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#8 - Memphis Grizzlies

PG - Mike Conley, Jared Bayless
SG - Tony Allen, Mike Miller
SF - Tayshaun Prince, Quincy Poindexter
PF - Zach Randolph, Ed Davis
C - Marc Gasol, Kosta Koufos
D - Mo Williams (just a guess - Not signed yet), Jon Leuer, Donte Greene, Tony Wroten

Memphis is the first team on my contender list. They have 2 things going for them. Post play and defense. Historically, Post play and defense are two of the most critical attributes in the post season. You don't get as many fast break opportunities in the post season. Defenses are tighter so you don't get as many open looks. What tends to work is to just grind out a win with defense and post play. Of course if you've got a transcendent talent on your team you just ride that for all it's worth. But, if you aren't lucky enough to have a guy like that, I'd say the formula being used in Memphis is going to be about as good as you can get for playoff success.

Memphis has quietly improved this offseason. They've bolstered their center position by adding Kosta Koufos. They've brought in a 3pt gunner in Mike Miller. They look poised to bring in a high quality backup PG, both Mo Williams and Beno Udrih are being discussed. Then Ed Davis is a guy on the rise. I think Memphis will be slightly improved over last season (although their regular season record may not reflect that due to improved WC) and a very hard out in the playoffs.

Projected record: 54/28

Overall pretty much spot on what I expected your preview to be. Other than what I see through my Beale St Blue colored glasses, fair outlook/expectation.

GrizzledGrizzFan wrote:Overall pretty much spot on what I expected your preview to be.

hard to tell if that is a compliment or criticicm.

Compliment. You've done a good job so far with the thread and I expected no less on your insights on the Grizz.

My only difference, and this may just be my homerism, is ranking the Grizz behind the Clippers.

Yeah theyve added scoring but that was never their problem. Their problem is they maybe have the worst and most overrated big man rotation in the league.
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darkangle901 wrote:Yeah theyve added scoring but that was never their problem. Their problem is they maybe have the worst and most overrated big man rotation in the league.
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IO was on their board the other arguing with them. a Griffin Jordan Mullens Hollins rotation is not good. They need a 3rd big that can score in the post. Like an Elton Brand was necessary for them. BG 7 DJ are overrated. Mullens is a 7ft 2guard & Hollins 4 inches shorter would be jobless. You guys are gonna kill them.

2Mas wrote:

darkangle901 wrote:Yeah theyve added scoring but that was never their problem. Their problem is they maybe have the worst and most overrated big man rotation in the league.
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IO was on their board the other arguing with them. a Griffin Jordan Mullens Hollins rotation is not good. They need a 3rd big that can score in the post. Like an Elton Brand was necessary for them. BG 7 DJ are overrated. Mullens is a 7ft 2guard & Hollins 4 inches shorter would be jobless. You guys are gonna kill them.

What gets me about BG and DJ is not just that they're overrated... it's that they're overrated in every area of the game. Neither of them are good on either end. I guess Griffin is a decent rebounder, I'll give him that.

Blake's evenly rated for his dunking.

He flops with the best of them too...

I don't know why Grizzlies fans have this misconception that Blake Griffin is not a good player. He is a very good player and he helps the Clipps much more than Z-Bo helps the Grizz at this point. Compare

Player PER WS/48 xRAPM (Offense/Defense/Total)
Blake Griffin 22.4 .196 3.1/1.4/4.5
Zach Randolph 17.9 .145 0.4/1.0/1.4

All the stats agree. All Star voters agree. All-NBA voters agree. Blake Griffin is a very good PF. DeAndre Jordan is not that bad either. Just because we hate the Clippers doesn't mean we have to believe stupid things about their players. Their wing players and backup post players were clearly their biggest weakness last year. And coaching. They have addressed that. They are worthy adversaries and I hope we crush them.

tenkev wrote:I don't know why Grizzlies fans have this misconception that Blake Griffin is not a good player. He is a very good player and he helps the Clipps much more than Z-Bo helps the Grizz at this point. Compare

Player PER WS/48 xRAPM (Offense/Defense/Total)
Blake Griffin 22.4 .196 3.1/1.4/4.5
Zach Randolph 17.9 .145 0.4/1.0/1.4

All the stats agree. All Star voters agree. All-NBA voters agree. Blake Griffin is a very good PF. DeAndre Jordan is not that bad either. Just because we hate the Clippers doesn't mean we have to believe stupid things about their players. Their wing players and backup post players were clearly their biggest weakness last year. And coaching. They have addressed that. They are worthy adversaries and I hope we crush them.

