Game 43 Preview: Oklahoma City at Memphis
by Zorgon on Jan 22, 2010 6:59 PM CST
in Gameday
110 comments
This also counts as an open thread, so feel free to post your thoughts during the game here.
Time: 7:00 PM Central Standard Time
Place: The Fedex Forum, Memphis, Tennessee
TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1)
Enemy Blog(s): 3 Shades of Blue, Straight Outta Vancouver
Backstory: I guess a lot of people are saying that this matchup is important. The Grizzlies have been on an absolute tear as of late, defeating teams such as Phoenix, San Antonio, Portland, and Utah. In an extremely tough January schedule, they seem to have thrived. Why are they doing this? Well, personally, I think they're doing it just to prove my "The Grizzlies and the Thunder Won't Make the Playoffs" article totally and utterly wrong. But really, they've found a way to win. Zach Randolph has regained his stride, Marc Gasol has turned into his brother, OJ Mayo and rudy Gay continue to score, and all Mike Conley has to do is pass. On top of that, Tinsley is a great backup point guard.
The Thunder, meanwhile, almost lost to the Timberwolves. That's not a good sign, but the Grizzlies are still the Grizzlies. Even after they win a championship, I'd still think the thunder would be able to beat them. Just as I'd believe the Thunder would lose to the Spurs, even if they were a lotto team. It's just ingrained into my thoughts.
Below: Matchups, Prediction
Matchups:
Center: Nenad Krstic vs. Marc Gasol
It's really no contest, but I wouldn't expect Gasol to feast. The Thunder have shown the ability to defend the interior well as of late, and I don't think that trend will stop tonight. As long as Brooks is willing to keep two big men out on the floor at once, this matchup shouldn't be a huge problem.
Power Forward: Jeff Green vs. Zach Randolph
Last time, Jeff Green had a pretty mediocre game offensively, but he was really good at pestering Randolph into bad shots and a lower percentage. Still, expect Randolph to have the upper hand in most categories.
Small Forward: Kevin Durant vs. Rudy Gay
Rudy Gay is the type of player that will drive to the basket and earn a lot of his points at the line. Expect these two to just have scoring contests on each other.
Shooting Guard: Thabo Sefolosha vs. Orange Juice Mayonnaise
Last time Sefolosha did an excellent job of forcing OJ Mayo into bad shots and a bad percentage. Expect that to continue here.
Point Guard: Russell Westbrook vs. Mike Conley
Mike Conley's main job is to just pass the ball, so he shouldn't be much of a scoring threat against Westbrook. Last time, Westbrook had an offensive feast, and I think Conley will put up minimal resistance. He'll have to watch out for Tinsley at times, though.
Battle of the Benches:
The Thunder have a far superior bench in every department but Point Guard, in which the teams are tied.
Coaching and Intangibles:
The Grizzlies are on a tear and at home, so I would watch out.
Bottom Line:
To me, there are two keys to this game. The first is incredibly simple, and said by announcers all the time. It's defense. There's no way the Thunder are going to out-gun the Grizzlies, who can light up the scoreboard better than my Warriors could have in my entire lifetime. They'll need to make sure Sefolosha shuts down Mayo, and they'll need to have two big men in the post at most times. If that means less Jeff Green, then so be it. It just might be necessary. The second key to the game is exploiting the bench. With the exception of Tinsley, the Grizzly bench is pretty terrible. The Thunder bench can easily outperform them, and the Thunder players will be better rested, so they should fare well against the Grizzly starters, who get little rest. In any case, the better we do against the Grizzly bench players, the less playing time they get, and the more tired the starters will be.
Prediction: Oklahoma City 100, Memphis 99
I may have a Vancouver Grizzlies jacket, but that doesn't give me any mercy for the team from Memphis.
How do you think the game will go? Vote in the Poll!
And, again, feel free to drop any comments you might have during, before, or after the game below. I might be by during the game to drop my thoughts as well. Go Thunder!
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Krstis is playing crappy.
2 missed frees, at least 1 missed shot, and he just let a rebound hit him and roll out of bounds.
Your friendly neighborhood Loud City resident.
marc gasol
is gonna be a force in the league for the next decade.
Looks like green already has one block
he has been working hard on the glass as well.
Your friendly neighborhood Loud City resident.
At least it should have been a block.
Turnovers are killing us.
