Playoffs Game Blog: Spurs @ Grizzlies - Game 6 - April 29

[SouthernFried]

We have 4 Championships.

TIM has 4 Rings.

Time for a margarita.

[Kuestmaster]

our last basket have been timmy's one... fitting end to an era

[Supergirl]

I think the only real question is, who does the NBA want to win more, OKC or Memphis? Because that's who will win. But it doesn't matter, cause we all know only the Lakers can come out of the West. It's all about marketing. Not about basketball.

[NASpurs]

So does anyone have the summer league schedule yet?

[Quiet Strength]

Pop, just go away. I never want to see your face or hear your name again. you fucking ASSHOLE.

I feel the same way

[hitmanyr2k]

Tony Allen giving Ginobili mad props. Warriors respect warriors. Nice to see.

[milkyway21]

just logged in

whoa we lost?

I just can't believe it :(

Manu should have insisted to play in first game, you know. As I said before we have to win our first 2 home games :( Memphis is younger and hungrier.

are we now (officially) joining Dallas' record #1 seed losing to #8?

[Capt Bringdown]

Credit Hollins for recognizing the laughable Dice/Randolph matchup.

[NewJerSpur]

Memphis better fucking show up vs the Thunder and not get swept

I think it goes 5, maaaaaybe 6 in favor of OKC.

[Horse]

nah Dice shouldn't have been guarding him in the first place.
I would've like to have seen Duncan on him in the 4th I mean how many times did he block his shot already. He could've let him catch and he would'nt have been able to shot over him as easy.

[El Contusion II]

Once again, that's for nothing Dick

2010-11 Regular Season 81 30.4 3.8-7.9 .474 1.7-3.8 .440 1.8-2.4 .759 3.8 1.3 0.4 0.5 2.0 1.1 11.0
2010-11 Postseason 5 33.2 2.4-5.8 .414 1.2-3.2 .375 1.8-2.2 .818 4.8 1.0 0.4 0.6 2.6 1.0 7.8

[4down]

:rollin

I'm happy for Randolph getting his career back on track in Memphis. Great series from him.

Freaking Leonardo. Shaq Randolph. I don't care if he has turned it around he's still a douche

[100%duncan]

:depressed
:pctoss

[hitmanyr2k]

I think it goes 5, maaaaaybe 6 in favor of OKC.

I don't see it that way. It's all about the matchups. I think Memphis matches up very well with the Thunder inside and out and they have damn good defenders to throw at Durant. It's gonna be another great series.

[NewJerSpur]

Once again, that's for nothing Dick

2010-11 Regular Season 81 30.4 3.8-7.9 .474 1.7-3.8 .440 1.8-2.4 .759 3.8 1.3 0.4 0.5 2.0 1.1 11.0
2010-11 Postseason 5 33.2 2.4-5.8 .414 1.2-3.2 .375 1.8-2.2 .818 4.8 1.0 0.4 0.6 2.6 1.0 7.8

Going to have to eat that contract imo and get someone younger in (James Anderson). The fact Pop sat him out the entire 2nd half was telling.

[peskypesky]

VERY valiant fight, Spurs fans. You have nothing to be ashamed of.

thanks for the nice words, but i am ashamed that we lost to an 8 seed. that's inexcusable and Pop should be fired.

[Supergirl]

well, Splitter, Parker, Hill, and Neal is a pretty decent core to build around. fyi.

[NASpurs]

Grizzlies in six over OKC, easily.

[Horse]

just logged in

whoa we lost?

I just can't believe it :(

Manu should have insisted to play in first game, you know. As I said before we have to win our first 2 home games :( Memphis is younger and hungrier.

are we now (officially) joining Dallas' record #1 seed losing to #8?
Why the fuck does everyone keep saying that? It's nothing like a full-strength 67-win dallas team losing to a crappy golden-state team. This grizzly team is good, better than their record. And guess what they still have'nt beat us all season at full strength. Manu had his moments but he has'nt been himself with the injury. Just like last year after dirk broke Manu's nose.

