Tsunami in Memphis

Wikipedia defines a tsunami as: a series of waves created when a body of water, such as an ocean, is rapidly displaced. Basically what occurs is that an earthquake causes the ocean floor to drop at a certain point, while raising it at another point, causing the temporary displacement of water. As a result of this, the water is sucked back from the shoreline to fill that point where there is a void, revealing areas that are normally completely submerged, only it then returns to the shore, because the water is only displaced temporarily. The incoming water is the tsunami, which destroys everything in its path and often arrives with little to no warning.

I can see people rolling their eyes right now. "First, he talks about astronomy and now we get a lesson on geology and oceanography?" Calm down -- I'll bring it back to the NBA, just you watch.

The Earthquake: Pau Gasol traded to the Los Angeles Lakers

When Gasol was traded, the shock wave was felt throughout the league. Everyone knew that something major had just occurred and that something had to be done as a result of it. Over the next few weeks, Phoenix trades for Shaq and Dallas trades for Kidd in an attempt to keep up. The Grizzlies hunker down to play out the rest of their season amid the chaos they helped to create.

The Water Recedes: The remaining Grizzlies show what they are made of.

When the water pulls back, it reveals portions of the shoreline that would otherwise be submerged, allowing you a better understanding of what was beneath the surface. In the case of some players, they responded positively, as Rudy, Conley, Kyle and Hakim all had productive 2nd halves. Others showed that they are still the same player that they have always been, which was the case for Mike Miller, Kwame Brown, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins. This isn't to say that these are bad players, but there isn't a lot of untapped potential for them to draw on, as there was for the younger players. There are still a few unknowns at this point in Javaris Crittenton and Darko Milicic, but the franchise got a good read on the team overall. This provided the Grizzlies with valuable information that they needed going into the offseason with 2 first round picks and a substantial amount of cap space.


The Water Crests: Draft Night 2008

When Chris Wallace made the two trades on draft night, netting O.J. Mayo and Darrell Arthur, the organization did everything in its power to restore hope to a fanbase desperate for a reason to continue believing in this team. Rather than taking the "safe approach" of drafting Kevin Love and Chris Douglas-Roberts, he took a chance on greater potential, which netted him Mayo and Arthur. At this point, the water has reached maximum stored energy. Now the team is left to release that energy upon the rest of the league.


The Tsunami: Playoff Success

I don't expect it to happen overnight -- or even in the next 2 seasons -- but I do expect it to happen sooner than many might have considered. With another good draft and a smart signing or two, the Grizzlies could release all that stored energy and potential upon the league with the same fury that the Hornets displayed this postseason, making it all the way to the Western Conference Finals. I look to what New Orleans and Portland have been able to do by collecting young talent in the draft and making timely signings of solid veterans, while not grossly overpaying for glorified role players. This is the model that Memphis should be adhering to, as they implement their plan to return to the playoffs, not just as a mere participant, but as a team to be reckoned with -- a team that other teams do not want to face in the first round. At that point, they will be an unstoppable force. They will have achieved tsunami status.

Game Recap: Memphis v Hornets

The Grizzlies rookie team made an impressive debut in the summer league. OJ Mayo, Mike Conley, Darrell Arthur and surprising PJ Tucker all scored in double figures and the team was never seriously challenged but the Hornets.

You can geta nice recap of the game over at the Commercial Appeal, read the active game thread on the Memphis Grizzlies Message board and get Chris Herrington's comments over at Beyond the Arc.

The game wasn't easy to watch on the webcast at NBA.com. Poor transfer quality and no announcing with a static view and no replays made it better than nothing but hardly enjoyable.

I would like to throw out a big thanks to the Commercial Appeal for sending Beat Writer Ron Tillery to the event. In the past the CA decided to save some money and not send a reporter to the event or only send one for a short period of time. This left Grizz fans with only an AP writers recap of the games. Thanks to the sports editor for approving the expense instead of saving a few dollars and denying the local fans a first hand account.

Don't Hire the Movers Just Yet

The fellas over at Hardwood Paroxysm were good enough to send me the link to this post from Jon Burkett of Passion and Pride, a fine Philadelphia 76ers blog. I enjoy most of Jon's writing, but he made a huge error by continuing to espouse the theory popularized by ESPN.com's Bill Simmons that the Memphis Grizzlies should be the team that is moving, rather than the Seattle SuperSonics. *Sigh* I try and I try, but at this point, I just cannot be nice about it anymore. The video sums up my feelings on the subject quite succinctly.



You tell 'em Howard Beale!

Here's why the Memphis Grizzlies won't be moving to Seattle anytime soon (once again for the hard of hearing and absent-minded):

1. Iron-clad lease with the city of Memphis for the next decade. Really, this is reason enough, but I'll give you a few more.
2. Strong corporate support, despite lukewarm fan support.
3. New, state-of-the-art arena already in place, rather than still needing one to be built with taxpayers' dollars.
4. Unlike David Stern's apparent apathy towards the fine citizens of Seattle (or is that a reflection of their own apathy???), he is committed to the NBA remaining in Memphis. He wasn't nearly as definitive about the NBA in New Orleans, though.

In fact, let's talk about the New Orleans Hornets a little, shall we? If we're going to bring up a team that Clay Bennett should buy and move to Oklahoma City, why aren't the Hornets -- who have already spent time in OKC -- being mentioned as that team? Why not let Bennett and George Shinn switch franchises, move the Hornets to OKC and keep the Sonics in Seattle? Let's be honest -- the population of New Orleans has dwindled to the point where it is obvious that they cannot support two professional franchises. That's not a judgment of them -- just a cold, hard look at the facts. There are not enough people with disposable income to support two teams. I'm not trying to "rob" the Crescent City of their fantastic team -- as Burkett, Simmons and others are trying to do to Memphians -- just illustrating that there are other, more obvious teams to use as examples when seeking to "fill the void" that the departing Sonics will leave.

