Will Grizz Re-Tank to Get Us?

[Calispursfan11]

Spurs are currently 2nd while the Grizz are 6th. Assuming the race stays this close at the bottom nearing the finish line and the Spurs stay in 2nd, will the now healthy Grizz try to tank to get us instead of the Lakers, Clippers or Mavs? And if they do tank, what are the chances it pays off for them this year?

[Leetonidas]

Spurs if healthy will destroy the Grizz imo

[bklynspursfan]

I'd be shocked if it went to 6 games. Simply because they have a chip on their shoulders cause of last year. Parker will not get outplayed by Conley. And their offense is not run through Gasol/Zach as much with Gay back in the lineup. And Kawhi has done a great job making him work.

[cheguevara]

Memphis will come together come playoffs IMO. They will be dangerous. And spurs have not done much to improve on the weakness in this series, our frontline. The onlly guy mem would be missing is Battier. so Spurs still would have a better chance this year.

But tank to face us? no I don't think any team wants to face these spurs.

[ezau]

With 16 games remaining, teams that are currently ranked 6th to 10th in the West are only separated by three games. If the Grizz tank again just to get us, there's no guarantee that they can even make it into the postseason.

The West is definitely a clusterfuck right now. The Mavs, which occupy 5th spot, is only ahead by two games from the eighth-ranked Houston.

I will be very, very surprised if the Grizz would tank this year considering how close the race to the playoffs is.

[Phenomanul]

Not to mention... The Grizz no longer have the services of Darrell Arthur (injury), Shane Battier (lost to free agency) and to a lesser extent Grevis Vasquez (traded) this year... Those three players played a significant role in last year's playoff victory against the Spurs...

Yeah, they have Rudy Gay now... but he actually chucks them away from playing their strong hand (Z-Bo) as frequently as they should...

[tmtcsc]

I hope they do. I .... hope .... they ... do.

Seriously, I'd love to see us correct last year's debacle with a resounding ass whooping of the Grizz and their pimp-dressed coach. Bring your big-ass-stripes suit wearing fool self and your "we got something for you" attitude to our house again.

"Say 'what' again. Say 'what' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say what one more Goddamn time!"

-- Jules, Pulp Fiction

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I think they'll tank to face the Thunder, they are chomping at the bit to play them.

[JR3]

If they are insane, they will tank to get us... But good luck doing that. The records are too close. They could tank their way into the lottery.

[silverblackfan]

I hope they do. I .... hope .... they ... do.

Seriously, I'd love to see us correct last year's debacle with a resounding ass whooping of the Grizz and their pimp-dressed coach. Bring your big-ass-stripes suit wearing fool self and your "we got something for you" attitude to our house again.

"Say 'what' again. Say 'what' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say what one more Goddamn time!"

-- Jules, Pulp Fiction

My first thought also. Bring it. I think the Spurs would welcome the chance to prove they have the personnel to get the job done this year.
Battier was a huge loss to them, especially when he plays out of his mind against the Spurs. Always has been a pain in the neck.
With Jackson, Diaw and the rest of the deep bench, I think the Spurs would destroy them. Even better if they tank to get it.

[SenorSpur]

I hope they do. I .... hope .... they ... do.

Seriously, I'd love to see us correct last year's debacle with a resounding ass whooping of the Grizz and their pimp-dressed coach. Bring your big-ass-stripes suit wearing fool self and your "we got something for you" attitude to our house again.

"Say 'what' again. Say 'what' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say what one more Goddamn time!"

-- Jules, Pulp Fiction

I second that emotion too.

The Spurs are solidly set at #2 seed. I hope the Grizz do decide to muster their bravado and tank to end up at the #7 seed.

As others have already mentioned, this aint last year's Spurs team. And I'm sure TD, Manu and TP would relish the opportunity to go up against the Grizz in another 7-game series.

I admit the Grizz are still not a good matchup for the Spurs and personally they still scare me, yet this current Spurs team is way more capable of handling them this year, than last year's Spurs team.

