Post Weekend Game Thoughts

What a difference a day can make. After Friday night's debacle I was tempted to re-evaluate my belief that the team was going to continue to improve each week. After Saturday night's game I am more convinced than ever that this is exactly what people should be expecting. Amazing how going .500 over the last 4 games can change perspective (and not having to face Tim Duncan every night of course).

Juan Carlos Navarro really put on a shooting exhibition against DeShawn Stevenson who is not a bad defender. Perhaps he was surprised by Navarro's ability (he isn't the most imposing scorer in the league) but that doesn't explain a 28 pt night by Navarro. If defenders play him tight his quick first step allows him to drive into the lane for his patented push shot the La Bomba. Drop off to protect against the drive and in floats the 3 pt shot. Navarro still isn't ready to face players with any type of offensive game but he can make good defensive players look silly trying to stop him. Going 5-8 from the arc and 10-14 overall is sick. And he looks so casual doing it.

Side note: Don't put Navarro on the radio show after a game for a few more months. It was almost as difficult listening to him as it trying to stop him from scoring last night. Give him some more time to learn English before trying to answer Eric Hasseltine's questions okay? I hope that wasn't simply Navarro showing what the Wizards missed on. I think everyone wants to see a lot more games like last night even if he can't do the radio show afterwards!

Hakim Warrick was robbed again. In his attempt to pick up his 3rd assist of the season he hit a wide open Casey Jacobsen who airballed the shot. That's twice that Jacobsen has missed an open shot set up by a Hakim pass. It is difficult enought to get Warrick to pass the ball. You can't airball the shot one of the few times he does. Also, I have said for two years that defense was keeping Warrick on the bench. Apparently Iavaroni agrees after reading Friday's article about him.

I am now officially on the 'get Casey Jacobsen back on the bench' bandwagon. I realize he is working hard on defense but teams aren't even defending him right now and he can't hit the open shot. Jacques Vaughn's airball off his face and out of bounds was the last straw for me. When the Grizzlies make a trade in January I expect a back up small forward to be included in the deal for Damon.

I feel kind of sorry for Mike Miller after last night's game. He obviously wanted to be a bigger impact in the game after giving out 333 tickets to the game but Navarro and Rudy really forced Mike into a secondary role. He understands that was is best for the team is best for him but at times he was frustrated to be left wide open only to see Navarro or Rudy pop in the shot instead of getting him the ball.

Washington coach Eddie Jordan shouldn't have watched the Toronto and San Antonio games in trying to figure out how to stop the Grizzlies offense. The poor shooting night was an anomally not the norm. Washington did a good job making it difficult to score in the lane but everyone was open on the perimeter and the Grizzlies punished them for that.

Where did Stro go? I know I shouldn't expect great effort every night but last night's first half effort was so bad fans were begging Iavaroni to put Gasol back in because at least he was trying. I don't think I have ever heard that before! One rebound isn't going to convince Iavaroni to start you over Navarro Stro.

The Grizzlies end the month at New Jersey and at Toronto. They need one win to improve on last season's record from last season of 4-11. Both games are tough but the Grizzles have a chance in both. Good look Grizzlies.