Trick or Treat: Give Me Some Nets to Beat!
Tonight your Memphis Grizzlies are back in the Grindhouse to take on the Brooklyn Nets. This game should provide a treat for Grizzlies fans. In the season preview I talked about how winning the “give me” games is going to be imperative. Tonight the Grizzlies are facing one of those games.
After dropping a rough 30 point loss to the Cavaliers the Grizzlies bounced back in an entertaining fashion against the Pacers. Tonight’s game can bring our record to 2-1 if the Grizzlies stick to their game. What do I mean by stick to their game? Well, feed the ball through Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Gasol and Randolph have historically been the most efficient players against the Nets. The Nets can’t stop both of them. They just don’t have the power. They didn’t have the power last year with Mason Plumlee and now he’s gone. The Grizzlies big man duo will have the opportunity tonight to take full advantage of their game in the paint. The Grizzlies should walk away from this game with plenty of paint points and rebounds. I expect Gasol and Randolph to both manage double doubles tonight. We should also see plenty of steals from Tony Allen. Allen will be able to be the disruptive force he always is and that will pay off tonight.
The treat I want most is to see another good game from Jeff Green. As Coach Joerger pointed out on Thursday night, the Grizzlies are 106-12 when they score more than 100 points. If Jeff Green can continue to find his rhythm with the team the Grizzlies have a greater chance to reach their offensive potential. It’s going to take a few games for the new line ups and plays to start to create some chemistry. I am looking forward to tonight, which should by all means, be a confidence boosting game for our guys. The Grizzlies should hit the court and play some entertaining basketball against a Nets team that just doesn’t quite have it all together right now.
During the off season the Nets bought out Deron Williams and started their way towards rebuilding. Rebuilding means youth. While Brook Lopez, Jarrett Jack and Joe Johnson still remain the majority of the team was acquired during the off season or are young players. Lionel Hollins does not have a very deep bench to reach to. All of this should prove beneficial for the Grizzlies. However, like we have learned in the past nothing is guaranteed and sometimes it’s the young, undervalued players that play the game of their life.
Brook Lopez is still great at grabbing offensive boards which lead to second chance points. The Nets were able to out-rebound the Grizzlies in their most recent matchup. While this shouldn’t be a deciding factor in the game if the Nets are able to force the Grizzlies into sloppy play like we saw Wednesday night anything is possible. The good news, the Nets pace of game closely mirrors the Grizzlies which gives the Grizzlies time to get set defensively. The Grizzlies won both games against the Nets last season. They did this by taking care of the ball, playing good defense and playing to the Grizzlies strengths. It’s always a treat when Lionel Hollins comes to Memphis and there shouldn’t be any tricks in what should be the second win of this season.
Since tonight is Halloween the Grizzlies are encouraging tonight’s game attendees to come in costume. I hope we see plenty “Captain Clutch”‘s, maybe a “Big Spain” inspired Matador and of course you could get really creative and be “In the Mud”. Tonight’s item of the game is going to be a Glow-in-the-Dark Grizzlies t-shirt and the first 5,000 fans in attendance will receive a mini hoop set courtesy of First Tennessee Bank!
Tip-off is at 7 p.m. If you can’t make it to the game tune into FoxSport Southeast or if you’re out trick-or-treating you can find the radio broadcast on 92.9 FM.
Stat shoutout to nba.com and basketball-reference.com
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