[Beanzamillion21]

I wish they would. We would sweep their ass.

[Budkin]

We'll kill them this year with our roster changes.

[will_spurs]

I will be very, very surprised if the Grizz would tank this year considering how close the race to the playoffs is.

Last year they only tanked the last few games. Maybe the playoff picture will be clearer hen there are only 2-3 games left to play.

However I don't think that would be wise, and they don't have the same confidence and swagger they had last year. Besides, there are other teams who aren't as good as their records indicate, both teams in LA for example.

[benefactor]

I hope they do. I .... hope .... they ... do.

Seriously, I'd love to see us correct last year's debacle with a resounding ass whooping of the Grizz and their pimp-dressed coach. Bring your big-ass-stripes suit wearing fool self and your "we got something for you" attitude to our house again.

"Say 'what' again. Say 'what' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say what one more Goddamn time!"

-- Jules, Pulp Fiction
:tu

[Fireball]

Memphis plays Dallas twice, Miami and OKC in the next days ... lets see where they stand after this ... but I would love to get the rematch in the first round if all Spurs are healthy

[Horse]

If healthy we would've beat them last year, we have much more length now and players that reallly hurt us last year are gone like battier,sam young and darell arthur those fuckers hit every shot they took. But tank hell no we'll beat their ass!

[urunobili]

This version of TP would never crumble again against Conley and if Pop plays more Tiago and Manu is healthy... I'm not sure the Grizz want that TBH...

[FvckMavs]

...players that reallly hurt us last year are gone like battier,sam young and darell arthur...

Don't forget RJ.

[TheSpurglar]

Go on and tank, Grizzlies. I dare ya...
:hungry:

[Proxy]

Please... I hope they do. I know we would see some TD stare downs and Manu fist pumps.

[freetiago]

not worried about memphis
they rode the momentum of winning their first ever playoff game in franchise history and got ridicuously hot
all their role players played better then they are and randolph just didnt miss shots
he had all the bounces and went like 6/6 vs bonner in the final minutes of game 6 after spurs got the lead
this year Gay is back to kome shots away from his bigs
the role players that helped are gone and wont play at the same level
and they just havent learned how to play together
i think theyre record with randolph in the lineup is something really bad like 3-10 and they play okc tonight who their 0-3 vs
lots of young teams like memphis have come and gone throughout the years that have failed to live up the expectations

last season spurs also got injured towards the very end and played horribly after the all star break
i think we were like 50-10 pre all star break then finished with a .5 record the rest of the way to close the season out
this seasons spurs looks to be healthier and their peaking at the right time
would love to see the spurs blow them out in the first round and for that team to die
randolph already pretty old and they build their title hopes around him

[acoelho1]

The Grizz will be a tough out for any team that plays them in the 1st round. However, I believe the Spurs are better equipped this year to handle them and if it happens, so be it. Bring it on! Payback!

[elbamba]

Arthur being out hurts the Grizz. They lose their best defender in Battier while Manu and Jackson look to be strong going into the playoffs. Tiago is 5x better than he was last year thanks to playing time. Tim looks three years younger whereas last year he looked three years older.

Grizz want no piece of this team. In fact, I am sure no one wants a piece of the Spurs. This team might not be great defensively, but they are not bad either. When they need a stop they tend to get it.

[lefty]

The Grizz dont want to meet a healthy Spurs team in the 1st round, not this year

[Obstructed_View]

I would love that. I'm sure the Spurs would as well.

[Mugen]

While the Spurs would probably win in 6, I still don’t want to face the Grizzlies in the first round for a couple of key reasons:

a) Tough, physical front court which will wear out the Spurs when they are likely to meet the Lakers in the 2nd round (a bigger, better frontcourt)
b) The Grizz would have zero fear of the Spurs regardless if they’re healthy (not a guarantee either) after last year

If the Spurs draw Memphis in round 1, that means they most likely have to go through Mem/LA/OKC to get to the Finals. That’s a brutal draw against the top 3 teams who all pose a lot of matchup problems. I think they can reach the finals if playing 2 out of those 3. But beating all 3 would be asking A LOT.