[vednam]

At least the Spurs gave it all they had. They didn't go out like chumps. They forced the Grizzlies to take it from them. The Grizzlies just made all the plays they had to.



It's really sad seeing them eliminated though. Especially Duncan.

Like Kenny Smith, it's like watching Muhammad Ali's last fights. He looked like Ali, but he wasn't the same. With the Spurs, you still see Duncan, Ginobili and Parker, but they just don't have it anymore.

People hated to see Ali getting beat up in his last fights. He was like boxing royalty and it was painful to see him endure humiliating defeats. You felt a guy of his stature shouldn't have to go through that.

I feel the same way about the Spurs. They are like basketball royalty, and it's a shame to see Duncan limp off the court under these circumstances.

[4down]

Credit Hollins for recognizing the laughable Dice/Randolph matchup.

And realizing Pop would stick with Matt Bonner at all costs.

[NewJerSpur]

Why the fuck does everyone keep saying that? It's nothing like a full-strength 67-win dallas team losing to a crappy golden-state team. This grizzly team is good, better than their record. And guess what they still have'nt beat us all season at full strength. Manu had his moments but he has'nt been himself with the injury. Just like last year after dirk broke Manu's nose.

Exactly, but it's going to come up anyway. Dallas was far and away the clear favorite that year and secured the #1 seed with no challengers....Spurs locked up the #1 seed with a week to go in the season. There's going to be some reaching though.

[4down]

Why the fuck does everyone keep saying that? It's nothing like a full-strength 67-win dallas team losing to a crappy golden-state team. This grizzly team is good, better than their record. And guess what they still have'nt beat us all season at full strength. Manu had his moments but he has'nt been himself with the injury. Just like last year after dirk broke Manu's nose.

They didnt have Rudy Gay the whole series... no excuses.

[milkyway21]

Why the fuck does everyone keep saying that? It's nothing like a full-strength 67-win dallas team losing to a crappy golden-state team. This grizzly team is good, better than their record. And guess what they still have'nt beat us all season at full strength. Manu had his moments but he has'nt been himself with the injury. Just like last year after dirk broke Manu's nose.

Thought we had a chance. They have no Rudy Gay :( :(

[NewJerSpur]

They didnt have Rudy Gay the whole series... no excuses.

They haven't played with Rudy Gay for months prior to the playoffs and managed to play better without him at stretches. However, they outplayed the Spurs and that no one can deny.

[NASpurs]

I hope Zach Randolph gets hit by a bus. I really, really hate that smug porky pig. I've always hated him - I want him to die a painful death.

Classy as always.

Chooo chooo!

[peskypesky]

i pick OKC in 5 over Memphis

[++SaiNt TiAg0++]

man im super pissed , now more disappointed but yeah pop needs to have some accountability im tired of the communist coaching job pop has made i have a good idea for our next coach. but there definitely needs to be a change

[Pauleta14]

So, in retrospect, what was the worse move....getting RJ initially with that god awful contract or resigning him for four more years?


fool me once...

[peskypesky]

well, usually, after a hard-fought series like this, i hate the other team, its players, fans and coach. not so. i like the Grizzlies, the coach and that audience, which is what every crowd should sound like.

props to Memphis

[outmap]

Congratulations to Memphis, a really good young team, wala pa si Rudy Gay.

I guess this is the last day we'll see Richard Jefferson and DeJuan Blair on a Spurs uniform.

[NewJerSpur]

Congratulations to Memphis, a really good young team, wala pa si Rudy Gay.

I guess this is the last day we'll see Richard Jefferson and DeJuan Blair on a Spurs uniform.

I too think Blair might be on the move....wish he would developed more on the offensive side, guess we'll have to see if he gets another crack with Splitter in and Richards possibly on the way. Dice I guess retiring too. RJ's got to go.

[NASpurs]

Congratulations to Memphis, a really good young team, wala pa si Rudy Gay.

I guess this is the last day we'll see Richard Jefferson and DeJuan Blair on a Spurs uniform.

Is Isiah Thomas back at GM? Who's going to take his contract? Face it, the Spurs are stuck with him.