That brings up another interesting point. I have yet to visit Seattle, but everyone I know of that has been there has absolutely raved about it. So, I'm quite sure that it is a great city. I do find it curious that over the past 15 years, all three of their major sports franchises have threatened to move, with the Sonics apparently being the first to actually do so. I remember that playoff series between the Mariners and Yankees that "saved" Major League Baseball in the Pacific Northwest. I have seen the stands sway as the raucous crowd cheered on the Super Bowl bound Seahawks. I've seen the Sonics go deep into the playoffs on the backs of Payton, Kemp, Allen and Lewis. If the fans in Seattle really, truly wanted to keep their team, they would have made sure that they did what was necessary to make that a happen -- namely, funded a new arena. I've also seen the attendance numbers for the Sonics over the last few seasons.

That's why Memphis gets thrown in there at the whim of every writer with something to say, you know -- attendance. The Houston Chronicle's Zachary Levine had some interesting things to say about 3 of the 6 teams at the bottom of the attendance rankings:

Competition hurts some NBA teams.

Of the six teams at the bottom of the NBA pecking order, three play in some of the best college basketball markets in America — an issue the NHL doesn't have to deal with in nearly the same magnitude.

The Pacers average a league-worst 12,179 at an arena within 90 minutes of Indiana University (16,699 per game) and of West Lafayette, Ind., where Purdue draws more than 11,000 per game.

The 76ers compete with five Division I schools within the city limits of Philadelphia and also with suburban Villanova, which sells out every game at a 6,500-seat on-campus facility and averaged 19,928 in its first two games at the Wachovia Center.

And then there are the Memphis Grizzlies, who share a building with the No. 1 Tigers and come up 4,000 short at the turnstiles. And the way they're going this year, maybe that's not the only way they would lose to their co-tenants.

That's right Mr. Burkett, he brings up your own Sixers team among those at the bottom of the attendance numbers with competing high-level college teams in close proximity, drawing fans away. How about you worry about the team in your own backyard before you come down South looking to meddle with mine? The Memphis Grizzlies are here to stay.

Memphis at New Orleans -2.10.08

Memphis comes to New Orleans desperate for a win, any win, but it will be difficult against the Hornets, one of the best teams in the league this season. Memphis has struggled to find an identity after trading their biggest name, Pau Gasol, for cap space and future draft picks essentially. The most encouraging player from the trade, Javaris Crittenton, may be forced to play out of position if he wants to get any playing time this season. Kwame Brown adds size and defense to the interior but has been mostly a disappointment since being the #1 pick in the draft. This is most likely the last chance Kwame will get to impress anyone enough to sign him for more than the MLE so motivation should be on his side as well. Rudy Gay and Mike Miller are still the leaders of the team but will struggle to find open looks without an interior scoring threat.

New Orleans had been one of the top teams in the Southwest Division all season. Led by MVP candidate Chris Paul and balanced with a strong rotation including Peja Stojakovic, David West and Tyson Chandler, The Hornets have resurrected the franchise that only three seasons ago won a grand total of 18 games after trading their biggest name, Baron Davis. That trade brought back two old bad players in Dale Davis and Speedy Claxton and no draft picks. The Hornets are the poster children for the idea that by making smart draft picks and good free agent signings a quick turnaround is possible. New Orleans has improved thanks to improved health as much as anything. Last year New Orleans struggled with injuries to Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic to just miss the playoffs. This season New Orleans is 3-0 against Memphis including two overtime games.

Point Guards: Mike Conley vs Chris Paul
Mike didn't start against Dallas but he was clearly the more polished player and will most likely start against the Hornets. Welcome to the NBA rookie, go guard MVP candidate Chris Paul. Paul has been outstanding this season and while LeBron is the front-runner, CP3 isn't far behind. Conley is a great looking rookie but he has only played 20 games this season and 2 years ago was playing high school ball. He has a bright future but this isn't the future.
Advantage: New Orleans

Shooting Guard: Mike Miller vs Morris Peterson
Miller started at SF against Dallas but MoPete can just shoot over Navarro while being a good enough defender to prevent JCN from getting any looks. Miller on the other hand is tall enough to contain MoPete and can cause him problems when the Grizz have the ball. Miller is good for a lot of points in spurts as long as they aren't crucial points in the game. He should be able to do some damage against MoPete.
Advantage: Memphis

Small Forward: Rudy Gay vs Peja Stojakovic
Peja has a history against Memphis that isn't very good. If there is a better pure shooter in the NBA than Mike Miller than Peja is on that short list. At 6-10 he is a matchup nightmare on the perimeter where his deadly accuracy and fast release allow him to score in bunches. Rudy Gay is able to hit some great shots but struggles against better defenders off the dribble. Lucky for Rudy that Peja isn't one of those defenders. Rudy will need to force Peja to work on defense so he can't focus on offense. Rudy has also been doing a great job on the boards lately and will need to continue to do so.
Advantage: Memphis

Power Forward: Hakim Warrick vs David West
Hakim has not played well enough to earn the spot but then again what interior player has off the bench? West is a monster when his game is not on. Give him some quick easy baskets and he will likely get on a roll. Hakim had shown an instant offense reputation off the bench but Memphis can't wait that long to get a scorer on the court. As a starter Hakim hasn't been nearly as effective. Memphis needs someone who can score around the hoop and Hak is drifting further and further from the basket too often.
Advantage: New Orleans

Center: Darko Milicic vs Tyson Chandler
TYson Chandler didn't play Thursday against the Suns but is expected back for this game, Why are they rushing him? Darko had his string of double-doubles end in Dallas but is capable of starting another run as soon as the ball is thrown up. Darko still relies on one basic move but teams struggle to stop a 7-2 man throwing up hook shots. Once he refinds his range he could be deadly effective underneath. Darko can't fall too in love with his shot however or Tyson Chandler will be sprinting past him to get easy baskets. Darko needs to rebound on the defensive end and rush to get on defense on our misses. If healthy Tyson Chanler is hand full on the backboard and has range out to at least 12 inches from the rim. The problem is nothis range since he is such an effective offensive rebounder.
Advantage: New Orleans

