2012 NBA Playoffs: (4) Grizzlies vs (5) Clips - Series (0-0)

[lilojmayo]

I think this series won't go past 5 or 6 games. Memphis is the better team by a lot IMO.

Mike Conley should do a good job staying in front of Chris Paul. Tony Allen will harass him. The Grizzlies have Agent Zero off the bench. They're going to frustrate Paul into many, many flops attempts. Mo Williams will have to really play big for LAC, and that could happen, but I don't see it being enough. PG won't be a big edge for LAC despite Paul being the best player.

Blake Griffin's bully dunks and DeAndre Jordan's power dunks will be matched by the power game of Zach Randolph, Marresse Speights. and Marc Gasol. I think Dante Cunningham will help off the bench, too.

The guy I think could dominate this series is Rudy Gay. I don't think The Clippers have an answer for him. Butler is slowing down noticeably this season. Gay and Mayo on the wings give the Grizzlies an advantage. I don't see Nick Young coming through for LAC.

Rudy Gay is playing at an amazingly high level. He gets underrated because of how balanced the Grizzlies are with their attack. But talent wise he is clearly the 4th best SF in the NBA behind obviously Bron, Durant, Melo.

This could really become his coming out party. He will bring it. I shiver a little bit thinking last season we had Sam Young/Shane Battier as our SF. What an upgrade in getting healthy Rudy Gay back.

[Cavsfan9000]

Clippers have the season series and the best two players. They have the best closer by far.

If it's a close game down at the end, the Grizz are probably ****. Better hope for blowouts.

Clippers have to make their three point shooting. If Foye, Mo, Caron and Young have nice games it will be a blowout.

Blake Griffin has to raise his game in the playoffs. He has shown he can recently.

The Clippers always rise against the best teams in the league.

Clippers in 6.

How has Blake Griffin shown he can raise his game in the playoffs before he gets there?

And While Blake Griffin is on the course to super stardom he ain't there yet. You honestly think that he is currently better than every single Grizzles player?

[sfernald]

Clippers have the season series and the best two players. They have the best closer by far.

If it's a close game down at the end, the Grizz are probably ****. Better hope for blowouts.

Clippers have to make their three point shooting. If Foye, Mo, Caron and Young have nice games it will be a blowout.

Blake Griffin has to raise his game in the playoffs. He has shown he can recently.

The Clippers always rise against the best teams in the league.

Clippers in 6.

How has Blake Griffin shown he can raise his game in the playoffs before he gets there?

And While Blake Griffin is on the course to super stardom he ain't there yet. You honestly think that he is currently better than every single Grizzles player?

In recent games, he has elevated his play and been more of a post presence. I expect this to continue in the playoffs. He will defer less and be more aggressive, taking less jumpers. We have yet to see what he is truly capable of.

Stats bear out that he is the second best player on either team. Top ten in league in scoring and rebounds and fg percentage. Top 5 big man in assists. Most points in the paint. Grizz should prepare to be punished.

[HasheemThabeet]

There was some recent article that showed that Memphis was suprisingly clutch as heck. They were something like 20-8 in those close games and shot something like 65% in clutch situations.

[Th3RaptorSwag]

FlopCity is being underrated.

Clips in 7.

[ChampionRed]

Grizz in 6. Clips are horrible on the road and something tells me Blake isn't going to have a great series.

[sfernald]

One thing I noticed is that this game is right behind the Celtic game on TNT. The celtic games for some reason always take a half an hour longer than other games when they are broadcast on national tv.

Is it likely that they either wait until that game is over or play the start of the Clippers game on TBS? They used to do this, but I haven't seen TNT do this this season. Otherwise, we are literally probably going to miss half the game.

[Darain]

The only thing I hate about these threads is when the series is over, everyone is gonna bump this threads back up and make you look like an idiot for saying things

[sfernald]

The only thing I hate about these threads is when the series is over, everyone is gonna bump this threads back up and make you look like an idiot for saying things

If your pick loses, time to take a couple days off from the message boards

[LOJ]

^billups is back? i thught he was out for the season..

He means on the bench, coaching the guys.

[Dr Positivity]

G1 - MEM
G2 - MEM
G3 - LAC
G4 - MEM
G5 - MEM

Memphis in 5

Defensively I believe the Clippers will struggle against the Grizzlies. I have some issues with the Grizzlies offense (not enough 3pt shooting), but the Clips young frontcourt isn't equipped to handle the Griz down low, nor are they strong enough in help defense to deal with players like Conley and Gay slashing. The Clippers perimeter players play quesitonable help D to play the least. The Clippers offense is what will decide whether they have a chance. They had a strong year, but are reliant on Paul, with inconsistent SG/SF production. Griffin is at that stage of his career where against a strong set playoff defense he could struggle, due to less than polished moves. Clippers pick and roll game in the halfcourt has been underwhelming all year. I say the Grizzlies throw a ton of help defense at Paul and trap him up like the Heat did to Derrick Rose last year, while Paul is good at finding teammates off defensive attention, the rest of the Clips aren't so good at making themselves available. I look for Randy Foye to be one of the Clips best offensive players due to hitting open 3s. I think the Clippers will be competitive but it will be one of those series that's 2-1 after the Cilps first home game leading people to say it's still even, but then in a blink it's 3-1 Memphis and they're closing it out in 5

[TheNewEra]

Grizz in 6. Clips are horrible on the road and something tells me Blake isn't going to have a great series.

