LET'S BAG SOME BEARS!


Game Time Start: 1:00 PM ET
Where: FedExForum, Memphis, TN
Officials: T. Brothers, B. Adams, J. Williams
Media Notes: Indiana Notes, Memphis Notes
Television: ESPN / NBAC (Canada)
Radio: WFNI 1070 AM / WMFS 92.9 FM, 680 AM
NBA Feeds:
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![]() PACERS Danny Granger - left knee tendinosis (out) Lance Stephenson - sore right foot (day-to-day) ![]() ![]() ![]() GRIZZLIES Quincy Pondexter - grade 2 eft MCL sprain (out) Zach Randolph - strained lower back (day-to-day) |
Kevin Lipe: Don’t Panic. Or Maybe Do. But Probably Don’t. Right? Talking myself back from the ledge, given the Grizzlies' last three games. What's eating the Memphis Grizzlies right now? The Grizzlies, it would appear, are in a tailspin. They swept a West Coast road trip with victories over the Suns, Warriors, and Kings, and then returned to Memphis for an overtime victory over the Spurs. Since then, well, things aren’t going according to plan. I’ve been just as shocked as you have by the last three games.[1] In the whole of the Lionel Hollins era, this has been a team that has made up for its (many) deficiencies through sheer force of will and raw, oftentimes ugly, effort. This is a team that may not be as talented as its opponent, but will fight, scratch, and claw every inch of the way to a win. It’s supposed to be "All heart, grit, grind," right? Didn’t we believe that? Isn't that why Tony Allen is the Grizzlies' spirit animal? Peter Edmiston, of Sports 56 in Memphis, said this last night: So what do we do now, Grizzlies fans? What are we supposed to expect from this team that started 12–2 and has been .500 ever since, and which appears to be flaming out before our very eyes? The Grizzlies appear to have found themselves at the center of a perfect storm. Since the new ownership group took over at the beginning of the regular season, we’ve seen things go from awesome to okay to horrible. The team looks less like the world-beaters we saw in November and more like the hurt-ZBo uglyball practitioners of last season, when they were playing defense so well they only had to score 80-points to win. The problem? They’re still only scoring 80-something points, but they’re not doing anything on defense. And they’re not doing anything on offense either. They’re not making shots. In Dallas, the Grizzlies’ eFG% was .399, or 39.9%. At home against the Clippers, it was 33.7%. The team’s raw FG% was 30.3%, which was the worst in franchise history in a home game all the way back to 1995. In Vancouver. With Big Country Reeves. Even they didn’t shoot 30%. In San Antonio, same story: eFG% was 42%. Of course, in San Antonio, it didn’t help that the Spurs’ eFG% as .638, and they assisted on 75% of their baskets — but that, too, shows you something about the Grizzlies’ defensive intensity. This is a team that thrives on turning other teams over. They had a streak of 138 straight games where they forced their opponent into 10+ turnovers, and that streak ended in Dallas on Saturday. Clearly something is going on. The team can no longer score — something we’ve seen since December — but now they appear to be incapable of (1) getting stops and (2) being able to get the offense going again when they hit a wall. They seem to lack the wherewithal to adjust their offensive gameplan on the fly — but their effort, at least to the uninformed eye, looks so weak that it’s hard to tell whether to blame that on coaching or on the players. Offense has never been this team’s strong suit. So far this season they’re 16th in the league in offensive rating with a 104.2, but that number is certainly being boosted by November, in which the Grizzlies were in the top 5 in both offense and defense. In the last three games, the Grizzlies had an ORtg of 97.2, 87.5, and 94.1. Their defensive rating for the season is 2nd out of all 30 teams at 100.5, but in the last three games, it was 121.8, 118.6, and 118.2. So the offensive ratings have been well below season average, and the defensive ratings have been far worse than the season average. What happened to the Grizzlies’ defense? What’s going on? When the new front office took over, it was obvious that things were going to change. When they hired John Hollinger to be VP of Basketball Operations, it became even more obvious that the team was going to be trying an analytics-based approach to team- building. There’s a slight...CONTINUE READING AT STRAIGHT OUTTA VANCOUVER |
Dan Devine: Zach Randolph Is Scared of Cats During his 12-year NBA career, Zach Randolph has made it abundantly clear on a number of occasions that he's not scared of anybody on the basketball court. The 6-foot-9, 260- pound Memphis Grizzlies power forward has gone toe-to-toe with some of the league's biggest and baddest dudes over the years, including, most recently, Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins; their November clash resulted in ejections, a $25,000 fine for Randolph and one of the season's great quotes: Z-Bo telling Memphis radio host Chris Vernon, "I'm good with these hands, man. I'm a jackin' dude." (There's also the off -court and past stuff, which only bolster Z-Bo's never-scared bona fides.) But as a wise man — either Winston Churchill or Jim Carrey in "Me, Myself and Irene," not sure which — once said, just because a man rocks doesn't mean he's made of stone. As he's matured, Randolph has more frequently shown a softer side, engaging in heartwarming charitable endeavors like donating $10,000 last summer to save a pit bull that had been trapped for days in a Memphis drainpipe. Randolph's giving actions and interactions with the rescued pit bull — later named "Little Z-Bo," which is the best — will be featured Saturday on an episode of the Animal Planet reality series "Pit Bulls and Parolees." But as Randolph told ESPN Playbook's Sam Alipour in an interview pegged to the episode's Jan. 11 premiere, his love for dogs (he owns several and acts as a spokesperson for the Memphis Humane Society) doesn't extend to all furry, four- legged creatures. Nor, it seems, does his fearlessness: Like you, I’m a dog lover. On a possibly related note, I feel, in my heart of hearts, that cats are evil. Feel me? Naw, you’re right: You can’t be both a dog lover and a cat lover. I’ve got a crazy phobia about cats. For some reason, I’m always thinking they’re going to scratch me. If a cat walks up, I’m going, “Oh no, this dude about to scratch me — I know it!” Cats scare the hell out of me. I love animals, but I’m no cat lover. Guys usually aren’t. Interesting. Then maybe you can help me out. My buddy, Mike Garrett, an otherwise normal, single, young man, is very seriously considering buying a cat. He won’t listen to me, so maybe he’ll listen to Z-Bo. Mike’s crazy, right? Oh, man, tell him to buy a dog! [Laughs.] Yo, I’m serious, tell your friend — tell him right now: You don’t need no cat, Mike. Buy a dog. Yeah, Mike. Buy a dog. Zach Randolph said you should buy a dog, so you should definitely buy a dog. Like, right now. Seriously, ask Ruben Patterson and Louis Amundson what happens when you don't do what Zach Randolph wants you to do. You should get this done as soon as possible. Do you need to borrow some money? Just let me know, dude...CONTINUE READING AT BALL DON'T LIE |
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