Memphis at Golden State - 3.15.08

Golden State of Mind wanted our thoughts on the Grizzlies in the post-Gasol era and, as always, we were more than happy to offer them up. Go check out that Q&A for some further insight and analysis.

Memphis is a ship without a rudder, captain or destination at the moment. Many fans simply want this disastrous season to be over with so that they can focus on the hope that the offseason brings to every team looking to rebuild. The Grizzlies are in the midst of a 16 game road losing streak - their longest since they moved from Vancouver.

Golden State has won five straight against the Grizzlies and are on a 4-game home winning streak. They are maintaining their tenuous grasp on the 8th playoff spot, leading the Denver Nuggets by 2 games at the moment. They will need to take advantage of their next three games (Grizzlies, Kings, Clippers), if they plan on making any noise this postseason.

Point Guards: Mike Conley vs Baron Davis
BD has been on fire in the month of March, averaging 27.4 ppg, 7.6 apg, 4.6 rpg, 1.4 spg on .527 FG% in the last 7 games. He's even chipped in 4 blocks in the last 3 games. Mike Conley, on the other hand, has been facing the typical struggles that all rookie point guards deal with. The scary thing is, his stats are almost exactly what I predicted they would be in the preseason. Of course, all the rest of them were way off, but I'm going to bask in the glow of being right for a little while.
Advantage: Golden State

Shooting Guards: Mike Miller vs Monta Ellis
Monta Ellis has responded to March in much the same way as his backcourt mate. Through 7 games he is averaging 23.1 ppg, 7 rpg, 4.4 apg, 1.9 spg on .550 FG%. This smallish SG (only 6'3") is lightning quick and has a great mid-range game to go with his prolific slashing ability. In other words, he's going to shred the Grizzlies' defense once again. Mike Miller has put up less than spectacular numbers in the last three games (all blowouts) and the fact hasn't changed that as #33 goes, so go the Grizzlies. He'll have to put forth a superhuman effort for them to even be competitive in this one.
Advantage: Golden State

Small Forwards: Rudy Gay vs Stephen Jackson
Captain Jack had been playing well prior to Thursday's loss to Phoenix when his shot seemed to leave him. If his perimeter game picks back up, Rudy could be in for a long night on defense. There is some concern that Rudy Gay is less than 100%, given that the Commercial Appeal reported that he pulled his left hamstring against the Suns, which he feels limited his effectiveness against Denver. If that injury is still bothering him, this matchup could get ugly very quickly.
Advantage: Memphis

Power Forwards: Hakim Warrick vs Mickael Pietrus
Now, on most teams Pietrus would be as much of a PF as Shaq is a SG. But by the Bay, anyone can play anywhere, which is why he gets the start here as far as we can ascertain. Pietrus has responded well to the increase in playing time over the last few weeks, which I find interesting given that Nellie didn't want to play him at all early in the season. Of course, Nellie is known for making unusual decisions and leaving people guessing. Hak will do what Hak does: score and rebound. He'll definitely struggle to defend Pietrus though.
Advantage: Golden State

Centers: Darko Milicic vs Andris Biedrins
Biedrins is a classic high-energy player, which is the classic example of what Darko has trouble with. In other words, expect Biedrins to get the best of him in blocks and rebounds, even if he doesn't score much. Darko's main role should be to block out any and everyone he can to prevent the Warriors from collecting easy second chance points.
Advantage: Golden State

Benches: Memphis vs Golden State
Al Harrington has been sent back to the bench (again, for reasons only Don Nelson knows), giving the Warriors another weapon off the bench as he joins Kelenna Azubuike, Brandan Wright and C.J. Watson as the primary scoring threats in reserve. The Grizzlies still don't have much coming off the bench for them, as they counter with Kyle Lowry, Juan Carlos Navarro, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins.
Advantage: Golden State


Relevant blogs/websites:
Golden State of Mind
The City
WarriorsWorld
Ball Don't Lie - Warriors talk about their first cars
Commercial Appeal - Grizz seek talent like (Monta) Ellis
Tom Ziller (The Fanhouse) - Will Monta Ellis Leave Baron's Shadow?

Grizzlies vs Golden St - 12.17.07

Memphis finally got a couple of clutch shots down the stretch, turned up the defense, made the free throws and won a close game. Believe it or not it was the first time this season that the Grizzlies won a game where the score was within two points with 3 minutes to play that the Grizzlies won. Rudy Gay continued his search for respect around the league with a career high 32 points including 23 in the 2nd half. His combination of size, leaping ability and range makes him potentially one of the most difficult guards in the league once he figures out the game. Class is still in session but he is getting honors grades so far this season. Pau Gasol will miss this game and could be out until after Christmas but a big man with questionable speed and hustle won't be missed as much in this game.

Golden St enters the game searching for their Prozac. If there is a more bi-polar team in the NBA I don't know what it is. Golden St opened the season with 6 consecutive losses. Then the Warriors won 9 of their next 10 games. Since those two streaks the Warriors are 4-4. So they have been hot, cold and in between. Golden St is the best scoring team in the league having topped 100 pts in all but two games but those games came in their last three games heading into Detroit. The Warriors Sunday night game means they will be playing the 2nd game of a back to back series with travel. Energy shouldn't be a problem for this Warriors team however.

