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This is a production of WKNO-Memphis.
Production funding for 'Sports Files' is made possible in part
by..
My guest today on 'Sports Files' is the television voice of the
Memphis Grizzlies, Pete Pranica.
♪♪♪
The Memphis Grizzlies will open up the NBA playoffs this
weekend, their third straight appearance in the post season.
Last year the Grizzlies owned home court advantage against the
Los Angeles Clippers, but lost in a thrilling seven game series
which concluded in Memphis with the Clippers downing the
Grizzlies at FedExForum.
The 2012-13 regular season has been a very eventful one for the
home town team.
The Grizzlies have set franchise records for total wins and road
victories.
They have also overcome major changes to the franchise,
including the change in ownership and management.
If that wasn't enough, the team found a way to stay together
after the major trade that sent valued teammate,
not to mention leading scorer, Rudy Gay to Toronto.
It's not often you see teams having success after dealing
their leading scorer in midseason,
but new CEO Jason Levien, with the blessing of new majority
owner Robert Pera, saw it as a way to upgrade the roster,
while making a major financial decision,
for not only the present, but the future as well.
The Grizzlies also dealt key role players Marisse Speights
and Wayne Ellington while bringing in veteran Tayshaun
Prince and talented Ed Davis and Austin Daye.
And after an understandable adjustment period,
the Grizzlies chemistry quickly evolved.
The team actually seemed to be improved,
like management predicted.
But now comes the NBA's second season.
And this is where they separate the contenders from the
pretenders.
One man who's always in the middle of the action is Pete
Pranica.
No, Pete is not a shooter nor a rebounder.
But Pete is as entertaining as the players themselves.
He is the telelvision voice of the Memphis Grizzlies and he's
simply one of the league's best play by play announcers.
Today Pete joins me to look back at the regular season and ahead
to the playoffs where the Grizzlies are hoping to avoid a
repeat of last year.
We roll out the pumpkin with the colorful and entertaining Pete
Pranica next on 'Sports Files'.
♪♪♪
Well Pete, thank you so much for being with us.
We appreciate it.
It's been a terrific regular season for the Grizzlies.
How would you assess it to this point?
I think by just about any metric,
it's the most successful season in franchise history And when
you look at the number of players that have worn the
uniform, 20 at last count.
There may be more before the play-offs are over.
And the job that Lionel Hollins has done to keep everybody on
the same page, on track, pun intended,
through the Rudy Gay trade, through the change in ownership,
the death of Dana Davis, the death of Kenny Williamson.
To keep this whole thing on track and to have a franchise
best season I think speaks volumes about the organization
and speaks volumes about Lionel Hollins.
You're around the country at different NBA venues and in
arenas.
What's it like from the other side when people look at Lionel
Hollins?
We know what he's done.
And you make a great point.
To be able to coach all these different players and to coach
them up so well and the chemistry still be there.
What are the outsiders saying about Lionel?
There's a tremendous sense of admiration whether you go to
Dallas or you go to any of he other Southwest division cities
or you go out east.
They say, "We really like your team."
"We like Lionel Hollins."
"We like the style of play."
"We like the fact that there is more substance than there is
style.'
And there's a lot of admiration for the Grizzlies.
And it really goes back several years,
Greg, because when the Grizzlies were starting under Lionel
Hollins to kind of get their footing,
a lot of people would say to us, " We like your team,
we like your coach and in a few years,
you guys are going to be really good."
The trade goes down with Rudy Gay.
Of course, there were a couple of trades and as we mentioned,
a lot of player personnel moves.
Pete, what was your initial reaction to the trade?
And then what do you think about it today?
My initial reaction was it's going to be some short term pain
because you have I think your longest ten year Grizzly.
He had played more games than anybody else,
more minutes than anybody else, was approaching Pau Gasol's
all-time leadership in points.
And you understand it's a very large piece of your
organizational history that's no longer there.
You look at the salary cap situation and you look at the
amount of money that Rudy was making and you're looking at
Marc Gasol making a big contract,
Zach Randolph making a big contract,
Mike Conley making a good dollar.
And oh, by the way, Tony Allen is an unrestricted free agent.
Mhmm.
Something's got to give.
And when you're looking at..
And if I were running the organziation,
I'm looking at, "Okay, who can you replace?"
Can you replace another wing scorer like Rudy Gay?
Yes, you can do that.
Can you replace a Marc Gasol?
That's pretty hard.
Can you replace a Zach Randolph?