[TJastal]

Would be funny if Pop tanks to get the grizzlies. I'd have to give him some mad props if he did that and then booted them out in the 1st round.

:lol

[roycrikside]

I agree with most people here, I'd love to get the Grizz. It's really hard to think of a better matchup for us, tbh.

Not only would the Spurs be super motivated and locked in to play them, but if anyone's been paying attention this year, the Spurs weakness on defense has been teams that can shoot, not the ones who can bang inside. The Spurs actually defend the paint fairly well and rebound very well. They just give up open jumpers and dare you to out-shoot them.

Of course, I guess the best match-up would be to play Denver in the first round. I think all of ST would demand that the Spurs drop game 1 on purpose.

[Robz4000]

I think it'll come down to the game they play against the Spurs here in a few weeks. By then Zbo should be comfortably back in the starting line-up having a significant impact. If they manage to pull a win out of the AT&T center that might convince them to tank should they be in a situation to do so. However, I expect the Spurs to beat the living hell out of them again.

[timtonymanurich]

IMHO...

THE ONLY reason the Grizz beat us in last years series was because Z-BO Played on a PLATINUM/JORDAN-esque Video-game Crazy-go-nuts. Dude HIMSELF would throw up 18-20 pts in the 4th ALONE. Spurs Just stood around and watched every lucky bounce and prayer that he chucked up somehow fell in.

Z-BO was straight up SICK-LUCKY and even threw 3's with Ginobili-like consistency.

the 2011 Grizz WON'T happen again. MARK MY WORDS.

[Mel_13]

Bring it on, young cubs.

[z0sa]

I would love the Spurs serving up some cold revenge on the Grizz.

[Obstructed_View]

IMHO...

THE ONLY reason the Grizz beat us

Well, maybe not the only reason...

http://48minutesofhell.com/48minutesofhell.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/manu-ginobili-elbow-injury.jpg

[therealtruth]

I second that emotion too.

The Spurs are solidly set at #2 seed. I hope the Grizz do decide to muster their bravado and tank to end up at the #7 seed.

As others have already mentioned, this aint last year's Spurs team. And I'm sure TD, Manu and TP would relish the opportunity to go up against the Grizz in another 7-game series.

I admit the Grizz are still not a good matchup for the Spurs and personally they still scare me, yet this current Spurs team is way more capable of handling them this year, than last year's Spurs team.

Last year's team was just as capable of defeating the Grizzlies with Splitter integrated and Dice coming of the bench. With TD, Splitter, and Dice they would have been able to defend Gasol,Randolph,and Arthur single converage without getting destroyed. That would have allowed our perimeter players to stay on the Grizzlies limited perimeter players and not over help.

[Calispursfan11]

Grizz were looking good against OKC tonight. Perhaps they roll into the playoffs like last year. We'll see how it plays out in the weeks to come.

[ducks]

spurs have sj not rj this year

[100%duncan]

We will destroy em. But I hope we won't face them in the first round because they can destroy LAL/OKC tbh.

[Calispursfan11]

We will destroy em. But I hope we won't face them in the first round because they can destroy LAL/OKC tbh.

I agree. Would like LA/OKC to get drubbed by them first if we have to eventually face them.

[100%duncan]

Grizzlies can be a huge help to us tbh. Although we want to avenge our loss it's better having them tire other teams that can hurt us too. And if they beat those teams, then I'll gladly welcome them to hell.

[Sean Cagney]

Grizz were looking good against OKC tonight. Perhaps they roll into the playoffs like last year. We'll see how it plays out in the weeks to come.

If they roll into the playoffs they will move up in the seedings moreso so that means there would be no rematch anyways.

[cheguevara]

yup Grizz looking good. worst matchups for Spurs in WC:
1. Grizz
2. Lakers
3. OKC
4. Dallas