Emphatic Revenge - Spurs vs. Grizzlies Playoff Preview

The Grizzlies defeated the Clippers in Game 7 to advance to play the Spurs in round two. While the Clippers put up a good fight in this season, the ending was an inevitability because L.A. was on the road with their best two players (Chris Paul and Blake Griffin) slowed by injuries. I expected Memphis to easily take the game and they were able to do just that.

Although last season’s upset is still fresh in the minds of Spurs fans, I expect San Antonio to handily win the rematch. In fact, I believe it will be a sweep. Yes, 4-0.

It’ll be physical. There will definitely be some tough sledding at times. However, after four games, as long as they can remain healthy, the Spurs will be moving on to the 2012 Western Conference Finals.

Here’s why:

10. No Letdowns
Even though the Spurs will have had more than a week of rest before the Grizzlies series begins, you can bet your bottom dollar that San Antonio will be ready to play. The sting of last year’s loss, especially the way they lost Game 1, won’t allow the Spurs to take this series lightly. The Spurs will be loaded for bear come the opening tip.

9. Tony Parker is ready
Mike Conley came out of nowhere to become the league’s preeminent Tony Parker defender at some point last season. Conley’s ability to stay with the Frenchman seemed to surprise Parker early in last year’s series. Eventually, Parker adjusted and did relatively well in the final few games. In this upcoming series, there won’t need to be an adjustment period. Parker knows Conley is the real deal and will be looking for retribution. And if it’s via passing and playmaking rather than scoring, Parker has shown -- this season more than ever -- the ability and wherewithal to modify his attack accordingly.

8. Tim Duncan is rolling
Last postseason, Tim Duncan wasn’t himself. He sprained his ankle in the stretch run of the regular season and never looked quite right again. Give the Grizzlies credit for defending him well but there’s no doubt Duncan is a better player than we saw in those six games last year in the playoffs. At the moment, the future first ballot Hall of Famer is playing as well as he’s played in years. Duncan’s mobility is much better than a year ago and he’s been in a groove the last couple of months. In the four meetings during the regular season versus the Grizzlies, Duncan has been dominant -- averaging 17.8 points and 10.3 rebounds in 30 minutes per game on 58.3% shooting from the field

7. Manu Ginobili is immune
When it comes to perimeter defenders in the NBA, Tony Allen of the Grizzlies is regarded by many as the best of the best. He’s quick, strong, aggressive and just a tough S.O.B. But, for reasons I’m not entirely sure about, Manu Ginobili is immune to Allen’s defense. Last year in the playoffs, Ginobili destroyed him even though the Argentine sensation was playing with a broken arm. In the 106 minutes the two players were on the court together in the postseason, the Spurs outscored the Grizzlies by 27 points. During those 106 minutes, Ginobili poured in 72 points on 51% shooting from the floor. Subjectively, it appeared as if Ginobili was able to match Allen’s toughness and then beat him with craftiness. On the other end of the court, Ginobili was free to wreak havoc by roaming off of the jumper-less Allen.

6. Zach Randolph is not 100%
Last year, Zach Randolph was by far the best player in the series. But after missing most of the regular season with a knee injury, Randolph has yet to reach last season’s level of play. A year ago, he posted a PER of 22.6 in the regular season and the same number against the Spurs in the playoffs. This regular season, Randolph had a 17.9 PER. Against the Clippers in the first round, his PER was sub-17. Another sign he’s not healthy: Randolph played 40 or more minutes four times against the Spurs in the playoffs last postseason, however he has yet to play 40 minutes in any game so far this season.

5. Grizzlies Strengths Neutralized
As a team, the Grizzlies are elite at two areas of the game: grabbing offensive rebounds and forcing turnovers. While Memphis is able to win a lot of games leaning on those strengths, the Spurs happen to be elite at defensive rebounding and taking care of the basketball. In fact, they’re the best defensive rebounding team in the NBA and the third least turnover-prone. In the postseason last year, the Grizzlies weren’t able to hurt the Spurs much in these two areas and I don’t expect that to change this time around.

