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Who: Memphis Grizzlies(30-17) @ Atlanta Hawks(26-21)
When: February 6th 2013
Where: Phillips Arena in Atlanta, GA
Time: 6:30 PM CST
Season Series: Hawks lead 1-0
Series Overall: Hawks lead 22-11
TV: SpSo ESPN/ESPN 92.9
Team Trivia: Hawks rookie John Jenkins was named the Gatorade Tennessee High School Player of the Year in 2008 and 2009. Hawks guard Louis Williams was born in Memphis before moving to Snellville, Ga




Phillips Arena









Grizzlies Celeb of the Game

Elle Duncan











Grizzlies Starters






Hawks Starters

Considering the state of the team right now, I'm very concern about this match. Plus the Hawks tend to have our number these past few yrs. I would like to see the Grizz win this one, but it's a toss up at this point.

Prince is 6" taller than Stevenson and Korver is also about 3" taller than Stevenson. They'll be dumb to match him up against Prince. Prince goes for 20 tonight!

That's all good but to win -- DEFENSE

vanjulio wrote:Prince is 6" taller than Stevenson and Korver is also about 3" taller than Stevenson. They'll be dumb to match him up against Prince. Prince goes for 20 tonight!

That's all good but to win -- DEFENSE

I'd much rather see Gasol and Randolph both go for 20.

But we have to put shooters in the game for that to really happen.

Also, Atlanta is the kind of team you don't want to turn the ball over against. They're a good running team.

Shooters would also help in that regard: more space for Gasol and Zbo to operate means better looks from inside which means fewer long rebounds, stripped balls, tipped passes, etc.

Allen should take a backseat in this game. There isn't really a good threat on the wing other than Lou Williams, who I believe comes off the bench.

I'd like to see Chris Johnson get some shots off.

I think Lou Williams is out for the rest of the season.

SD2042 wrote:I think Lou Williams is out for the rest of the season.

oh well yeah ok then...

FREE CHRIS JOHNSON

The offense needs to pick up some come the second half. They kinda faded down the stretch with them missing the last few shots.

Can this team do a better job on perimeter defense? The Hawks are 6-11 out there. Match up and force them to work for their shots.

Here are the problems:

1. Hawks outrebounding the Grizz 22-14 on defensive boards

They have to do a better job boxing out the Hawks and own the boards.

2. The Hawks are shooting 7-12 from beyond the arc. Where is the defense? You know who's who out there. Get some hands in their faces and make them work for their shots.

3. Ball movement needs to improve. Do a better job getting guys in the right spots and creating opportunities for them to knock their shots down.

4. FIGHT BACK!

Grizz down 12 in the third. Teague is killing us.

No offense whatsoever. We can't even go in the post: Gasol and Zbo are getting swarmed immediately upon catching the ball down there.

Wow. We only had like 2 pts in the 3rd quarter with about 5 minutes remaining. Luckily we hit a couple threes and hit some nice inside passes to keep the deficit from growing even further.

This is what you call a blowout. I know we haven't given the new pieces enough time to "gel", but I think it's safe to say the general consensus amongst Three Shades of Blue writers was WAY off.

I'm gonna turn into a broken record with this, but it needs to be said. Repeatedly:

SHOOTERS
SHOOTERS
SHOOTERS

Trade Tony Allen.
Stash Tony Wroten on the bench somewhere.

I guess it is time to fire Lionel Hollins or Hollins must change his offense and defense system from tomorrow. He was never trying to change his style in the game. even Rudy Gay has gone.

First my issue is pick and roll defense. second outside defense we got ton of penetrate kickout tonight again. Everyone knew Grizz D is not that good from outside. Because of we are protecting only inside.

Also Hollins have to change his stupid lotation or our starting 5 will be injure list on next game.

darkangle901 wrote:I'm gonna turn into a broken record with this, but it needs to be said. Repeatedly:

SHOOTERS
SHOOTERS
SHOOTERS

Trade Tony Allen.
Stash Tony Wroten on the bench somewhere.

From last year we had 2 goals: add another big, and a shooter. We resigned Arthur, Speights, and Haddadi. Shooters were Bayless and Ellington by committee (and possibly Selby). So that failed and they traded them for shooters in Leuer, Daye, and Prince (43% from 3 this year).

Who do you trade Allen for (the best perimeter defender in the NBA)? Dwayen Wade? Keep dreaming.

Wroten on the bench -- then who is the backup PG? We need Bayless for the OJ Mayo role. Wroten has to be Vasquez/ Jwill this year. Vital role. Critical role. He has to play and play well for us to succeed the rest of the year. Look at Teague. He was teh backup to Ish Smith - who is barely in the league now. If you work hard you can achieve great things.

We can trade Allen for another PG. Wroten's a keeper but he's not ready for primetime.

You can't play post offense without putting at least three shooters on the floor. Allen and Wroten just can't shoot.

That's a horrible idea. I don't understand why you hate Allen so much. He anchors our defense on the wing and we need him long term imo. Of all the positions, why trade Allen for a backup point guard? That's absurd. We play Conley so many minutes per game.

jman3134 wrote:That's a horrible idea. I don't understand why you hate Allen so much. He anchors our defense on the wing and we need him long term imo. Of all the positions, why trade Allen for a backup point guard? That's absurd. We play Conley so many minutes per game.

I don't hate Tony Allen. I love the toughness and hustle he brings. But he is a terrible fit for the team as currently constructed.

Every successful team that built its offense around a post player(s) made sure to put plenty of shooters on the floor at all times. That's why guys like Robert Horry and Steve Kerr have so many rings. A post player is a stationary target for a defense to key on, and you absolutely have to make defenses pay for collapsing in on the bigs.

If we had traded Randolph instead of Gay, and committed ourselves to a more dynamic and fast-paced offense, then we would be able to deal with Allen's offensive shortcomings. But that isn't what we did.

Hasn't anyone else noticed that our struggles began when Pondexter went down? He was the first guy off the bench, and Hollins would often pull Allen for him when the offense began to stagnate. That's because he's the perfect compliment to the other guys: a long, tenacious defender who shoots better than 40% from beyond the arc.

We all love TA for the Grit n' Grind culture that he helped establish. But everything I know about basketball tells me he is a net negative for this team, as currently constructed. I just think Pondexter would be a much better player if given Allen's role.

It's for the same reason that I want to see Wroten as the third-PG/situational-player role for the rest of the season.

For now, though, I'd like to see Allen just start hoisting those wide open threes teams give him. He hit around 31% last year, which isn't great but is decent enough to make teams think twice about leaving him. For some reason this season he has been extra-reluctant to take the wide open ones - I'm pretty sure it was just a couple weeks ago he hit his first trey of the season.