It has been 6 years since they went to the finals, despite being a great regular season team. They don't have it anymore.
damn. this is such a tough call. i really don't know. i can see spurs making some match up problems for the grizzlies with tony parker PnR trying to expose zach randolph. Diaw can also pull randolph away from the basket and stretch the floor..but also guard zach on the opposite side. Danny Green will be the X factor. Spurs' big 3 have to play well for them to have any chance, but if Danny Green (and LeonarD) are creating havoc defensivly and hitting open 3s and finishing on the break..then I give the Spurs the slight edge because they have a few more offensive weapons.
To me its spurs in 7. At this stage in his career manu is a distributor, they dont need him to score ( and he cant really do it). Last night against golden state he got 11 assists on 24 mins. Thats impresive. He will break memphis defense apart, with his penetration and dishing. Also duncan is healthy and he already given fits to memphis this year. This would be a very fun series to watch.
People seem to forget these two played each other two seasons ago in the first round and Memphis STILL beat them in 6 with no home court and Marc and Conoley are better than they were back then.
Ginobili's injury swung that series, though. Him missing Game 1 with the elbow injury, which flipped home court, was basically the difference. Every other game went according to form. The other factor is the defensive length of the Spurs. Danny Green wasn't a rotation player back then, and Leonard wasn't even on the roster. I think the presence of those two makes the Spurs much more prepared to defend Conley's penetration and help on Gasol/Randolph inside. I lean to Spurs in 7. I think it'll be a great series and wouldn't be surprised if either won. But I trust the Spurs' late-game execution on offense a bit more. The Grizz basically dominated OKC the entire series, but routinely hit offensive droughts in the last 6-ish minutes of games and let the Thunder claw back. If the Spurs are healthy, that's a worrisome trend for Memphis. It'll come down to whether Conley can carry the load in the final minutes, and on paper, I like the length of Green/Leonard to slow him down.
Yeah and you forget manu got a broken bone on his arm, missed game 1, and played the rest of the series injured, yet he is still played great scoring over 20 ppg on them. Healthy manu would have destroyed that memphis team. Now manu is not the same, but he is a great facilitator and the spurs added a solid splitter, leonard and green to their rotation. Of course memphis also got stronger, but i still think the spurs will win this one .
i think the grizzlies. They got the inside prescense that would destroy the heat defense. And the heat cant let james guard randolph, liek they can do with almost everyother pf.
Spurs didn't have Diaw, Green or Leonard two years ago, Splitter was a rookie and didn't play, Duncan had an injured ankle, and Manu had a broken arm. Plus the Spurs were counting on Richard Jefferson to be a major contributor.
Actually I think that's why they'll get to the finals because its 4 games away and Pop's , Duncan, Manu, Parker can taste it. Its gonna be a great series.
They were up 2-0 in WCF last year. The Grizz are ready. They were nearly ready ready 2 years ago. Healthy again, and with improvements by Gasol and Conley, they are very good.
Im thinking they do as well, Randolph and Gasol in the paint would interesting to watch against Bosh.
