For you Grizz fans: Looking ahead

[CookieMonster.sixpack]

Win Friday and the Thunder come calling, but without Russell Westbrook.

Win that series and it's likely San Antonio, who the Grizz have proven they can beat.

Win there, and it's likely the Heat, who have one glaring weakness, post play.

Things are falling their way. I've never been on the bandwagon, but it'll be fun to see how far they take this.

 

[Seinfeld]

I'm trying hard not to get ahead of myself because the Grizz might lose the next two and be sent packing, but it's tough not to be excited about the way that things are laid out. At worst, you'd have to give the Grizz a 50/50 shot against the Thunder w/o Westbrook, the Spurs are about to be in a dogfight with either Denver or Gstate, and the Grizz have already proven to be a matchup nightmare for the Heat. If people want to dismiss the blowout win against them from earlier this year when Memphis hit 3s from all over the court, fine. But you can't dismiss the fact that the Grizz then came back up and took them to the wire in Miami. I can't remember the final score, but I remember Battier hitting 3 or 4 very late 3s that were pretty much the only reason that Miami pulled that one out.

This postseason is huge for Memphis. It's big because I feel like this core(aside from Marc and Conley) has a somewhat limited window of opportunity of just a few years, and I also think it's big because I think that a deep run might finally convince some big names to seriously think about coming to Memphis to win a championship. I'm not talking about marquee free agents, but some of the older vets that still have something in the tank and would be willing to take a pay cut for a chance to win a title.

I'm ready for Friday already

 

[SidneyBurger]

I try to not look ahead too much but I can't help it here.. This could be huge. No Westbrook is a big deal. SA may not get past Denver/Golden State, both are solid teams and Parker and Ginobli are also injured. I hope Golden State wins, Denver plays to our weaknesses too well.

 

[SidneyBurger]

Agreed. Any idea why Ed Davis isn't getting more minutes lately? He's good enough to sub for ten mins/game, Marc and Z-bo gotta have some relief somewhere.

 

[Drebin]

Agreed. Any idea why Ed Davis isn't getting more minutes lately? He's good enough to sub for ten mins/game, Marc and Z-bo gotta have some relief somewhere.

If you watch the games, you'd see the answer. He is not a threat on offense (had two shots blocked last night), and he gets pushed around. He also has turned the ball over too much in his limited minutes. Rest is less important during the playoffs with the days off between games. I'm not saying these guys all need to play 48 minutes, but strategic rests around timeouts and quarter changes are the best approach.

The Grizzlies should continue with a very short rotation of the starting five plus Arthur, Dooling, and Pondexter. I think Bayless is getting too much time right now. Davis can get a couple of spot minutes but he shouldn't be out there for no more than three or four minute stretches.

Against the Thunder (if the Grizz advance), the matchups may dictate more time for Davis and others, but the matchups don't favor him in this series.

 

[Cow College]

I'm trying hard not to get ahead of myself because the Grizz might lose the next two and be sent packing, but it's tough not to be excited about the way that things are laid out. At worst, you'd have to give the Grizz a 50/50 shot against the Thunder w/o Westbrook, the Spurs are about to be in a dogfight with either Denver or Gstate, and the Grizz have already proven to be a matchup nightmare for the Heat. If people want to dismiss the blowout win against them from earlier this year when Memphis hit 3s from all over the court, fine. But you can't dismiss the fact that the Grizz then came back up and took them to the wire in Miami. I can't remember the final score, but I remember Battier hitting 3 or 4 very late 3s that were pretty much the only reason that Miami pulled that one out.

This postseason is huge for Memphis. It's big because I feel like this core(aside from Marc and Conley) has a somewhat limited window of opportunity of just a few years, and I also think it's big because I think that a deep run might finally convince some big names to seriously think about coming to Memphis to win a championship. I'm not talking about marquee free agents, but some of the older vets that still have something in the tank and would be willing to take a pay cut for a chance to win a title.

I'm ready for Friday already

How do you figure you have to give the grizz a 50/50 shot against the thunder without Westbrook? They still have KD and home court advantage. 50/50 is pie in the sky type talk. Grizzlies are playing well however but I don't think I would have them in the finals against the Heat. The grizz still struggle to score at time and they have not yet gotten through the Clippers. Spurs still have Timmy D and a whole lot of rings

 

[CookieMonster.sixpack]

How do you figure you have to give the grizz a 50/50 shot against the thunder without Westbrook? They still have KD and home court advantage. 50/50 is pie in the sky type talk. Grizzlies are playing well however but I don't think I would have them in the finals against the Heat. The grizz still struggle to score at time and they have not yet gotten through the Clippers. Spurs still have Timmy D and a whole lot of rings

I'm not Grizz fan, but you have to like them against OKC without Westbrook. I'd go so far as to say it's probably 60/40 Grizz to win that series. The Grizz have something that really no other team has, two legitimate bigs. That's going to be a problem for OKC and Miami (if it comes to that). Almost everyone in the league has zigged (going small). Memphis zagged and it could pay off HUGE this year.

