Western Conference Preview: The Memphis Grizzlies—Too Much D in an O League
By elesser
Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE
What can you say about the Grizz that hasn’t been said already? Actually, quite a bit. For one thing, they’re as deep and as versatile as any team in the league. For another, wouldn’t it be cool if the Grizzlies returned to the Northwest but not in Vancouver (where they came from) but in nearby Seattle where the fans got ripped off by the relocation of the Supersonics to Oklahoma City.
The Grizzlies have oodles of balance. They’re thought of as a defensive-minded, half-court, low-scoring team. Fair enough, but they can play uptempo and, here’s the topic sentence: They ought to.
Defense is generally a lost art in the NBA. Why? Because the NBA game is rigged to enable an up-and-down, run-and-gun, high-scoring kind of game. The ref’s whistle doesn’t blow anymore for traveling or carrying the ball or double-dribble, and charging is rarely called unless it’s a clear case of the defender “taking a charge.”
Still, some teams are better defensively than others. The Grizzlies are flat-out the best in the NBA. It’s all old-school admirable. One teensy-weensy problem: They’ll never win a championship that way.
They need to stop being 20th in scoring (95 points per game) and get in the top ten in scoring. And they even have to stop being 3rd in defense (93 ppg), which everyone finds so wonderful. Stop working so hard on defense and give up some more points. Concentrate instead on scoring more points by a) taking more shots and b) shooting earlier in the shot-clock.
(The NFL provides an analogy. A team may have a terrific running team, best in the league. Once, on a far away planet, teams could win a championship with such a superior running game. Not anymore. The rules have changed to favor a passing game which TV networks and their advertising partners love because they are obsessed with stopping the clock, preferably by scoring touchdowns–though field goals work just as well. The running game takes too long to score. More scoring equals more advertising spots.)
Memphis—with SF Rudy Gay, PF Zach Randolph and C Marc Gasol—features a frontcourt that is as good as the Lakers’ or anyone else’s. And they have solid guys backing them up—C Hamed Haddadi, the obligatory big guy from a Middle Eastern country; Darrell Arthur, healthy again, a PF with a nice mid-range touch; and Marreese Speights, a talented PF who can also guard centers. Behind Gay is Quincy Pondexter, a fine all-around SF, but the Grizzlies need an instant-offense guy to complement Pondexter.
In the backcourt PG Mike Conley is still the man and SG Tony Allen is still the great defender. If it were my team I’d get a more offensive-minded SG as a starter (Marcus Thornton comes to mind) and unleash Allen off the bench where he would be the great sixth-man that he was with the Celtics. That change and getting a scoring SF behind Gay (Al Harrington?) would make the Grizz officially scary.
Backing up Conley are a bunch of interesting guys—Josh Selby, Jerryd Bayless and 1st-round draft pick (#25) Tony Wroten, who will try to make the team at either guard spot.
O.J. Mayo, who had a fine season last year coming off the bench, signed with the Mavs, and the Grizzlies have acquired some scoring punch behind Tony Allen to take up the slack. They traded SF Dante Cunningham to the Pacers for SG Wayne Ellington, and they signed SG Gilbert Arenas, who was amnestied by the Orlando Magic. They are also looking at Kyle Weaver and Flip Murray, both combo guards who can score, and who both played in Europe last year. If any two of those four guys work out, the added firepower could push Memphis up one rung on the ladder. In the real world that would mean getting by the Spurs who seem more likely than the Thunder or Lakers to take a step back. But unless the Grizzlies ramp up the offense they are doomed to do the same thing over again–and get the same result.