Bench: Memphis vs New Orleans
No contest here. Moving ice cold Juan Carlos Navarro to the bench won't help him find his shot. Crittenton is exciting but out of control. Hopefully that has more to do with his lack of knowledge of the system and not a character trait. Kwame Brown makes Darko look good at the free throw line. Jason Collins at least has shown the willingness to guard the lane with his body. Lowry will have to force the pace to be effective. Memphis' gamble of going big early means they have no backup SF. The Hornets have been getting freat production from their bench. Janerro Pargo is on a roll. Former Grizz Bobby Jackson will drain anything if left alone. Even Julian Wright has been getting some court time but it is still the starters that drive this team.
Advantage: New Orleans

Hornets Postgame (I Sat Courtside!)

From Zack Via Courtside Seats

Despite the Grizzlies getting killed by Chris Paul and the Hornets, tonight might have been the best basketball night of my life. Midway through the 1st quarter, the friend that took me to the game got his seats upgraded to COURTSIDE SEATS (thank you Andy).


For an NBA junkie, only a few things in life is better than sitting courtside. Even when the home team gets their butts kicked.

The feel for the size, strength and speed of the players and game is unmatched. It was almost too much, actually. Too much to watch. Too much to take in and pay attention to. Along with watching the game play, I was focusing even more of my attention to my hearing, since sitting so close makes it possible, well almost possible, to hear the conversations that take place on the court between the players, coaches and refs.

Although I didn't hear anything incredibly fascinating. Ok, I didn't hear anything slightly fascinating, but still here are some things I did hear.

-- At one point in the 2nd half, I heard Iavaroni yelling at Darko to show "emotion" on defense.
-- In the 4th quarter during Hornet free throws, Chris Paul was walking up before the last shot and telling his guys to make sure and "get a stop" next time down.
-- The Hornet players would routinely talk 1 on 1 with the refs during stoppages. The Griz players only yelled at the refs during play, not talking with them when not playing.
-- In the 3rd quarter Iavaroni put Rudy on Peja. Peja went around a screen and nailed a mid-range jumper. On the way down the court Rudy told the ref to "watch those screens" next time.
-- After one of Chandler's many dunks, he quickly flashed the Stro show sign. One of the refs running down the court was discouraging this saying "no, no, no, no".
-- In the 4th quarter on defense, Lowry wanted to get up on Paul earlier, but Iavaroni yelled at him to "get back" and lay off of Paul. So of course, Paul just pulled up and nailed a long 2.

Other things about the game.

Chris Paul is awesome.
He was just unbelievable tonight. At one point in the 2nd half I think he had only missed 1 shot. He finished with 40 points on 17 for 25 shooting, 9 assists and only 1 turnover. It didn't matter what we did, he countered with a successful play. Which brings me to...

Iavaroni had no answer to defending the pick and roll effectively. He tried everything. He started the game with having the guards go under and the bigs stay back. This led to Chris Paul showing the crowd how great of an outside shooter is. He then tried to just have the guard go over but the big still play off. This led to layups and sweet passes to Chandler for easy dunks. He then tried to trap off the screen. Again this didn't work and instead led to Peja sinking numerous 3-pointers from the corner. On that particular situation, the trap would leave Rudy as the guy trying to guard 2 people. The SG was at the wing and Peja in the corner. Rudy looked confused and got very frustrated trying to properly rotate between the two. Very frustrated. However...

Rudy's game has really impressed me this season.
Rudy tonight was decent. He wasn't dominate on offense and was as bad as all the Grizzlies on defense. He struggled to guard Peja. He didn't rebound particularly well. But he still looked like a budding star. He was able to get good shots on offense (because Peja cannot stay with Rudy on the dribble-drive) and he was able to make borderline bad shots from the perimeter (that is, IMO, what sets apart great basketball players from bad the rest....great players routinely make difficult shots that seem low-percentage, the rest don't). At this point I think we should be getting Rudy even more shots on offense. He was 50% tonight from the field and had at least three layup attempts rattle out. He is good slashing and pulling up. He can score out of the post and perimeter positions. He's our primary scorer from here on out, IMO. Which oddly enough segues into....

Tonight might have been a turning point on the relationship between Pau and the fans.
He was booed many times tonight. It actually seemed to be building throughout the game. It may have started with the Hornets getting some easy dunks and timely offensive rebounds. But it clearly culminated with Pau being passive and hesitant on offense. In typical Pau fashion, he submitted to the jab-step-fest when catching the ball, refusing to assert himself against a physical Tyson Chandler. He was weak the few times he tried to drive. He couldn't hit his jumper and he threw some bad passes out of a double team. In the 2nd half, boos started to trickle in after another jab-step-fest at the elbow resulted in zero Griz points. Later I turned and said I think this place is going to explode on Pau if he does something blatantly bad again (sorta like the free throw incident from last year). Then on the very next possession, Pau was in the short corner, gave the jab-step-fest and turned the ball over. The boos rained down from the rafters. And deservedly so, IMO. I think this game might have been a turning point. The fans are frustrated and they are going to take it out on Pau. Watch out. But I don't want to be all negative about tonight, here are two last bits of good news.

Lowry played better tonight than he has in a long while.
He got early action due to Damon's 2 quick fouls guarding Paul. He resembled the old Lowry for the rest of the quarter with an active style of defense. He had a bunch of deflections and caused plays that could have went the Grizzlies way with a better bounce on a loose ball. Chris Paul was on fire tonight, which negates most of the good things that Lowry did on defense early on. But more importantly Lowry was better on offense. He shot decent. Scored 15 points. Also had 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals. He made good decisions on when to drive and when to dish. He still wasn't the playmaking PG that we need on offense. Someone who forces teams to focus almost entirely on stopping them (like Chris Paul does), but he also wasn't the negative presence he has been at times this year. Maybe we have another young PG on the roster that can be more like Chris Paul, what's his status again?