Point Guards: Damon Stoudamire vs Baron Davis
Baron Davis is playing some of the best basketball of his career in the mayhem that is Don Nelson's offense. He is scoring at the 2nd best clip of his career (22.8 ppg -11th in the league), averaging the 2nd best assists number of his career (8.3 - 6th best in the league) and creating more steals (2nd in the league at 2.52 apg) than at any time in his career. Now Davis just has to avoid the injury bug that has plagued his career. Damon has not been playing well of late and needs to be on his game if he wants to play much in this game.
Advantage: Golden St

Shooting Guards: Juan Carlos Navarro vs Monta Ellis
Monta Ellis is one of the fastest players in the league. The youngster from Jackson, Ms will have plenty of fans in the stands to keep him motivated as well. Ellis has been showing that last season' breakout year was no fluke averaging 16.1 ppg, 3.4 apg and 1.5 spg. Juan Carlos finally broke out of his shooting funk with 5 three point shots against Orlando on the way to a 27 pt outing. When Navarro is shooting the ball well he is very dangerous all over the court with nifty passes and sneaky defensive plays but when he shot isn't falling Navarro is far less impressive.
Advantage: Golden St

Small Forwards: Mike Miller vs Stephen Jackson
Stephen Jackson is the captain of the Golden St Warriors. Maybe that explains the erratic behavior exhibited on the court by the Warriors. At one time Stephen Jackson was considered a divisive attitude on a team. Now he is a captain. What he hasn't become is conservative shooting the ball. His averages of 39.9% from the field and 32.4% from the arc aren't exactly representative of a team leader. Mike Miller seems to realize that he has to be a threat for this team to win. He was quoted as telling Rudy Gay that they need to go big if they are going to beat Orlando. I have a news flash Mike, you have to go big for Memphis to beat just about anyone.
Advantage: Memphis

Power Forwards: Rudy Gay vs Al Harrington
I am going out on a limb with this match. Harrington hasn't been starting regularly but does anyone believe Nellie isn't going to want one of his most experienced players matching up against Rudy Gay? I am not sure why Harrington hasn't been playing more anyway. He is hitting a nice percentage of his shots including 41% from the arc. Harrington is a hard worker who won't allow Rudy to operate with too much freedom. The good news for Rudy is that Harrington isn't a big driver of the ball and he doesn't have tremendous size so Rudy won't be over matched at PF. This is a statement type of game for Rudy. After setting a career high he comes up against a team not known for it's defense and Rudy has the potential to put huge back to back games up.
Advantage: Memphis

Centers: Darko Milicic vs Andres Biedrins
Darko Milicic isn't in condition to go 40 minutes a night against any team yet and that goes double for a fast paced team like the Warriors. One of the reasons Biedrins is so effective for the Warriors is his ability to run and jump at the pace the Warriors play. His stamina allows him to get to balls while the opposing big men are still catching their breath. Not good for a Grizzlies team who are thin in the middle.
Advantage: Golden St

Benches: Memphis vs Golden St
Golden State has a very active and effective bench. That happens when you have 8 players who have started at least 5 games already this season. Led by Kelanna Azubuike who averages double figures off the bench and Matt Barnes who absolutely torched Memphis last season, the Warriors bench expects to play and produce. The only bad side of the Warriors has been the weak play from their rookies Marco Belinelli and Brandon Wright who have both played very poorly so far. Memphis' bench is finally finding some sort of rotation. Kyle Lowry brings energy off the bench with Hakim providing a point a minute scoring. Stromile started the season strong but has dropped off considerable of late. Casey Jacobsen is getting the extra minutes with Pau out but that may not be the case against a fast team like the Warriors.
Advantage: Golden St

Other Previews/Relevant Blogs:
Golden State of Mind
The City

Golden State Warriors interested in Hakim Warrick?

Our friends at Golden State of Mind uncovered a nugget of information in ESPN the Magazine[p. 124...3 Seconds]:

To get Andris Biedrins help inside, the Warriors have looked into stealing Hakim Warrick from Memphis for struggling center Patrick O'Bryant. Good luck with that.

Now it seems that most Golden State fans have a high opinion of the Grizzlies forward. In reality he has improved upon his production from last season, he is just doing it in fewer minutes so it appears that his numbers are down. Hakim Warrick has really improved his jumpshot out to about 18 feet and rarely goes into the spin cycle in the post that got him in trouble a lot last season. However, Hakim is still a blackhole. He only has 2 assists in 150 minutes vs. 9 turnovers. In the right situation, Hakim would be a good finisher and the Warriors would probably be a team in which he would thrive as he will be able to sneak around and take advantage of mismatches.

On the other side of the coin, Patrick O'Bryant is virtually an unknown to me. I liked him coming out of college but getting browbeat in the league can seriously hamper a players development. The Grizzlies are already rehabilitating Darko and two confidence projects might be one to many. O'Bryant has not shown anything in the league (I have never seen him play). He seems to foul to much to even stay on the court (13.2 fouls per 48). Add to that, he is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

As a Grizz fan, I would not like this swap. I have no doubts that Hakim is not in the long range plans of Coach Iavaroni but I would expect a better return. I would prefer to get a small forward to back up Rudy.