The Grip - MON 4.8.19

They finally let Sid in

April 08, 2019

Monday, April 8th, 2019

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Written while listening to Group Home's Livin' Proof

‘Crief was great. Now he has the plaque to prove it.

The NBA undid one of its long-standing injustices on Saturday, announcing Sidney Moncrief’s election to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, 28 years after The Squid, one of the great players of the 1980s, played his final game.(Jack Sikma, Bobby Jones, Paul Westphal and Vlade Divac were also elected. Chris Webber was snubbed again.)We called for this -- and a takedown in general of the Hall of Fame -- in July. We even took to Twitter.Moncrief’s game was neither sexy nor particularly remarkable -- his enduring image is of defense and a receding hairline -- but he was consistently the best player on some almost-great Milwaukee teams, thwarted only by the Boston Celtics, whose hoarding of star players slightly edged the Bucks’ roster year-after-year.From 1982-86, the Bucks made the Eastern Conference Finals three times, losing once to Philadelphia and twice to Boston. By win shares, ‘Crief was the best player on all four of those teams.His career was extinguished by chronic knee trouble; he was past his prime by 29 and out of the league by 33, playing a final forgettable season in Atlanta. But, in the end, he compiled five All-Star appearances, two Defensive Player of the Year Awards, an All-NBA first-team selection and four second-team selections.In an era almost devoid of free agency, he never made the NBA Finals, but made the Final Four with Arkansas, in 1978, and lost what many consider to be one of the greatest college basketball games ever in 1979 to Larry Bird’s Indiana State team, in the Elite 8.His greatness was overt to those who watched him, and he was finally rewarded for it this weekend. And, thankfully, he won’t have to receive his due credit posthumously like Dennis Johnson. The Squid is alive and kicking.[READ: Sidney Moncrief helped save the NBA. He should be rewarded for it.]

 Some of the stupid things Ernie Grunfeld did, ranked   

(Grunfeld, who had been Washington’s general manager for 16 years, was “relieved of his duties” on April 2. Here are some very stupid things he did in his time with the Wizards.)Honorable mentions: He signed Dwight Howard to a two-year contract this past offseason; he gave Gilbert Arenas a $111 million extension after a major injury; he traded Arenas for Rashard Lewis, in a comical swap of over-the-hill stars on horrifyingly fat contracts; and he generally contributed to another 16 years of non-50 win seasons for the Wizards/Bullets, which now stands at 40 years.5. He gave Ian Mahinmi a four-year, $64 million contract in 2016. Mahinmi is now arguably the least tradable player ever.4. He gave John Wall -- another candidate for least tradable -- the super-max, which kicks in next season and will pay the oft-injured point guard $170 million over the next four seasons.3. He traded the fifth pick in the 2009 draft for Mike Miller and Randy Foye. Steph Curry went seventh in that draft.2. He gave Andray Blatche a $28 million extension in 2010 a year after he broke his foot. Blatche was so bad Washington amnestied his contract two years in.1. He took Jan Vesely sixth overall in the 2011 draft, ahead of Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson. Vesely lasted three seasons and 162 games.

Yes, there are still important games left

Talented the Eastern Conference’s bottom rung is not. Wildly entertaining, it is.Last night, the Brooklyn Nets beat the Indiana Pacers, 108-96, to clinch their first playoff appearance in four seasons. Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic pulled away late against the Boston Celtics, winning 116-108, turning their surprise season into a spot in the playoffs. The Nets, at 41-40, own the tiebreaker over the Magic, also 41-40, for the sixth seed.Then, there are the bottom three teams, who all have playoff hopes alive. Here are the current standings entering Monday night’s slate.While the Pistons are currently in the eighth seed, there’s not much room for error. They own the tiebreaker against the Heat but not the Hornets; if they go 1-1 while Charlotte goes 2-0, Charlotte makes the playoffs and Detroit doesn’t.The only way for Miami to make the playoffs is to win out and have Detroit lose out, while the Hornets go either 1-1 or 0-2.The only one of the three which controls its own destiny is Detroit, which makes the playoffs if it wins the next two games.Make sense?Detroit’s remaining schedule:

Tues, April 9th: Detroit Pistons vs. Memphis GrizzliesWed, April 10th: Detroit Pistons @ New York Knicks

Charlotte’s upcoming schedule:

Tues, April 9th: Charlotte Hornets @ Cleveland CavaliersWed, April 10th: Charlotte Hornets vs. Orlando Magic

Miami’s upcoming schedule:

Tues, April 9th: Miami Heat vs. Philadelphia 76ersWed, April 10th: Miami Heat @ Brooklyn Nets

  Jeremy Lamb(?) FTW 

   

A buzzer-beater by Jeremy Lamb against the Raptors on Friday night, following up his other, even more unlikely,

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  Quick Hits

 Concrete Reads 

  • Why this generationally unsexy NCAA title game is a sign of things to come [Yahoo! Sports]

  • When LeBron learned the power of saying no [From Brian Windhorst’s new book]

  • In Nipsey Hussle, the NBA lost a friend, mentor [The Boston Globe]

  • The oral history of Dirk's 1998 Nike Hoop Summit [ESPN]

  • The sneaker bidding war for Zion Williamson will be unprecedented [ESPN]

  Podcast Pick

Harden vs. Giannis and Wizards pain [The Bill Simmons Podcast]