Conley has resumed full contact practices.
Can I get an Amen! Spartacus alerted us to this fact today in the links post (via Conley's own blog). Tonight, the news was at the bottom of the AP article. This is great news and hopefully I will get to see the full time backcourt duo of Conley and Lowry be a reality at some point this year. There was an interesting quote from the AP article, though. Here is the full passage, with the interesting part in bold:

Grizzlies G Mike Conley returned to full contact practice Tuesday night, meaning his return from injury is much closer. The rookie from Ohio State has been out of action since injuring his right shoulder against Dallas on Nov. 17. "You wouldn't have thought he had a shoulder surgery," Iavaroni said before Wednesday's game. "Moving around well. He was quick. He needs to get in better shape, but that will come with play." Iavaroni wouldn't give a specific time on the first-round pick's return.

What? Conley had surgery? Surely this is a misquote. Chip, get the crack research team on this.

Well, in summary. Chris Paul is awesome. The Griz didn't have the effort and hustle necessary to be competitive for 48 minutes and the locker room atmosphere has to be pretty bad right now. Pau was particularly awful tonight and the home town crowd let him hear it, which could be an interesting development or nothing at all. If nothing else, he knows we fans don't like the jab, jab, jab, jab, jab, turnover move. Conley is close to returning and well, I got to sit freaking courtside. Click this link to see a picture. I'm underneath Paul's left shin.


Chipc3's Perspective:
I didn't sit courtside. However I did see many of the things Zack referenced so I won't repeat them too much. Congrats on the upgrade Zack. Since it is the holidays the game had a sort of movie night feel to it.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly:

Good: Rudy Gay took over in the fourth quarter again and came up big offensively. The Bad: Pau Gasol's streak of double figure scoring games came to an end at 81 games, third longest in the league. The Ugly: One of the worst shooting teams in the NBA shot 55.8% in the game while one of the higher scoring teams in the league failed to break 100 pts for the third consecutive game.

Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde:
Pau Gasol goes for 31 and 15 against Philly including some of his most aggressive play late in the game only to turn around and put up 9 and 8 against Tyson Chandler and the Hornets the next game. If there was a more bi-polar performance without injury in the NBA I don't know what it is. Down the stretch Gasol was crying to the refs (I almost titled this the Crying Game actually) but the bottom line was Gasol wasn't aggressive enough to earn a call. The fans booing him didn't seem to upset Gasol either as he nonchalontly shrugged off the boos as if he didn't care. That definately didn't help the situation. Gasol may not be demanding a trade but it sure seems like he doesn't want to be here despite his buddy being on the team. Maybe he feels the losing isn't his fault but when you only take one shot in the 2nd half perhaps the problem is looking you in the mirror when you are the highest paid player on the team. The team needed Pau to be big and force New Orleans to keep an eye on him. Instead he was passive allowing the pressure to remain on the perimeter players and the fans saw that and let him know that isn't what they want from him.

The Two Towers:
Darko Milicic tonight came into the game and scored right away and prompty took most of the rest of the night off. He played only 13 minutes, committed two turnovers and seemed to be so scared on the offensive end that we were playing 4 against 5 when he was in the game. What happened to the Darko who started the season? Is his thumb so sore that he can't catch the ball? Has his confidence whittled away to the point that he doesn't even want to be a part of the offense? When Darko doesn't assert himself and Pau plays as soft as he did there is not a single team in the NBA the Grizzlies can beat. The Ivory Towers appeared to be made out of paper last night. We need more of the Bad Boys and not the Back Street Boys on this team. Until the Ivory Towers start getting mean and aggressive again the Memphis Grizzlies will continue to be forced to rely on perimeter play and that is not a good thing late in games (Philly) nor in games when the opponents try to out-muscle you (New Orleans). At some point we have to have interior players saying enough is enough.

Stripes and Titanic rolled into one 2 hour tragi-comedy:

This game showed all that is wrong with the franchise right now. Too many sloppy turnovers, not enough physical play inside, too many fingers being pointed at others (the refs, the fans, teammates) and not enough at themselves. Someone needs to take charge on this team and as MemphisX pointed out in a conversation with me, we don't know who it should be!

Therein lies the problem. Damon makes a big stand and says the team needs to play with more heart and they come out and play really well, for a quarter. Then New Orleans elevates their game to match Memphis' intensity and the Grizzlies collapse. Is it Gasol's fault? Is it Darko's? Are we cursed or just a weak franchise? I don't know the answer but it sure hurts having to ask the question over and over.

Memphis vs New Orleans - 12.26.07

Don't forget to make a donation for Grizz this holiday season!

Memphis has struggled this season in close games. 1-7 now in games decided by three points or less has left Memphis in a deep hole this season. Memphis is 5-9 at home, 2-8 in their last 10 games and struggling to find a way to cut down the turnovers that have plagued them this season. Pau Gasol returned from a jammed big toe injury to get double-doubles in both games including a 31 pt, 13 rebound game against Philly. Rudy Gay has shown flashes of brilliance against teams but has struggled on defense against slashing players and has fouled out of games twice this season. Mike Miller is consistently scoring again and leads the team in minutes played but his long range shooting has been noticeably absent at the end of games. Memphis needs to use the time off for Christmas to heal up some of their walking wounded like Pau and Darko Milicic.

New Orleans has continued to shock the division by hanging around the top all season despite injuries to key players including Tyson Chandler, Morris Peterson and Peja Stojakovic. New Orleans isn't a great scoring team (18th in the league) but they are a great defensive team (4th in the league) and that combines to give them the mental edge they need in close games. Mew Orleans hits the boards well with the 9th best rebounding team in the league but are a surprising 21st in the league in preventing opponents rebounding. Mostly this is due to the Hornets poor field goal percentage. New Orleans has the mental advantage over the Grizzlies after winning twice already this season but both games came in OT so it isn't something New Orleans should take for granted.

