Grizzlies 96, Hawks 77: Oh, Oh Sometimes I get a Good Feeling, Yeah
by ForeignFlopper on Feb 3, 2012 7:17 AM CST
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As Flo Rida succinctly put it, sometimes I get a good feeling about these Grizzlies and this is one of those times. This is one of the few times when I watched the game and don't have anything critical to say about the team, or if I did, it would feel like nitpicking. I know I probably rely on statistics and boxscores too much, but look at this: Rudy Gay (+21), Marc Gasol (+40), Tony Allen (+36), Mike Conley (+21), Dante Cunningham (+17), OJ Mayo (+20). Sure, Marreese Speights (-11) is a bit of a black-eye, but the rest is just ridiculous.
In the game preview, I mentioned how the Hawks were really hurting without the presence of center Al Horford, and I think tonight that was on full display. Without Horford to protect the paint, the Grizzlies essentially ran lay-up drills on the Hawks, going 21-31 at the rim, especially Tony (5-6), Rudy (4-6), and Mike (5-7). Many of those open lay-ups and dunks were the direct result of the Grizzlies' frenzied defense. The Hawks had 14 turnovers for the game, 13 of which were stolen by the Grizzlies. Even Tony threw one down on Josh Smith! This is Memphis basketball at its best: forcing turnovers, getting out in transition, and finishing. In the halfcourt, guys were either driving to the hoop or were cutting and being fed; 9 of Memphis' 22 assists lead to a lay-up or dunk.
I mentioned in the comments section of the preview that coming into the game, the Hawks had the 3rd best defense in the league (built on a largely weak schedule, but impressive nevertheless), whereas the Grizzlies had the 23rd best offense. This kind of performance goes a long way towards relieving my fears. Our defense and rebounding are almost as good as ever, but if our offense can operate at this level, this team should make a strong push for the rest of the season. Both the Trailblazers and the Jazz lost last night, meaning that Memphis is only one game behind the 8th-seed. We have a hellish schedule coming up, but tonight's win will hopefully generate some positive momentum for us to ride into some of these games.
Player of the Game:
I'll let muffin1man handle this one for me:
I just wanted to say Tony Allen should get the game ball tonight. He didn’t force shots and found his offense within the offense. That 3 in the corner to end the half was AMAZING! So proud of Tony and my Grizz tonight! GO GRIZZ!!!
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Random Side-Note
I got to see Flo Rida in Bangkok last year. The sound at the venue was crap, and you could only understand about every 10th word, which was usually “sexy ladies.” Good stuff.
"Sasha [Vujacic] has no conscience. He'd shoot at a funeral." -Charles Barkley
by ForeignFlopper on Feb 3, 2012 7:22 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
Great win..
Tony Allen gets my defensive player of the year vote. I love how Coach Hollins has this team playing defense. I didn’t get to watch the first half but you could just see ATL did not want to play against this defense in the second half. Also it was pretty cool seeing the Pargo’s Bros go at it for the first time in the NBA, it really wasn’t anything to get excited about but I’m sure it was fun for them. OKC next, which should make for more great basketball.
Thanks for reminding me!
I meant to mention the Pargo brothers in the recap, but forgot to. Neither did much, but it was still kind of cool.
"Sasha [Vujacic] has no conscience. He'd shoot at a funeral." -Charles Barkley
by ForeignFlopper on Feb 3, 2012 8:12 AM CST up reply actions
proud of the grizz!
Only got to watch about 30 seconds of the game, though. If you play defense, then the offense will flow. I loved that shot of the Grizz clogging the lane. So much of the opposite in our losses!!!
Dante’s hustle is really impressing me. I trashed him so hard at the beginning of the season, but I shouldn’t have. He’s still just a kid, and he probably struggled to adjust to a stricter coach. Maybe he should start? But that would just be a bigger signal that Mareese is in the dog house. Everyone talks about his lack of conditioning, but are the Grizz working on that? Or is he kind lapsing into a “lost cause” situation? Maybe he could be explosive coming off the bench. But then again, that’s what Dante is doing, and what happens when Z-Bo returns?
And I love to nitpick, so I’ll say it. Why have MC2 playing 40 minutes when we are up by 25 at the start of the 4th? Rest that point guard’s legs for the big game tonight, Hollins! Geez.
Truly a night of Magrocodile - Mike Payne
For once, I’m on your side. Mike and Mark and Tony were all out there for about 5 minutes too long. Who cares if we only end up winning by 8 and it doesn’t look as lopsided, we have a tough, tough game against our big rival the next night, we need to rest our guys, especially the ones who never get rest. As far as Mo goes, pump the brakes a bit. He’s not in the dog house or a lost cause. Last night, he simply got pulled because he had no answer for Josh Smith. Had Speights played 30 minutes last night, Smith may have had 30 points. Dante was just the better match up
The only negative I take away from the game, was how atrocious our back end of the bench is. Grant it, we will probably never play that squad without at least one of OJ, Dante, or Speights, but they were incredibly awful last night. I just can’t help but feel like none of this would be happening if Sam Young was still alive.
It was a particularly small egg...thats why I asked.
by thenightstallion on Feb 3, 2012 11:18 AM CST up reply actions
heh
Is the back end of the bench atrocious because they don’t get enough minutes/experience? Hadaddi and Pargo have shown brief flashes of brilliance. Sam just doesn’t contribute much on defense and ball movement, but when he’s got a hot hand, look out. I thought Selby was going to be the “steal of the draft”?
Again, consistency is such an issue with this team. I still gotta wonder what goes on behind closed doors in the sense of chemistry and/or coaching. Also, Vasquez has been en fuego over the last week, and that might start irritating me.
Truly a night of Magrocodile - Mike Payne
I wouldn't worry about Selby
Remember he’s young and was drafted in the second round. Frankly, any production he gives us this year is a bonus as far as I’m concerned. That being said, he’s shown signs of being a pretty good player long-term, which is what we need to be thinking about for Selby.
Likewise, I wouldn’t put too much stock into Grevis’ production. Rohan over at At the Hive put it best when he said that the Pondexter-Vasquez trade was a trade for two longshot prospects with limited upside. Both can probably be decent role players, but quality roleplayer is the best case scenario for both.
My only concern regarding our bench (once Zach returns) is back-up point. Worst-case, OJ can back-up Mike for 10 minutes a game, but I’d feel more comfortable if either Pargo or Selby could produce consistently.
"Sasha [Vujacic] has no conscience. He'd shoot at a funeral." -Charles Barkley
by ForeignFlopper on Feb 3, 2012 1:05 PM CST up reply actions
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