Clippers are a better road team than the Grizz and are one game below.500 overall on the road. Blake has not had one bad scoring game all season against the Grizz. Clip fans are also enjoying the rest Butler, Paul, Martin, and Williams are getting right now while Jordan, Griffin, Bledsoe and Young are all getting more preparation time to go to battle from our vets.

[og15]

Grizz in 6. Clips are horrible on the road and something tells me Blake isn't going to have a great series.

Horrible is a loaded word. There were 7 teams with better road records than the Clippers:

Chicago: 24-9
San Antonio: 22-11
Oklahoma: 21-12
Indiana: 19-14
Miami: 18-15 / Denver: 18-15
Atlanta: 19-16
Clippers: 16-17 / Orlando: 16-17 / Philadelphia 16-17

There aren't a whole lot of >.500 road teams every year. The Clippers were one game under .500, one of the losses at the end of the season was with Chris Paul out, and another with Paul injuring his groin and deferring to end the game (16-15 overall on the road with Paul).

The Clippers are tied as the 8th best road team in the league, with 16 playoff teams, that would make them average on the road amongst playoff teams, and their road wins include OKC, Denver (x2), Memphis, San Antonio, Utah, and Orlando early in the season. Memphis is 15-18 on the road, that would make them poor/below average. If the Clippers are a horrible road team then a lot of teams are a horrible road team. The reality is that the "horrible" road teams relative to teams that are in the playoffs are Utah (11-22), Dallas (13-20), and New York (14-19). Lakers (15-18), Memphis (15-18) and Boston (15-18) are below average, Clippers, Magic and Sixers are average, and the other guys are above average, good, and in the case of Chicago, great.

[HasheemThabeet]

Gay is the best player in the clutch in this series

[Wavy Q]

Gay is the best player in the clutch in this series

CP3 is incredible in clutch situations when he doesn't become too unselfish.

[HasheemThabeet]

but so is Gay, pretty sure he is top 5 in the clutch since entering the league

[sfernald]

Gay is the best player in the clutch in this series

Is this your hope, or are you saying Gay is more clutch than CP3 based on prior performances?

[og15]

Gay is the best player in the clutch in this series

Gay is a good clutch shooter, and makes some big shots, but people sometimes get this mixed up as being the only thing needed down the stretch. Limiting your teams turnovers, getting your team good shots, and making shots yourself is a bigger clutch role than just hitting shots. Gay is good at the hitting shots part, CP3 is able to add a few more dimensions, mainly because he's a more multidimensional player than Rudy Gay for all 48 minutes of a game anyways.

Chris Paul's teams have consistently been one of the best teams down the stretch due to this ability of his.

[ronnymac2]

This is the most difficult matchup to assess because of injury variables. Is Zach Randolph back to form? Is Chris Paul's hamstring going to limit him?


CP3 's health is the most important variable in the series.
Randolph and Gasol vs. Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan is the frontcourt matchup of the first round; the teams are incredibly close when it comes to rebounding on both sides of the floor. The Clippers struggle stopping teams, but the Grizz are a below-average offensive team. Memphis led the league in causing turnovers (.163 TOV% for opponents), and Gasol can defend interior scorers.

But L.A.'s number four-ranked offense doesn't turn the ball over (.127 TOV%) thanks to CP3 (2.1 turnovers per game), and they don't rely on a post scorer. Instead, the Clippers attack with the Paul/Griffin pick-n-roll. If Paul is healthy, Memphis will have a hard time stopping the Clippers.

Pick: Los Angeles Clippers

http://nba-wired.blogspot.com/2012/04/western-conference-first-round-playoff.html

[teamgrizz]

The Grizzlies are also one of the best teams statistically in crunch time. Over 60% from the field in crunch time and I believe opponent FG% is a lot less. We are also 20-8 in two possession games this season compared to 17-17 last season.

When it all comes down to it, we have several guys (Gay, ZBO, Conley, TA, Marc, OJ) all capable of making huge plays down the stretch in a big game compared to the Clippers really only having one guy. I don't think no one can be trusted taking the big shot, shooting FT's or handling the ball on that Clipper team outside of Paul. Any of the guys I've mentioned from the Grizz will affect the game in a big way down the stretch whether its a defensive stop, key rebound, assist, scoring, etc. And that's why I think Memphis will close out most of these games very well.

This team is probably the most resilient in the league and they don't get rattled by runs or being on the road. That's saying a lot for a young team. The one game I think the Clippers will get will end up being a double digit win. In that game, they will shoot lights out. Things a streaky team can do. There will be that one game where LAC will probably shoot close to 60% for the majority of the game and win. More than likely that game will be at Staples Center and I think it'll be Game 3.