Postgame Thoughts: Memphis vs LA Clippers - 1.26.08

Meant to get this up last night, but got in later than I had anticipated. Also, I wanted to watch the game again off the DVR to make sure of all my "facts".

Remind me to ask Clipper Steve if the L.A. announcers are always that homeristic and uninformed. My goodness were they terrible. Makes me very glad that I saw the game live, rather than listening to them the entire night.

Good
Rudy Gay. He came out of the gates on a mission and did not disappoint through the first 3 quarters of the game. He kind of got lost through the 4th quarter and overtime, as the Clippers made it difficult for him to even get the ball, but hopefully in time he'll learn some tricks that will allow him to still be effective when that occurs.

Kyle Lowry's tenacity. While he still had a few cringe-worthy plays on his way to a career high in points, there is no doubt that his desire to make plays helped the Grizzlies pull this win out of the grasp of defeat last night. In time, he'll learn when to slow it down just a little and make smarter decisions, while still maintaining his trademark intensity.

Juan Carlos Navarro's determination. No matter how many stupid rookie calls the refs saddle him with, he never gives up.

Bad
Ball movement. Too often the offense became stagnant as they looked to either Rudy or Mike Miller to make one-on-one plays, rather than facillitating for them. I know that it is harder without Pau Gasol in there, but they have to work on this more.

End of quarter offense/defense. Pete Pranica has mentioned this countless times, but the Grizzlies are still allowing teams to score on them with under 5 seconds while remaining unable to execute the simplest of plays on the offensive end with 10+ seconds. Rudy's steal at the end of regulation was an anomaly of the highest order, to be sure.

Ugly
The officiating. I know, I know, you shouldn't complain about the refs when you win. These guys were just bloody awful though. Too many missed calls that resulted in makeup calls. It is no wonder that both Marc Iavaroni and Mike Dunleavy wound up with technical fouls called on them for berating the officials.

The Clippers broadcast team. They took openly rooting for the "home team" to a whole new level. They just replaced the guys from the Bucks as my "never listen to them again" pick of the decade.

All in all, it was a good win, even if it was heart-attack inducing there for a little while. Hopefully like most of the season so far, it was a learning experience for the players and coaches that they can build upon.

Enemy blogger recap/viewpoint: ClipperBlog.com