http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/grizzlies/article/0,1426,MCA_475_3034493,00 .html Unheralded Cardinal ready to shine for Griz By Ronald Tillery He's an energy guy not afraid to flex his hustle. In the not-so-distant past, that meant Brian Cardinal was as solid a pick-up game guy as they come. A player who loves to hurl his body at rebounds, loose balls and passing lanes. Someone to keep training camp interesting and the end of the bench as viable as a nail. But Cardinal, a Golden State Warrior free-agent forward, moves up the NBA ladder today when he officially signs a long-term contract with the Grizzlies. A moratorium on signing free agents to contracts ended at 11 p.m. CDT so Cardinal will lend his hard-nosed, energetic play to coach Hubie Brown's system. After spending the past four seasons as an unheralded journeyman, Cardinal and his skills found a home in Memphis where Brown is trying to make defense and hustle as popular as barbecue and Elvis. "For the past four years, it's been like 'Great. Brian's here to practice. Great. He'll give us a good workout. We like Brian Cardinal.' Well, it's a great feeling to know that I'm wanted; that someone sees me as a piece to the puzzle. This deal takes it to a whole new level for me," Cardinal said in a telephone interview. The deal Cardinal signed is for six years but not for the full midlevel exception, which is contrary to an ESPN.com report. Cardinal received part of the midlevel ($5 million) and must achieve certain goals to increase the value of his contract. Cardinal, 27, considers the incentives reasonable. Either way, his nickname "The Custodian" could easily change to "Mr. Maintenance Engineer" given Cardinal earned slightly more than $663,00 last season. But rest assured that Cardinal isn't thinking of a title change or different responsibilities with the significant pay raise. "It's an exciting contract," Cardinal said. "(Reaching to the incentives) is just a matter of going out there and working hard. I know I can add some energy and hustle to the team and build on what they showed last season." Cardinal, 6-8, finished his college career at Purdue in 2000 as the school's career leader in steals and games started. He is capable of playing both forward positions and just concluded his best season in the NBA. Cardinal played in 76 games (starting 11), averaging 9.6 points and 4.2 rebounds. He also displayed a good shooting touch, ranking third in the league in 3-point shooting at .444 and sixth in free-throw percentage at .878. "I think one of the things they like is I'm able to shoot the ball," Cardinal said about the Grizzlies' interest. "I can extend the defenses as well as give them all of the dirty work. That will allow people like Pau (Gasol) to operate better in the paint." Because the league prohibits team executives from speaking publicly about free agents until today, Griz president Jerry West was unavailable. Cardinal, though, spoke with West and Brown during the past week. Former Golden State coach Eric Musselman described Cardinal's work ethic as infectious. "With his energy, when he's in the game, I think other players feed off his intensity," Musselman said of Cardinal last season. Cardinal signed as a free agent with Golden State during training camp last season. He received significant playing time because of injuries to Troy Murphy and Adonal Foyle. Cardinal said he had no trepidation about signing with the Grizzlies even with their depth. "The beauty of this is you can always change the game through hard work," Cardinal said. "You can create opportunities for yourself and your team by just playing hard. I'm excited. Memphis turned out to be a good situation that I'm looking forward to walking in to." == 下面附上Brian Cardinal在勇士的成績 YEAR TEAM G GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG 03-04 GSW 76 11 21.5 .472 .444 .878 1.30 2.90 4.20 1.4 .87 .26 1.11 2.70 9.6 --

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