i think pop tried to coast too much with bonner on the game and leonard and duncan on the bench. Also the refs helped bigtime with that flagrant on manu.
Grizz fans have hope after lulling them to sleep with their anemic offense. So the new Memphis strategy is let the Spurs get a HUGE lead...try to catch up after they get bored and hope a few balls bounce their way for a victory. Sounds like a solid plan to beat San Antonio 4 out of the next 5 games...
It's too bad his overall game (18pts/4 anemic assists on 43% shooting) wasn't very spectacular. Very un-elite like (as you claim he is) imo. Parker killed memphis (again)...too bad Conley the elite can't play D worth a damn.
Boy you really jock ride the Grizzlies. We all have our opinions...some are shaped by how ridiculous some act on other fans' message boards because their own suck crap.
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Can't expect to blow out teams consistently in the playoffs, especially not at this stage of the playoffs. Certainly not against a good team like the Grizzlies. "Feeling really bad" for failing to obliterate another championship contender seems a bit much.
It's usually blasphemous to say these types of things on ClutchFans, but both of you are correct. Memphis is essentially playing 3 vs 5 out there on offense when Prince and Allen are in the game. SA isn't even bothering to guard those two guys and collapsing on Z-Bo instead, which is why he's had a tough time in this series so far. If they had Rudy Gay, there's no way the Spurs would be able to make things so difficult for Randolph. When you have to rely on Bayless to come in and just start jacking up a bunch of shots, you know your wing production and perimeter offense is poor. Even without Mayo...even if they just had Gay, they would be in a much better position than they are now. Also, because of his big shot making ability, Gay would have been great to have at the end as well when Memphis needed a 3 to tie the game in overtime. The Griz could come back and make a series out of this. I wouldn't be surprised if they win 2 or 3 games, but they're not true championship contenders. The series victories that they had over LAC and OKC were fool's good, because both of those teams had injured all-stars who didn't play. Memphis with Rudy Gay...the same team that was 14-2 to start the season ...had a legit title shot, but when they traded away their only multi-dimensional wing for the carcass of Tayshaun Prince, the small window they had to win a championship closed. This current core won't ever win a title. Z-Bo isn't getting younger, Gasol doesn't have much more upside, they're stuck with Prince for two more seasons, Allen is going to want to get paid, their bench is average, and Conley isn't going to be able to put them over the top. Last, for those complaining about the "flagrant" foul on Ginobili at the end, poor officiating and blown calls usually balance themselves out in an NBA game. SA got all the calls in the 1st half and Memphis got more in the 2nd half. The phantom 3rd foul on Conley completely changed the complexion of the 1st half. The Griz were down by 3 and he was forced to go to the bench for the last 5 mins of the half and that's when the Spurs went on a run to close out the half up 15. The Spurs didn't have a team foul called on them in the 2nd qtr until there was less than 30 secs left as well. Thus people shouldn't complain too much about the flagrant at the end. Look at it as Ginobili getting a taste of his own medicine with all the flopping and acting he's done over the years.
Too bad Gay and ZBo didn't get along. Oh, and Vasquez > Dooling+Wroten. Speights wasn't too bad either, definitely better than Leuer. They had a really good team with Mayo.
Nice job to ignore months of evidence that Memphis has improved post-trade, and the fact that they never got out of the first round with Rudy Gay and have never been this far in the playoffs, despite having those guys, but because of a couple of games, Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo would save the Grizzlies. Right. Memphis needs perimeter scoring and shot creating, sure, but Rudy Gay was not giving them that. He gave them low percentage iso's and very inefficient scoring. OJ Mayo could be what they need but he really has never lived up to his potential.
