A few rambling thoughts in advance of tonight's home game against the Grizzlies.

Memphis comes to town tonight, and they presumably will begin the game with Mike Conley, Jr running the point. You may remember Conley as the guy many Hawks fans clamored for before the 2007 NBA Draft. In fact, I just did a little search through the ole' BasketBlog Archives, and found this post, which I wrote on draft night. Check out the comments, if you are looking to have a good laugh.

Of course I look smart now that this particular choice (Al Horford over Conley) worked out the way it did, but I do think its funny in this case because for as much grief (some of it deserved) that the previous administration got for their drafts, this one is working out exceptionally well so far.

That's not to say Mike Conley can't or won't blossom into a terrific NBA point guard, but he hasn't so far, which is pretty much normal for most 19-year old point guards who come into the NBA and are not named Derrick Rose.

Horford was the right choice at the time, and he is a cornerstone of this franchise for years to come. Maybe Billy didn't take Chris Paul or Deron Williams (or Brandon Roy), but he definitely made the right call in 2007.

Tonight's game should be interesting, at least in the sense that the Grizzlies of '08 are very similar to the Hawks of say, '05 or '06. A ton of talented young players on this Memphis squad, and while they haven't figured it out yet (4-13 on the season, one win away from home), they certainly have a foundation of players that could see some success in a couple years if they are allowed to grow together the way the Hawks did. I am particularly interested to see how OJ Mayo looks, given my skepticism of his game coming out of college (is he a point guard or a shooting guard?) and given his impressive performance so far.

Tonight also marks the re-appearance of one Josh Smith, who returns from a high-ankle sprain after missing 13 games. We were discussing around the office this morning how many minutes we hoped to see from Smoove tonight, and I said I'd be pretty pleased to see him get in for 20-25 minutes. Memphis (and New York on Friday for that matter) is a team we should be able to beat with or without Josh, so I'd like to see the team ease him back into the action if they can help it.

For what it's worth, both Smith and Coach Woodson said that his conditioning will be his biggest hurdle to overcome on his way back, so it sounds like they are following the same line of thinking.

Memphis may not be a good team, but they definitely have some guys who can make plays, and I expect tonight to be a fun game no matter what.

Come down to Philips to check out the action for yourself, especially since the game isn't being televised locally.