Point Guards: Damon Stoudamire vs Chris Paul
The man who is supposed to be on the way out against the man on the way up. Damon Stoudamire continues to surprise detractors not only with his continued starting role but also by his solid play. While not a great defender Damon is very good with that ball and limits turnovers which is important on a team not noted for controlling the ball. Chris Paul is a serious challenger for league MVP this season. Paul is averaging a double-double with 20.9 ppg and 10.0 apg. He is shooting 48% from the field and 37% from the arc. Throw in an incredible 2.84 steals per game and the winner is clear.
Advantage: New Orleans

Shooting Guards: Mike Miller vs Morris Peterson
Mike Miller is probably the least known Team USA member from this summer. His reason for making the team is quite simply that the man can shoot. His range is anything within 27 ft and he can hit those shots consistently. Miller doesn't like to sit and that has him among the league leaders in minutes played averaging over 37 minutes a night. Those minutes may be taking their toll already as Miller's 4th quarter performances have been declining significantly including an 0-1, 4 turnover performance against Philly which included having his man score 17 pts and hit the game winner. MoPete is an under-rated defender who also has a smooth outside shot but understands that he isn't expected to be a scorer on this team.
Advantage: Memphis

Small Forwards: Rudy Gay vs Peja Stojakovic
Peja Stojakovic is one of the most hated players for Grizzlies fans in the league. Even now, 4 years later and on a different team, Peja can still expect boos after the fight with James Posey. What people forget is that Peja can still really shoot and at 6-10 he is actually taller than Rudy Gay. The good news for Rudy is Peja isn't really a slasher nor a great defender. As long as Rudy prevents Peja from spotting up he should be able to contain his scoring while Rudy has averaged 25.5 ppg against New Orleans in two games. Rudy has become the focal point of the team's offense and therefore the opponents defense. How Rudy responds to be the main man team's attempt to stop should be something to watch for going forward.
Advantage: Memphis

Power Forwards: Pau Gasol vs David West
David West loves Memphis. Rather, he loves playing against Memphis. He's averaging 33.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 54.2% from the field and 50% from the arc. The 5th yr pro from Xavier has done this despite giving up inches to Gasol. Of course Darko was hurt in the 1st quarter of game 1 and didn't return and Darko was playing in his 1st game back from injury in game 2. How many productive minutes Darko can log could influence how effective West is. Gasol looked as sharp as ever in his last game scoring 31 pts and grabbing 13 boards not to mention scoring a lot down the stretch. West will have difficulty defending the tall and lanky Gasol.
Advantage: Memphis

Centers: Darko Milicic vs Tyson Chandler
Tyson Chandler joins Chris Paul in averaging a double-double. His 11.5 ppg are a direct result of his grabbing 11.9 rpg. His offense is basically dunks and free throws and he is much more effective dunking. Keeping Tyson off the glass has to be one of the most important things to focus on for the Grizzlies. Darko is good at blocking at rebounders although that doesn't translate well into personal rebounding numbers. What is clear is that Darko's thumb hasn't recovered as he avoids contact on offense which has meant very few easy baskets for the big man. Darko needs to finish at the rim not fading away. Until he feels comfortable with his thumb that isn't likely to happen.
Advantage: New Orleans

Benches: Memphis vs New Orleans
Two radically different approaches to bench players in this game. New Orleans brings in experience with Bobby Jackson, Mark Jackson, Jannero Pargo and Rasual Butler sprinkled with some youth in Hilton Armstrong and Julian Wright. Memphis comes in with basically rookies with Kyle Lowry and Juan Carlos Navarro, a veteran in Casey Jacobsen who has played more minutes in Europe than the US and 3rd yr player Hakim Warrick with the only true veteran being Stromile Swift. While Memphis is building for the future New Orleans is playing to win now and their bench reflects that. Memphis has firepower and excitement but New Orleans has consistency and a better understanding of their roles.
Advantage: New Orleans

Relevant Blogs/Sites:
THE New Orleans Hornet Fan
Hornets 24-7
Hornets Beat
Swarming the Ball

Post Game Thoughts - New Orleans

Another opportunity and another disappointment.

Memphis fought hard, which this team has to do to stand a chance against the better teams in the league. It was a game they deserved to win. They had a chance to win. A game they turned the ball over twice in the last 1:04 seconds of overtime to lose by two points.

Rudy Gay is definately becoming the end of game player the Grizzlies have needed. That leaves the question why wasn't he getting the ball on the last possession? I am sure Iavaroni will answer that question (he is great at being honest after games) but a play designed for Pau to touch pass to Kyle Lowry for the last shot seems peculiar play calling.

Great games by Rudy, Pau and Mike. Respectively they had 31, 26 and 26 points. Gasol chipped in with 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

Kyle Lowry replaced Damon Stoudamire who was sick in the starting lineup and started slow but played hard and seemed to find the shooting touch in the 2nd half. His 14 pts, 9 boards and 9 assists. I don't know if he read my blog about him playing himself into a possible trade but he sure looked good in his first start of the season.

Juan Carlos Navarro had an off-night but having to play the back up Point Guard role made it difficult for Navarro to get comfortable. The good news was that he didn't force anything in frustration.

Memphis' downfall was in the last minutes of every quarter and the OT. The Grizzlies outplayed the Hornets except at the end of periods where they were completely outplayed.

Warrick and Jacobsen were the only players to see court time off the bench. Stromile was sick again and apparently gave the flu to Damon as well. Scary to think the team has to fly with them to Atlanta tonight.

The team played like a team tonight. No one was showing poor body language as far as I could tell. Great to see that.

