Memphis Grizzlies

The Spurs hung on to win game two in overtime, despite blowing an 18-point third quarter lead, and because of that, they lead this Western Conference Finals Series 2-0. Tim Duncan scored 6 huge points in the overtime to lead the Spurs in the extra period. Let’s take a look at each team and how they look with the rest of the series looming. This article is also seen at RogersSecondTake.webs.com Memphis Memphis now heads home, a place where they are 5-0 during their postseason run. Despite being absolutely hammered in game one, and thoroughly outplayed for the majority of game two, the Grizzlies have reason to be confident heading home. Team leader Zach Randolph, who played horribly in game one, and also had a bad first half in game two, looks like he is starting to get going. He finished the game with 15 points and 18 rebounds, with much of the production coming in the second half. Without Randolph playing at the top of his game, the Grizzlies do not have a chance. He has been the constant for Memphis the past few years in the playoffs and this series can be no different. As Memphis heads back home for game three Saturday, Randolph needs to continue his surge we saw late in the game in game two. Defensive player of the year Marc Gasol is playing well for Memphis, grabbing 14 rebounds last night. When Gasol and Randolph play well together, it is nearly impossible for a team to keep up with them on the boards. Memphis lost last night, and they still outrebounded San Antonio 60-44. That needs to get better for the Spurs or they will struggle to win again in the series. Anytime you get outrebounded by large an amount, you better shoot significantly better than the other team, and yesterday San Antonio did. The group of players that got Memphis back into the game included a pair of super subs, Quincy Pondexter and Jerryd Bayless. Both gave a lot of minutes to the Grizzlies, and both made big plays down the stretch. Bayless, however, made a poor mistake in overtime. He forced a potentially game-tying three pointer with about 12 seconds left. This was a bad mistake, but all in all, the two of these bench players gave great production for Memphis. That needs to stay consistent if they want to hold serve and win their two home games to even up the series. San Antonio For about three quarters last night, the Spurs played as pretty a game as you could play. The ball was constantly moving. Shots were being made, as the Spurs knocked down nine three-pointers. The most amazing part to watch was Tony Parker. Despite shooting poorly, which was hardly noticeable while paying attention to the rest of his game, Parker finished with 18 assists. It was a phenomenal performance, and the key to it was penetration. Parker got into the paint at will. If the defenders came to him, he would dish for a dunk or a three-pointer. If nobody came, he would take the basket himself. That is what set San Antonio apart from Memphis throughout the game. San Antonio got great penetration from their guards, while Memphis did not. San Antonio made 11 field goals in the second quarter, every single one of which came off of an assist. That is a testament to the great ball movement and overall offensive flow by the Spurs. For the game, they finished with 29 assists, while the Grizzlies finished with 19. Though they blew a significant lead, I don’t think it will mentally affect the Spurs. They are too experienced for it to affect them. In fact, it may make them stronger. After blowing the lead, it would have been very tough for an inexperienced team to come back and win in overtime. But the Spurs didn’t blink, and their leader, Tim Duncan made three huge baskets. It was a testament to the experience of the team, and head coach Gregg Popovich, who did not panic after blowing such a huge lead. The Spurs remain, 14 years year after their initial championship, one of the most balanced teams in the league.

box score The Grizzlies saved Saturday. Wait, I’ve used that lead before?… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

The Grizzlies fought valiantly in Game 2 in San Antonio, but all for naught. They will return to the Grindhouse for Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals with a big goose egg in the win column. (Yes, I threw Western Conference Finals in there because it still feels nice to say the Grizzlies are in the WCF.) There are two positive ways to spin a 2-0 deficit in the series. One, the Grizzlies have been here before. They were down 2-0 to the Clippers and clawed their way back to win the series. My counter point to that would be the Spurs are a much more formidable opponent than the Clips. Secondly, the Grizzlies played much better in Game 2 than in Game 1. Maybe they can head home and say look we found some things that work against the Spurs, and now we just have to take care of business at home. The first thing that sticks out is that the Grizzlies need more from the big three that is Mike Conley, Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol. Conley finished 6-14 from the field, Randolph 6-18, and Gasol 4-12. Those percentages are not what you would expect from those three. They must be much more efficient going forward in this series for the Grizzlies to have success. Add in the fact that the rim seemingly had Grizzlies repellent on it at certain times tonight and the fact that they took some downright bad shoots at crucial junctures in the game, and that is a recipe for a loss on most nights in the Association, especially in the playoffs. Don't panic yet, Memphis! If anybody can come back from down 2-0 against a savvy veteran Spurs team, it's the Grizzlies. Keep the faith. Grind forth. Time for Game 3. Final - 5.21.2013 1 2 3 4 OT 1 Total Memphis Grizzlies 13 18 33 21 4 89 San Antonio Spurs 15 31 30 9 8 93 Complete Coverage > Loss Haiku time if you feel up to it.

