The Vancouver Grizzlies have the worst record in the National Basketball Association.
But are they the worst team? How does one judge such intangibles?
Can a team be better than its record? The Grizzlies think so. Can a team be better than its players? The Cavaliers hope so. Can a team be better than its uniforms? The Raptors know so.
To the peripheral fan, the Grizzlies clearly stink. But for those die-hard fanatics, the Grizzlies are brimming with potential and are only nine or 10 players away from a .500 record.
Even after Vancouver lost all seven games on a recent two-week road swing, and eight straight previous to that, the Vancouver faithful piled into GM Place upon their return. Mind you, this is a city that still shows up en masse to see the Canucks.
``The fact that we had lost 15 in a row and come home here to what is essentially a sellout crowd, it's just incredible,'' said coach Stu Jackson after the Bears ended the losing streak by downing Denver 108-101. ``When we start to acquire heavier artillery, this is really going to be some kind of homecourt.''
In the meantime, the Grizzlies will just keep plugging away, winning once every five games.
Actually, when you put it like that, it doesn't sound so bad compared to the 12-59 record they will carry into tonight's game against the Clippers.
Pete Chilcutt is the only Grizzly that can put this dismal season in perspective because he's the one on the squad with a championship ring. People tend to forget that he was on some pretty bad teams in his career.
``This team has enough close losses that if we had won those games we'd be as good as the (bad) teams I've been on,'' Chilcutt says. ``Sacramento was bad a couple of years. We won 25 games. And Detroit won 20 one year. There's not that much difference.''
He's got a point. But wouldn't the fans be ecstatic with such a record? That's the one mitigating factor in Vancouver's dismal record - expectations. They're not supposed to be any good.
``Twenty (wins) with the team I was on in Detroit, there was no excuse for that because we had a lot more talent,'' he says.
``You look at (the Grizzlies) and you can kind of justify the record by saying it's a second-year expansion team, we don't have the horses yet, other teams have more experience, things like that. It's all expectations.''
So how about it, Pete? Are the Grizzlies the worst team in the league?
``It sounds bad when you say it's the worst team,'' he says. ``Let's put it this way: this team has struggled the most. The other teams (I've played on) have been more established franchises. But this is a young franchise.
``You can say whatever you want to say, but I think right now the problem is we're struggling to gain an identity in this league.''
More likely, though, lack of identity is not a problem. Around the league, the Grizzlies have come to be identified as lovable losers. Real life Bad News Bears.