[Manu20]

The Spurs just ran to a Grizzles team that attacked our weakness (post defense) from the guards to the forwards hell I thought I saw their coaching staff posting up the spurs coaching staff......lol

[TampaDude]

Wow...the Spurs actually lost? :fishing

Oh, well...time to watch hockey now. :hat

[silverblackfan]

Hats off to a very well coached active team. Their defense was outstanding, but their poise impressed me the most.
Thanks Spurs for an exciting season and a limited play-offs. The off season has begun.
I have no idea where the Spurs go from here.

[Horse]

They didnt have Rudy Gay the whole series... no excuses.
Horseshit he's been out half the year we knew he would not play, and honestly they never looked this good with him. A healthy Manu and we most likely win game 1 and 3.

[Solid D]

What hurts is: 1 Duncan TO and 3 straight missed shots (Parker, Ginobili and Hill) as compared with 4 straight scoring trips by Memphis = 8-0 run by the Grizzlies. This all came after the Spurs took the lead with 4:39 to play and spelled the death of the Spurs in Game 6.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

4:25 Randolph hook shot turning into middle over McDyess SA 80 - MEM 81

4:10 Duncan throws ball out of bounds, TO SA

3:58 Conley 20 foot jumper good off Gasol screen, Parker under screen SA 80 - MEM 83

3:45 Parker drives around Duncan screen, misses 7 foot jumper

3:31 Randolph left post, battles with McDyess 7 foot jumper good SA 80 - MEM 85

3:12 Ginobili off screen misses (long) open 3-point shot from right wing

2:54 Bennett Salvatore calls tick tack contact foul on McDyess fighting for position
Randolph 2 FTs good SA 80 - MEM 87

2:37 Hill misses (long) top of key jumper, McDyess rebound fouled

2:22 Side out-of-bounds inbounded to Parker at top, scores on drive over Mayo SA 82 - MEM 87

1:55 Randolph fed by Gasol right FT-line extended, dribble vs. McDyess fade away baseline 12 foot high-archer good SA 82 - MEM 89

1:34 Ginobili under pressure from Allen throws skip pass to Parker in right corner, ball slips through Parker's hands OB, TO SA

1:11 Randolph trapped by Duncan and Hill, Duncan lets Randolph dribble out of trap into middle of lane for left hand 10 footer, good SA 82 - MEM 91

1:04 Parker left wing starts to take a 3-point jumper but passes to McDyess who had turned his back, stolen by Randolph TO SA

0:41 Conley drives to FT line and passes to Battier, stolen by Ginobili TO MEM

0:30 McDyess jumper from top of key good SA 84 - MEM 91

Foul fest begins

-------------------

[TE]

Some of you all fellow Spur fans are classless, wishing bad things on opposing players.


Recognize talent and success. Memphis grew a pair of balls (in particular, Randolph) and knocked us out.


It's just basketball, you win some you lose some.


Today, we lost more games than they did because they were better and we sucked.


Get over it. Stay classy, and move on to next season.


That's it, and that's all.

[duncan228]

Post-Game Video:

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=178685

Some post-game quotes.


Grizzlies finish off top-seeded Spurs in 6 games (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2011042929)
By Teresa M. Walker

These Memphis Grizzlies just keep making NBA history— and believers.

Zach Randolph had 31 points and 11 rebounds and the Grizzlies advanced to their first Western Conference semifinals and made NBA history in knocking off the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs 99-91 on Friday night.

Memphis had been the franchise best known for empty seats and the unenviable NBA mark for playoff futility at 0-12 after being swept in its first three appearances. This time, a third straight sellout crowd cheered every basket with a couple of signs begging the Grizzlies to “Finish Them” in a town desperately needing a hero.

The Grizzlies needed 10 seasons in Memphis, but they have become just that as only the second No. 8 seed to upset a No. 1 seed since the NBA expanded the opening series to a best-of-seven.

Now Memphis coach Lionel Hollins sees a great opportunity for the Grizzlies to do something really special.