You are jumping in in the middle of a conversation between myself and SpursFanTN of Pounding the Rock. The first half of the conversation is here, and it’s awesome. Kevin Lipe: One of those rituals is false. You guess which one. I have a question for you now. One that you may not want to talk about or answer, but I’m interested to hear a Spurs fan’s take on it. How many years is Tim Duncan going to play? Is there something about Pop’s system that’s enabled him to age more gracefully than most? If so, what is it? SpursFanTN: The million dollar, no, I guess, multimillion dollar question. How long is Timmy going to play? Who knows? Personally, I’m thinking 1–2 years. You’ve had guys that played into their 40s before, Kurt Thomas comes to mind - but not at this level. Steve Nash or Kareem are the most productive old guys that I can think of, although Jason Kidd comes close - until this year. I heard it said one time that some great basketball center, I don’t remember who off the top of my head, could have played into his 40s, and still put up 20 and 10. And that may be true. But there is a lot more required of big men now that the rules for defenders have changed so that checking on the perimeter is limited. Back in the day a defender that was good with his hands and arms could keep most people out of the lane. These days it is not so easy, so you need more mobile big men to rotate over and protect the rim, but not leave too soon leaving their man too wide open. So, what is amazing about Duncan is that he is still mobile enough at 37 to anchor a very strong, even elite, defensive squad. If he loses another half a step? Well, that could drastically change things. I don’t see Tim staying around to play 5 minutes a game on a team whose ceiling might optimistically be the first round of the playoffs. Obviously, Pop protects Tim - and all of his players. Spurs are on the cutting edge of analytics, sports studies, and all of that. They are well aware of fatigue factors. When you look at the Spurs minutes, they are spread out a lot more than a lot of other teams. Plus, even if a guy plays 40 minutes, he doesn’t play 20 and 20. Pop gives guys breaks to have a breather, get the wind back and let the muscles recover, even if it is only a couple of minutes - in addition to timeouts, free throws, and ordinary game breaks. This prevents injuries, and excessive fatigue. Pop doesn’t rush anyone back from injury. In a 3 games in 4 nights or 4 games in 5 nights, or even a back to back, Pop will severely limit minutes in a couple of games and/or not even let Duncan dress for a game. And I’ve gotta think that they’ve got world class trainers, therapists and doctors to keep all of these guys in the best health possible. I heard something the other day, where Pop made a statement like, "Well, it was obvious he wasn’t going to tell me how he was feeling, so I had to pull him." Pop knows his players. And his players are more important to him than winning a particular game. Pop doesn’t do the Tom Thibodeau iron man thing. But he also doesn’t treat his players like children. This is a cooperative effort. And it looks like the magic number Pop is shooting for is around 29–30 minutes per night maximum. Check out this clip of Pop and Tony negotiating minutes. Cracks me up. I love the rapport. So yes, Timmy definitely benefits from Pop’s system, and the corporate knowledge of the Spurs. But besides all of that, we’ve heard rumors and rumblings, hints and speculations about stuff that Duncan is doing on the side. There is his summer basketball thing. Apparently he invites a few NBA big men, like Roy Hibbert, to come and work out with him. There is whatever he did to help his knee which may seems to indicate that he is concentrating on conditioning rather than strength training. He started up a customer car shop. And he is a gamer. Th