That's really tough.
Try replacing a Tony Allen.
That's really tough.
And so I thought there would be some short term pain but I think
over the long term, it was going to be better.
And when you look at..
You know, Rudy this year was no shooting the ball very well.
And he was not a very efficient scorer.
And I think that his style of play was really at odds with
what the Grizzlies needed to do which is to play inside-out
through Marc and Zach.
And so it was..
It's a business decision.
I think it was also a basketball decision and ultimately the
right decision.
The chemsitry that was built up with the core players over the
years was tremednous.
And here you are breaking up the chemistry a bit.
Were you surprised how quickly?
There was a couple of games they stumbled a little bit while
getting used to each other with Tayshaun Prince and Ed Davis and
Austin Day joining.
But they found that chemistry once again very quickly.
Did that surprise you it was that quick?
Not really.
I mean, this has always been a very tightly knit group.
I think Marc Gasol and Mike Conley have been very good
friends I think since pretty much day one.
They're always on the same page.
Tony Allen is a very good locker room guy.
And then you bring in Tayshaun Prince.
And what I was most impressed with with Tayshaun.
First walk-off interview he says,
"I like being here, I just want to know where my teammates want
me to give them the ball."
Right!
It was like, "Okay, you're going to be fine in the locker room."
And then the other thing with Tayshaun is here is a guy who's
won Olympic gold.
He's won an NBA championship.
People are going to listen to him and the word that we had
gotten.
And you know, you're around the league long enough you hear this
from everybody, constant profeesional.
And he absolutely positively is.
Alright, I'm going to ask you a tough question here.
See if you want to dance around it or come right at us.
Who is the MVP of the team this season?
Oh, that is a very tough question.
Because you have an all-star in Z-Bo but you have Gasol who is
the best center in the NBA.
And then wow, the improvement from Conley this year!
Where would they be without him?
So it is tough.
Yeah, I go back to my earlier thought about,
you know, what can you replace.
Mike Conley would be hard to replace but there are a lot of
good point guards out there.
I think Marc Gasol really and truly is one of a kind.
When you look at going in to the world of analytics for a second,
when Marc Gasols on the floor, the Grizzlies give up I think 96
points per 100 possessions.
When he's off the floor, it's like 103 pointer per possession.
He is so incredibly valuable on both ends of the floor because
he can handle the ball.
He can shoot it.
He can block shots.
He can rebound and he can assist.
And he really does have the full package.
if you're talking, maybe if we change it from most valuable to
most irreplaceable, then it would be Marc Gasol.
You made the nice transition for me.
You brought up the word analytics.
You bring in new ownership led by majority owner Robert Pera
who knows all about that.
He gets Jason Levien here as the new CEO.
He knows all about analytics.
They bring in John Hollinger who's a master mind with
numbers.
What do you think about this new school basketball,
this new regime and the job they've done so far in piecing
together this team, making the moves that they have made and
using analytics?
Well, I think that they've done a very good job.
I think the trade that they made initially to set up the Rudy Gay
deal was very, very smart because it cleared out some room
and you get John Hollinger back in trade.
Analytics..
People, when they hear that word,
it's almost like a hot button where people immediate request.
We don't want to go with numbers.
When you go back and you look at the numbers and you compare them
to what you see with your eye balls,
a lot of it correlates.
You know, the eye ball on test on Rudy said,
"Okay, he's not shooting high percentages,
not an efficient scorer."
And then you go back and you look at the numbers and you see
you know what?
The eye ball test was exactly right.
I think analytics, when properly applied,
informs your decision.
It doesn't make your decision for you because you still need
that eye ball test.
And I've talked with a number of scouts and they say,
"Yeah, we can look at the analytics but if we're scouting
a game, we want to watch how a player interacts with his coach,
how he interacts with his teammates," so there was to be a
balance between the eye ball test and between the numbers on
a page.
As we sit here, Pete, on the Grizzlies practice court,
we do so not knowing whether the Grizzlies will open up with the
Clippers or with the Nuggets.
It looks like it will be LA for a second straight year.
Let's talk about the Clippers and the match-up.
Last year, Grizzlies had the home court advantage.
They lost in seven games.
More than likely, they'll open in LA.
What do you think about the match-up?
Well, the match-up is a tough one for the Grizzlies.
And I think the biggest hurdle they have to overcome,
Greg, might be psychological.
Mhmm.
You look at Grizzlies getting home court advantage,
blowing a big lead in game one and not being able to play well
in game seven.
