LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: Why the Grizzlies Don't Need a Superstar

Johnny J

When Russell Westbrook, went out with a knee injury in the first round, I changed my perspective on who was coming out the west. OKC is number one in the Western Conference for a reason. Besides having one of the best scorers in the league in Kevn Durant, the absence of Westbrook, who averaged 23 points and 7 assists in the regular season, makes this an ordinary team, with one star. Ask the casual movie-goer: more stars means the movie is worth watching . One star, means the movie is not worth anything. So Durant without Westbrook, is like Abbot without Costello. So with that said, I changed my West pick from the Thunder to the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies are finding ways to win after trading their star perimeter player Rudy Gay in the middle of the season. But it's not about what they gave away but what they got in return. After the six-player exchange was all said and done, they acquired a young developing player in Ed Davis, (Go North Carolina) and veteran Tayshaun Prince, and throw-in Austin Daye. The Grizzlies, who lead the league in points allowed, just got bigger and more Grizzly. Both Davis and Prince are long defenders with a good wingspan. Prince's wingspan would make him about 7-foot-2, which is about 5 inches more than his height. He plays good defense, has good ball-handling skills, and can shoot from anywhere on the floor. I'll take that back in return for my star player who is now watching his former team from his couch.

Now you throw Prince in the mix with Defensive Player of the Year, Marc Gasol and a talented power forward in Z-Bo, (Zach Randolph) and I say you have a talented, man-consuming bear attack!  I call it, "when bears attack for no reason"--NBA Edition.  No need to feed them, they roam in the wilderness. The same place Durant and company are going to play the next two game, Memphis, at the FedEx Forum, where the Grizzlies were 32-9 at home in the regular season, and are 3-0 in the in the playoffs. Sounds like its going to be another bear attack in the South. Just ask L.A. Clippers' Blake Griffin, who went into the woods and just wasn't the same after his bear attack. Yes Griffin is a hard, tough player, but he let Randolph push him around in the playoffs. Griffin is a big guy, but he is harmless, and physical teams will push him around.

The Grizzlies should be up 2-0 in this series against the Thunder, but cub Quincy Pondexter, couldn't hit the free throws. Too much pressure for the cub, who only has two years experience. But like every road team in the playoffs would say, "At least we took away home court advantage from them, by taking one." Now, the Grizzlies, don't have that sense of urgency to win, because they already did the hard part: Win in OKC!
The Grizzlies don't have a traditional "go-to-guy," but they don't need one.  It's like Erik Spoelstra says:

"Who's going to take the last shot? Whoever's open."

When you have a lot of weapons on a team, you're able to do that. Who takes the last shot for the Grizzlies? Whoever is open!  Give it to Gasol, Randolph, Prince or even Mike Conley Jr., who was just one assist shy of a triple double in game 2. Who, would you put your best defender on against Memphis?  Good question.

Whoever made the call to get rid of Gay (Part of the answer can be found here--Ed) made the best move for this franchise.  Defense wins games and that guy didn't have any.  Now every guy is the -go-to-person. With that mentality, who needs a star?  You have a whole team full of co-stars. All their names show-up in the credits anyway.  How do you build a team around the co-stars?  Just add more! I'll take that over one star who breathes the same air as we do. If he misses, its his fault. If the co-stars misses, its the team's fault. 

Memphis should get past OKC and either San Antonio or Golden State will be in trouble. The Spurs are too old and the Warriors are too inexperienced.  Memphis will advance to the Conference Finals and the Spurs/Warriors should be prepared to be mauled by the Grizzlies. No Smokey or Yogi here;  just straight Grizzlies.

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AN IDIOT'S GUIDE TO THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS' SEASON: Part I

Dan Plotsky

The Los Angeles Lakers are a big steamy pile of dog poop on your Mayan, calendar, type of mess.  As a Chicago Bulls’ fan I couldn't have been more delighted with their win over Los Angeles.  However, as a basketball fan, it left something to be desired.  Instead of the gold and purple powerhouse, we saw a team, that only weeks ago, Kobe Bryant eloquently quipped as "an old damn team." 