4. Spurs Know Spurs
The Spurs traditionally have great chemistry. This season, that on-court chemistry has gone to an even higher level. Every player knows his role and for the last six weeks, San Antonio has been a well-oiled machine. The Grizzlies, on the other hand, are still searching for their identity. They have very good pieces but they haven’t yet figured out how those pieces fit together. Specifically, Memphis struggles to balance how much to go to Rudy Gay and how much to go to their interior players. Eventually, they’ll figure it out … but they’re not there yet.

3. Deadwood Removed
If you look back at the stats of last year's series, the Spurs struggled most when two players were on the court: Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess. For the series, the Spurs averaged only 92.7 points per 48 minutes. But when Jefferson was on the bench, the Spurs averaged more than 100 points per 48 minutes. The same thing happened when McDyess was on the bench.

2. Depth Matters
In the first round of the playoffs, Pop went 11 deep and there wasn’t much drop off at any point. Game in and game out, the Spurs can and will go ten deep. The Grizzlies have a quality starting lineup but their bench consists of O.J. Mayo and a bunch of questionable players. Ten versus six will especially help swing the series in the Spurs favor considering there will be limited rest between games.

1. Scoring Will Prevail
While it’s tempting to overdiagnose what went wrong last season, the bottomline is that San Antonio’s offense simply crashed and burned in the playoffs. And the offense disappearing wasn't a fluke; it had been getting progressively worse as last season progressed. Add a quality defensive team like the Grizzlies to the mix -- and that Ginobili arm injury -- and it wasn't exactly a surprise. This year, however, is different. The Spurs are peaking offensively and they will be able to put enough points on the board to make short work of the offensively-challenged Grizzlies.

Believe.

Damn it :lol

:lol

Sorry you had to write all that.

Nice :lol

:rollin :lol :rollin

Nice prediction, LJ.

:lol

:lmao

:lol :lol :lol :lol

There was some good ish in there. I especially liked the Ginobili vs. Allen stats.

And man, that sweep would have been sweet.

Oh well.

Grizzlies in 6, tbh.

:lmao

haha awesome.

Grizzlies not even good enough to get swept by spurs tbh

:lmao

Gutted for you Timvp, your written material is second to none. However, please don't sulk and refuse to write the Clippers version :o)

:lmao


Bruno was right


:lmao x 1000000000000005505000

I also think Memphis would've provided better preparation for OKC in the WCF (and potentially Miami in the Finals - yeah, I'm jumping the gun here, I know).

Rudy Gay is a Kevin Durant "type" player - long, lanky shooting forward with great handles and an ability to slash to the rim or shoot the outside jumper. I think it would've been great to have our guys "practice" defending him in round 2.

And Memphis is very competent defensively - would've been great practice to try and run offensive sets against such a competent defense in preparation for a defensive juggernaut in Miami.

:lol:lol

:lmao

If it makes you feel better, the Spurs v. Clippers Playoff Preview is pretty much just this...

http://espn.go.com/photo/2007/0605/n...povich_275.jpg

v.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/...43aeb741_o.jpg

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Originally Posted by Mugen

...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/...43aeb741_o.jpg

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Not sure if this picture doesn't violate the no porn rule on this forum...

Spurs over Grizzlies in 0. :lol

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Originally Posted by Slomo

Not sure if this picture doesn't violate the no porn rule on this forum...

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Blame Vinny, not me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mugen

Blame Vinny, not me.

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:lol

Not blaming, just wondering...

:smokin

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Originally Posted by Slomo

:lol

Not blaming, just wondering...

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I'm pretty sure it's how Vinny calls 4-down for DeAndre Jordan :lol

Bad move. You could have recycled most of 10, 9, 8, 7, 4, 3, 2, and 1 for your Clips preview.

:rollin

Bruno with cams at LJ's residence :lol

:lol

daaaaaammmnnn :lmao

:lol
Nice

:lol:downspin:

Love it.

:lmao awesome

http://media.commercialappeal.com/me...s_APP_t607.jpg

At least this Grizzlies loss added the [strike] [/strike] ability to SpursTalk. Now you can be even more passive-aggressive with your posts fix errors.

