Official Memphis Grizzlies 2011-2012 Season Thread

[bhzmafia14]

Guy on the Grizz boards explained a few things about how the team was looking to develop an athletic, defensive powerhouse a few years back...and possible reasoning for some of those draft picks:

Greivis didn't fit Hollins' system, period, because he's not athletic enough to defend his position and our entire philosophy is built around an attacking defense. We led the league in forced turnovers last year, we punished the Hornets tonight with steals and fastbreak points just like we punished the Knicks the same way. That doesn't happen when your defense is getting broken down from the point of attack, which is what happens when Greivis has to guard most NBA point guards.

If you'll notice, casual observers are CONSISTENTLY ripping our point guards and praising opposing point guards. This is incessant. The primary reason for this, though, is that we play a lot of teams who give the point guard much more liberty to create and attack than Hollins does. Our offense is very structured and has several different looks, none of which begins with the point guard breaking the defense down off the dribble and making a decision, like many NBA offenses do. Instead, our point guard passes into the high post or the low post, then runs a curl or two or spaces out, while our offensive motion progresses (and Gasol takes excellent shots, while making an All-Star push). The closest we come to asking the point guard to put the offense on his back and be the star quarterback is when we run pick and roll. And if you'll notice, our point guards (i.e., Conley) are pretty **** good at it. Or we might clear out with the shot clock running down and ask Mike to create something on very rare occasions.

Hollins could tweak a few things about tonight, though (in my humble opinion). We are lost when he runs the entire second unit out there at once. I understand why he did this - he has to get our starters off the court whenever he can in this shortened season, and with an 18-point lead at home against the Hornets, there may not be any better time. But, Josh Davis? I get that Speights is technically the starter now, that he had some foul trouble, and we really only have four big men (Gasol, Speights, Cunningham, JOSH DAVIS), but Speights only saw 18 minutes and Josh Davis does not need to see the floor again ever. In the NBA, ever. If he doesn't want to put Speights in, put Pondexter in at PF and get Sam Young out there in a small lineup. The Hornets weren't going to punish us on the glass or in the paint with that lineup as much as Josh Davis does just by being on the court. Also, even when Tony Allen is playing well (like tonight), Hollins needs to do a better job of figuring out how to get Mayo on the court when he's also playing as well as he is right now. Move Tony to the 3 and get Mayo in at the 2 when Rudy sits down, something. Right now, Mayo is primarily getting minutes when Tony is sitting and I don't necessarily think you take away minutes from Gay to make more room for Mayo, which is probably the only realistic alternative for getting Mayo more minutes, but with Rudy pushing 40 minutes tonight, I think we could have seen Mayo on the court with the rest of the starters for three to five more minutes and gotten something good from it. 

Heisley and Wallace set out a vision for the blueprint of the team a few years ago, they said they wanted to be an athletic, scrappy, tough team and that eventually they wanted the Forum to be a place that opposing teams didn't want to play in because they knew they were going to leave with bruises. If I remember correctly, this was the vision before and essentially coinciding with bringing in Hollins. I think before, but I can't remember. This is the primary reason (despite KBM's Mayo theories) we ended up drafting Thabeet, in my opinion. That, plus we never interviewed him, only saw him work out once in a controlled environment, etc. And Barone may not be any better at spotting talent than the average fan (this I believe). But, the point is, the front office wanted a tough defensive team a few years back. For the past couple seasons, Hollins has noticeably preferred his role players to possess high athleticism and has made repeated comments about needed more athleticism, many of which were directed to the PG position and therefore Vasquez. So, they definitely wanted to add athleticism at PG more than anything else. That's how Pargo happened. Once Pargo was acquired, Vasquez was seen as expendable. Curiously, they brought in an athletic wing. That made Xavier expendable, which netted Speights. (Or it was all part of one contiguous deal, but was slowed down by Xavier's injury status). Otherwise, we drafted Sam Young and Demarre Carroll for the same reasons; they were athletic and could allegedly defend (the extent of Carroll's bustness in this regard still surprises me). 

