biba
04-24-2011, 03:08 AM
Marc Stein - who knows BB - states the obvious: Spurs troubles are Parkers' first and foremost.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2011/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&page=grizzspurs-110423
Crunch time belongs to Randolph
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
April 23, 2011
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Maybe the Memphis Grizzlies really did tank those last couple games of the regular season because they really did want to see mighty San Antonio in the first round of the playoffs. Maybe Lionel Hollins will eventually be able to admit that to us someday.
Trust me, though.
Hollins did not want this.
Nowhere to be found on Hollins' wish list was the script that had the Grizzlies coming home to roll up a 15-point lead, surrendering all of that lead, transforming the most raucous crowd in Grizzlies history into the most jittery Grizzlies crowd of all time ... and then mis-running the most important play of the game.
"The play kinda got busted," Hollins admitted later. "I screwed it up during the timeout. I didn't want it the way it was [run]."
Yet you suspect he'll live with the result. The ball never made its way inside to Marc Gasol as diagrammed in Saturday night's final minute, landing instead in the hands of Zach Randolph behind the 3-point line with the shot clock ticking down fast and Tim Duncan daring him to shoot. It all became a bit more bearable when Randolph -- after shooting 8-for-43 from deep in the regular season -- rainbowed in this triple from the right wing with 41.9 seconds remaining and ultimately clinched a 91-88 win.
So ...
The real screw-up in this Game 3 for Hollins would have been successfully digging his eyes out, which appeared to be his intent about halfway through the fourth quarter at the height of Memphis' crunch-time exasperation. He instead had the rare pleasure of watching his eighth-seeded upstarts contribute to an evening of wild finishes all over the NBA map and secure another slice of history, escaping with the Grizzlies' first-ever home playoff win when the famously poised Spurs did something historic of their own -- malfunctioning as badly as anyone could remember at the end.
Randolph (25 points) gave the Spurs one last chance when he missed another way-out jumper with just under seven seconds to go. But George Hill advanced the rebound faster than Spurs coach Gregg Popovich could call timeout before pitching the ball to Manu Ginobili, who wound up getting himself trapped by Marc Gasol and Mike Conley along the right sideline without even getting a shot off. Which left Duncan -- already in disbelief after Randolph's bomb -- asking referee John Goble in vain after the buzzer how he could possibly miss TD signaling for a TO.
Hearkening back to Randolph's 3, Duncan said: "I didn't assume that was in his arsenal at that point of the game."
More than a few assumptions perished on this night, despite the palpable here-we-go-again dread that unmistakably spread through just the season's fifth sellout at the FedExForum when the Grizz -- 0-6 lifetime at home in the playoffs and 0-4 in this building before Saturday's breakthrough -- found themselves locked in an 80-80 game with 5:14 to go.
Lots of locals might have been too nervous in that fourth quarter to wave those white "Growl Towels" with the same fervor they did in the first half, but now they know that the new Grizzlies don't always fold. Just as these Spurs can't simply presume that experience will bail them out, as it so often has in the past, because the Grizz -- as Shane Battier likes to say -- appear to be too young and oblivious to know that No. 8 seeds aren't supposed to torment 61-win teams like they have.
Someone asked Conley if this was the win that officially announced the Grizzlies to the nation, to which he replied: "I hope so. If we're not [for real] now, then we will be. We're not worried about what people think. We're just going to keep grinding and playing our way until people gives us respect. I know the Spurs respect us."
Affirmative. The Spurs will be unashamedly grateful to get back to San Antonio for Game 5 at 2-2 given the issues they're facing now, starting with Tony Parker's consistent inability to outplay Conley after being hailed by his coaches for turning in the most consistent regular season of his career.
The failure to call a timeout to set up a final shot in a one-possession game was embarrassing. Ditto for the fact that A) Duncan set the tone for the evening by airballing his first free throw and B) Randolph made almost as many 3s as the usually deadly Spurs (2-for-15) did as a team.
But Parker's struggles are the biggest worry, even bigger than Antonio McDyess' scary late exit after McDyess injured his neck in a tangle with Duncan. With Ginobili already playing hurt thanks to that sprained right elbow, San Antonio needs Parker to win the matchup at point guard. Parker certainly had the flashier shoes in Game 3, switching to his silver space-boot look, but Conley has been undeniably steadier. The next time Parker conclusively wins that matchup will be the first.
"We were not sharp enough finding our teammates," Ginobili said, shifting some of the blame onto himself in a bid to perhaps ease the rising burden on Parker. "Two-for-15 is not us. We've been the best 3-point shooting team in the league for 82 games."
As for McDyess?
"Timmy came down on my neck and bent it sideways," Dice said. "That was some of the worst pain I've encountered. My arm was totally numb. I've never experienced anything like that. The doctors say it's just a bad stinger. I think I'll be OK. They say all the feeling will come back eventually."
One more worry for the trailing Spurs: Memphis' confidence is bound to spike now that it has managed to deliver for its desperate fan base. The Grizzlies look decidedly unfazed by the crowd's high expectations. Or their ongoing struggles from outside apart from Randolph's fairy-tale triple. Or the glaring lack of a dependable backup, with apologies to Greivis Vasquez, to get Conley some rest.
Even Hollins, frequently annoyed by the questions he gets from the press, sounded almost nostalgic as he spoke of his excitement "for the city of Memphis" and couldn't stifle a broad smile when asked to share what he was really thinking when Randolph hoisted his bailout rainbow.
"I'm glad he did," Hollins said.
