From tonight's game---- Memphis: 81 San Antonio: 80 With every game being an important one, the Memphis Grizzlies got the job done tonight. They now have a 1 1/2 game lead over the Rockets.
Don't we want the Grizz to have the 6th seed? If the Rox get the 7th seed, most likely 1st round matchup is the Twolves which is a much more winnable series than with the Spurs or Mavs
... of course with no Tim Duncan, the win gets an asterisk. But a win is a win is a win. I watched the 4th quarter and the Grizz put up a helluva fight. Earl Watson is a nice player. Jason Williams didn't get off the bench for the 4th quarter. One interesting thing watching Spurs games is how little faith Popovich has in Tony Parker... pulled him out for Jason Hart late in the 4th quarter in crunch time and then re-inserted him with like 20 seconds left on the Spurs' last possession. Pop and Parker's relationship has had ups and downs, but I'm sensing that one day Tony's gonna get so sick of him that he'll leave S.A.
Exactly. I have a great deal more confidence in the Rockets ability to get to the 2nd round playing the Wolves than I do against the Spurs or Mavs, both of which absolutely OWN us.
Of course, it is still 80%+ more likley that we lose...making us the team they finally beat to get out of the first round...oh well.
The one thing that really keeps the Grizzlies where they are at the 6th seed is they bring EFFORT every night. Sometimes they might not have the horses to get it done, but the EFFORT is ALWAYS there and thus through their CONSISTANT play they win a fair amount of games. Imagine what they could do if they added a few STAR players? That is one of the biggest things holding the Rockets back right now is the CONSISTANT EFFORT every night.
It sickens me that the Grizzlies have gotten this good, while our Rockets are still trying to put it together. With the supposed declines of the Jazz and Sonics, the last thing we need is for teams like the Grizzlies and Nuggets to become good teams. If seeing how those 2 teams have turned things around doesn't depress you as a Rocket fan, then I don't know what will.
That is exactly the thing that pisses me off. If someone had told me in the beginning of the season that we would be contending with the Grizzlies and Nuggets for the last three playoff spots I would have laughed at them. I dont really care what is our record right now. I look at the standings and I see the FREAKIN MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES AND DENVER NUGGETS close to or ahead of the Rockets! I mean WTF dude! MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES AND DENVER NUGGETS! I probaby am being a homer, but I really think those two teams are playing way above their heads in respect to the talent they have on their team. We on the other hand are underachieving.
I hear you. And the sad thing is, we did laugh at them. Didn't we bash several Nugget/Memphis posters who talked up their teams before the season? Man, does that seem like a long time ago. It really is depressing seeing these teams on the rise. Just when we thought things were looking up with Seattle, Portland, and Utah seemingly out of our way to make the playoffs, Memphis and Denver have huge turnarounds.
%(*%$#*)! Tim Duncan! Just when we need him, he gets himself injured. I remember that. I believe we had MemphisX and Nuggets4 here telling us they were playoff-bound and we bashed them. If it makes you feel any better, though, I think Swopa may have also been here to tell us the Warriors would be in.
yeah. that is very sad i wonder were they are now. i'm surprised they haven't started a thread: WE TOLD YOU SO
Maybe it is the fact that they have no star players that makes them so good and emphasizes the team game. Remember the Magic team from like '99?
First of all, when was the last time the Grizzlies were in the playoffs? Oh that's right, never, so they've had a little longer time to put it together, that's what years of lottery picks should do eventually, and secondly, they beat a Spurs team without Duncan so its apples and oranges.
You can't forget the Grrizlies, in worse financial shape than us going into the offseason, still invested in one of our top 3-4 players from last year. We, in better financial shape, had a chance to match that investment but decided to be cheap asses instead. Though I would like us to be better than the Grizzlies, they deserve to be better than us. No question we would be ahead of them had we not let Posey go and not allowed them, a division team, to get him. Further, Memphis has made the most of their oppertunnities (trading/drafting Gasol despite more popular options, trying the best they can to get pieces to support him--e.g., getting Posey, Wells, etc.) while the only thing that has kept our future bright in the last few years was lucking into Yao Ming. I do hope we offer a 5-6 year MLE for Swift and see if they match--to reutrn the favor they did to us. It is a risk (Swift was less proven than Posey), but given our draft picks we have given away and with the limited trade commodities that leaves us to have to take fairly risky moves to strengthen the team.
