fatlever wrote:The fact that Memphis keeps on winning despite losing Gasol and trading Green (for a bunch of questionable players) is amazing. I've been a huge Mike Conley fan for several years, which is amazing considering his college background. Conley is showing everyone right now why he should be considered one of the best PGs in the game. He sacrificed his stats for that team to function and ran that team perfectly for years. Now you see him pick up the scoring when needed. Since Gasol got hurt, he is averaging 19 and 6 on 50% shooting and they are 6-3 in those games.
Devil's advocate - their wins over that period of time are @ Brooklyn, vs. Minnesota, vs. Lakers, @ Lakers, @ Nuggets (without Gallo), vs. Kings. Not exactly a murderer's row. They dropped a game at Phoenix as well.
Not to say that I disagree with you about Conley but they might drop off once their schedule gets a bit rougher.
It seems like they are having one of those post-injury "let's rally around Gasol with everyone having more playing time" streaks which don't last in the long run. And it fits Memphis so well because they've been this slog of an offensive team which grinds everything to a halt for so long. In a way they needed the random over-the-top creativity of Mario Chalmers shooting so many FTs per game, Hairston and Vince making semi-transition threes, Lance taking on four guys at once and succeeding, JaMychal Green and Matt Barnes striving under more playing time.
Crazy, unreliable players > non-three shooting smart veterans (like Tayshaun) is in a way what Memphis's offense needs.
But I think that it won't cut it when they face better teams and better defenses. Guys, who now are in bigger roles, will come back to earth and their lack of chemistry due to the recent trades will start to show on defense.
As you know though, I really like Memphis and I sure do hope that I'm wrong about this.