Preseason: Wizards Wrap-Up

by djturtleface on Oct 6, 2009 9:05 PM CDT

*UPDATE* The Commercial Appeal coverage, and NBA Fanhouse's coverage.

The Grizzlies lost their first preseason game to the Wizards, 101-92. Let's get that out of the way. And I'm frustrated because I couldn't even watch the damn thing. Fortunately fellow SBN bloggers over at Bullets Forever caught the action, provided a live twitter feed, and wrapped it up nicely from the Wizards perspective. Check them out.

As far as what I could cull from the boxscore and Bullets Forever's running commentary, the Grizzlies played very deep into this game. They gave the Wizards a good run, but choked away the ending. Both teams shot abysmally from the field and turned the ball over far too often. And then in point-by-point form:

Rudy Gay got handled by Caron Butler's excellent defense and faster first step on offense, and he didn't do himself any favors by shooting poorly.
Zach Randolph held onto the ball too long and passed poorly, but was moving the ball. He rebounded well against the inexperienced young Wizards bigs.
O.J. Mayo was pretty bad out there. He didn't play within himself at all. Hollin's new offense is free flowing, but you still have to play organized ball.
Sam Young, DeMarre Carroll, and Hasheem Thabeet were all effective, but Carroll and Thabeet fouled way too often.
Michael Conley was perhaps the lone shining example. Sounds like he controlled Gilbert Arenas and forced him to pass more frequently then Agent Zero normally likes him to. His stats suggest an efficient and effective offensive game.

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Caron and Randolph was a bit expected.

Caron is known to have very good defense, and Zach is known to be a very good rebounder (even if he is also known for being lazy also.) The unexpected trait (and this is from just reading and not looking at the stats alone) is that (taking from your word) Gilbert Arenas didnt shoot as much as Agent Zero normally does. This season, even if GIlbert gets hurt again, I expect Wiz to hit the playoffs.

by JackduhSun on Oct 7, 2009 12:20 AM CDT reply actions

Gil shot 5 times. Not my word, boxscore.

Straight Outta Vancouver - The Memphis Grizzlies DO Still Exist

by djturtleface on Oct 7, 2009 7:00 AM CDT reply actions

Thabeet

had 4 blocks! … aaaand 5 fouls in 15 minutes. Whomp whomp whomp. Still, it’s much better than summer league – I don’t think he had a total of 4 blocks throughout summer league. Since he’s going to be backing up Gasol, we can afford for him to have a few games like this while he learns not to foul. He can still provide D. Haddadi rebounded well, I hope we’re able to throw him in the mix this year as well. We have plenty of fouls at the 5 position it seems.

I’m also not that disappointed re: Carroll’s fouling – he’s clearly being aggressive on defense, and he’s not going to get calls as an unheralded rookie. Also, he was efficient shooting the ball at 4-6, compared to Young’s and Gay’s 4-12 each.

Love Zbo’s 7 offensive boards. We didn’t have that last year AT ALL.

And assists on 26 of 39 field goals! I’ll take that any game.

by hueyproductions on Oct 7, 2009 8:35 AM CDT reply actions