Recap- Grizzlies vs Warriors
Every year we start the season with the chance of our Memphis Grizzlies being the NBA champions when it’s all over, and every year we start the season with the chance that we won’t. The chances of the latter are far greater than the former, but neither of those chances can be fully realized four games into the season.
As much as I want to see a championship parade down Beale Street and a pretty NBA Champions banner hanging from the rafters in FedEx Forum, I know from the outset the odds are not ever in our favor. And it will be a long, painful season if we start hitting the panic button after just four games.
I don’t feel the need to give a detailed account of what went down last night, that won’t make it any less painful. So I’m going to break it down a little differently for this one.
Here’s a chart with some numbers*, for those of you that are into that sort of thing:
All this happened:
- We got our asses unceremoniously handed to us
- Worst loss in franchise history, the Grizzlies lost by 50 points
- Worst shooting percentage in a game in franchise history: 27.1% FGM as a team
- Steph Curry had 30 points
- Golden State was 11 of 25 from distance, Memphis was 3 of 23
- ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE RELATED
Things that need to be said:
- Jeff Green is not the albatross dragging the team down. In fact, Jeff Green gave us solid offensive production for most of the regular season last year. But Jeff Green wasn’t meant to be our savior, and if you think our problems are such they could be solved simply by the addition or removal of one player, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you. That’s not how basketball works.
- This is not a team that can be built or buried on the performance of one player alone.
- Marc Gasol needs to be more aggressive, or rather be more consistently aggressive.
- Everyone needs to work harder at not giving up on a play once the ball is released from the shooters hands. More boards = more buckets.
- We are not a transition shooting team that poses an offensive threat on the perimeter.
- Kick out to Tony Allen on the perimeter near the end of the shot clock- this should never happen on purpose. This shouldn’t even happen on accident.
- Russ Smith needs at least half of Beno Udrih’s minutes. Scratch that, Russ Smith has EARNED at least half of Beno Udrih’s minutes.
- Matt Barnes is not going to be our savior either, but he can be the “3 and D” guy we need.
- I am completely unable to say or write the expression “3 and D” without dissolving into a fit of giggles.
Regarding the veritable implosion that rocked our fan base last night:
I can do a lot of things. On any given day, I wear a number of hats and play a number of roles, but I can’t coach an NBA team. And I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that none of you reading this can either.
The Warriors are really good at this basketball thing. One might even say best in the league. There’s a reason this Golden State team is the defending NBA Champion, and it’s not because they got lucky, they are a damn good squad. Anyone that watched any part of the Western Conference Semifinals should not question that the Warriors are a good team, and if we’re being brutally honest, a better team than the team the Grizzlies have been playing like. It’s a bad matchup for us.
We got blown out in their house, by the reigning NBA Champions. The Grindhouse isn’t the only arena that can work voodoo magic on an opposing team. How many times in the last few years have we watched opposing teams come in to our house and get absolutely spanked, I mean just balled all over and shut down?
I’m not talking about lottery teams here either, I am talking about serious contenders in their respective conferences, sending them on down the road with their heads hung, wondering what exactly happened to them.
Surely y’all don’t think we’re the only team in the league that can’t get shook? Because that’s pretty much what happened to the Grizzlies last night in ORACLE Arena.
Home court advantage is a thing that exists, and unfortunately everyone watching last night got treated to a demonstration of that phenomenon.
That’s what it is, and that’s how it be.
It doesn’t mean the era of grit and grind is dead, but it should be a wake-up call that we need to be more adaptable to our opponent on any given night. We need to be able to implement a smaller, faster-paced lineup against teams like Golden State that seem to be impervious to our efforts to grind them down and wear them out.
This Grizzlies team is an anachronism of sorts, and we play a style of basketball that is a throwback to another time. We’re a ground and pound kind of team when the rest of the league is moving towards a run and gun style. We trade 2s for 3s, we flub in transition, and we get thrown off when teams clog up the paint against Gasol and Randolph. This Grizzlies team has yet to produce reliable 3 point shooting in any capacity.
None of this is new information, it was just more prominently displayed last night.
If you’re a part of Grizz Nation, of our collective team fandom, and already threatening to quit the Grizzlies forever, or at least the rest of the season please allow me to share with you a priceless gem of wisdom I learned long ago, from classic cinematic masterpiece, Demolition Man:
“Enhance your calm, John Spartan.”
Stop acting like we just blew an entire season on one lousy game, and recognize what a privilege it is to even have this team to represent the city of Memphis, for you to be fans of. From the MVP season ticket holder to the folks tuning in to hear the Grizzlies radio broadcast, these guys go out and put on for all of us.
Ride or die, even when the ride is ugly. Grit. Don’t. Quit. That’s how we do things here in the Bluff City, that’s the Memphis way.
Rub some dirt on it, Grizz Nation, and let’s get back in there tonight. There’s still 78 more games left to play, and one of them is coming up shortly. I’m hoping to see our boys take out their frustrations from last night on the Kings tonight. Tip-off for tonight’s game is 9PM CST, so we’ll soon find out. Until then, keep a cool booty y’all!
Who: Memphis Grizzlies vs. Sacramento Kings
When: Tip-off is at 9PM CST
Where: Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento, California
TV: Fox Sports Southwest
Radio: WMFS 92.9FM/680AM
*All stats from NBA.com
Doesn't bluff, stays grinding.
Bluff City Born and Memphis Made
- Memphis Grizzlies Assistant Coach Niele Ivey Named New Head Coach for Notre Dame Women’s Basketball Team - April 22, 2020
- Notes From Grizzlies Media Day 2019 - October 2, 2019
- Memphis Grizzlies 2019 Training Camp Roster - September 30, 2019