Your friendly neighborhood Loud City resident.
yeah he already
got a trey too. ya can’t just leave him alone out there
ahh, their bringin it.
our superior conditioning and depth will pay off later
ya know when these guys
really, really get it figured out, they ain’t gonna turn the ball over so much. but will it be as fun to watch?
don't see kd
get his shot blocked very often, but that was a beat the clock shot.
I hear Westbrook is donating $1,000
to Haiti for every point he scores tonight.
Your friendly neighborhood Loud City resident.
A thought...
Ya know, last year, it would have been natural to get the feeling we weren’t going to have it. But this team has shown they can get back into any game.
by Kidder on Jan 22, 2010 7:47 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
i seriously think
you could see ibaka improve over the course of the earlier spurs game this year, when timmy kept getting him to foul. just learning to play nba defense. hopefully mullens will have that moment. it might take him playing spot minutes for a whole year. he definetely looks like he belongs, and not in tulsa
yeah, i like that
we have enough depth that we get to see rw and green playing as hard as they can. i remember the first game against the pistons, rw0 was just in beast mode pretty much ran that game singlehandidly, set the tone for the year. i remember thinkin this man’s bout to run himself to death on the court.
get out of here
with that hollinger plus minus!!!
it's good
there’s a lot of cool stuff a yahoo fan site like this can do with stats, keep bringin it
i just caught bill clinton during halftime
of the game in ny. that dude is so smooth. he needs to head the UN
memphis got up by ten or so
at points during the first half. thabo was runnin the pont like earvin. for two plays. ya missed dat
Thunder
Down most of the first half by as much as 14, then forced the Grizz into a 5+ min drought and took the lead by one at the half.
grizz
21-11 since ai left the team. ima go put on my pair of iversons i only bring out when im up in da club
actually that’s not true. they are 21-11 since a 1-8 start but iverson wasnt with the team for all of it.
he played 3 games, so let’s not blame him for their bad start, but they are obviously better without him. besides with the joke of the all-star voting somehow he is starting.
im ok wit
the all star game being a career achievement award.
most consecutive games over 25 for someone under 22.
by mleetch352 on Jan 22, 2010 8:54 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
maaayyyne wit da floater
he a baller, ain’t none of us doubted that
demare could get more playing time,
if his team didn’t have rudy g and zach r. im from kansas but i love what mike anderson is doing in mizzou
He is kinda sneaky with his weakside blocks.
My opinion of Thabeet has changed with this game. He is going to be solid.
Your friendly neighborhood Loud City resident.
I love the girls loudly cheering for the Thunder.
They sound drunk and in love with Green, but that makes it even funnier.
Your friendly neighborhood Loud City resident.
i know,
i guess they didn’t know that marc gasol was gonna make a commitment to getting in shape when they drafted him.
Tonight only when he scores.
Green has more boards and blocks.
Your friendly neighborhood Loud City resident.
by daddydai on Jan 22, 2010 9:23 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
hopefully we're learnin
from what zach just did there. it must be so hard to execute a play everytime. i love nba
harden's a baller
harden, maynor, ibaka, mullens. we ain’t gonna get this much better every year
compare jeff green to
other “finesse fours”. he can drive so much better than antwan or raw lew. unless you want to go with a pure twin tower option, he’s great. i’ll take the ability to drive over pure 3 point hand in the face shooting like rashard can do.
announcer just called
jeff green faster than an amtrack train. i nominate his loud city nickname to be amtrack
hell yeah
im gonna go paint the town (THUNDER BLUE), have a good one people
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Northwest Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Denver
|
53 | 29 | .646 | 0 | Lost 1 |
|
Utah
|
53 | 29 | .646 | 0 | Lost 4 |
|
Oklahoma City
|
50 | 32 | .609 | 3 | Lost 2 |
|
Portland
|
50 | 32 | .609 | 3 | Lost 2 |
|
Minnesota
|
15 | 67 | .182 | 38 | Lost 7 |
(updated 9.2.2010 at 4:09 PM CDT)
Thunder Schedule
Last 5 Games
|
Los Angeles Lakers
|
Fri 04/30 | L 94 - 95 |
|
@
Los Angeles Lakers
|
Tue 04/27 | L 87 - 111 |
|
Los Angeles Lakers
|
Sat 04/24 | W 110 - 89 |
|
Los Angeles Lakers
|
Thu 04/22 | W 101 - 96 |
|
@
Los Angeles Lakers
|
Tue 04/20 | L 92 - 95 |
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