Ask Walt wrote:Walt, Is Memphis better than their records says? If so, what do we need to do as a team to stop them from taking this game from us?
I would say Memphis is definitely better than their record. New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Memphis. Check out that division! Once T-back starts playing again, Memphis should become the lone team NOT projected for the playoffs. The Griz are currently 2-9 against those division rivals, but the good news for them is that they only have something like 5 games left against those teams. That alone should allow for obvious improvement in the 2nd half of the season, but unfortunately for them, they still have to play all of the other teams out West and only get the luxury of playing the Knicks twice!
I wouldn't normally make this clarification (well, unless this was the Mavericks or Suns), but we shouldn't be trying to "stop them from taking this game from us". We should be trying to "finally beat the Grizzlies for the first time EVER", luckily for the good guys, Rudy Gay and Darko Milicic are listed as day-to-day. Darko is big, but we should be more worried about Stromile Swift after what Chandler and West did to us last night. Rudy Gay being out would be a great break for us, except Memphis plugged Bobby Jones into the starting lineup last night and he responded with his first NBA double-double, setting career highs in points and rebounds along the way (yes, the Bobby Jones that they signed to a 10 day contract.)
For the Bobcats to win: MUST CRASH BOARDS! Regardless of if we go uptempo or try to slow down the Grizzlies, if we don't control the glass and follow our own misses, we're screwed. I think Richardson and Wallace will rebound from last night, but we need a lot of help from Felton, Mohammed and Okafor. If Carroll can add 1/2 of Miller's production, that would be helpful as well.
All in all, I feel a BOBCATS WIN!! GO CATS!
