Seeing A Glimpse Of The Future As Memphis Takes On Golden State

Posted by Sujeet under NBA Game Preview

The year is young for the NBA but as you know this is the time when cities across the United States can dream. Memphis has had a promising start this season much to my chagrin. I thought for sure they wouldn’t win a game until late November. This is the youngest team I have seen play professional basketball. Being young allows one to dream if only for a short while. Memphis has the unfortunate fate of playing in the Southwest division and with such competition this day dream will be short lived.

Rudy Gay has developed into a #1 presence in 07-08 averaging 20 PPG and 37 MIN. At least he has a decent sidekick in Marc Gasol. Gasol looks like the real deal at center averaging 11 PPG and 8 RPG in his first 2 contests. The problem is Memphis looks very unsettled at point with Conley and Lowry splitting time. That coupled with the team’s offense consisting of setting up wing play with Gay and Mayo creates a dysfunctional offense. Mayo has showed promise (as he should) averaging 14 PPG and 6 boards in the early beginning. They mustered a win overtaking Orlando in the last 1.9 seconds with a Gay 18 footer. This will happen from time to time but until this unit comes together with a more cohesive offensive plan they will have their struggles. They will be constantly inconsistent. At times they will look like a team that could be “playoff” bound. Dare I say the word “playoff.” At other times they will look worse then the 72-73 Sixers who went 9-73 (trust me I will not soon forget being from Philly). Using that analogy Memphis you are only 10 years away from the title. The Sixers won in 82-83. Sorry, I digressed back to my point.

Memphis is playing Golden State Monday night. An early season match up that I look forward to. I’m going to sit down turn on my big screen and crack open a Busch light (or two or three) and enjoy! A year ago I would never have said “enjoy” and “Grizzlies” in the same sentence. I’m not one for predictions but I feel Memphis wins this one. With this win I thee wed. Granted I will divorce you, Memphis, faster then Brittany Spear’s divorce from Jason Alexander (the 55 hour marriage). But you know what they all say, “bad press is better then no press.”

Golden State has had some mini dramas. Between Baron exiting Oakland for the glamour of LA (though I don’t call the Clippers glamour I call them pathetic) and Monta’s ridiculous off season injury they are a team in flux. Don Nelson has his work cut out for him. He doesn’t have the stellar back court of last year. That along with the fact that Al Harrington has been ostracized places Golden State in a horrendous situation. It is going to take a Herculean effort from Stephen Jackson and Cory Maggette to beat Memphis. Biedrins will be ineffective as long as Gasol stays out of foul trouble. This coupled with the fact Memphis is young enough to run and gun makes for a fantastic match up! Memphis, if you’ll have me I’d love to come on down for the honeymoon!

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Comments

One Response to “Seeing A Glimpse Of The Future As Memphis Takes On Golden State”

IslesGuru on November 3rd, 2008 2:32 am

I enjoyed reading this article even though I think a championship in Memphis is likely to coincide with a Stanley Cup win in Long Island in the year 2089.

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