Spartacus Pictorial Postgame Comments:

Darko Milicic

Kyle Lowry

Rudy Gay

David West

Tyson Chandler

Chris Paul

More recaps:
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Memphis at New Orleans - 12.7.07

Special thanks to Ryan Schwan over at THE New Orleans Hornets Fan blog for his assistance in this pre-game.

Memphis fought hard against Houston but simply didn't have enough size to stop the Rockets. With Darko and Stromile both out for the game the only size off the bench was Andre Brown. Navarro was punished by former Grizz Bonzi Wells as well. Simply put the team was out manned by the deep and vetarn Houston team that needed to win the game. On the positive side Pau Gasol played his best game of the season with his 23 pt, 12 board game. The numbers aren't earth shattering but when you consider that he was the only big threat on the team against a powerful Rocket front line it was impressive.

New Orleans New Orleans is coming off an ugly loss to the Detroit Pistons where they showed all of their weaknesses over the last 3 quarters of the game. While Tyson Chandler was a monster and has clearly recovered from his knee injury earlier in the season,(17 points, 19 rebounds) he was the only one playing with fire after the 1st quarter. Chris Paul re-tweaked his previously injured ankle early in the second quarter and the offense stagnated as he struggled to push the ball and get to the hoop. David West shot poorly to produce his second poor game in a row, and Peterson pulled a muscle in his back and is now listed day to day. Bobby Jackson is playing with a strained groin, Pargo is getting 20 minutes a game - about 12 more than he should be - and the rest of the bench has played very, very poorly the last few weeks. Last night, rookie Julian Wright played 9 minutes - 5 more minutes than his season high - as Byron Scott desperately tries to find a contributer off the bench. If Memphis comes out, plays physical, and smacks them in the mouth, the Hornet's wavering confidence could break again. If Memphis lets the Hornets get into rhythm, they're finished.

Zack's Corner: Focusing on the Hustle Stats

Steals. Memphis averages an NBA worst 5.6 steals per game. And here I thought deflections was something the coaching staff was stressing. In addition, New Orleans is the best in the NBA at preventing opponents from stealing ball, only allowing 5.9 per game. Not an encouraging stat for tonight. To top it off Chris Paul leads the NBA in steals per game (2.88 spg).

Blocks. Memphis averages 5.2 blocks per game. However, Darko and Stro combine for more than half of those blocks (3.3 bpg) and both will likely not play against the Hornets.

Rebounds. Mike Miller, the Grizzlies leading rebounder, is currently 30th in the NBA in rebounds per game. Miller, along with Kobe Bryant, are the only two players in the top 50 in the NBA in rebounding that average less than 1 offensive rebound per game. We are playing the Hornets, so of course I should mention that in the last meeting the Griz were out rebounded on the offensive end 15-7, with Chandler recording 6 offensive rebounds himself.

Assists. Chris Paul is 3rd in the NBA in assists per game (9.9 apg). However, the Hornets as a team are 23rd in assists per game (20 apg). Compare that to the Grizzlies, who are 13th in the NBA with 21.5 assists per game, yet do not have a single player averaging more than 5 assists per game.

Turnovers. The Hornets are 5th in the NBA in fewest turnovers committed per game (12.8 tpg) and the Grizzlies are last in the NBA in forcing turnovers (12.7). That doesn't sound promising. However, in the last meeting, Chris Paul turned the ball over 7 times by himself (and the Hornets 16 as a team). Interestingly, the Grizzlies commit on average the same amount of turnovers in wins and losses.

Matchups

Point Guards: Damon Stoudamire vs Chris Paul
Damon Stoudamire has been playing better and better every day. No longer is he the tired looking old man limping up and down the court. His shot is finding it's range and he is definitely the number one point guard on the team. Chris Paul however is dominating the league and his main strength overlaps Damon's weakness, speed. Chris Paul right now is possibly the MVP of the Western Conference.
Advantage: New Orleans

Shooting Guards: Juan Carlos Navarro vs Morris Peterson
Size is going to be the determining factor in this match up. Navarro is sneaky quick, has excellent range and a subtle defensive style that produces steals but MoPete is a lot bigger than Navarro. His 6-7 frame is going to make it difficult for Navarro to stop his silky smooth outside shot while MoPete, who is a surprisingly good defensive player, should be able to affect Navarro's shot. Statistically the players are very similar however and it was against New Orleans that Navarro really announced his presence to the league. However MoPete may want his revenge.
Advantage: New Orleans

Small Forwards: Mike Miller vs Peja Stojakovic
Miller is back in his more comfortable SF position. Mike's new found ability to drive the ball and rebound makes him even more valuable than last season. Apparently playing for the national team did teach Mike something besides how to be a secondary option to other players. Peja Stojakovic is one of the most hated players to old time Grizzlies fans in the league. There aren't many players who consistently get booed in Memphis but this game isn't in Memphis. Peja is actually as good if not a better outside shooter than Miller but he's a step slower these days and Mike should be able to exploit that.
Advantage: Memphis

Power Forwards: Rudy Gay vs David West
David West destroyed the Grizzlies the last time they played. Controlling his ability to score in the paint and on the wing is going to be the primary responsibility of Rudy Gay is Darko can't go. Rudy has struggled to stay out of foul trouble in games where he has to defend a primary scoring threat but usually that happens on drives to the hoop which isn't West's primary weapon. West's primary weapon is using his bulk to force his way inside or to fake inside and hit the open J. It's a tough match up for anyone in the league and Rudy's habit of getting into foul trouble is worrisome with the depleted big man corp. If Rudy can hit the outside shot however that exposes West's lack of mobility on the perimeter.
Advantage: New Orleans

