subplots.

No, they couldn't stop Carlos Boozer (18-24 from the field, 39 pts, 15 reb), and yes, the Jazz shot well over 50 percent, and yes, the Jazz outrebounded the Grizzlies by 21, but the win still counts.

One downer: if the Grizzlies were trying (as the rumor holds) to shop Brian Cardinal by putting him in the starting lineup for more exposure, they may want to try a different approach. I don't think I've ever seen a starter play just 2 minutes, get pulled (in a non-injury scenario), then never return. Bravo. I'm guessing that won't increase his trade value.

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