It was reminiscent of the 2008 fantasy baseball season when I took Vlad Guerrero/Magglio Ordonez/and Ichiro and was initially ecstatic only to, eventually, find out that the studs of my youth had left their talents in South Beach.  That's what Kobe/Steve Nash/Dwight Howard (bad back) reminded me of in their game against the Bulls.  

Normally, I wouldn't take one game as a cross-section of the season and bury a proven franchise. Except that they just got torched by the Toronto Raptors on Sunday as well!  Any time DeMar DeRozan gets the best of you, it’s time to sound the panic alarms.  It only raises questions like:

·         How in the world is Pau Gasol getting benched on this squad?  

o   Let's jump back 6 months ago to the Summer Olympics and look at the gold medal game again.  Gasol was terrifying and required a double team all game long, especially down low, on his way to posting the following numbers:

§  (9-17 from the field) 24 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists in 33 minutes of play.

o    I sat there thinking, "Wow! Gasol is back!" and that he was going to be re-engaged for the upcoming season after his almost trade to the Houston Rockets in the failed attempt to land Chris Paul.  

o   The irony of it was that he dominated Team USA down low on the blocks next to...??? That's right, his brother Marc Gasol who also plays center in the NBA.

o   Marc managed to post 17 points in only 17 minutes against the Americans. 

o   Since they are brothers they probably have that weird telepathic link but there was an example of two centers playing on the blocks together and thriving against the best talent in the world.  

Let’s jump forward to the Lakers and the circus that Mike D'Antoni has made it to be.  "Coach" D'Antoni is so obsessed with his gimmick offense, he can't even tweak it slightly to adjust to the roster talent he has and instead opts to bench Gasol who would start at center for at least 22 NBA teams right now.  

To clear room for Nash to dribble drive, Gasol will come up from the block to set a screen for the ball handler and roll to the free throw line or slightly above and bunker down. This is where Gasol sat all night which makes as much sense as a poop-flavored lollipop.  Much credit is deserved to 82games.com as I have to mention that they are the finest source of real-time statistics to back up what I see on the floor.  According to the shot chart, Gasol is currently taking a whopping 65% of his shots as "jumpers" this year, which is just wreaking havoc on his overall effectiveness.  Take a look at Gasol’s best year with the Lakers and the season he currently is having:

PER=Player Efficiency Rating  /  TS%=True shooting(fg%+3pt%+FT% divided by 3)

·         2010-11 Gasol: 55% of shots on jumpers- 22.3 PER/ .589TS%     18pts  10 reb  3ast

·         2012-13 Gasol: 65% of shots on jumpers-  15.5PER/ .494TS%     12.7pts 8 reb  3ast      

The change in floor spacing and offensive responsibility has resulted in Gasol's worst PER since his rookie year and easily his worst TS% ever (career .574%).  This is completely unacceptable by any standards for a player of this caliber and only compounds the problem by destroying his trade value in the process.  D'Antoni could not have been a worse candidate for the roster on hand and I do believe two centers can coexist on the same team just like the Gasol brothers did in the Gold Medal game.  

Don't believe me? (The nerve!—Ed) Take a look at this 5-man rotation:

·         From 82games.com: Steve Blake-Bryant-Metta World Peace (or as I like to call him, Ron Artest—Ed)-Gasol-Howard 

o   This is statistically the best 5-man rotation by plus/minus and defensive pointst/possession (+33, .94/possession, respectively) the Lakers have run out all season long (4th most minutes logged).  

o   The caveat is Blake/Nash endured injuries and Nash hasn't played enough minutes to get a more reliable statistical comparison.  

o   But what do we notice by looking at that rotation?  Feel free to sub in Nash for Blake!  It's the very lineup that anyone who didn't know basketball would assemble, duh!  