Centers: Pau Gasol vs Tyson Chandler
Pau played 7-5 Yao Ming on Wednesday and now gets to match up with someone who can really rebound. Sometimes life isn't fair. Ideally Darko would make his return against the team that injured his thumb but I believe the Darko will play rhetoric is just an attempt to throw teams off their preparations. Tyson Chandler has recovered from his knee contusion and is again among the best rebounders in the league. That's a good thing too because New Orleans is among the worst shooting teams in the league. Chandler favorite offensive move is the put back dunk. That is also about the depth of his range shooting the ball. Gasol had his best overall game of the season against Houston despite getting three shots blocked for the 2nd straight game. Gasol's logging heavy minutes and will need to continue to do so in this game.
Advantage: New Orleans

Benches: Memphis vs New Orleans
Memphis' bench continues to shrink. Not just in numbers but in minutes as well. Kyle Lowry, who started the season competing for the starting PG job played fewer than 20 minutes for the first time this season against Houston. Andre Brown replaced the injured Darko and sick Stro. He was active but ineffective. Hakim has played very little lately (36 minutes in the last 4 games) despite Darko's injury and Stro's illness. Casey Jacobsen made it into the game against Houston but didn't contribute. New Orleans also is struggling to find any production from it's bench. Former Grizzly Bobby Jackson is battling another injury. Janero Pargo is hit or miss in how he plays. Melvin Ely and Hilton Armstrong don't appear to be the answers off the bench as bigs for the Hornets. Rookie Julian Wright barely makes it off the bench. Tough call but with Darko and Stro possibly playing I will go out on a limb.
Advantage: Memphis

Other previews/blogs:
THE New Orleans Hornet Fan
Hornets 24-7
Hornets Beat
Hornets.com Courtside Live
Swarming the Ball
Grizzlies.com
NOLA.com (Times-Picayune)
The Spread

Got a Prediction? Leave it in the Comments.

Pregame: Memphis vs New Orleans - 11.16.07

ChipC3 and Zack bring you pregame commentary for the 11.16.07 Memphis vs New Orleans game. Leave your predictions for the final score in the comments.

Memphis lost a heart stopping game to the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night to finish the first back to back series of the week at 1-1. That was an expected outcome with two games against Houston and Milwaukee but not many people expected the Grizzlies to win the first game only to lose the 2nd. At 2-5 the Grizzlies are not the worst team in the league right now but they aren’t far from it. Rudy Gay continues to score seemingly at will but has yet to rebound or assist to the level of an elite player. Pau Gasol’s minutes are down, his shot attempts are down and there are rumors his motivation is down despite continued minutes for Juan Carlos Navarro, the player supposedly brought in to pick up his spirits. Mike Miller finally broke out of his season long slump at the end of the Milwaukee game, but one quarter doesn’t break a slump. He will need to be aggressive again to win back some non-believing fans.

New Orleans is hanging with the Texas Trio early in the season behind the strong play of Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler and surprisingly Morris Peterson. Peja Stojakovic still has incredible range when healthy and David West is an up and coming player at the forward spot. Former Grizzlies player Byron Scott has the Hornets over achieving from some experts expectations but the players believe in the system and are working hard to implement it. The only drawback for the Hornets seems to be fragile health of some of their starters. If they get injured who knows what would happen. If the Hornets win tonight it will mark the best start in franchise history. I would hate to allow them to do that.

Trends

-- Shooting slump. Mike Miller is 1 for 14 on 3-point attempts in the last 4 games. Ouch.
-- Big 3, now Big 4? So far this season, the Hornets are trying to prove that the Southwest Division is not just about San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. At 7-2, New Orleans is sitting at 2nd place in the division. Maybe more telling is that Hollinger has the Hornets ranked #2 overall in his statistical-based power rankings. Only the Celtics are better. Lucky for the Griz is that they have played their best this year against Southwest Division foes at home. (Bonus trend...the Hornets beat the Grizzlies 3 out of the 4 games last year)
-- Winning streak. Not so surprising, the Grizzlies have yet to string together any wins this year. Last year, it took until the end of March (!) before the Grizzlies strung together multiple wins. How long will it be this year? After losing a heartbreaker to the Bucks, obviously tonight isn't the answer. Though maybe tonight will be win #1 in our first winning streak of the year (wait, who do we play tomorrow night...ugh!)

Storylines

-- Lottery point guards. Chris Paul is playing at an MVP level in only his third year. Micheal Conley is having a hard time getting on the floor. Still, the fact that 2 top-5 PG's are playing against each other is noteworthy.
-- Making the Southwest Division the best in the NBA. I mentioned in the Trends section that so far this year, the Hornets are every bit as good as the Texas Trio. Of course that is only taking into account the first 10 games of the season. However, stepping back a little farther, both the Hornets and Grizzlies are young, up-and-coming teams trying to force their way into the elite of the Western Conference. Both still have a ways to go (winning a single playoff game would be a good start), but this year the gap certainly looks to be closing.
-- Rudy Gay for All-Star? I've talked about it previously in this space, the emergence of Rudy Gay is certainly the top story of the year for the Grizzlies regardless of the matchup. Not many expected him to be averaging 20 ppg (double from his rookie campaign) and forcing his way into a primary offensive weapon. Foul trouble has kept him from making a big impact on the defensive end, but that will soon come.

Keys

-- Downtown Memphis Pick and Roll Blues. It is only the early part of the season, and I am already beating a dead horse with the "we have to defend the pick and roll better" theme. I'm tired of it. I want to move on, but first either the Grizzlies have to move on or we have to play a team that doesn't excel at the P-n-R. Chris Paul and David West should be licking their chops right now. I predict David West to keep nailing that elbow jumper of his. I'd love Iavaroni to get more aggressive in P-n-R defense, but I expect him to keep it passive so to avoid foul trouble.
-- Easy Rider. Before last game, I went on and on about the superb job the Griz have done this year at getting easy buckets (i.e., getting lots of FT attempts and points in the paint). Against the Bucks those easy buckets were not nearly as plentiful. With Memphis signing the jump shooting blues more times than not, continuing to attack the rim and force feed Pau/Rudy/Darko will go along way tonight. (Bonus Key...Keep Chandler from setting a career high in rebounds)
-- Get on your feet, Memphis and stand up! This Grizzlies team is hungry. They are also a bit fragile. A good cure to prevent lags in intensity and effort is for the crowd to stay pumped. It is nearly impossible to keep a loud and lively atmosphere for 48 minutes in the NBA, however, having an energized crowd at the right moments throughout all 4 quarters will help this team. I'm sure Rudy Gay will do his best to get the crowd involved with a few sick dunks (Julian Wright, you have been warned).