Then this year, the Clippers come in.
Grizzlies shoot the lowest field goal percentage for a home game
in team history.
And then last weekend they lose a game that they have a lead
heading in to the fourth quarter.
I think psychologically the grizzlies have to make sure that
their minds alright.
The Clippers are tough not only because they're long athletic
but because they have so many highlight plays.
And they can build momentum.
They can generate momentum unlike few teams in the NBA.
The Denver Nuggets ironically might be the only other one that
can generate momentum that way.
For the Grizzlies to win the series,
Greg, they have to play very strong basketball from their
bench.
Jerryd Bayless is going to average double figures.
You're probably going to have to get double figured games from
Quincy Pondexter and Ed Davis.
You're going to have to have somebody who can match Eric
Bledsoe coming off the bench, somebody who can match Jamal
Crawford coming off the bench.
That's really the biggest advantage that the Clippers have
in the series would be the ability of their bench to score
points and be productive.
Is there the worry about your playing a team that has a
quote-unquote super star in Chris Paul.
He'll get the calls.
Or do we blow that out of proportion?
If you let it get inside your mind,
then you're not doing a good job.
I mean, you just have to say..
Whatever the calls are, you just have live with them and you have
to continue to play through because in play-off basketball,
possessions are so much more tightly contested that if you
are worried about whether you get a whistle or you don't get a
whistle, then your mind may be gone for he next three
possessions.
And you can't do that.
You just have to say, "Look, hey,
they're better officials, you know,
the highest rated officials in the play-offs."
And you just have to let it go.
Pete, how can you look back at a season and let's say the
Grizzlies don't get by their first round opponent and they've
had this incredible season during the regular year where
they've set records for wins and road wins.
Can you say it's successful?
Does it have to show in the post season?
I think the gut reaction is it has to show in the post season.
The issue that the Grizzlies have is the two potential
opponents for them in the play-offs.
They're two and six in the regular season.
Two and two against San Antonio.
They take two and three from Oklahoma City.
They have the edge on pretty much everybody else in the
play-offs except for two teams potentially that they face.
The teams that have given the Grizzlies fits over the last two
to three years have been the long,
athletic teams.
Those are the two teams in Denver and the Clippers that the
Grizzlies are most likely to face.
You just told us a moment ago how you think the Grizzlies can
win the series.
Let me ask you this.
Who is the key player for the Grizzlies to come out of that
series successfully?
I think it's going to have to be Zach Randolph.
Zach has to play defense against Blake Griffin,
keep him out of the paint, keep him away from the lobs.
And Zach has to be a 20 and 10 guys and get a little bit of
that post season magic that he had against the Spurs two years
ago.
Let's talk a little bit about you.
You've been in this business a long time.
You've been calling NBA games 20 years,
radio and television.
How do you fire yourself up each and every night to go out there
and give the best broadcast possible?
I have the best job in the world.
I mean, there isn't a night that you don't get excited about what
you're doing.
You never know what you're going to see.
You could see a triple overtime thriller.
You could see a blow out.
You could see somebody go 50 points.
And just the fact that you can go there and sit court side and
be a part of it and be part of the excitment.
And to be part of an organization.
And the Grizzlies organization has been fantastic to me.
And Memphis has become a home to me.
I'm originally from Wisconsin.
Nine years here now in Memphis and I'm thrilled to be here and
I'm very pleased.
With the team's success obviously it's a great
organization.
Also a great group of guys.
I mean, some basketball teams, the players don't want to have
anything to go with anybody but the other players.
I mean, Mike Conley, Quincy Pondexter,
Marc Gasol.
All these guys, they know our names.
They know our stories and talk to us and things like that.
So it's like I said.
I have the best job in the world.
Who's the best to..
Give me one player, the best to deal with today and maybe
all-time with the Grizzlies.
One of my all-time favorites was Mike Miller.
Mike is just a real salt-of-the-earth guy.
He and his wife Jen donating money to children's hospital in
South Dakota.
He was always there, would host us at the Adidas company store
out in Portland to make sure that we were taken care of.
And I've always enjoyed seeing Mike and Mike would always come
over and say hello.
Right now, boy!
I enjoy so many of them.
And I knew Zach Randolph when he was 19.
And I was at Staxtacular and a lot of people wanted their
picture taken with Zach.
And Zach says,"No, I want.."
Pete can take his picture with me first because he knew me when
I was 19.