I am very proud to be a contributing member of this wonderful site. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the breakdowns, analysis, suggestions and pleas of other writers and am choosing not to waste space with more of said copy.I instead want to update you fabulous participants of GBB favorite pregame contest, Grind Prophecies. As we have been doing for the past 3-4 months, each game is preceded by a pick-em competitions with the winner getting a stunning prize provide by Grizzly Bear Blues and the SB Nation network.The winner of the current competition wins a Marc Gasol jersey and has included every playoff game to date. Boy, has it been a race. The scores are up to date on the contest's leader board page and the results are in. Leading the pack is a two-way tie between kydash and GritandGrind with 17 points each. However a handful of competitors have reached the double-digit plateau. With 15 points each Ijjung and BluesCityJoe are tied for third (golf scoring) and current holder of Grindiest Prophecier of Them All, Kwhittington, is currently sitting at 14, well within contention. Also don't write off Mulligrizz, AxelRowlings or another previous champion, Chris Faulkner.If you are a Spurs fan who happens to be reading this post, feel free to join us. Sure we will scrutinize you and rain down a barrage of respectful insults, but you are more than welcome to join in on the action. You may even find yourself on the leader board. Good luck to all those participating and go get 'em Grizzlies. Game Score and Winner (correct predictions receive 3 points, if no correct predictions, 1 point awarded to member(s) with closest differential) The Grindmaster (3 points awarded to correct predictions; if Grindmaster title is split between 2 players, 2 points go to each member who predicted either player) Spurs Team 3pt Shooting Percentage (3 points awarded to correct predictions; if no correct answers, 1 point awarded to member(s)who are closest without going over) User's Pick Grind Prophecies Playoffs 2013 Official Rules Grind Prophecies Playoffs Leader Board

You know what happened in Game 1 by now. The Grizzlies came out thinking they’d have a Sunday afternoon to play some basketball and bask in the glow of the Western Conference Finals, and maybe go look at the Alamo and eat some great Tex-Mex food. Instead, they got their heads stomped on. The Spurs beat them by 22 points, made 14 three pointers out of 29 attempts, and held Zach Randolph to 2 points and 7 rebounds on 1–8 shooting[1]. The Grizzlies over-helped, couldn’t stop Tony Parker from creating, couldn’t stop anybody from doing anything, and at the other end, everything (except Quincy Pondexter corner 3’s) came up empty. Game 1 Rewind: 3 Point Defense If the Spurs are going to shoot 48% from three this entire series you can save us all the time and fast forward to the NBA Finals. I’m not really sure what to say about “The Keys to the Game” for Game 2. There’s not a single thing the Grizzlies did any worse than anything else in Game 1, except defending the three pointer incredible poorly. In Game 2 the most important thing the Grizzlies can do is come back out and reassert their nature: tough, tenacious, unafraid, in the zone. They have to regain the composure they’ve shown throughout the playoffs so far, and prove to the world that they’re not rattled, and that they’re not checked out now that they’ve made it to this point of the season. I’m sure the guys on the team know that a lot of people believe in them. Mike Conley is on the cover of Sports Illustrated[2], the guys over at Grantland have probably written more about the Griz than about anyone other than LeBron James, three guys were All-Defense and Marc Gasol is the Defensive Player of the Year. These dudes know who they are and know where they are and know what kinds of things are being said about them. Did they let it get to them a little bit in the long break before Game 1, maybe just a little? So here are the “Keys to the Game” for Game 2. Settle down and play Memphis Grizzlies basketball. Game 1 was not the way this team plays. (Okay, well, maybe we saw some of those problems at other points during the regular season, but not like that.) I’m tired of saying “grind it out” but that’s exactly what the Grizzlies need to do tonight. “We in the mud,” says Z-Bo. Make sure the Spurs stick there tonight. Get Tony Allen to stop helping off his man. One way to do that is to stick him on Tony Parker, a move I would wholeheartedly support. And, you know, while you’re at it, get everybody else to play better defense, too. Establish Z-Bo early. Zach Randolph has to be a factor for the Grizzlies to be a factor. Getting the Marc Gasol/Zach Randolph high-low action working is going to be huge for the Grizzlies, and the Spurs are going to use Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter to do everything possible to keep it from happening. If Gasol can come out early and his some of his patented elbow “jumpers” (which are really set shots) and spread the post defense out a little bit, that would be huge. The Spurs will adjust, obviously, but starting off on the right foot could be key. Make Tony Parker work for everything. In Game 1, Parker got into the lane and basically did whatever he wanted. If Parker is going to be able to use his abilities to create for himself and the rest of his team without any resistance from the Grizzlies, the Grizzlies are sunk. Parker has to be contained. Either way, it’s going to be a better game than Game 1. The Grizzlies have rebounded from bad losses all year and especially in the postseason. They just forget about it and move on to the next game. With any luck, they won’t forget about Game 1—they’ll still be mad about it and they’ll come out swinging. If there’s an operating principle for the 2012–2013 s

I was asked on a radio interview yesterday what went wrong with the Grizzlies in San Antonio on Sunday afternoon. Um... everything? When problems are this vast, so are potential answers.… [ Read more ] [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