“Not a lot of people knew about us coming in, but we certainly have made some noise and turned some heads and got some attention that probably wouldn’t have been given to us if we’d lost this series,” Hollins said. “We’d just be another eight seed losing to the No. 1 seed.”

They will open the second round in Oklahoma City on Sunday.

Marc Gasol had 12 points and 13 rebounds for Memphis. Tony Allen added 11 points, and rookie Greivis Vasquez had 11 off the bench playing 24 minutes with Mike Conley in foul trouble most of the game.

Tony Parker led San Antonio with 23 points, Manu Ginobili had 16, Tim Duncan 12 and Antonio McDyess 10.

The Spurs led only twice at 2-0 and again at 80-79 when McDyess hit a 15-footer with 4:41 left.

That’s when Randolph, the man cast off and unwanted before he arrived in Memphis in the summer of 2009, took over and scored 17 of the Grizzlies’ 29 points in the fourth quarter.

“From a pick-me-up perspective, we just got on his back, and we rode him like he was an English warhorse,” Hollins said. “He was really carrying us, We were just hanging on.”

Randolph scored 10 of the next 14 for Memphis, with his hook putting Memphis ahead to stay at 81-80. Conley added a jumper, then Randolph hit a fallaway jumper, two free throws and another fallaway jumper for an 89-82 lead with 1:55 left. Randolph went to the bench to a huge cheer with 3.4 seconds left.

“Emotion is high, not just for the Memphis Grizzlies but for the whole city of Memphis and the fans,” Randolph said. “It’s something. It’s a great accomplishment. We’ve got to be happy. We should be happy. But it’s a quick turnaround. We’ve got a game Sunday, and we have to get ready.”

The Spurs, winners of 61 games in the regular season and the dynasty with four NBA titles with Duncan, turned the ball over three straight times while Randolph was putting away this franchise’s biggest win. One desperate pass from Ginobili went right off Parker’s hands.

“We played well all season long,” Parker said. “As you know, it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t play well in the playoffs, and overall Memphis played better than us. Have to give them credit. Had a chance at the end, up one, 5 minutes to go. We didn’t make the plays we needed to play.”

San Antonio had gotten a reprieve with Gary Neal’s clutch 3 getting the Spurs to overtime as they staved off elimination Wednesday night. But the Spurs talked of how lucky they were to pull out a game when they had their bags packed for the offseason.

“We were hoping at some point that they would fold under the pressure, make some mistakes through that pressure and they didn’t,” Duncan said. “They did the exact opposite. They made every play they needed to make, they took care of the ball, they got the shots they wanted to get, and their guys made the shots when they needed to.”

Ginobili also had a big shot to help the Spurs stay alive. This game, he had an even more amazing shot, beating the buzzer at the end of the third quarter as he tossed up the ball from half court off balance and trying to beat the clock. He had been 3 of 10 from the floor before that lucky attempt pulled the Spurs to 70-66.

Forward Shane Battier called it a perfect team effort by the Grizzlies against a team in the Spurs that never quit.

“Those guys are like vampires. We’re trying to kill them, but they kept getting up. We kept missing the heart,” Battier said. “When (Matt) Bonner is hitting bank 3s and Ginobili is hitting a halfcourt shot at halftime, `You’re saying, `Gosh, go away. Please go away.”’

It just wasn’t enough for a team that couldn’t beat the Grizzlies in Memphis during the regular season and or the postseason. The Spurs ended this season dropping nine of the last 10 on the road and 16 of the last 19 in the postseason away from San Antonio.

Asked if this was a big upset, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich defended the strength of the Western Conference.

“It doesn’t matter what your seeding is in the West. As has been evidenced year after year, we all know that everybody’s basically as good as everybody else,” Popovich said.

The Grizzlies were criticized for ending the regular season with two losses. Hollins rested Randolph and Allen with critics accusing them of trying to avoid the Lakers and draw the Spurs.

Popovich credited Memphis’ athleticism with really hurt a team that had been the NBA’s best 3-point shooters. The Spurs shot only 31 percent through the first five games and were just 5-of-22 Friday night.