And Zach never forgot because we worked together in Portland and
really, really a quality guy.
I'm happy to see his career flourish as it has here in
Memphis.
That's loyalty with a capital L.
You have a rarity because you work with two analysts.
And also on the radio side the grizzlies have two analysts.
I don't know if that's being done in the NBA at another place
but I would imagine it's rare.
Two great guys who I know very well in Brevin Knight and Sean
Tuohy.
What's the difference working with those two and you have to
get yourself ready to work with different style each game when
they're doing it.
Yeah, a little bit.
I mean, Sean takes pride in not preparing for a game.
(laughter) I've got stacks of notes and he teases me about my
index cards and all that.
And Sean is very much..
If you were a golfer which he is,
he's a field player.
Very actionary?
Very, very actionary.
He has some thoughts about how he thinks the game should go but
he is more reactionary to what happens on the floor.
Brevin thinks the game like a player and like a coach.
And he will make a number of notes.
And he is more Xs and Os oriented in terms of going
unders screens, going over screens,
pick and roll here, pick and pop there,
you know, those types of things.
The commonality is that they're both wonderful guys.
I play golf with both of them.
They're two of my dearest friends in the world and really
quality people.
Pete, give us a tip for youngsters out there that want
to follow in both our footsteps but they want to be a television
or even a radio play-by-play broadcaster.
I think number one is you need to find an outlet where you can
get on the air or get reps.
And if that means taking a tape recorder out to Autozone Park
with a microphone and doing play-by-play.
When I was a kid, I'd set up a card table in front of a
television, watch an NBA game.
I'd set up a microphone and tape recorder.
Still do.
Yeah, we all do it.
I would say that's the first thing.
The second thing, Greg, is learn how to write.
With the advent of blogs, the ability to be a wordsmith,
to tell stories, to use proper words and usage I think is
invaluable because it seems like we're getting away in some sense
from the written word.
So I think that the person who can write well and build their
vocabulary, it will help you because if you can organize
your thoughts on paper, it will you organize your thoughts up
here when during a play-by-play broadcast as you well know is
essentially two, two and a half hours of speaking.
Well said, Pete.
You're off the hot seat but we got Five for the Road here.
So we've got five questions, quick answers.
First thing that comes to mind.
I think I know the answer to this but your favorite
professional sports franchise.
You can't say the Grizzlies though.
Green Bay Packers.
Tell everybody why.
I grew up about 10 miles north of Green Bay and had season
tickets when I was a kid growing up.
Wow!
Who's your favorite player from the Packers?
I'm going to ask you another question about favorite players
of all time but from Green Bay specifically.
Aaron Rodgers.
Alright, your favorite professional athlete,
any sport.
Can't say Aaron Rodgers or any of the Grizzlies.
Favorite professional athlete.
Uh, past or present?
Past or present.
I'm going to say Joe Dumars.
Joe Dumars!
Hmm, okay.
Your favorite music, musician, group.
What do you like to listen to?
Um..
Do you like to listen to music?
I love to listen to music, all kinds of music.
That might be the bigger problem because I'm going to go
classical here.
I knew you were going to go classical.
I'm going to go classical with a finish composer,
Arvo Part.
You're killing me, Pete.
I knew!
I knew you were going classical.
Two more questions for ya.
Favorite movei of all time?
Favorite movie of all time.
Um, Bull Durham.
Great choice!
If it wasn't a sports movie, do you have one?
Just off the top of your head?
River Runs Through it.
Okay, final question for ya.
Favorite television series of all-time?
Favorite television series of all-time,
Night Court.
Night Court was terrific with Harry Anderson.
But what about today?
What would you watch today?
Or what do you watch today?
Um, the only episodic television I watch is Sherlock.
Sherlock.
On BBC, yeah.
Very cerebral.
He's very cerebral.
He's also terrific at what he does.
Well Pete, thanks so much for being with us.
We appreciate it.
Looking forward to listening to you and watching you come post
season time.
Thanks.
♪♪♪
For many years local race fans were able to get in their fix of
motorsports by simply hopping in their vehicle and heading over
to Memphis Motorsports Park.
There was Nascar and NHRA and everything in between.
Then the track was sold and the racing went away.
But now racing is back!
Memphis International Raceway is the new name,
and once again it's a part of the Memphis and Mid-South
communities.
And while the hope is that we'll one day soon see the return of
Nascar and NHRA events.
And the IHRA is already on the schedule.