Right now we have athleticism at nearly every position, save Zach and Marc, which is ironic, but it works. Oh, and JOSH DAVIS, of course. And honestly, I think one of the biggest issues Hollins has had with Mayo is his size and lateral quickness, and therefore, his defensive limitations. I think Hollins would love to see Mayo light it up on offense as a shooter, but is consistently worried about Mayo's defense whenever he's on the floor. Hollins is careful to never let Mayo be out-matched by a taller, longer, more athletic SG if he can help it. Of the many reasons Mayo slid out of the starting lineup, defense is the primary one. This was always a concern and it became necessary to act on it after Mayo's offense failed to make up for his defensive shortcomings, along with the idea that perhaps a trip to the bench could wake him up and add scoring punch to the anemic second unit we had. I thought Mayo's defense on Westbrook may have earned Mayo a niche defensive role with Hollins for use against bigger PG's that would help dig him out of the dog house and get him some playing time (still probably true to some extent).

I can agree with this for the most part. Makes a lot of sense. 

 

[ai39theanswer]

 

[Mound Raised]

good win Grizz...
conley jumper has def improved
rudy bein rudy
selby looks lost out there at times
no Drose, but we'll take it

 

[henz0]

Should be another W against the Hornets on Wed. too

 

[bhzmafia14]

Selby can't run the one under pressure. That's why Pargo needs to be the backup or we just need to trade for another backup. The only thing about Pargo is that he plays Euro ball. He really doesn't know how to run an NBA offense, but that will come in time. He's still the better backup.
First game this season where Conley, Rudy and Marc all played great at the same time. We can start a nice little win streak with these next 3 winnable games coming up.

 

[pmatic]

That was the best Conley has looked all season. Rudy showed out in the first half too. Gasol was solid as usual and Speights made an impact early.

 

[pmatic]

Tony Allen throwing the towel in the air. One of the things I forgot he does that randomly makes me

during games.

 

[bhzmafia14]

Sam is not happy at all here. You notice when the bench gets up, Sam is just sitting down? If you look at the game recap, he is sitting down after every big play made. 

 

[lebronh8er]

Would be nice to see them continue to build on what the accomplished last year, we will see how Rudy fits back in the mix again or if they use him as trade bait.

 

[bhzmafia14]

According to Hollinger, we've had the toughest schedule so far and the 2nd toughest over the past 10 games. 6-6 overall vs. a combined opposition record of .608, 6-4 in the last 10 with a +1.50 vs teams with a combined record of .581
Feels good to be 6-6 knowing this especially with Zach's injury and trying to adjust to bringing in a new player (Speights).

We went 3-1 in the homestand which was I wanted. I would've accepted 2-2. The next 10 game set is a little easier. @NO, @DET, Sac, @GSW, @POR, @LAC, @PHO, SAS, DEN, @ATL. Going 8-2 could happen if we beat all the teams we SUPPOSE to beat, win 1 of those tough road games (Por, Lac, Atl) and win our two tough home games (Sas, Den). I'll take a 6-4 record though. 12-10 is pretty good. I definitely want us to win these next 4 or at least 3 out of 4.

 

[henz0]

Conley, Gasol & OJ

 

[bhzmafia14]

The day henz0 praises Conley = doomsday

 

[pmatic]

2012 is real.

 

[bhzmafia14]

Does anybody think the Grizzlies may actually keep OJ?

 

[henz0]

I dont see why he would want to stay if he's not getting at least 12 shots and/or 30 mins a game.
What i've been trying to figure out is what does Hollins hate about him but likes so much of Rudy?

 

[shoeking2101]

Originally Posted by bhzmafia14

Does anybody think the Grizzlies may actually keep OJ?