If you read my preview of the Spurs-Grizzlies series, then you know that I was expecting Tony Allen to guard Tony Parker in Game 1. I almost spilled my nachos when I saw Mike Conley checking Parker, mano a mano, the entire night. Lionel Hollins, to the ire of Grizz fans, has a reputation for not making major adjustments in a game or during a series. He's old school in every sense, staying true to his philosophies...good or bad. But I think the adjustment for Game 2 is obvious: put your defensive stopper on the other team's best player. Despite the presence of Tim Duncan, the Spurs will only go as far as Tony Parker takes them. His aggressiveness getting into the lane is what drives that team. In Game 1, the Grizzlies were admittedly (and obviously) confused with their defensive rotations. They either had two guys closing out on the same shooter or nobody even running out. It was like a shooting in an empty gym for Pop's crew. Tony Allen is wasted on a guy like Danny Green. 'TA' is a bulldog on defense, his entire identity is slowing down the other team's best perimeter player. If you're not gonna have him check Parker, then you might as well bring him off the bench to guard Manu Ginobili. I think Tony Allen should guard Parker almost exclusively on Tuesday night, and going forward. Meanwhile, Mike Conley can save his energy on Danny Green. The Spurs shooting guard is unlikely to post-up the smaller Conley, he's far more comfortable floating around on the perimeter. I remember one play on Sunday when Mike switched onto Danny. Parker threw it to Green backdoor but he wanted no part of going inside. The ball bounced straight out of bounds. Conversely, if San Antonio counters by having Parker rest defensively on Allen, 'TA' will probably murder him on the offensive glass: advantage Grizz. Will the Spurs make 14 threes in a game again in this series? not likely. But they will make a good share if they keep getting great looks off of bad Grizzly rotations. Having your best defender guard the other team's best offensive player should be a no-brainer. Everyone else can then stay more disciplined on their coverages. Lionel, one Tony deserves another.

This is a Grizzlies/Spurs conversation that started at Pounding the Rock before Game 1. Here is the first part. SpursFanTN: The past couple of years, Tony Parker is mentioned in the MVP conversation. Yet, every year, one point guard or another is considered better. Last year it was Deron Williams. This year it was Chris Paul. We always feel like, when is this guy going to get any credit? But Mike Conley now, he is not even in the conversation for best point guards in the league. Yet he seems like he has been playing phenomenally. Is that a function of certain match ups, or has he elevated his game to a new level? And if so, is that sustainable? Are we going to be hearing about Mike Conley as a top point guard? Is he going to be an All-star? Are we going to hear about Memphis’ big three of Randolph, Gasol, and Conley? How much of that is dependent upon them getting to the finals or winning the championship? And speaking of underrated players, Gasol is being touted as arguably the best center in the league, is the reigning defensive player of the year, yet he can’t even get an All-Star berth. What’s up with that? Just one more question. As someone familiar with basketball and the Grizzlies, can you help us appreciate what we’re seeing in the Grizzlies offense and defense, point out some subtle things to look for that the casual fan might not notice? Kevin Lipe: Conley has elevated to a new level. He’s been good for two or three years now, but now that Rudy Gay is gone, the ball ends up in Conley’s hands in those late-game situations where Rudy would, in the past, dribble to the right baseline and shoot over three dudes and hope it went in. Conley is quicker and a much better ball handler, so he’s much more prepared to be "the guy" at the end of the game (to me). I don’t know that he’ll be an All-Star in a Conference that includes CP3, Parker, Westbrook, and Curry, but he’s juuuuuust below that tier if he hasn’t now reached it. I think this year’s playoff run has put this Griz squad on the map for a while, Finals or no Finals. (Though obviously I’m hoping for Finals.) I don’t want to talk about Gasol getting left off the All Star squad and Dwight Freaking Howard being on the team. I’m still mad about that. The most wonderful thing you can do when watching the Grizzlies is to watch Marc Gasol on defense. Don’t watch the ball—watch Marc Gasol. He knows everybody’s plays, and he knows where to be and when to be there. He’s constantly trying to blow up whatever’s developing for the other team offensively. SpursFanTN: Game one is over. Wow. That was unexpected. That was without a doubt the best game the Spurs have played in a couple of months. Tony is looking like he is steadily coming back from his injury. Not quite MVP Parker yet, but moving pretty well. But looking at the box score, the Spurs were not dominant. Memphis had more Free Throw Attempts, Free Throws Made, Steals, Blocks, Offensive Rebounds, Total Rebounds, and only one more Turnover, and two less Field Goal Attempts. The Spurs won, and won by so much, because their shooting percentage was higher, and a lot of them were 3s. And that’s a little bit disconcerting to me. We’ve seen plenty of games with poor shooting, even in the playoffs. Live by the 3, die by the 3, as the saying goes. And I can’t imagine Z-Bo having another game like that, regardless of who is defending him, or what defensive schemes are used against him. I don’t even know what to ask you except, what are your thoughts after watching Game 1? Kevin Lipe The Grizzlies’ help defense was terrible. Plain and simple. They were over-helping almost every Spurs possession and leaving guys wide open in the corner, which is a really great game plan if you want to lose to San Antonio by more than 20 points. It was crazy. Tony Allen just refused to stay on h

