Grizzlies Adjustments for game 3

[Obstructed_View]

Pray Pop continues to keep Bonner and Neal in the lineup for extended periods.

Seriously, that's it. They have no shot otherwise.

[ShoogarBear]

Tony Allen plays in a neck brace.

[angelbelow]

Pray Bayless and Pondexter catch fire.. get Duncan into foul trouble again.

[Darius McCrary]

Pray Pop continues to keep Bonner and Neal in the lineup for extended periods.

Seriously, that's it. They have no shot otherwise.

What about Pop playing Parker without his typical 2nd half rest?? Parker was dogcrap out there for most of the 2nd half, and was heroballing us into OT before the Manu Foul That Shall Not Be Named.

[DPG21920]

OV: You still don't think rebounding is a possible concern? Spurs not only were destroyed overall but they gave up double digit offenisve boards. Memphis missed a lot of put backs that you would have to think go in if the rebounding does not sure up. Yes, Tim was in foul trouble, but they were trailing when he went out in the REB department.

[kaji157]

They are going to flop a lot because they´ve seen it works.
Also they will hack Parker and Ginobili in the paint because they know they won´t be called.
Manu will kill them from 3.

Yes, i said that.

[TheGoldStandard]

Memphis is going to hold the Tony Allen drill during the off days, grab something and fall on the floor and act like you've been shot. Then pop up and be okay. Unless the refs hand them another game then we should be fine. I'll say we win game 3 lose game 4 and finish them off here game 5

[dbreiden83080]

IF we win game 3 we will bury these fuckers. They are going to expect the Spurs to let down and give away game 3.. Lets go get it..

[TheGoldStandard]

Haha then we'll see ESPN jump on the bandwagon for 1 game.

[Warlord23]

Jokes apart, I think Hollins is getting the message, albeit slowly:
Prince + Allen: 42 mins
Bayless + Pondexter: 71 mins

Next game Prince probably drops out of the starting lineup and plays even fewer minutes

[MR-Clutch]

6-7 of those boards came on that one possession, am I wrong?

[2centsworth]

Grizzlies have to dominate the boards and shoot effectively from the outside or Spurs need to make boneheaded plays down the stretch to lose the game.

[Darius McCrary]

OV: You still don't think rebounding is a possible concern? Spurs not only were destroyed overall but they gave up double digit offenisve boards. Memphis missed a lot of put backs that you would have to think go in if the rebounding does not sure up. Yes, Tim was in foul trouble, but they were trailing when he went out in the REB department.

ppfFFFFFffFFFFfffFFFFFFF Randolph got a majority of those within a spat of a few plays within a few minutes

[ElNono]

I think one of the biggest adjustments they found that worked for them is one I mentioned in my Game 2 adjustment thread: sit TA/Prince and post up ZBo with Pontdexter and Bayless spreading the floor. It worked against our bench guys pretty well. That's what erased a bulk of the big lead. With Prince giving them almost nothing on offense, and very little on defense, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets benched early in Game 3 or doesn't even start.

[Nathan89]

OV: You still don't think rebounding is a possible concern? Spurs not only were destroyed overall but they gave up double digit offenisve boards. Memphis missed a lot of put backs that you would have to think go in if the rebounding does not sure up. Yes, Tim was in foul trouble, but they were trailing when he went out in the REB department.

Had about 6 of those on one non-scoring possession. They get a lot of at the rim rebounds like Blair use to on offense. It's often very deceiving.

[Brunodf]

OV: You still don't think rebounding is a possible concern? Spurs not only were destroyed overall but they gave up double digit offenisve boards. Memphis missed a lot of put backs that you would have to think go in if the rebounding does not sure up. Yes, Tim was in foul trouble, but they were trailing when he went out in the REB department.
No, most of them were vs Diaw/Bonner lineup and 7 straight vs Duncan/Splitter(missed all)

[RD2191]

We are going to get blown out in game 3. Memphis gets away with murder at home. They also get massive ref help. I would be absolutely shocked if Tim didn't get into foul trouble early.

[apalisoc_9]

OV: You still don't think rebounding is a possible concern? Spurs not only were destroyed overall but they gave up double digit offenisve boards. Memphis missed a lot of put backs that you would have to think go in if the rebounding does not sure up. Yes, Tim was in foul trouble, but they were trailing when he went out in the REB department.

If you go back to the game, Memphis at one particular play had 6 straight offensive boards..

