The Memphis Grizzlies are Top 5 in the West at this point

HeyJoe · Post #281 » by **HeyJoe** » Mon Apr 4, 2011 5:11 am

i don't like their coaching

benched mayo
played baby gasol the same minutes as darrel arther when thabeet was around
zbo gets way too many touches for his efficiency
for their front court, they play outside way too much

lilojmayo · Post #282 » by **lilojmayo** » Mon Apr 4, 2011 7:30 am

HeyJoe wrote:i don't like their coaching

benched mayo
played baby gasol the same minutes as darrel arther when thabeet was around
zbo gets way too many touches for his efficiency
for their front court, they play outside way too much

Lionel Hollins gave OJ tough love. and it will pay off come playoff time when OJ and company preceeds to shock the basketball world with an upset.

Same with Tony Allen, Allen had to knock some sense into OJ literally, now they have become BFFs on team ( which scares me dearly with TA's past and OJ's decision making off the court).

lilojmayo · Post #283 » by **lilojmayo** » Mon Apr 4, 2011 7:40 am

Studemire1 wrote:
jefe wrote:From Page 6

jefe wrote:Top 5 is certainly pushing it and won't happen barring significant injuries within the WC or a significant midseason trade by the Grizz; however, I think 7 or 8 is attainable.

Last year, the Grizz finished 40-42. This record included a 1-8 start thanks to Canswer, a skid at the end of the year due to Marc Gasol's injury (missed the final 13 games of the season IIRC), and a non-existent bench (I don't where to find the stat, but the Grizz starters scored the largest % of their team's points in the NBA - i.e. we had the least productive bench, relative to starters, in the league). Assuming good health, taking away the Canswer factor, and taking into account the minor improvements to the bench (Allen, Henry, Vasquez, and a healthy Arthur), I think a 7-to-9 win improvement is possible. Obviously, that would put the Grizz at 47-49 wins, which may or may not be enough to slide into the 7 or 8 spot depending on how the rest of the West shakes out. Absent significant injuries to conference foes or a significant trade to bolster the Grizz's bench, I don't think a top 5 finish is possible for this squad.

Nailed it.

Yeah seriously that's a pretty impressive prediction at that point. Spot on.

To those buying into the Grizzlies a bit too much... right now I'd probably give them credit for a top 10 team in the league (looking a little bit more into recently than throughout the entire season). However, there's no way they're top 5 in the LEAGUE right now whether you just account the past month or the entire season. Even top 5 in the West is pushing it when the Nuggets are also playing very well and the top 4 are Spurs, Lakers, Mavs, and Thunder. I wouldn't just look at a stretch in the season (even if it's mid-to-late in it) to see where a team stands. They're not bad at all, though. Good team that's somewhat near the top and are more than capable of an upset. Just don't go too crazy.

We are in the top 10 in all the major power rankings and ranked anywhere from 5th-7th best team out West. If and that's a big if we take care of business we will finish as the 6th seed which is a little bit higher than you predicted.

We are built very similarly too the Denver Nuggets in terms of depth, but we have more talented individual players more star power/potential. That's what you need in the playoffs, I remember when Wade was a rookie taking over that Hornets series. We need a guy that will be able to take over games in the playoffs.

We have that guy on at the perimeter in terms of scoring and playing and it helps that he is a pretty good defender now in OJ Mayo. And a guy that can take over a game scoring and rebounding in Zach Randolph down low.

We also have a lockdown defender in every sense of the word in Tony Allen who is an amazing slasher he shot 58% from FG in the month of March, and a very good defender in Shane Battier.

We are a rich man's Denver Nuggets. In 2 weeks it is OJ Mayo's coming out party. I have been waiting 3 seasons for this. Time to shock the basketball world.

SKR · Post #284 » by **SKR** » Mon Apr 4, 2011 8:10 am

lilojmayo wrote:In 2 weeks it is OJ Mayo's coming out party. I have been waiting 3 seasons for this. Time to shock the basketball world.

Congratulations on Mayo coming out and You two living happily ever after. Really happy for you. The basketball world is actually not so shocked I believe.

lilojmayo · Post #285 » by **lilojmayo** » Mon Apr 4, 2011 5:29 pm

SKR wrote:
lilojmayo wrote:In 2 weeks it is OJ Mayo's coming out party. I have been waiting 3 seasons for this. Time to shock the basketball world.

Congratulations on Mayo coming out and You two living happily ever after. Really happy for you. The basketball world is actually not so shocked I believe.

Come on now, just look at this thread, besides Grizz fans nobody thought we would be this good this year, we said we were a 50 win teams a top 5 potential team out West, the rest just laughed at us.

Now we are claiming/crying upset, seems like some have gotten the memo and have jumped on board.