I definitely didn't think they would, but with each passing day, it seems like they actually might.
Four in a row

. Mike Conley's confidence at the one is such a great sight to see. Biggest jump in his game to me. Slowly but surely, they are rounding into shape. 

 

[bhzmafia14]

Originally Posted by henz0

I dont see why he would want to stay if he's not getting at least 12 shots and/or 30 mins a game.
What i've been trying to figure out is what does Hollins hate about him but likes so much of Rudy?

Well, he's restricted so its really not up to him unless he demands to be out. I know that Heisley really likes him and I think that's part of the reason why he's still on the team. If you look at OJ and TA, they pretty much split the minutes at SG. When Tony plays more minutes, the team

In the Grizzlies wins this season Allen is averaging 24.0 minutes. In the losses only 21.5 minutes a game. Conversely Mayo is averaging 22.7 mpg in our wins but 24.5 mpg in our losses. Allen has a 17.67 PER according to Hollinger (15.00 is average). Mayo has a 13.55 PER. Its not that OJ isn't good enough to play 30 minutes, but he's not going to take Rudy's minutes. OJ and Tony at SG/SF isn't something the coach likes due to their height. Rudy, TA, Conley and OJ all bring different elements to the table and I think Hollins does a decent job using all 4.

More importantly, OJ is needed off the bench more than in the starting lineup. Rudy's ability to do pretty much anything on the court is why he's favored to play 35+ minutes a night. At the end of the day, I could see us making a decision on OJ at the end of the year. I think the front office wants to wait and see what this team can do healthy and see how far they can go this year. If we disappoint, we will either 1) trade rudy, keep OJ  2) let OJ go for nothing to have capspace for Speights and/or DA. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rudy go and us keeping OJ because it'll be much cheaper keeping him than Rudy.
  

 

[pmatic]

More than likely, the team will let go of Juice, whether it's at the trade deadline or this summer in free agency. The team has invested too much into the core four plus it should be easier to replace Juice.

IF the team decided to let go of Rudy, they need to make a play for Luol Deng. He's the best medium between age, contract, production and fit. If Paul Pierce was 27 instead of 34, he'd be perfect for the team.

 

[luong1209]

Posted in the fantasy basketball league, but I'd like some of your guy's input:

"In need of some help...Should I drop Z-BO? 

My situation:

- 12 man league
- #1 in the league, doing ok for now
- ZBO comes back 3/2, season ends April

Drop or keep?"

 

[bhzmafia14]

I dropped him on my team 

 .  I wish I didn't though. Someone instantly picked him up smh...I'll say keep him

 

[shoeking2101]

Originally Posted by PMatic

More than likely, the team will let go of Juice, whether it's at the trade deadline or this summer in free agency. The team has invested too much into the core four plus it should be easier to replace Juice.

IF the team decided to let go of Rudy, they need to make a play for Luol Deng. He's the best medium between age, contract, production and fit. If Paul Pierce was 27 instead of 34, he'd be perfect for the team.

This is what I think will end up happening with the juice situation.

 

[pmatic]

Juice.

 

[soldierdre]

these refs are horrendous

 

[henz0]

Said these dudes would play better without Z-BO in the lineup and look

Hollins needs to figure out a way to make the offense run this way when the team is at full strength

Conley has been playing amazing

Rudy is damn near unstoppable when he stays 20 FT & in, why doesnt he realize this

OJ's 3 Point shot has been $$$$$ these past few games

 

[Mound Raised]

Originally Posted by henz0


Hollins needs to figure out a way to make the offense run this way when the team is at full strength

Conley has been playing amazing

Rudy is damn near unstoppable when he stays 20 FT & in, why doesnt he realize this

OJ's 3 Point shot has been $$$$$ these past few games

i agree with everything u said 'cept what i deleted
i think z-bo in the line up helps tremendously from a scoring/z-bound stand point 

they've hardly had a chance to show what their capable of at full strength , but we all know errbody cant have the ball

we're doin fine, and will be great when z-bo gets back