"We've still got miles to go, but I'm happy we are where we are."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2011/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&page=grizzspurs-110423
Crunch time belongs to Randolph
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
April 23, 2011
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Maybe the Memphis Grizzlies really did tank those last couple games of the regular season because they really did want to see mighty San Antonio in the first round of the playoffs. Maybe Lionel Hollins will eventually be able to admit that to us someday.
Trust me, though.
Hollins did not want this.
Nowhere to be found on Hollins' wish list was the script that had the Grizzlies coming home to roll up a 15-point lead, surrendering all of that lead, transforming the most raucous crowd in Grizzlies history into the most jittery Grizzlies crowd of all time ... and then mis-running the most important play of the game.
"The play kinda got busted," Hollins admitted later. "I screwed it up during the timeout. I didn't want it the way it was [run]."
Yet you suspect he'll live with the result. The ball never made its way inside to Marc Gasol as diagrammed in Saturday night's final minute, landing instead in the hands of Zach Randolph behind the 3-point line with the shot clock ticking down fast and Tim Duncan daring him to shoot. It all became a bit more bearable when Randolph -- after shooting 8-for-43 from deep in the regular season -- rainbowed in this triple from the right wing with 41.9 seconds remaining and ultimately clinched a 91-88 win.
So ...
The real screw-up in this Game 3 for Hollins would have been successfully digging his eyes out, which appeared to be his intent about halfway through the fourth quarter at the height of Memphis' crunch-time exasperation. He instead had the rare pleasure of watching his eighth-seeded upstarts contribute to an evening of wild finishes all over the NBA map and secure another slice of history, escaping with the Grizzlies' first-ever home playoff win when the famously poised Spurs did something historic of their own -- malfunctioning as badly as anyone could remember at the end.
Randolph (25 points) gave the Spurs one last chance when he missed another way-out jumper with just under seven seconds to go. But George Hill advanced the rebound faster than Spurs coach Gregg Popovich could call timeout before pitching the ball to Manu Ginobili, who wound up getting himself trapped by Marc Gasol and Mike Conley along the right sideline without even getting a shot off. Which left Duncan -- already in disbelief after Randolph's bomb -- asking referee John Goble in vain after the buzzer how he could possibly miss TD signaling for a TO.
Hearkening back to Randolph's 3, Duncan said: "I didn't assume that was in his arsenal at that point of the game."
More than a few assumptions perished on this night, despite the palpable here-we-go-again dread that unmistakably spread through just the season's fifth sellout at the FedExForum when the Grizz -- 0-6 lifetime at home in the playoffs and 0-4 in this building before Saturday's breakthrough -- found themselves locked in an 80-80 game with 5:14 to go.
Lots of locals might have been too nervous in that fourth quarter to wave those white "Growl Towels" with the same fervor they did in the first half, but now they know that the new Grizzlies don't always fold. Just as these Spurs can't simply presume that experience will bail them out, as it so often has in the past, because the Grizz -- as Shane Battier likes to say -- appear to be too young and oblivious to know that No. 8 seeds aren't supposed to torment 61-win teams like they have.
Someone asked Conley if this was the win that officially announced the Grizzlies to the nation, to which he replied: "I hope so. If we're not [for real] now, then we will be. We're not worried about what people think. We're just going to keep grinding and playing our way until people gives us respect. I know the Spurs respect us."
Affirmative. The Spurs will be unashamedly grateful to get back to San Antonio for Game 5 at 2-2 given the issues they're facing now, starting with Tony Parker's consistent inability to outplay Conley after being hailed by his coaches for turning in the most consistent regular season of his career.
The failure to call a timeout to set up a final shot in a one-possession game was embarrassing. Ditto for the fact that A) Duncan set the tone for the evening by airballing his first free throw and B) Randolph made almost as many 3s as the usually deadly Spurs (2-for-15) did as a team.
But Parker's struggles are the biggest worry, even bigger than Antonio McDyess' scary late exit after McDyess injured his neck in a tangle with Duncan. With Ginobili already playing hurt thanks to that sprained right elbow, San Antonio needs Parker to win the matchup at point guard. Parker certainly had the flashier shoes in Game 3, switching to his silver space-boot look, but Conley has been undeniably steadier. The next time Parker conclusively wins that matchup will be the first.
"We were not sharp enough finding our teammates," Ginobili said, shifting some of the blame onto himself in a bid to perhaps ease the rising burden on Parker. "Two-for-15 is not us. We've been the best 3-point shooting team in the league for 82 games."
As for McDyess?
"Timmy came down on my neck and bent it sideways," Dice said. "That was some of the worst pain I've encountered. My arm was totally numb. I've never experienced anything like that. The doctors say it's just a bad stinger. I think I'll be OK. They say all the feeling will come back eventually."
One more worry for the trailing Spurs: Memphis' confidence is bound to spike now that it has managed to deliver for its desperate fan base. The Grizzlies look decidedly unfazed by the crowd's high expectations. Or their ongoing struggles from outside apart from Randolph's fairy-tale triple. Or the glaring lack of a dependable backup, with apologies to Greivis Vasquez, to get Conley some rest.
Even Hollins, frequently annoyed by the questions he gets from the press, sounded almost nostalgic as he spoke of his excitement "for the city of Memphis" and couldn't stifle a broad smile when asked to share what he was really thinking when Randolph hoisted his bailout rainbow.
"I'm glad he did," Hollins said.
"We've still got miles to go, but I'm happy we are where we are."