If the San Antonio Spurs are going to shoot 48 percent from three this entire series you can save us all the time and fast forward to the NBA Finals. It would be nice of me if I said the Memphis Grizzlies rotation defense was bad. It was the worst defense played by this bunch in the playoffs and the worst we've probably seen from this core since they began making the playoffs in 2011. Coming into a series against a well-oiled machine in the Spurs offense, discipline on the defensive end will be key. And that discipline, it was nowhere to be found Sunday whether there was help one pass away or helping too much leaving a man (Matt Bonner) open on the pick-and-pop. These shooters aren't Reggie Jackson, Derek Fisher, Thabo Sefolosha and Kevin Martin. Here are the Spurs primary shooting numbers in the regular season (with spot-up numbers in parenthesis via Synergy): Matt Bonner - 44 percent (44 percent) Danny Green - 42 percent (45 percent) Kawhi Leonard - 37 percent (37 percent) Manu Ginobili - 35 percent (41 percent) All-together the crew went 14-29 from three-point land (11-19 in spot-up situations). Knowing how good the shooters that surround Tony Parker and Tim Duncan are the Grizzlies defenders still decided to play defense like this: or this And can someone explain why Tony Allen is helping so hard on Marc Gasol versus Duncan here: Tony's knack for wanting to cheat off was shown a lot in Game 1, but this instance is highly unnecessary. Marc's THE Defensive Player of the Year. He can handle Duncan one-on-one (it should be what the Grizzlies want anyway). If Duncan's going to beat you then let him, but don't let Green get an open spot-up three. Here's a play where Tayshaun Prince tries to cheat to help on Tony Parker. It leads to a Leonard corner 3: Everything done defensively while the Spurs are running their set is done perfectly until this instance Reason 276 why Marc Gasol is Defensive Player of the Year: He's a master a defending the pick and roll. There's no reason why he can't handle this situation without assistance from Tayshaun. If so he should send his award back to the committee. Either he slides over to cut of Parker's path to the line while Conley slides in front of Duncan or the two players stick to their man. There's NO reason for Tayshaun to cheat over. This play ends in two ways if Prince sticks to his man: a Parker/Duncan make or a Parker/Duncan miss. Considering how the game turned out that's a much better option over a Leonard corner three. Lack of communication in the screen-and-roll was a huge problem also. Look at how Bayless and Arthur defend Gary Neal and Matt Bonner: At the moment of the screen, Bayless and Arthur have to figure out who's gonna do what. Arthur has to either hedge Neal on the pick and get back to Bonner or Bayless sits back on Bonner while Arthur checks Neal. Part of this is on coaching. Lionel Hollins has to dictate how this team defends the pick-and-pop situation because Bonner isn't going to roll; that's not his game. Bad decision-making and lack of a proper adjustments strike again in the fast-break. As Manu gets set a double-screen by Splitter and Bonner the Griz defenders should know how to defend this: Splitter's the designated roll-man and Bonner's the designated popper. But after the screen both Prince and Arthur attack Manu leaving Bonner WIDE open as Gasol dives down to roll with Splitter: A simple switch fixes this. Darrell Arthur is a good enough pick and roll defender to keep Manu at bay and Bonner's practically a non-threat when it comes to putting the ball on the floor. Want to see more egregious help defense? Coming down the court off a rebound, Ed Davis isn't paying Matt Bonner any attention. His eye is on the Parker/Duncan pick-and-roll. Skip up a few frames and Davis' over-helping on Tim Duncan leaves the Red Mamba completely open: At the angle Tony Parker is in it would be extremely difficult to get Duncan a pin-po