As far as San Antonio is concerned, the Grizz have already shown they can beat them in the playoffs (and that Spurs team was younger and healthier). I'm not exactly sure what those rings have to do with anything at this point.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

Is Austin Daye still on the team? I also think Bayless plays too much. He's either red-hot, or terrible, he's never just solid. When Bayless comes in the game with a ten point lead and the Grizz on a hot streak, you can bet it will be a two point game when Conley comes back in. If Bayless is hot, ride him. Otherwise I'd rather see Q in the game right now, but I wouldn't mind seeing Daye spread the floor occasionally. I also think he's a solid defender and rebounder. And Tony Allen still takes too many jump shots.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

I hate it, but I have to admit the Spurs are really good. Duncan is playing as well as ever after having shortened minutes during the regular season, and that itself is a lot. But Parker is getting healthier, and he's a top 5 PG, and Manu is still hitting a three at the end of every single quarter. Dejuan Blair is a solid big man (not Gasol or Zbo class though) and Danny Green has been much better than most expected. Tiago isn't terrible coming off the bench, Kawhi Leanord has been solid. Then the red rocket Matt Bonner can spread the floor and nail threes. They have a pretty damn solid team, from top to bottom. I would say it's a toss up, if not a slight edge to the Spurs, though I readily agree the Grizz can win against them.

Just need to win a fourth one in this series before worrying about it.

 

[PBRME]

No Westbrook and no James Grizzly Killer Harden gives us a great chance. Put TA on Durant and try to contain him. Of course we still could 17 it up against the Clips.

 

[Drebin]

Is Austin Daye still on the team? I also think Bayless plays too much. He's either red-hot, or terrible, he's never just solid. When Bayless comes in the game with a ten point lead and the Grizz on a hot streak, you can bet it will be a two point game when Conley comes back in. If Bayless is hot, ride him. Otherwise I'd rather see Q in the game right now, but I wouldn't mind seeing Daye spread the floor occasionally. I also think he's a solid defender and rebounder. And Tony Allen still takes too many jump shots.

Daye is a defensive black hole. The thing about this series is that our perimeter defense has been otherworldly. There is a reason you aren't seeing Billups and Butler scoring like they did in game one. Hell, even Crawford has been contained since game one. If Daye got minutes, you could pretty much assume that one of those players will go off. Daye couldn't guard a hat rack. He would definitely give us offensive options, but not at the expense of defense.

Edited to add: I agree about Tony Allen. Hollins should tell him that unless it's a layup, he should under no circumstances shoot the ball. Ever.

Last night he stuck with Bayless too much for my liking. Pondexter has proven to cause defensive problems for Paul, and I don't think it's a coincidence that Paul went off on the same night that Hollins suddenly chose not to put Pondexter on him. Paul is great and will score the ball, but I bet Pondexter would've done a better job of containing him.

Prince suddenly knocking down outside shots is a huge development. With Conley and now Prince as offensive threats, the Clips can't double like they would normally do, and they can't run that funky zone. When they can't, you see the big guys dominate like they have the last two games.

 

[hatfieldms]

Yeah if prince can continue to stay hot Memphis will be dangerous as hell the wa

Nm

 

[Seinfeld]

How do you figure you have to give the grizz a 50/50 shot against the thunder without Westbrook? They still have KD and home court advantage. 50/50 is pie in the sky type talk. Grizzlies are playing well however but I don't think I would have them in the finals against the Heat. The grizz still struggle to score at time and they have not yet gotten through the Clippers. Spurs still have Timmy D and a whole lot of rings

Well, for one... the Grizz are already 2-1 against OKC this year, including a nice win on the road against them. Second, now that they're without Harden, Westbrook, and really any other consistent offensive threat aside from Durant, KD would be be harassed by this Grizzly team like he has never been defended before. Don't get me wrong. That doesn't mean that he won't still put up 30 in a game, but he'll have a hell of a time doing it.

With that said, Memphis hasn't even gotten out of the first round yet so the first concern needs to be winning on Friday night. Also, by no means am I saying that I'm betting on the Grizz to win the whole thing or even be in the finals. All I'm saying is that they now have a very reasonable path to getting there. Whether they take advantage of that or not remains to be seen

 

[Seinfeld]

QPon has been unbelievable in the last few games. He may not get the steals or any other significant stat to show this, but his defense on LA's guards has been game changing. In game 3 during one of the Memphis runs, there were three straight possessions where Quincy was harassing CP3 to such an extent that there was around 10 seconds left on the clock before they could really even start to run a play. By that point, it was too late and they ended up just jacking up shots. That kind of effort by QPon, TA, and others is huge. Not only is it just good defense, but it really frustrates Paul and has forced him into some bad decisions.