The all-star voting is a joke. All-NBA second team is better, but still... coaches don't put an awful lot of thought into it (they have more important things going on). Stats can lie, especially when you play with the best guard in the game.

Blake Griffin just doesn't pass the eyeball test for me in that his game seems to be a patchwork of disparate skills... it's as if he's been developing skills based on personal whim and not focusing on what it takes to be an effective PF. And he hasn't seemed to integrate any of his skills into a cohesive game. His mid-range jumpshot features a painfully slow release, and he hits it at a clip (34%) that would only be so-so if we were talking about a 3pt percentage. He can pass, but it's like he has to stop everything that the offense is doing, make eye contact with someone, wait for them to cut, and THEN make the pass. Likewise, his post-game seems to grind the entire offense to a stop, and defenses mostly let him do it because his post-game is not sophisticated enough to generate much more than 1pps even when left in single-coverage. The only thing Blake has going for him is rebounding and transition offense.

And it is just mind-boggling that he is not a better defender, given his out-of-this-world athleticism.

He may statistically be better than Randolph, but Zbo gets the better of him virtually every time they go head to head.

And don't get me started on DJ. He only looks good by comparison because his backups look SO BAD.

tenkev wrote:
All the stats agree. All Star voters agree. All-NBA voters agree. Blake Griffin is a very good PF. DeAndre Jordan is not that bad either. Just because we hate the Clippers doesn't mean we have to believe stupid things about their players. Their wing players and backup post players were clearly their biggest weakness last year. And coaching. They have addressed that. They are worthy adversaries and I hope we crush them.

Show me where they addressed that. The Clippers could ALWAYS score, just not good at all with interior defense and did nothing to get better. Marc/ZBo will continue to dominate those two.

darkangle901 wrote:
The all-star voting is a joke. All-NBA second team is better, but still... coaches don't put an awful lot of thought into it (they have more important things going on). Stats can lie, especially when you play with the best guard in the game.

Blake Griffin just doesn't pass the eyeball test for me in that his game seems to be a patchwork of disparate skills... it's as if he's been developing skills based on personal whim and not focusing on what it takes to be an effective PF. And he hasn't seemed to integrate any of his skills into a cohesive game. His mid-range jumpshot features a painfully slow release, and he hits it at a clip (34%) that would only be so-so if we were talking about a 3pt percentage. He can pass, but it's like he has to stop everything that the offense is doing, make eye contact with someone, wait for them to cut, and THEN make the pass. Likewise, his post-game seems to grind the entire offense to a stop, and defenses mostly let him do it because his post-game is not sophisticated enough to generate much more than 1pps even when left in single-coverage. The only thing Blake has going for him is rebounding and transition offense.

Well, if the stats, fans, coaches and reporters all disagree with your own "eyeball" analysis, then, unless you are Gregg Popovich, it is probably best to just say that your analysis is incomplete or lacking some fundamental insight.

darkangle901 wrote:He may statistically be better than Randolph, but Zbo gets the better of him virtually every time they go head to head.

This is true. The matchup has favored Randolph so far; but, Griffin is much more able to defend athletic, stretch 4s and much better at getting his shot off against long armed, shot blocking 4s than Randolph is. Griffin's type of player is exactly the type of player Randolph excels against but that does not mean that overall Randolph is a more valuable player.

PAGrizzFan wrote:Show me where they addressed [backup post play]. The Clippers could ALWAYS score, just not good at all with interior defense and did nothing to get better. Marc/ZBo will continue to dominate those two.

Well they did sign BJ Mullens. Haha. Ok well, they did address it, just not successfully.

But the Clippers are more than likely going to be a better team than they were last year thanks to better coaching and the fact that J.J. Redick + Jared Dudley + Darren Collison > Caron Butler + 1/2*Grant Hill + 1/2*Chauncey Billups+ Eric Bledsoe

I would still favor the Grizz in a series vs the Clipps but I they will be a very dangerous team and probably a top 4 seed once again.