Orka Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Hey everyone, I'm a bit too young to remember much about the grizzlies' stay in Vancouver but I sure know a lot about their history! I was wondering if you guys could share your memories of the vancouver grizzlies and perhaps the possibility of the NBA returning to Vancouver/ the northwest. I'm fairly certain that the NBA will be back in the northwest within the next 10 years, most likely in Seattle but fingers crossed we can see some NBA basketball at the rog besides pre-season! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kran Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I remember attending a Grizzlies game with my 2nd grade class. I guess the tickets were cheap enough to just donate to a elementary school in East Van Highlight from the game was that we got to chant "DEFENSE!" a lot, probably because they weren't playing any. And I believe our final score was 37 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShakyWalton Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 This guy who is now a very rich farmer in Oklahoma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khay Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 4th quarter losses. They often played well up till the 3rd quarter, good enough to be tied or to be a bit ahead or even by 10+ points. But you always knew that they would blow the lead and lose. No lead was safe with the Grizzlies. I remember going to a game against the Raptors when Vince Carter was at his peak. A rare sellout game because people wanted to come and see what Carter can do. And then there came a moment where Carter had a breakaway and the people in the GM Place (Grizzlies fans!) were hoping for a 360 dunk or something and the SOB just went and did a layup. Not even a dunk! Obviously he did that on purpose and he got booed for the rest of the game. Obviously, I started to dislike Carter for his cockiness afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger-Hearted Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 This guy who is now a very rich farmer in Oklahoma. "Sleep Country" or as I liked calling him, "The Big Bumpkin", can come out of retirement and play for the Thunder. In all seriousness, there is one guy who is too blame for the Grizzlies' fiasco and it goes beyond Stu(pid) Jackson. And that's David Stern. He was the one who recommended the incompetent and inept Jackson to then-owner Arthur Griffiths. Expanding into Canada and then putting all these expansion limitations on both the Grizzlies and the Raptors. By the way, for those who may not have read this, Jackson claimed that "Vancouver never really embraced the NBA", ten years after the franchise relocated to Memphis. Very "stupid" comment, eh?? No matter what people say, Vancouver did a great job in supporting an NBA franchise, considering the lousy group of people involved in the franchise(Jackson, McCaw, Heisley, Versace, Reeves, Francis, etc) and the needless drama they brought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orka Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 sorta off topic but did anyone see that video of Steve Francis getting mugged recently?? http://www.tmz.com/2015/03/03/steve-francis-violent-chain-snatching-sauce-twinz-houston-rap-show-video/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShakyWalton Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 "Sleep Country" or as I liked calling him, "The Big Bumpkin", can come out of retirement and play for the Thunder. : :D In all seriousness, there is one guy who is too blame for the Grizzlies' fiasco and it goes beyond Stu(pid) Jackson. And that's David Stern. He was the one who recommended the incompetent and inept Jackson to then-owner Arthur Griffiths. Expanding into Canada and then putting all these expansion limitations on both the Grizzlies and the Raptors. By the way, for those who may not have read this, Jackson claimed that "Vancouver never really embraced the NBA", ten years after the franchise relocated to Memphis. Very "stupid" comment, eh?? No matter what people say, Vancouver did a great job in supporting an NBA franchise, considering the lousy group of people involved in the franchise(Jackson, McCaw, Heisley, Versace, Reeves, Francis, etc) and the needless drama they brought. Agree with all...I think there were a few class acts in a Grizzlies jersey but I think Abdur Rahim was my favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShakyWalton Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 sorta off topic but did anyone see that video of Steve Francis getting mugged recently?? http://www.tmz.com/2015/03/03/steve-francis-violent-chain-snatching-sauce-twinz-houston-rap-show-video/ Crazy..it aint no thing ..unless you got that bling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoneypuckOverlord Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I remember winning tickets to the games. It was against the New York Knicks. It's pretty sad Michael heisley moved it to the city were it was actually worst then having it in Vancouver, to this day, Vancouver is ten times the city memphis is, we have bigger population and with all the chinese and Phillipinos in the Area, the NBA will be a sure hit. That said, Franceso Aquillini has no intentions of bringing in a NBA team anytime soon. likely hood of us having a nba team is probably like 0% Stern (formber NBA commissioner) said his biggest regret is seeing the NBA leave Vancouver. Now in order for a NBA team to come back to Vancouver, we need investors or someone or a group wiling to support the NBA in Vancouver. Since NBA is revenue shared it will survive even if our attendance sucks, that said, I can tell you NBA in Vancouver will do very well. however its extremely unlikely it will ever happen. Unless Steve Nash somehow convices Francesco to make a bid on one of the struggling existing franchies and get it moved up to Vancouver, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronalds.Kenins41 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I remember winning tickets to the games. It was against the New York Knicks. It's pretty sad Michael heisley moved it to the city were it was actually worst then having it in Vancouver, to this day, Vancouver is ten times the city memphis is, we have bigger population and with all the chinese and Phillipinos in the Area, the NBA will be a sure hit. That said, Franceso Aquillini has no intentions of bringing in a NBA team anytime soon. likely hood of us having a nba team is probably like 0% Stern (formber NBA commissioner) said