And to think we are doing this without our other most talented perimeter player besides OJ in Rudy Gay. Just think where we be if Gay was playing.

nyczlegacy · Post #286 » by **nyczlegacy** » Mon Apr 4, 2011 5:40 pm

inb4 lil ojmayo

i see the grizzlies as a 1st round and out team.. they are not beating any of the top seeds in a 7 game series.. not enough experience.. they will become good over time.. think of them as a poor man's OKC.

lilojmayo · Post #287 » by **lilojmayo** » Mon Apr 4, 2011 11:28 pm

nyczlegacy wrote:inb4 lil ojmayo

i see the grizzlies as a 1st round and out team.. they are not beating any of the top seeds in a 7 game series.. not enough experience.. they will become good over time.. think of them as a poor man's OKC.

First Kudos to to Marc Stein power rankings
http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings it has us as the 7th best team in the NBA ahead of the Thunder.

How can we be a poor mans Thunder, what exactly has the Thunder done ? They played Lakers tough last playoffs and are living off that hype. No one is scared of the Thunder, I believe we beat the season series against them 2-1, and one of the wins were without both Rudy and OJ at their place.

Tony outmuscles Durant on the defensive end and really bothers him. Thunder still have no low post option. They did get a major upgrade in their of low post defense in Perkins, basically highway robbery for a mediocre outside jump shooting big man in Green. Harden is a great offensive player i'll give you that. But I let Russell Westbrook try to beat us any day of the week.

SKR · Post #288 » by **SKR** » Tue Apr 5, 2011 9:06 am

lilojmayo wrote:
SKR wrote:
lilojmayo wrote:In 2 weeks it is OJ Mayo's coming out party. I have been waiting 3 seasons for this. Time to shock the basketball world.

Congratulations on Mayo coming out and You two living happily ever after. Really happy for you. The basketball world is actually not so shocked I believe.

Come on now, just look at this thread, besides Grizz fans nobody thought we would be this good this year, we said we were a 50 win teams a top 5 potential team out West, the rest just laughed at us.

Now we are claiming/crying upset, seems like some have gotten the memo and have jumped on board.

And to think we are doing this without our other most talented perimeter player besides OJ in Rudy Gay. Just think where we be if Gay was playing.

The 'not so shocked' part was a hint at you + Mayo being a couple actually, but a nice reply nonetheless.

OJMayoMVP32 · Post #289 » by **OJMayoMVP32** » Tue Apr 5, 2011 9:24 am

Can't wait to buy playoff tickets

big_ticket · Post #290 » by **big_ticket** » Tue Apr 5, 2011 12:58 pm

xxRoyalexx wrote:They'll make the Playoffs but a first round exit is pretty much guaranteed.

memgrizzlies · Post #291 » by **memgrizzlies** » Sat Apr 9, 2011 4:34 pm

Woo! 5th in the West or not, we made the Playoffs, so I couldn't be happier right now.

lilojmayo · Post #292 » by **lilojmayo** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:28 am

You guys laughed at us, not so funny anymore

ipoopinmypants · Post #293 » by **ipoopinmypants** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:32 am

Dude, I commend your efforts.

RaisingArizona · Post #294 » by **RaisingArizona** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:33 am

Pat yourselves on the back, Grizz fans. Tell me, what's the numbers to tomorrow's powerball? PM me.

mid-post · Post #295 » by **mid-post** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:37 am

ginobiliflops wrote:Pat yourselves on the back, Grizz fans. Tell me, what's the numbers to tomorrow's powerball? PM me.

00-9-31-22-11-50-32

orangeparka · Post #296 » by **orangeparka** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:40 am

Props to the Grizz. Up 3-1 against the Spurs.

Post #297 » by **tsherkin** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:50 am

Certainly look good right now, lol. I'll wait to see how they play against a team that doesn't have a major offensive player injured and struggling, but even still, what's Parker's excuse over this series? The Grizz have battled pretty well, but these have been close games, too. Credit them for closing out, but we'll see.

Still, hard not to believe in that frontcourt, Gasol/Randoza is pretty nasty and they've had contributions from all over, and generally just responded to everything the Spurs have done.

BarbaGrizz · Post #298 » by **BarbaGrizz** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 3:36 am

^^ You do know that Grizz also has a major offensive injured, right?

Top 5 in the league, for sure!

FEAR THE BEARD!

sisibilio · Post #299 » by **sisibilio** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 3:46 am

tsherkin wrote:Certainly look good right now, lol. I'll wait to see how they play against a team that doesn't have a major offensive player injured and struggling, but even still, what's Parker's excuse over this series? The Grizz have battled pretty well, but these have been close games, too. Credit them for closing out, but we'll see.

Still, hard not to believe in that frontcourt, Gasol/Randoza is pretty nasty and they've had contributions from all over, and generally just responded to everything the Spurs have done.

Cmon, it doesn't taste that bad, just a lil weird at first if you're not used to.

BTW People should start giving Hollins some credit, the real COY in my book.

Dr Positivity · Post #300 » by **Dr Positivity** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:40 am

NICE call

Memphis are another team proving you don't need a classic C anchor to play great d, you can make up for it with elite perimeter rotations