I think they relay too much on ZBo and he's not going to be consistent against the Spurs front court.
The Grizzlies have been playing great. Marc Gasol has been a beast. Best record in the league. I actually like their team, but I just don't see them giving the Spurs any major problems if they meet in the playoffs. Ever since they beat the Spurs as an 8th seed in 2011, it seems the Spurs have had their number. When I read about contenders to the Spurs, OKC comes up, Dallas, even Houston and Golden State, why not Memphis?
Big game on Friday, not to jinx either team, but I hope they go into the game with their win streaks intact. The Spurs play Brooklyn and Memphis plays Houston on Wednesday, before they meet each other on Friday.
I think they relay too much on ZBo and he's not going to be consistent against the Spurs front court.
Separating contenders from pretenders is always a subjective judgement, but if Dallas, Houston, and GS are contenders, then so is Memphis.
Steven Adams singlehandely beat them last year. sure they can beat anyone team this coming playoffs. But I doubt they can win 4 series in a row. no superduperstar or big 3 imo. (no conley, zbo and gasol are not a legit big 3)
The Spurs match up very well with the Grizzlies tbh. I think they'd have a shot at the Finals if they avoided San Antonio but the Spurs would win in 5 should they meet.
Ever since that 2011 playoff series, they seemed to have neutralized ZBo. Before that, he seemed to do anything he wanted.
Blair and Dice were replaced with Splitter and Diaw. Plus Tim went through a time machine.
playing Bonner 20mpg and jefferson 30mpg will do that to you
It's funny how that works. The Grizzlies always seem to give OKC a tough time, and OKC always give the Spurs a battle, yet I'm confident the Spurs could take Memphis in 5 too.
If Splitter isnt healthy, we would see a 7 game series
WCF potential. They might upset one Texas team but not two.
They're getting better with their perimeter threats and their defense is always terrific. But the Spurs have solved the post defense against them, plus the Grizz can't easily make adjustments on offense if things start breaking down.
They're contenders in the sense that they can make the WCF. Against the Spurs? No. They still lack perimeter threats and the Spurs frontcourt is the kryptonite to Gasol and Randolph.
Carter can still hit from downtown as we saw in Round 1 vs. the Mavs.
Yep...that's probably a huge part of of why the Spurs are successful against them. Also, without them having consistent perimeter threats, guys like Danny and Kawhi have the athleticism, size and quickness to cheat down and provide help defense on their bigs.
Remains to be seen. He's been terrible so far this season and he turns 38 next month. He could be done.
sure but without Splitter we are reduced to a few choices: Play Duncan/Diaw 40 minutes(bad idea for the long run), go small (bad idea vs zbo/gasol) or play our scrubs bonner, aussie and errors(terrible idea)
He's getting old though and had enough shooters around him in Dallas that required attention. Lee is the only other perimeter shooter on the Grizzlies that is their best hope but the Spurs can live with both of them being those guys.
If they still had Mike Miller, sadly he would still be their best shooter.
They are good, too bad refs ed them last season against OKC.
currently they make their threes which always was the weakness because the Spurs could just collapse in the paint ... it would be great to beat them on Friday on their home court where they have not lost in like forever, but without Tiago I do not see it happening.
They can beat any team in the league aside from us IMO. But the chances of them winning 4 straight series is pretty unlikely. Would be nice if they knocked out OKC for us though.
Same can be said for Golden State. I know a lot of people here scoff at them, but they're a much better team this year than they've been in the past. Kerr is leagues ahead of Mark Jackson already, and Curry/Thompson are both playing the best basketball of their lives. Draymond Green has turned into an excellent role player and Kerr realizes this...they play their best basketball with him at the 4. Although I guess we'll see what they do once Lee comes back. Iguodala is a fantastic role player as well. Like Memphis though, we match up well with them. Green typically does an excellent job at neutralizing Curry and Kawhi can check Klay. Still, I don't think they're as much of a pushover as some think. They're the 2nd most dangerous team besides a healthy OKC IMO.
I'm not very high on Houston. They rely so heavily on 3s and their bench is pretty mediocre.
Dallas's offense is amazing but their defense is just as bad as it was last year. Overall I don't see them being a threat.
Tough matchup without Splitter. Be a good test for Baynes though to see if can avoid fouling out.
I wouldn't sleep on them but I think they are still lacking perimeter firepower to take the spurs in a full series.
This year's West looks like 2013(Spurs only contender), 2010(Lakers only contender), 2009(Lakers only contender) and maybe 2008(Lakers only contender, you could make an argument for the Spurs, but the role players were horrible and Duncan was at the end of his 4-down prime), tbh..
Only one contender + a bunch of "very good" teams that will receive a ton of hype because fans/media always hype/cheer for the "new blood" teams..they're tired of the Spurs, just like they were tired of the Heat(which led to over-hyping teams like the Bulls and Pacers), and the Lakers, before them..
The only difference being if OKC makes the playoffs and they aren't worn out from the grind to make it to the playoffs, they're obviously the other legit contender in the West, just like last year..
The Grizzlies match up very well with the Warriors, Rockets, Blazers, Clippers.. , virtually every team in the West minus the Spurs..
Vince is one of my 3 favorite non-Spurs of all-time, but he looks absolutely finished, and he's their biggest threat from the perimeter against the Spurs(Courtney Lee and Tony Allen)..
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