The fact of the matter is, the future looks bright for Memphis
International Raceway and Motorsports in general.
Last weekend the very popular Super Chevy Show returned with
something for everyone.
From side by side racing to jet cars to an ole fashion swap
meet.
There was excitement everywhere you turned,
so we sent a 'Sports Files' camera crew to take in some of
the action.
Sit back and relax!
♪♪♪
The Super Chevy Show is the biggest show for your Chevy
enthusiasts.
There is a series of 12 that go across the country.
We're one of those 12.
We're also one of the largest of those 12 shows.
And it is for the enthusiasts for car shows,
swap meet, car corral, drag racing.
We bring in wheel standards, jet cars and a pro-mod show that,
you know, they're going to get them on their feet.
It's an exciting day for the Chevy enthusiasts.
The show is geared towards a family friendly environment.
We have every age group from one all the way up to our seniors.
And we love every single one of them.
17 and under and drive in our junior dragster program.
And we have quite a few of those on property this weekend.
Our program on a weekly basis also offers teh junior dragster
program.
And it's an exciting group.
Rusty Wallace has come on board with the facility for five
years.
They will be the racer for driving experiences.
They've also added a go cart program with in their driving
experience of stock cars.
So they're going to be in our community for five years.
They've made a commitment and investment to build up business
here.
The biggest thing is for folks to know that we are a
multi-facet facility.
We are not the facility that you're only going to be able to
see drag racing, only going to be able to see oval racing.
We have multiple facilities.
We have a drag strip which is quarter mile drag strip.
We have a 1.77 mile road course.
We have an autocross facility.
We also host drifting.
We do team testing as well as driving experiences on our
three-quarter mile paved oval.
So the amount of racing and the variety of racing is just
endless.
And we offer it for every person.
The test and tune that we hold on a weekly basis and the
midnight madness that we hold once a month gives our
spectators a chance to become the show.
And what I mean by that is anybody 16 and older who has a
valid drivers license can bring their personal car out and race
the quarter mile.
It is the safest, the only legal way to drag race.
And we have all of the safety equipment on site to ensure the
safety.
But it brings the spectator to the show.
And the folks then begin to see them race.
And then once they get further involved in that,
that's when you go in to your class race and go in to your
electronics, non-electronics, street cars,
DOT which is a street program and then your junior dragsters
as well.
So the test and tune leads in to bigger racing.
And then eventually, does lead in to the IHRA racing which is
your super comp comp and so forth.
We have a local racing program, the summit bracket racing series
presents by comp cams.
And what that does is allow our racers here in the local area
within a tri-state area to come out with their race cars,
participate in a 14 race series for points.
And then at the end of the year, there will be a points fund that
is awarded to them like you see in some of your IHRA programs
across the country.
This is the local level of that program.
And then those racers from that program if they're champion have
the opportunity to go on to the team and world finals and
compete in the IHRA world finals in Memphis in October.
So it is a graduated program that our local tracks feed in to
for racing.
If you've ever had the desire to how fast your car can go,
this is the place to do it.
This is the safe place to do it.
We have the necessary equipment here to make sure that you're in
a safe environment.
We want to keep it off the streets.
We want to keep our public safe.
We want to keep our children safe.
And we want to put it in a controlled environment and allow
you to have as much fun as you wish.
We do not limit the amount of runs that they can run during
test and tune.
We encourage them to do it in a safe place at Memphis
International Raceway.
♪♪♪
And our thanks to Pam Kendrick, the Vice President and General
Manager of Memphis Intnational Raceway for being our tour
guide.
A couple of notes before we say goodbye.
The Memphis Tigers Hoop roster continues to evolve for next
season.
Guard Joe Jackson announced on Monday that he will return for
his senior season while fellow guard Antonio Barton has decided
to transfer.
Barton joins forward Tarik Black in opting to change
destinations.
Meanwhile forward Adonis Thomas has made himself available for
the NBA draft.
And finally, sports usually provides us with a chance to
escape the sometimes harsh reality of life but on Monday
the two worlds collided.
Two bombs detonated in and around the finish line of the
Boston Marathon.
Many innocent people were hurt, some even lost their lives.
All this while running a race.
Dozens of runners hailed from the MidSouth.
And what should have been a day of accomplishment turned into a
day of horror.
It's also a day that will always be remembered,
but unfortunately now for all the wrong reasons.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those directly affected
by the tragedy in Boston.
And that will do it for this week.
We'll see you next time.
♪♪♪