Bill Simmons: Grizzlies - funny read

Saw this and thought it was funny and a good read, Bill Simmons from ESPN article on the NBA Power Poll, heres the Grizzlies section (we came in at 11)

11. Memphis Grizzlies
This year's Bizarro Good Management Team. They have an actual identity: a feisty team with size and toughness that defends the perimeter and are just crazy enough to think they can beat anyone. So how did they get here? Well, they did the Clippers a solid by trading Quentin Richardson's expiring contract for the Then-Completely Insane Zach Randolph, a deal that saved the Clips something like $500 million. (And, of course, Z-Bo settled down into becoming a beast on the low-post.) They did the Lakers a solid by trading their best player (Pau Gasol) for the proverbial pu-pu platter (a whole bunch of nothing), with Pau's brother (practically a throw-in) miraculously losing 35 pounds and turning into a quality center. They overpaid Rudy Gay (transformed by his Team USA experience just a month later, although they couldn't have known that when they paid him) and Mike Conley (the dumbest premature extension of the last few years, but he's been solid for them).

Hold on, I'm not done. They signed Trick or Treat Tony Allen, the guy who terrified Celtics fans for seven solid years ... and he only became the single best bargain of 2010 free agency. They blew the No. 2 pick in the 2009 draft (Thabeet), had to package him with another No. 1 just to dump him, but the deal landed them Shane Battier, who joined forces with Allen and turned them into a bitch defensively. They tried to deal Mayo to Indiana at the deadline, failed to call in the deal in time -- no really, THEY FAILED TO CALL IN THE DEAL IN TIME -- and somehow, this worked out and Mayo has given them quality minutes with Gay sidelined. They spent a first-round pick on someone (Darrell Arthur) who everyone else avoided because there were bad rumors about his kidneys; naturally, he's turned into an excellent bench player. And for the stretch run they picked up someone with no ACLs who hadn't had a relevant NBA moment in three years (Leon Powe); it goes without saying that he's reinvented himself as a banger off the bench.

It's perplexing, all of it. But you know what? I loved watching the 2011 Grizzlies even before they grew those awesome playoff beards. Trick or Treat Tony epitomizes everything: It makes absolutely no sense that he's the best defensive guard in basketball right now, that he can suddenly make layups, that you can run plays for him in crunch-time. Sometimes you just have to shrug your shoulders and enjoy the ride. I would not want to play Memphis in Round 1. At all.

Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110408&sportCat=nba