his biggest regret is seeing the NBA leave Vancouver. Now in order for a NBA team to come back to Vancouver, we need investors or someone or a group wiling to support the NBA in Vancouver. Since NBA is revenue shared it will survive even if our attendance sucks, that said, I can tell you NBA in Vancouver will do very well. however its extremely unlikely it will ever happen. Unless Steve Nash somehow convices Francesco to make a bid on one of the struggling existing franchies and get it moved up to Vancouver, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g_bassi13 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 lol It's very relevant to the marketability of the sport. It's a sport more relevant in those cultures than most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orka Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 however its extremely unlikely it will ever happen. Unless Steve Nash somehow convices Francesco to make a bid on one of the struggling existing franchies and get it moved up to Vancouver, Unfortunately, none of the NBA franchises are struggling right now... Not to mention NBA teams are now selling for 2 Billion dollars.. unless there's a billionaire basketball fan that lives in vancouver that I don't know about, our best shot would be expansion; which is quite unlikely at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger-Hearted Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Agree with all...I think there were a few class acts in a Grizzlies jersey but I think Abdur Rahim was my favorite. Abdur Rahim was a class act without a shadow of a doubt. He wanted to win and wanted to win badly. Shareef was an excellent player but he wasn't a franchise player. Not like Kobe Bryant, unfortunately. I feel that putting such a horrible team on his back and trying to be the difference maker in every game had shortened his career. Believe he had knee problems later. An excellent player with an iron will and a heart of gold deserved so much better. I hope he's doing well in his post-NBA career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger-Hearted Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Two expansion teams in the near future: Seattle SuperSonics Vancouver Orcas(Use the old Grizzlies' colours - black and white for the Orca, turquoise for the Pacific Ocean and Canadian red. Mascot - SUPER FIN!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orka Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 Saw these Vancouver grizzlies jersey concepts on bardown a little while ago: the maroon ones are so nice! check out the other concept jerseys, some nice ones for the raptors: http://www2.tsn.ca/bardown/Story.aspx?id=508824 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanuckofSteel Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 I went to a Grizzlies game in either 1999 or 2000, I don't remember a lot. The things I do remember are meeting the mascot, getting a t-shirt from the mascot, and the Grizz losing the game. They were playing either the Wizards, Magic, or Jazz (I remember the opposing teams jersey having blue in it). I thought it was awesome probably because I was like 5-6 years old at the time. NBA would definitely be supported in Vancouver now, the sport has grown like crazy since then in Canada. Almost everyone I know has an interest in the NBA and I personally would buy season tickets or half season tickets for the first season, then see how the team is from there. Vancouver and BC as a province has never been more ready to embrace an NBA team, plus it would ease the pressure off the Canucks a bit. Bring a NBA franchise to Rogers Arena or build a new arena and put a NBA Franchise in there, just bring the NBA back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orka Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 I went to a Grizzlies game in either 1999 or 2000, I don't remember a lot. The things I do remember are meeting the mascot, getting a t-shirt from the mascot, and the Grizz losing the game. They were playing either the Wizards, Magic, or Jazz (I remember the opposing teams jersey having blue in it). I thought it was awesome probably because I was like 5-6 years old at the time. NBA would definitely be supported in Vancouver now, the sport has grown like crazy since then in Canada. Almost everyone I know has an interest in the NBA and I personally would buy season tickets or half season tickets for the first season, then see how the team is from there. Vancouver and BC as a province has never been more ready to embrace an NBA team, plus it would ease the pressure off the Canucks a bit. Bring a NBA franchise to Rogers Arena or build a new arena and put a NBA Franchise in there, just bring the NBA back. Couldn't agree more with you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offensive Threat Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Went to a lot of games back then. Always bought our tickets from scalpers. Always far below face value. $20 per ticket would get you half decent seats. There was always a decent crowd. Not necessarily sold out at all but over 15K it seemed like most times and the crowd was into it. If Friday or Saturday evenings it could be sold out. We usually lost but had a couple close wins there. When a teams best season is 23-59 losing isnt a big deal. Its just expected. The leagues decision to hamper both Vancouver and Toronto with draft and salary cap restrictions early was complete BS from top to bottom and really pissed off a lot of potential fans from the beginning. Want a expansion team to be successful? Dont F them right from the start. I still cant believe the league did that. Integrity is not a priority with that bunch. Hiring Stu Jackson was a mistake. Paying Reeves was a mistake. All 5 of their coaches over 6 seasons were mistakes lol. Selling to Heisley was the final mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grapefruits Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 The NBA couldn't even sell out the preseason game in October with The Raptors. Not really sure why people think Vancouver will support an NBA team over the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awalk Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Would love to see NBA back in Vancouver someday. People in Van City absolutely embraced the Grizzlies...it's just that the team sucked, really badly, for their entire existence. People started paying to go just to see the stars on the visiting team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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