Matchups

Point Guards: Damon Stoudamire vs. Chris Paul
This is an ugly match up for the Grizzlies. Chris Paul is lightning fast player who can score and dish. Damon has been solid this season in extremely limited minutes (15 a game) but still that is too many according to some fans. Chris Paul is playing at a pace that has garnered some talk of MVP awards this season. He leads the Hornets in scoring (18.6 ppg) and assists (10.6 apg) in only 34.1 mpg. His 51.2 FG% and 44.4 3pt% makes him very efficient for a point guard and throw in 4.7 rpg and you can understand why he is being discussed for MVP.
Advantage: New Orleans

Shooting Guards: Mike Miller vs Peja Stojakovic
I wonder how many people will boo Peja in memory of the Slam in Sacramento? Peja was the most hated player in Memphis at one time. Time heals all wounds probably and that can be said for Peja as well as he attempts to rebound after missing last season with a bad back. His 10 3 pt shots against the Lakers seems to imply he is back. Now if Mike Miller can only build on his finishing effort in Milwaukee for the Grizzlies. Mike has been hesitant to take shots this season but he took over late against Milwaukee and made some clutch shots. Hopefully this is the start of good things. Until it is confirmed however...
Advantage: New Orleans

Small Forwards: Rudy Gay vs Morris Peterson
Mo Pete found his shooting touch in the last game hitting 6-9 bombs on the way to 27 points against Philly. It's not likely that he will find it quite so easy in Memphis against Rudy Gay. Unfortunately Peterson is a better defender than he gets credit for so it won't be easy for Rudy to get his points either. Neither player hits the boards that hard. For Peterson that isn't a big problem with Chandler and West cleaning the glass. For Rudy that may be a bigger concern. Miller has been filling in nicely but Rudy has to contribute more in the all-around game to be considered a dominant NBA player and not just a scorer. It seems weird that Rudy is actually averaging more blocks and more steals than assists. Great players make players around them great. That is Rudy's next step in his development.
Advantage: Memphis

Power Forwards: Pau Gasol vs David West
Power vs finesse in this atypical match up at power forward. Pau Gasol has the height but is more a finesse player. David West has the bulk and uses it to his advantage to gain leverage in rebounding. West has range nearly to the 3 pt line (he's actually 3-5 this season from beyond the arc). This is a test for Gasol's back (some would say spine). If Gasol allows West to push him around the Grizzlies will be in trouble. Gasol must use his height to go over West on offense while blocking out to grab boards on defense. New Orleans misses shots so controlling the glass is vital. West just seems to be the type of player who intimidates Gasol. If Gasol checks for blood more often than he grabs a board you will know who won the match up.
Advantage: New Orleans

Centers: Darko Milicic vs Tyson Chandler
You want to read something incredible? Tyson Chandler is learning how to score outside of dunking the ball. I realize most people didn't think this would happen but his 11.2 ppg implies something different is going on with the Big Easy's biggest player. Tyson always could rebound but his shot was suspect (7.6 career ppg, 60.4 career FT%). Tyson poses unique challenges for Darko in the post because of his speed and agility. Darko does better with slower centers like Yao. However Darko has been surprising everyone so far this season. His 11.1 ppg and 8.4 rpg are great and he should only continue to improve. The question is can be adapt in time for this game?
Advantage: New Orleans

Benches: Former Grizz Bobby Jackson leads the scoring off of New Orleans bench averaging 8.1 ppg but his shooting isn't exactly accurate. Rasual Butler had some big games against Memphis last season, Janero Pargo and Hilton Armstrong provide most of the bench play but don't overlook promising rookie Julian Wright who is buried on the depth chart but has some serious talent once he develops. Memphis' bench finally matched Kyle Lowry's intensity in Milwaukee as Casey Jacobsen, Brian Cardinal, Juan Carlos Navarro and Michael Conley all contributed in bringing Memphis back in the first and second halves. Hopefully this is the start of some decent play from the back ups because the team needs more contribution from it's bench. While the bench overall improved, Stromile Swift had a poor night against Milwaukee and needs to rebound against New Orleans. Where have you gone TK and Hak?
Advantage: New Orleans

Coaches: Byron Scott exercised one demon already this season when he defeated New Jersey for the first time on their court since he was fired from the Nets job. Scott's resume includes trips to 2 NBA finals as a head coach in New Jersey and 3 NBA titles as a Laker player so he gets respect from his team. With only Mo Pete as a new player among the top 8 on the roster Scott has a group of players who know what is expected of them. That chemistry should continue to improve this season unless injuries take another significant toll. Marc Iavaroni is still experimenting with different lineups while trying to figure out who is going to run the point. It isn't easy but the tinkering now should produce results later in the season.
Advantage: New Orleans

Other Game Previews

-- Today's must read game preview from a Hornets blogger is from Ryan over at THE New Orleans Hornets Fan blog. Probably the best game preview from an 'enemy' blogger that we have linked to this year. Please, click the link and read the whole thing. For now, I want to highlight one of Ryan's on-point observation/prediction.

In the end, the Grizzlies are going to have to hound Paul and defend the perimeter closely or the Hornets are going to crush them under three point shots and dribble penetration like they've done to 7 other teams to start this season.

-- Chris Herrington's preview at Beyond the Arc.

-- Grizzlies.com

-- Big Easy Buzz Blog

-- Hornets 24-7

-- The Sports Network