Despite their 100-88 victory over the Nets, the Grizzlies played exactly like a 14-46 team would.
Just how brutal was it?
None of the Grizzlies bothered playing any lick of defense. Individual defense was lackadaisical, rotations were late, and during the stray chance a Memphis defender managed to stay in front of his man, the defender would never throw his hand out to contest New Jersey's shots.It was New Jersey’s own lack of energy and their wayward jumpers—rather than anything Memphis did—that contributed to the Nets 45% shooting.
Besides Dark Milicic (and only when being defended by Nenad Kristic), the Grizzlies were futile in their ventures in the pivot with Hakim Warrick and Rudy Gay missing all but one of their combined shots from the post.Juan Carlos Navarro, Kyle Lowry, and Javaris Crittenton are all shooting guards wrapped in point guard bodies.
The Grizzlies couldn’t slow down Richard Jefferson (10-18 FG, 22 PTS) and never closed out hard on Nenad Kristic’ jumpers.
Because of their fragile frames, Hakim Warrick and Rudy Gay slipped every screen making screen/rolls involving them virtually useless.
With no role players and no point guards, the Grizzlies tallied only 17 assists on their 39 field goals.
Darko Milicic’s leaden hands resulted in a number of needless Grizzlies turnovers.
Mike Conley (0-2 FG, 1-2 FT, 1 REB, 1 AST, 4 PF, 2 TO, 1 PT) was abysmal.
Of his four fouls, one was a mindless hack of Kristic after Nenad grabbed a defensive rebound; one was a terrible closeout on a Devin Harris jumper resulting in an atrocious foul; one came on a careless moving screen after a pass; and a fourth came when he didn’t move his feet quick enough on a drive and was tooted for a foul. Conley decided to drive one-on-four in transition resulting in a stupid turnover.
After leaving Marcus Williams to double Richard Jefferson on a wing, Conley stayed doubling Jefferson for three seconds after RJ passed the ball. Luckily for the Grizz, the Nets never saw Williams’ wide open dive-cut to the basket.
Because of Conley’s puny size, he wasn’t able to finish at the basket, he was strung out by screens, and he was timid where the giants live. On one third quarter drive, he beat his man and had a clear layup attempt at the basket, but he was so overly conscious of rotating bigs, that he timidly stopped and passed the ball out where Rudy Gay missed a semi-contested jumper.
Conley does deserve some recognition though. After all, it is hard for a player to make that many mistakes in only 13 minutes of playing time!
As the fourth pick of last year’s NBA draft, Conley will have to work extra hard on his strength, his psyche, and especially his court-awareness to avoid being the first bust of the 2007 draft.
With all of these flaws, mistakes, and errors, how did the Grizz manage to prevail against New Jersey?
Because Hakim Warrick (9-15 FG, 7-8 FT, 7 REB, 25 PTS) made the Nets pay for their refusal to throw a hand up on his jumpers.
Because while he’s too small, he doesn’t have great vision, and two of his layups were rejected, Kyle Lowry (5-12 FG, 4 REB, 7 AST, 1 STL, 15 PTS) had no reservations on driving to the basket and dishing out to shooters.
Because while he couldn’t stop Richard Jefferson at all, Mike Miller’s 22 points matched RJ’s total and prevented the Nets from winning that crucial matchup.
Because Jason Collins rebounded and set solid screens all game long.
On one possession, Collins set such a good screen while Hakim Warrick was curling off it, that Trent Hassell had to reach out and grab Warrick’s jersey to prevent an open look. Warrick hit his two free throws and the Grizzlies were able to add two points to their total just because Collins is fundamentally sound.
Because while his moves were bulky and mechanical, Darko Milicic (8-12 FG, 11 REB, 16 PTS) bullied Nenad Kristic and give him swirlies under the basket.
Because the Grizzlies managed to jump out to a quick 11-4 lead against the sleepwalking Nets. Realizing they had every chance to win, the Grizzlies played with energy the entire game.
The Grizzlies will be bad for the remainder of the year, and will likely be bad next season unless radical roster changes are made, or their young kids all develop ahead of schedule.
However, at least the Grizzlies have a post player in Milicic who can overpower NBA cream puffs, an athletic wing in Gay who has the talent to be a legit scorer, and the veteran Miller who can shoot, drive, pass, and rebound.
Fundamentally, the Grizzlies win was proof that in basketball, sometimes a lack of talent and a lack of execution can be made up for by simply playing hard.
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