There are no easy games in the NBA, but these two…sheesh. Yowie. Other borderline/modified expletives.
Let’s jump right into seven things about these two games..but before we do, let’s recall that very recently, the Grizzlies completed a weekend sweep of the Blazers and Mavericks. Goes to show, ya don’t ever know…
Thing one: Tony Allen’s hamstring. It is of vital importance. I have my doubts as to whether the Six Million Dollar Man would be a better defender than the Grindfather, but having some of those artificial parts right about now would sure be nice (aside-six million bucks would barely take care of a broken arm these days-seems like ol’ Steve Austin would need a bigger checkbook these days). It’s easy to armchair-coach it and say “well, he’d have slowed down Kawhi Leonard, both from the floor and on the boards, since TA is a darned good rebounder for his position”, but who knows. Leonard is a willing passer, and perhaps it would have been Duncan or Parker who would have assumed the mantle of “Grizzkiller” for the night.
Thing two: Rebounding is the energy barometer. It’s not going that well. A big, fat, grotesque -14 on the glass against the Spurs is a large part of why that game was lost, and giving up fourteen offensive boards to the Warriors wasn’t exactly the best tactic. Hmmm..let’s see.. well, I’ll be darned. The Warriors took *exactly* fourteen more shots in that game than did the Grizzlies. Funny how that works out.
Thing three: The backcourt. The Cavaliers loss had tons to do with a cold night from the guards. We’ll not discuss the smoldering mess in which Stephen Curry (and Klay Thompson) left the FedEx Forum on Friday night. Whether Lee’s hand is still something that should be holding him out or not, who knows-but 5-17 with 0-4 from three over the last two games doesn’t exactly make one think his limbs are all up to 100%.
Thing four: Oh, stop freaking out about Marc Gasol. We’ll freak right out this summer should circumstances dictate, but for now, let’s just focus on the immediate road ahead and behind. OK NEVER MIND FREAK OUT HE’S IN HIS OWN HEAD AND IS OBVIOUSLY UNHAPPY WITH HIS OWN EFFORT AND THE EFFORT BEING SHOWN BY CERTAIN OF HIS TEAMMATES. The analogy is the ace starter who’s slumping, either from injury or other source of general malaise, and is making a horribly overwrought attempt to aim his pitches. That’s Marc Gasol right now. Overthinking, holding the ball, not making his usual astute reads on defense. The fact that his stats over the last two games have not been putrid is as good a case for “there’s more to the game than numbers” as any set of stats one might find.
Thing five: Defense. It’s not there. As the Grizzlies “closed” it to within 87-75 against GSW on Friday, the Warriors went small and had Thompson at 3 with Bogut and Draymond Green at 4/5, and the Grizzlies had some…trouble with that. In that disastrous third quarter, Curry and Thompson went a combined 6-9 from three, and a 31-16 quarter was all she wrote. Similarly, against the Spurs, the Grizzlies got it to 82-75, then the smallish Grizzlies lineup with Koufos at center gave up a 6-0 run and the score was soon 93-77. Such defensive lapses, even against top teams, have become far too common. It’s hard to lay the blame at any particular player, or even group of players, as it’s happened to starters/bench/mixes of the two..
Thing six: …but let’s lay off the coaches too, because lethargy on both ends of the floor is not something that coaches advise players to exude. That’s the bottom line.
Thing seven: Goodbye homecourt, even for a series…unless the ship is righted, and soon. The Grizzlies have given up 100 and failed to reach 90 in each of the last three games, and the fact that it’s been against three elite teams isn’t an excuse-at this time of year, it’s worse to have bad games against good teams. The victories over Dallas and Portland and the blowout of the Knicks seem to have happened around the same time the Pangaea split, and are about as temporally relevant.
Gotta get it together, Grizzlies. Sooner would be a ton better than later.