Not sure why you'd have acted like the Clippers had no chance. You're not the only one, mind you. That idiot Jon Barry didn't think they did either, among others. Full disclosure: I thought the Grizzlies would win too. But at the same time, I'm not surprised they didn't and nobody should be. When two teams are as evenly matched as these two, either is eminently capable of winning. Besides, it's not like the Clippers didn't have a major advantage working for them. Banged up or not, they had far and away the best player in the series and they had the second best player too.

TD 21 with the hindsight goods.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

TD 21 with the hindsight goods.

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Sure. I said the same thing yesterday . . . just not on here. I meant to get around to that, but I forgot where I saw that ignorant post of yours where you completely dismissed the Clippers and didn't have time to search for it, so I let you off the hook.

lmao I said it just not on here. Good hindsight cherry picking call :tu

Blake Griffin wasn't better than Gasol I disagree...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

lmao I said it just not on here. Good hindsight cherry picking call :tu

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Nothing I said was unbelievable, though. I admitted that I picked the Grizzlies, but you'd have had to be an idiot to act as if the Clippers had no chance. It's completely inexplicable when you consider how close the two teams are and the fact that they had the two best players in the series.

With hindsight, TD 21 is always right :tu

This is already getting old. Nice addition, LJ! :tu

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Originally Posted by timvp

With hindsight, TD 21 is always right :tu

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This isn't hindsight genius, it's logic. I couldn't believe yesterday when I saw you and others pretending the Clippers had no chance.

Your credibility has taken a major hit for this, tbh, imo. :rollin

Successful jinx thread is successful.

So when can we expect the Spurs-Clippers preview? :hat

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Originally Posted by ShoogarBear

This is already getting old. Nice addition, LJ! :tu

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:lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TD 21

This isn't hindsight genius, it's logic. I couldn't believe yesterday when I saw you and others pretending the Clippers had no chance.

Your credibility has taken a major hit for this, tbh, imo. :rollin

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The Pacers have absolutely no chance against the Heat in this series.

pushing my luck

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timvp

The Pacers have absolutely no chance against the Heat in this series.

pushing my luck

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More than fair. Just as saying the Nuggets had no chance in game seven would have been. But you never go that far when two teams are virtual equals . . . or at least you shouldn't. Hindsight isn't required to realize that; common sense is.

Damn that was stupid when you give it a second thought :)

Nice jinx thread breakdown still.

Good try. I'm glad you were wrong.

fck the grizz

Just look at all those people with pie in their face predicting a Grizzlies win ..... so sad.

Man that sucks timvp. Thanks for the write up anyway.

Revenge would have been sweet, oh well....I wonder how the team's feeling right now. I know deep down in their hearts they want the griz, or maybe they just thankful they're going to finally play.

Ima need another $ sign

Good job, LJ. :tu

:lol

:lol

:tu

That was the most effort I've ever seen go into a jinx thread.

Good show! :tu

:lmao @ thread!

Don't worry, the Grizzlies will fight through today's loss and will play better in game 8.

I check this st before I check scores and saw this thread earlier and thought we were playing the grizzlies. Asked my dad what the score was in game 7 and i was like huh...

:lol thanks for the writeup anyhow

I don't get why timvp is so pessimistic, tbh. All of these points (except for #6, #4, and to a certain extent #1) still apply.

Our defense is miles and miles better than last season but for some reason we have no chance this year :lol

LOL well done!

Timvp just giving us the Skip Bayless goods

Zach is back to being zAch

Arthur is back hitting them mid range js

But hwsnbn is replaced by kawhi and spurs got splitter and Diaw instead of dice bonner and blair to defend the bigs

Classic BUMP. :tu :lol

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Originally Posted by spurraider21

Timvp just giving us the Skip Bayless goods

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Sage call right there. timvp, Svengali motherfucker :tu

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DesignatedT

Our defense is miles and miles better than last season but for some reason we have no chance this year :lol

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:lol @ the bump.

Awesome bump. timvp of 2013 forgot it's a game of matchups, tbh