[HarlemHeat37]

Memphis made the most obvious adjustments in the 2nd half of game 2 that should have been made in game 1 and in the first half of game 2: less Prince, more Pondexter/Bayless..

That's the only adjustment they really have, tbh..

The Grizzlies' adjustments in games 3 and 4 isn't technically an adjustment..they are going to receive an egregious officiating advantage, similar to tonight's 2nd half..the Grizzlies are given a pass to murder opposing teams at home, they are the most ref-reliant team in the league, as I've been saying for weeks, tbh..

[siraulo23]

grizz are capable of shutting down the spurs...

game 3 is gonna be tough as fuck, but the spurs can get that game as long as they rebound and make a couple of open 3s

[DPG21920]

Subtract 6 - they still have 13 offensive rebounds and still pounded the Spurs overall on the glass. Most of MEM offense comes from OFF REB and they destroyed the Spurs there and it's part of what allowed them to stay in the game: extra possessions. Not to mention drawing a foul from it and they missed some easy ones which would have boosted their scoring.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I'd be shocked if they don't start Poindexter in Prince's place for game 3.

And first team to 70 wins on Saturday.

[pgardn]

Randolph adds the suplex to his wrasslin arsenal.

[GSH]

OV: You still don't think rebounding is a possible concern? Spurs not only were destroyed overall but they gave up double digit offenisve boards. Memphis missed a lot of put backs that you would have to think go in if the rebounding does not sure up. Yes, Tim was in foul trouble, but they were trailing when he went out in the REB department.


Rebounding was always my biggest concern against Memphis. The Spurs aren't going to out-rebound Memphis often. But if they keep the margin close, and keep the points in the paint close, Memphis can't win this series. Surprisingly, even with the Griz killing them on the offensive glass, the Spurs still outscored them in the paint. The rebounding was pretty much even at the end of the first half. I don't have the numbers for second chance points, but in general the Spurs did a pretty good job of limiting the damage from Memphis' offensive rebounds.

Here's a few other things about the rebounding that sort of ease the sting:

With 50 seconds left in the first half, Randolph had 3 defensive and 1 offensive boards. He got an easy one off Kawhi's missed 3-pointer. Then he got 3 quick offensive rebounds on that one crazy play under the Grizzlies basket, and he finished the half with 4 and 4. In the third quarter he had just 1 defensive and 1 offensive rebound. He picked up another cheap defensive board at the start of the 4th, off another missed 3-pointer. It was that whistle-fest in the 4th, when they gave the fifth foul to Duncan, and two quick ones to Bonner, that really let the dogs out. It changed the way the Spurs were able to defend, and it allowed Randolph a lot more freedom in the blocks. It also meant that Tim wasn't available to contest for a long period of time. That's not meant to bitch about the calls, just to explain what it took for Memphis to get that rebounding margin.

At the end of regulation Randolph had 14 rebounds. We can live with that. He had 9 defensive, and 5 offensive boards - and considering three of the offensive boards came on that one play (where Memphis didn't score), we can live with that too. Gasol finished regulation with 11 defensive and 2 offensive boards. We can live with that, too. We can't live with letting Allen scoop 4 offensive rebounds on a regular basis, like he did tonight. And we can't live with Splitter having just 4 defensive and no offensive rebounds. But I don't think the rebounding was quite as big of a problem as it appears. Still a concern, but no reason to jump ship.

[Edit:] Here it is - the Griz only outscored the Spurs 8-2 in second chance points tonight. Like I said, they did a good job of limiting the damage. Maybe they can't do that every game, but as long as we don't have the same kind of foul trouble, the Griz can't pile up that big of a rebounding edge every night either. They didn't in the regular season.

[spurraider21]

tony allen should suffer more concussions. that strategy seems to work well for them

[SA210]

Pray Pop continues to keep Bonner and Neal in the lineup for extended periods.

Seriously, that's it. They have no shot otherwise.

If that's the case, they might be in luck.

[Mal]

get Duncan into foul trouble again.

This

[KaiRMD1]

Hope Spurs miss shots?

[Mal]

Only thing, that comes to my mind for Grizzlies is to keep Duncan out of paint. He was +22 today. Rim was protected, despite Grizzlies attacking it all the time. Splitter, Diaw and fucking Matt Bonner were pushed.

Grizzlies made their comeback with Duncan on the bench, which is significant.