Which brings us full circle: D'Antoni values his offensive principles to such an extreme, it is detrimental to the success of the Lakers (I feel your pain Magic Johnson!).  Then there is this tidbit-- no stats needed:

·         Gasol won TWO rings with Andrew Bynum as his frontcourt partner.

o   Why has the NBA community gone crazy and think Gasol-Howard can't work?  

o   The numbers say they are relatively effective together and we know chemistry takes time to develop, but nonetheless they should be beasts on the boards if all else fails. 

Simply put, Pau Gasol is not the problem and the numbers show that he could possibly be the solution.  Just depends whether D’Antoni wants to switch up his game to save the Lakers.  

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Part II of this saga is available, here.

2012 RANDOM NBA THOUGHTS: Vol, 2

Felipe M

Today's Random NBA Thoughts are based on the games that were played on Monday, December 17, 2012. 

Chicago Bulls at Memphis Grizzlies: This game matched the top two defensive teams (in terms of Average Points Allowed Per Game) in the NBA. And judging by the score, it was definitely an offensive stalemate. For the Bulls, this marks the 5th consecutive game that they have failed to score over 100 points.  While the Grizzles' center, Marc Gasol was held to only 4 points, we did experience a Wayne Ellington sighting as the former Tar Heel scored 11 points, on 3-4 from 3-point-land, grabbed 2 boards, and 2 assists in 20 minutes of playing time.

Minnesota Timberwolves at Orlando Magic: In what could've been the weirdest game of the night, the T'Wolves took a commanding halftime lead as they scored 32 points in the 2nd Quarter--and then they went on to score only 32 points in the entire 2nd half.  Despite having two players grab double-digit rebounds, the T'Wolves edged out the Magic in the rebound department by only 1 (43-42).  Even then, the T'Wolves grabbed more offensive rebounds (15-6). The rest of the game was evenly matched for the most part, but the most glaring stat of the night was that the Magic hit 42.9% from beyond the arc, while the Wolves struggled at 28% which might have proved to be the difference in the game.

On a fun note, this game matched up starting centers Nikola Pekovic vs. Nikola Vucevic. I can only imagine how much the broadcasters of this game enjoyed having to announce both players' names on a constant basis tonight. More importantly, both players achieved a double-double.

Los Angeles Clippers at Detroit Pistons: Having seen Chris Paul live, I can honestly say that he is without a doubt, the smartest point guard in the NBA. And tonight, he proved once again why he might be the best point guard in the NBA despite the lack of athleticism that has been on display by his younger, more explosive counterparts. Dropping 7 dimes, swiping 3 steals, and scoring 14 points to go along with numerous plays that could have made tonight's highlight reels.

However, the real treat (well, for any real NBA junkie, that is) came in seeing just how far away Brandon Knight is from even sniffing Paul's elite status.  Shooting 5-16 from the field (3-10 from 3-point-land), Knight scored 16 points, but committed 5 turnovers (which cancelled out his 5 assists).  Perhaps Knight was missing the play of fellow backcourt mate, Rodney Stuckey, but it's safe to say that Knight was definitely schooled tonight.

Check out more articles on Brandon Knight, here.

Houston Rockets at New York Knicks: The date we have all been waiting for--the #1 team, in terms of average 3-Pointers Made per Game, was hosting the #2 team in the Rockets.  And both teams did not disappoint as they combined for 60 attempts from the 3-point line.

And, of course, the biggest sports story of the night, the triumphant return of Jeremy Lin to Madison Square Garden.  Lin has had an up-and-down season as he has struggled to find a proper role on a Rockets' team that revolves around superstud James Harden. Lin also had to face a Knicks' team determined to spoil his return, especially Ray Felton who clearly was trying really hard to prove that he's better than Lin despite not getting the same publicity (and getting paid a lot less as well).  However, Lin proved to be up for the moment as he scored 22 points (on 9-15 shooting from the field), 8 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals.  More surprisingly, Lin was able to maneuver his way down the paint against a tough Knicks' defense which is anchored by Tyson Chandler, who looked to intimidate Lin by committing hard fouls on the guard. But that did not stop Lin from continually driving down the lane time and time again, frustrating Chandler and whoever the Knicks assigned to defend the determined point guard.

