May 21, 2013
WESTERN CONFERENCE
One team makes it to the first time in franchise history, one team is used to the hype because they are Champions. We look at this matchup of where two teams have a point to prove.
Memphis vs. San Antonio
The Summary: The Memphis Grizzlies are on a run to the trophy, they haven’t really upset any teams because The Clippers were evenly matched and it was the same for the Thunder with Westbrook out. What’s different about the Spurs is that they are a great veteran team unlike the Clippers and they have all their players intact unlike the Thunder. To that, though doesn’t mean Memphis should just stop playing excellent because they have growing stars like Mike Conley who’s averaging 17 points and 7 assists in the post-season. Players like Conley who are stepping up in playoff caliber basketball is what pushes the team-over-star Grizzlies over their oppositions. Memphis won their previous series by teamwork that was it, nobody was hogging the ball and everyone was getting looks. That’s what makes them dangerous; nobody is a star so nobody is a target when opponents defend. Any player on the team can light up the scoreboard in points or assists. The most effective offensive machine the Spurs have to worry about is Zach Randolph. So, when we watched Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, we saw Zach not hitting anything because of San Antonio’s great double-teaming (Parker and Cory Joseph deserve credits). Randolph went 1-8 in Game one and after the Spurs went up by 17 in the first-quarter the game was already over. It was surprise for a team like the Grizzlies to lose by 22 and let a team score 105 points on them with their great defense. The good thing was at least Memphis had the lead once, even if it was for 22 seconds and it was the opening seconds being 2-0.
Memphis is a good team; them and Randolph will bounce back the next game and will come out blazing. There’s no way they’ve found a way to defunct Zach Randolph, he’ll watch tape and learn new ways to score and make a dent in their defense. He’s not the only one who can do that, if you put Marc Gasol on the offensive spotlight, he’ll deliver either shooting his “jump” shots or with great passes. Either to Randolph or outside to a perimeter shooter like Conley or Pondexter, there are many options. The front-court of Memphis is obviously a stronger one then San Antonio’s so they should be out-rebounding but if they don’t that’s not a big surprise with Tiago Splitter and Tim Duncan. Go to the back-court and you have Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard who can both be great to input points but the person Tony Allen needs to look out for is Manu Ginobili. Although he’s been inconsistent through the play-offs, he can have great games and Allen needs to shut him down whenever he gets hot. Same thing for Tony Parker, but that has to be Mike Conley, he has to take him out of his zone. Force the front-court to play zone and make Parker shoot jump shots. Anything is better than Parkers drive and kick plays that usually leave oppositions kicking themselves because a three came out of it. To really sum it, both teams are facing the hardest teams they played in the playoffs. It’s hard to see anything less than a great series.
Key Players: Zach Randolph and Tony Parker/Manu Ginobili. Zach Randolph has to play better than his Game 1 performance if he can’t score and bring in double teams, it’ll be hard to see Memphis get into a offensive groove unless someone like Gasol gets hot from the field. Tony and Manu are both important players because you’ll need Parker to open plays for other players but I feel like Manu is more important because he needs to have good shooting performances. If his teams play is going awry and he’s coming off the bench and can’t score, there goes the series. Manu is a big confidence boost for most teams when they have him coming off the bench. When he’s being inconsistent though, it can hurt the team even more than playing Kawhi or Danny Green more minutes.
Prediction: Memphis in 7. The Grizzlies know how to adapt to teams and they shouldn’t have a huge problem as long as their 3’s start falling or if they can get Randolph back into an offensive machine again. Does it sound dumb to say San Antonio is too old, too? Well, they’ve gotten there, guess they need to prove me wrong.
Anticipate a Memphis and Miami Finals.