“They closed out really well, sagged in the paint and were still able to close out on shooters, and it’s a credit to them,” Popovich said.

Parker opened the game with a pair of free throws, then the Grizzlies took over. Allen scored on a floater in the lane, Randolph tipped in the ball as the start of 10 straight points by the Grizzlies. That prompted Popovich to scream at a referee for a timeout. But Vasquez and Allen scored for a 14-0 spurt before Parker finally answered with a layup.

For Memphis, it was almost as dominant as the third quarter of Game 4 when the Grizzlies outscored the Spurs 30-15. This time, the Spurs didn’t score from the floor for the first five minutes as the Grizzlies opened with a 28-16 lead after the first 12 minutes and led by as much as 14. The Spurs had six turnovers in the period.

Duncan, who turned 35 on Monday, looked every bit of those years early as he almost stumbled trying to drive to the basket. He later added an emphatic dunk that pulled the Spurs within 46-43 at halftime.

NOTES: Memphis hadn’t scored more than 44 points in the paint in the series until Friday night. The Grizzlies outscored San Antonio 62-38 in the paint and outrebounded them 43-32. … The Grizzlies even had a big edge at the free throw line, 22 of 30, compared to 12 of 14 for the Spurs.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2011042929

[Budkin]

Son of a bitch what a shitty way to end a great season.

[LavaLamp]

Sadly, there won't be a next season... Check out this video http://bit.ly/mCitQT Judgment Day is May 21, 2011. The Bible guarantees it. http://wecanknow.com http://familyradio.com

[duncan228]

Recap updated, more quotes.

Randolph carries Grizzlies past Spurs, into semis (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2011042929)
By Teresa M. Walker

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2011042929

[Bukefal]

Realistically we knew it was over. The only thing i have a problem with is that it feels like the spurs players themselves didnt really care anymore. No motivation.

[Pauleta14]

Realistically we knew it was over. The only thing i have a problem with is that it feels like the spurs players themselves didnt really care anymore. No motivation.


More that they (the big3) didn't believe it could be done with the players they had...

If I was playing alonside Bonner, RJ, Hill and with not interior D...

The goal was winning a championship, not escaping the 1st round!

Even if they had passed this round, they didn't feel (unless multiple miracles) the group was strong enough to win it all...:bang:bang:bang

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

I'm looking forward to next season despite this tragic ending. As long as Spurs stay healthy next season, I can see them doing much better. I just hope they learned a lesson from this series.

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

And the Big 3 is clearly dieing down. We need to re-build.

[Budkin]

It's really sinking in today how much of a letdown this is. I wanted to see an epic series with OKC and then square off against the Lakers. I can't believe we got bounced by the goddamn 8th seed. Fuck.

[spurs10]

It's really sinking in today how much of a letdown this is. I wanted to see an epic series with OKC and then square off against the Lakers. I can't believe we got bounced by the goddamn 8th seed. Fuck.
Well said.

[ace3g]

As I had mentioned in another thread, the Spurs/Grizzlies series came down to 50/50 balls. I finally recorded this stat for game 6 and give or take +- 2, the Spurs only got 7 50/50s, while the Grizzlies got 21 50/50s.

For the most part, even in the 2 games the Spurs won, the Grizzlies had a similar 50/50s stat advantage like in game 6.


I honestly thought at least for one game the Grizzlies wouldn't get all the bounces, loose balls, rebounds, etc; but that never happened. And in my opinion that was the difference in the series.

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

If Spurs would've won Game 1, let's just say this series probably would've been a sweep or 5 games. Too bad Pop didn't let Manu play in Game 1.

[Killakobe81]

Some of you all fellow Spur fans are classless, wishing bad things on opposing players.


Recognize talent and success. Memphis grew a pair of balls (in particular, Randolph) and knocked us out.


It's just basketball, you win some you lose some.


Today, we lost more games than they did because they were better and we sucked.


Get over it. Stay classy, and move on to next season.


That's it, and that's all.

straight class, trigg ...straight class.