San Antonio Spurs at Oklahoma City Thunder: On most nights, this would be the marquee matchup of the night, but you knew that the Spurs would not go 100% against their biggest rival on the road and the Thunder were able to even the season series at one. While not a single Spurs' player logged over 30 minutes in this game, the Thunder were clearly determined to win this game as they had four players (including both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook) logging in over 30 minutes. This will prove to be a more competitive game when these two teams meet up in San Antonio on March 11, 2013.

Sacramento Kings at Phoenix Suns: If there was ever a microcosm to describe the Kings this season (heck, even in the last 2-3 seasons), it would have to be the 3rd quarter of this game where the Kings only scored 14 points after leading by as many as 19 points before the game reached halftime.

Some would say that the Suns have had a tendency to comeback from large deficits this season, but the Kings have proven time and time again, that despite having highly talented and athletic players, they are clearly the dumbest team in the NBA.

DeMarcus Cousins has already gone through his annual wacky episode(s) where he has gone after Spurs' color analyst, Sean Elliot, admitted that he's been lacking confidence this season, visibly getting into confrontations with coach Keith Smart, and getting suspended for hitting O.J. Mayo below the belt.

Cousins is the biggest problem on a team full of problems and despite all of the lottery picks that they have accumulated in the past few years, there seems to be no direction, goal, or structure on this team (except getting a new fancy stadium from the highest, bidding city).  Brand new year, same old story in "Swerve City."

For more on the wacky Sacramento Kings, click here.

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NBA 2012-13 Fantasy Preview: THE CROSSROADS

Felipe M

There are other players who are not declining, but certainly in a certain crossroads where they have a chance to improve their stock for next season or make the "Decline" list as early as this season.  The choice is theirs. The list is as follows, but first, and oldie, but goodie:

• Rodney Stuckey--Rumors that management is losing patience with him and Brandon Knight ready to step up at either guard position, Stuckey better produce this season.
• Derrick Favors--He is still raw entering his third season, but he will get every opportunity in Utah to succeed.  He still needs to put up numbers this season.
• Jerryd Bayless--Entering his 5th season, he will be playing for his 4th team and he will once again be coming off the bench.  Not ready to label him a bust, but it's getting closer to that time.
• Michael Beasley--Fresh new start for the former #2 pick overall (remember those arguments between Derrick Rose and Beasley?  Yeah, they have seemed to disappear), if he can't put up numbers this year in Phoenix, then there's no hope for him.
• Zach Randolph--It's not as serious, but the Grizzlies know they can win without him and Marc Gasol proved to be a great big man in Randolph's absence and his play last season also marked Gasol as the Alpha Dog in Memphis.  How will Randolph play alongside another big man who's as talented as he is?
• O.J. Mayo--Once one of the best players in high school, he will now try his luck with another Western Conference team.  
• Ryan Anderson--Many have him as a bust coming into this season, but playing in New Orleans might not be the end of the world for the sharpshooter.  Still, he needs to show he can make his shots when the pressure is on him.
• J.J. Hickson--This is it for Hickson.  Put up or shut up.  Either he will be a legit, starting big man in the NBA or he will relegate himself to journeyman status--if he's lucky.
• Kris Humphries--Can't hate on this player too much, but the fact that the Nets' front office don't think too highly of him is a concern and might get traded to another team who might not give him the minutes he needs to score in the paint and grab rebounds. He's in the perfect situation in Brooklyn because teammate, Brook (Lyn) Lopez, is a terrible rebounder so Humphries has relished the role of the tough big man for the Nets who can grab boards, block shots, and score the ugly points inside. I don't think another team will give him that shot to succeed so he needs to play his heart out if he wants to stay with the Nets. 

We finish our series next as we take a look at players who are on the rise and ready to breakout this season.