Grizzlies believe wins can convince fans to be loyal to them, not opponents' stars

[La Bomba]

In the Grizzlies' first game back from a five-game road trip last Friday, guard O.J. Mayo appreciated the 13,020 that turned out at FedExForum.

 

What bothered him, though, was the attire of some members of the team's second-largest home crowd of the season. As far as Mayo was concerned, there was too much Dallas apparel in FedExForum for his liking.

 

"Sometimes I get upset because you look into the crowd and they have on Dallas shirts and this is our home," Mayo said. "We work hard to get better as a team, and it's time to start cutting that stuff out, and everybody have their Memphis Grizzlies gear on."

 

In arguably their most impressive game this season, the Grizzlies defeated the Southwest Division-leading Mavericks, 98-82.

 

Still, Mayo could find himself upset again tonight when LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers visit FedExForum. It's part of a star-studded December that also includes visits from Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder (Friday), Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics (Dec. 14), and Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets (Dec. 20).

 

The Grizzlies are hoping that a few more performances like the one against Dallas will have Memphians pulling for them, rather than rooting against them.

 

"It's a big downer when you hear them cheering for LeBron and Kobe (Bryant) and those guys," point guard Mike Conley said. "The more we play together and the more we work hard and win games in front of them, I think we'll win them over and they'll get on our side."

 

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/dec/08/grizzlies-vs-cavalierstoday-7-pm-fedexforum-star/

 

I hate when this happens. I went to both the Lakers game and the Celtics game last year and there was more people cheering for the those teams than for the Grizzlies. People were chanting MVP when Kobe was shooting free throws.