RealGM

vs.


Who: Memphis Grizzlies(9-15) vs. New Orleans Hornets(13-7)
When: Tuesday, December 16th
Where: FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN
Time: 7:00 PM CST
TV/Radio: Fox Sports TN/WRBO 103.5 FM
Season Series: Hornets lead 1-0
Team Trivia:


Grizzlies Starters



Hornets Starters

History is not on our side in this matchup. It would be good for Darko and Gasol to play tough on the glass and dominate the boards. Keep Peja grounded and keep CP3 from slashin to the post.

With Chandler out of the lineup, the Grizz have to take advantage on the boards and manufacture easy points in the paint. On the defensive end, the Grizz have to make timely rotations to prevent CP3 from destroying the Grizz from the inside out. This will be a very good test to see if we can continue to impose our will on the game by playing *good Grizz* ball - staunch team D and taking care of the ball on the offensive end, while still effectively moving it to find higher percentage shots.

SD2042 wrote:History is not on our side in this matchup. It would be good for Darko and Gasol to play tough on the glass and dominate the boards. Keep Peja grounded and keep CP3 from slashin to the post.

It rarely is.

It would be good to see the Grizz beat the Hornets for once and keep the win streak going strong.

So many opportunities to get number 5, so many opportunities that were blown....

I really wanted to see #5 for Memphis!

You weren't the only one.

it could have been a lot worse. 11 points in the first quarter could easily have led to the "Grizzlies giveup" maneuver, but it didn't. Even took the lead once or twice in the fourth.

Pretty ugly game on both sides. The fta difference was the game changer. Grizz shot better, outrebounded (!)....even the difference on threes wasn't really what did it...getting doubled up on FTA's was the thing....

Well it was bound to happen. OJ looked like a rookie down the stretch as he morphed into a turnover machine. Overall we looked like a real team with a game plan and identity of hustle and team defense as our calling card. Rudy Gay is a tough defensive assignment for most but I feel he could be doing even more. The way Pega played him Rudy should have put up forty easily. His team and his coach have got to do a better job of recognizing this and feeding him the ball, but he also got to demand it. It seemed like in the last 2:20 they went to OJ and stop feeding Rudy which was odd. Granted OJ is much more of an assassin than Rudy but it was the latter's night and not the former who was hot.

You need to have an inside-outside game to make really effective Rudy's and OJ's efforts. 3 touches in 30 min to Marc Gasol on the offensive end is adding too much pressure on the backcourt.

Profanity wrote:You need to have an inside-outside game to make really effective Rudy's and OJ's efforts. 3 touches in 30 min to Marc Gasol on the offensive end is adding too much pressure on the backcourt.

The issue isn't Gasol's lack of offense - it's the lack of a consistent offensive threat from the 4. An offensive threat that can play some D, I might add. Hak will never be that and Arthur isn't there yet.

Profanity wrote:You need to have an inside-outside game to make really effective Rudy's and OJ's efforts. 3 touches in 30 min to Marc Gasol on the offensive end is adding too much pressure on the backcourt.

Agree with your premise, but you have to realize Gasol had Chandler on him almost every time he was in; now, why Darko couldn't consistantly capitalize in the paint on an almost-in-foul-trouble David West is another issue ...

Coming into the league Darko was considered an Offensive gem or to develop into one. His offense right now is either jump hook or rumbling, stumbling, turnover. The only thing he has done in a fluid motion was his Hulk Hogan impersonation a few weeks back. His on the ball defense in the post is actually exceptional. I say all that because I don't know how we can fix the current problem as I would hate to give up Darko and we can't afford to trade Hak unless we like having only 7 bench points every game?

I agree that free throw attempts haven't been good for Memphis. Most games they get outscored in this stat. But besides that, if you can get a team in foul trouble it forces the coach to alter his game plan and rotation.

The Grizzlies could really use someone who goes to the rim and forces fouls. You don't even need a star for that. One player that gets alot of calls is Tony Allen from Boston. He is that aggressive type that draws fouls by having that take it to the hoop against anybody mentality.

But you can't be upset with a fairly close loss to New Orleans. They are a top tier team and Memphis held their own against them. I'd say it's been positive lately and like I said at the beginning of the season, don't focus on wins as much as watch how the learning curve goes with so many rookies as starters.

And I think it's heading in the right direction and the last five games tells me this young group is beginning to understand what it takes.

This group is definitely going to exceed expectations this year, so I guess that's why it was safer to get our first rounder back from Washington. I agree the development is the most important thing along with definning roles. It seems the individuals that have grown the most in this stretch have been Coach Iavaroni and Mike Conley.

In some ways they have. MI finally realized that a shake up was neccessary to determine which players best fit well in the starting lineup. It wasn't like they had anything to lose. As a result, they won four out of their last five games. Mike Conley has been more efficient off the bench averaging 9.8 PPG since coming off the bench. His assist and reb numbers are still around the same average.

On Darko, if you look at his numbers, he's had a better month in December than he has in November. Most from the defensive end from his rebounding and blocking numbers. He's showing more tenacity from those areas.

As a whole the team has ways to go, but they can't allow the momentum they gain during this stretch to slip away from them. They have to continue to build on that.