OJ Mayo Fan Blog on OJMayo.com

I have not updated the site in a while but that doesnt mean that OJ Mayo stopped balling.  The guy is becoming one of the toughest covers in the game.  Quoting Dwayne Wade before todays game against Miami he says “If you go back to the summer, I think I was the one who said he would be pretty good.   I was the one who said that. I knew he was a great scorer and had the potential to be a good defensive player. He’s silky-smooth out there. He’s one of those tough covers.”

The Grizzlies have also won 3 in a row and 4 out of there last 5.  In those games OJ had a little bit of a lesser role with less minutes but his contributions in key parts of the game made a huge difference. 

He is now in a very tight race with Derrick Rose for Rookie of The Year.  They both had subpar games in the matchup Friday night where the Grizzlies beat the Bulls.  If OJ continues this pace and the Grizzlies continue to win the award will go to OJ Mayo.

Here is the link to vote:

http://www.nba.com/allstar2009/asb/eng/ballot.html?referrer=NBA&code=MGQhhtug

You can only vote once per 24 hours and you must register for an account if you dont already have one. Its really important if your a real OJ Mayo fan to do this.

I will make sure to vote for him atleast once per day. He is top 20 scorers in the league but he plays in Memphis where not everyone is able to see him play.

Tags: 2008-09 nba all star game, oj mayo

TMZ.com is reporting today that OJ Mayo stiffed a few thousand people in AZ when he didnt show up to his much hyped 21st Birthday party. They said they handed out 50,000 fliers in Tempe promoting the party and ran radio ads as well. A rep. from the Memphis Grizzlies said it sounded fishy because OJ was on the team plane back to Memphis right after the game and obviously could not have made it.

Whether true or not this isnt something that should be making the news. That is if you consider TMZ news. If true its good to hear OJ knows what his priorities are and feels like sleep is more important than celebrating right now.

Tags: oj mayo, oj mayo 21st birthday party, tmz

Friday Night the Memphis Grizzlies lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 101-96 in overtime. It was the fourth straight loss for the Grizzlies. OJ Mayo led the way with 25 points on 9-21 shooting.

I couldnt catch this game and I wont be able to catch any other Friday night games. I wish I could because I love watching OJ Mayo’s development as a player but I cannot. Saying that, if anyone caught the game feel free to leave a comment here on anything good I missed about OJ.

His stat line for the night reads well to me. 25 points on 9-21 shooting with 3 rebounds and 3 assists. He was also 6-6 from the line. He also played 46 minutes as the game went into overtime.

Reading some of the articles online he seems he scored most of his points early and that Rudy Gay brought them back in the 4th and they made it into overtime. It seems to me they need to pick up there defense like they did early on in the season to win more games. When they do that it will stop them from having long losing streaks. Its important for them to come back and to stop the bleeding at 4 straight games.

Tags: milwaukee bucks, oj mayo, rudy gay

Last night was one of the ugliest defensive games I have ever seen by any team. It was deifnitely they worst performace of the year so far for the young Memphis team. They lost to the New York Knicks by 29 points 132-103. They are now 3-6 on the year.

I will talk about OJ Mayo first since this site is dedicated to him but I will go back to the team woes later. OJ Mayo had another solid game. He scored 17 points on 6-13 shooting and also added 3 rebounds and 2 assists. He sat most of the 4th quarter as coach Marc Iavaroni basically gave the game up with 10 minutes left. Im not sure why he did that but it did not make sense to me.

The game tonight was very frustrating to watch if you were a Grizzlies fan. The offense was going nowhere as everyone was taking it one-on-one. The only person on this team who should be taking it one-on-one on occasions is OJ Mayo and I mean not even Rudy Gay for the most part. Hakim Warrick needs to stop worrying about his stats and needs to pass the ball if there is nothing there. The worst part about this offense is the point guard play.

I am going to be a little harsh right now and its easy to right now after last nights game. I think the Grizzlies have by far the two worst point guards in the NBA right now without a doubt. These two guys Mike Conley and Kyle Lowry are bringing down the team. Mike Conley starts but on any other team I think he would have a hard time even being the back up PG. He does not and cannot create a single thing for this offense. His main duty is to bring up the ball and thats pretty much it. Instead of him creating for others I see OJ Mayo creating more for him but when he is set up with a wide open shot he is shooting 31% from the field basically on those open shots. That is totally unacceptable and I cannot see Memphis continuing with such a player who is such a huge liability on the court.

The other option is not much better at all. Kyle Lowry is not and should not be a point guard. This is a guy that comes off the bench and just looks to score for himself. The only positive thing he does on the court is fast break on occasion and score when he doesnt turn it over trying. He also does not create any offense for this team and cant hit an open shot and is a huge liability when he is out there.

Im glad I got this off my chest as I have been holding it in for the first 8 games. This seriously cannot continue. They need to make a trade as they have way too many guards anyway. They have Marko Jaric and Javaris Crittenton as well. They need to bring in someone that can play the point guard position and create more offense for this team. Rudy Gay is not a player who can create for himself, he needs a point guard that can help him out. OJ Mayo can play PG on ocassions but he is too good of a scorer to be playing PG. He has been playing more PG lately because the other options are obviously not working.

One other thing I noticed about OJ Mayo this last game is his patience. He has unbeleivable patience for any player never mind a rookie. He really settles the team down when they need it, although tonight nothing would have helped. OJ is never rushing anywhere and only makes moves that have a purpose. His patience reminds me a lot of Lebron James and the way he plays now. The more I see him play the more impressed I am. Hopefully the next game they will learn something from tonight and not come out so lazy.

Tags: kyle lowry, mike conley, new york knicks, oj mayo, rudy gay

Looks like Dave McMenamin woke up from his first week rankings. He pushed OJ Mayo the the number 1 position for Rookie of the year. He actually also picked OJ before the start of the season to win it.

What I like about his post is that he obviously made the right choice. What I dont like about it is what he said. He basically acknowledged that he is not watching any of his games. I feel like with OJ Mayo its a lot more than just his stat line that is impressive. You had to watch the games to see his actual maturity level and the way he took over those games with his hard work and determination.

He also says that he is surprised that OJ is not just a scorer. If he knew anything about the guy he would have known that he grew up being a point guard and can definitely pass the ball and be a playmaker. He also averaged 5 rebounds in College so its not like these stats are coming out of nowhere.

Maybe now that OJ Mayo has commanded peoples respect they will start watching more of his games. I know Memphis is not a big market and they are not a good team as of yet but I think its time. They have a very young and exciting team and I believe one of the top players in the league in a few years.

To read Dave McMenamins rankings go here:
http://www.nba.com/rookies/rankings_081112.html

Tags: NBA.com Rookie Ranking, oj mayo

OJ Mayo is one of 120 NBA players who made the ballot to the 2009 NBA All Star Game to be played in Phoenix this year on February 15, 2009. Rudy Gay and Mike Conley of the Memphis Grizzlies also made the ballot.

Beginning this Thursday fans will be able to start voting for there favorite players. Of course here at OJMayo.com we will have a link for you to vote for OJ.

The Official NBA Press Release can be found here:
http://www.nba.com/2008/news/features/art_garcia/11/11/allstarballot/index.html