[Kidd K]

Main adjustments: Flop more since the refs are clearly willing to bail them out when they can't score, hope the refs call cheap fouls on Duncan even earlier than they did in game 2, try fouling even more often since the refs barely called any of their fouls under the basket.

That's probably the jist of their gameplan. They need Duncan and other Spurs bigs (mostly Duncan) to pick up fouls so they can score more easily. If Duncan stays out of foul trouble, they will likely continue to struggle until the refs open up the game for them by taking Duncan out of it again.

[Budkin]

Hope the Spurs miss and that Tim Duncan fouls out. Otherwise they are fucked.

[Obstructed_View]

OV: You still don't think rebounding is a possible concern? Spurs not only were destroyed overall but they gave up double digit offenisve boards. Memphis missed a lot of put backs that you would have to think go in if the rebounding does not sure up. Yes, Tim was in foul trouble, but they were trailing when he went out in the REB department.
It's a good thought, but I don't really think so, and here's why:

First, Rebounding is a problem if you aren't giving the effort. It's something you shore up and focus on if you're the Spurs, but the Grizzlies can't gameplan to get 19 offensive rebounds any more than they can gameplan to get a bullshit flagrant foul call in the closing seconds of the game.

Second, a lot of the reason the Grizzlies got so many rebounds is because they were missing shots. That's a downside, but it's statistically insignificant if the Spurs are playing good inside defense. They got six offensive rebounds on a single possession, but they came away -2 as Allen fouled Duncan who hit both freebies.

Also, the first adjustment you make when you're outrebounded like that is not having Matt Bonner in for 27 minutes tbh.

[Rapper]

Grizzlies will win 3 straight games that said the spurs will down by 2-3 , a close win will be taken by the spurs in game 6 (2 OTs) to force a Game 7 , finally the spurs will take Game 7 at home to finish the series

[Mal]

Grizzlies will win 3 straight games that said the spurs will down by 2-3 , a close win will be taken by the spurs in game 6 (2 OTs) to force a Game 7 , finally the spurs will take Game 7 at home to finish the series

When Memphis will take 3-2 lead, they will close out that backdoor sweep for sure. Or Stern will make sure of it - see WCF 2012 g6

[TampaDude]

Grizzlies will win 3 straight games that said the spurs will down by 2-3 , a close win will be taken by the spurs in game 6 (2 OTs) to force a Game 7 , finally the spurs will take Game 7 at home to finish the series

Grizz ain't winning 3 straight in this series. You're on crack.

Spurs in 5.

[ezau]

I just don't see this Grizzlies team being able to win three or even four against the Spurs. Sure they rallied in Game 2, but the Spurs took their best shot and the Grizzlies still fell short. This ain't a Thunder team with three very talented wing players who can go off any time. Spurs will split, then wrap this up in 5.

[100%duncan]

Pay Stern more.

[romain.star]

OV: You still don't think rebounding is a possible concern? Spurs not only were destroyed overall but they gave up double digit offenisve boards. Memphis missed a lot of put backs that you would have to think go in if the rebounding does not sure up. Yes, Tim was in foul trouble, but they were trailing when he went out in the REB department.

I agree that rebounding is an recurrent issue... last night however, around 8 Memphis offensive rebounds came from one action

[2centsworth]

Pondexter Balyess keeps us honest and limits Khawi and Green from helping. It's a significant adjustment. We should counter by relentlessly attacking the basket and getting their bigs in foul trouble. I fear we will settle for the 3.

[MaNu4Tres]

Subtract 6 - they still have 13 offensive rebounds and still pounded the Spurs overall on the glass. Most of MEM offense comes from OFF REB and they destroyed the Spurs there and it's part of what allowed them to stay in the game: extra possessions. Not to mention drawing a foul from it and they missed some easy ones which would have boosted their scoring.

On the same token, Memphis missed some easy put backs or layups because we had 3-4 guys in there contesting those put backs.

Credit Memphis for doing well on the glass, but credit the Spurs for contesting and not giving up on those put backs.

Hollins, some fans, and some analysts are acting like the Grizzlies are missing wide open lay-ups. That couldn't be more far from the truth. Spurs are contesting just about everything.

Spurs have to do better on the boards and I imagine they will if Duncan stays out of foul trouble.

[DPG21920]

I would agree for the most part - however, even contested, those are makeable shots - at least more than they have been. Also, Spurs were getting hammered on the glass before Tim was in foul trouble and even in Golden State series rebounding issues surfaced.