Rudy Gay vs Zach Randolph/Marc Gasol

I agree completely, if they utilize their bigs i can see them making a run and getting to the championship. They are the only team that can match up well with the Lakers bigs. I think this Mem-Clips series is going to be a great one and I will also say whoever wins will also beat the Spurs.

If the Grizz playes inside out basketball I think they will get to the WCF and if they match up with the Lakers (instead of OKC). I can see them making it to the Championship. I my opinion they are the most well rounded team in the league (good players and depth at every postition) and if ZBO beasts like he did last year I can see them winning the west.

 I think the Grizz want to play inside out but the gave Rudy all that money and still try to feature him. In fast break situations he is great and he is a good spot up shooter, but when they iso him it gets ugly. Kind of like NY with Melo. I think they may be trying to keep Rudy happy because he will be their number 1 option one day. Z Bo is getting older and is coming of a knee injury. He won’t be a go to guy much longer. 

They really just need to rely on Z Bo in the playoffs, during the regular season having Gay be the go to guy will work fine for them and they will be a top 5 seed for years to come but once playoff time comes there is no better way to win games then big men dominace and Z Bo is one of the few big men who can completely dominate a game. But like Indiana said running the offense through Gay and settling for jumpshots simply won’t work in the playoffs and they will be out in the first round.

This is not the same Z Bo as last year. He looked gassed last night. Got his shot blocked some. He can grit it out, but it would be like expecting Dirk to replicate what he did last year. Dirk played out of his mind, and so did Z Bo.

We need to run the offense through Marc Gasol. He is our best low post player now. We might really have to ride him. Then he can get Z Bo going hopefully.

One thing I noticed is that their bigs (Blake, Jordan) played above the rim and ours did not (Z Bo, Gasol).

I agree that ISO’s for Rudy is not the way to go, but they clogged the middle to some extent. They played solid D on him and they played physical the whole night.

The Grizzlies must win Game 2. The crowd was incredible last night and will be good again. But, there is a lot of pressure on us and we still have to steal one in LA. Marc Gasol has to dominate and Rudy Gay has to be more judicious in his shot taking. We need to close down the paint (but we really lack a true shot blocker) and close out on their shooters.

im a big fan on going inside out on offense, but i have to think if im memphis, dont i have a bigger advantage having Rudy Gay being covered by Nick Young or Ryan Gomes, or my bigmen being defended by Jordan, Evans, Martin and Griffin?

Rudy Gay is 1 of my favorite players,1 of the nicest guys in the nba and his teammates love him….Dude is an effortless relentless scorer and he can score in a variety of ways….If he had better handles he might be a Top 10 players…But whats holding him back from joining the league elites is that he’s not that great a ballhandler or passer and often takes bad shots….I sometimes cringe when he brings the ball up the court….He has great length,he’s good in he clutch,he’s a very good rebounder,shot blocker,among the top 20 in steals,great in transition and he’s the perfect compliment to Z-Bo & Gasol…Becuz neither of those guys are very athletic..Gasol is a very underrated passer and that works well with Rudy versatile game…And Rudy being a premiere scorer causes double teams and sometimes leaves ZBo or Gasol left for open shots…

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I was reading the Memphis Grizzlies blogs and people think that Z Bo losing a bunch of weight earlier in the year hurt him.  He wasn’t the same at the beginning of the year before he got hurt.  He isn’t a pitbull like he needs to be.

I think that Marc Gasol might need to carry us like Z Bo carried us last year.  Other than Andrew Bynum, no other center in this year’s playoffs can match what Marc brings to the table.

We have to impose our will inside and feed the bigs.  We aren’t going to get as many fast breaks as LA or as many alley-oop dunks. 

The big winner of last night’s game might be San Antonio.  If they can put the Jazz away in 4 or 5 then I can see the Memphis-Clippers series going a tough 6 or 7.  The Spurs will be rested and the winner of our series will be beat up.  The Lakers look great and the Thunder look very tough.  So if the Spurs get by the Jazz they could end up playing the next two rounds against teams that are physically and emotionally drained.  That’s why winning game 1 for the home team is so important.  Win the first then you have momentum going into game 2.  If you hold serve at home you go up 2-0 and have a shot at getting the series over with in 5 games with the crucial game 5 being at home.  You lose game one at home then ALL of the pressure is on the home team for game 2 and you STILL have to steal one on the road.  Then it very easily turns into a six or seven game series.  Even if you still end up winning the series you are really extending yourself and possibly wearing out by the time the next series rolls around.

I think that whoever wins the first round matchups in 4 or 5 games has a very good advantage the rest of the way.  The top four teams in both conferences are pretty much even and whoever has the most rest gets a slight edge, in my opinion.

The Spurs have been pacing themselves and resting their veterans all year.  The Grizzlies pushed the pedal to the metal up until the final buzzer against Orlando in game 66.  We didn’t rest Marc enough either. 

Can’t wait for Game 2.  I will be there.  Let’s see what happens.

I like Gay a lot, but he isn’t right for this team anymore.  I’d look to move him this offseason.

Memphis got too comfortable with that big lead….They got that huge lead and started playing to please the SUPER HYPED FANS,by jacking up jumpers,knowing that outside shooting is their biggest weakness.. …Instead of going inside-outside their bread & butter….

They shouldve remembered just last week,when they were playing Orlando and also had a huge lead and the Magic cut their 20 point lead down to 6,but luckily Memphis got the win after they started feeding Gasol inside…

 I didnt catch all of the game, but Indiana and I mentioned this before in a thread and people were saying that Gay was just coming back off injury and yada ya…

The point is, when you have a Center and a PF that both can score and are matchup problems….you have to play inside out if you think you going to win a championship.  This is not a team led by great ISO scorers like MJ/Kobe, or great all around players and passers who can get everyone involved like Magic/Bird.  

Go to the inside, pound it in there.  There will be some nights where Gay will have the advantage in his matchups, those are the nights where he can go wild.  Randolph is not the same as last year, but I still think they should play inside/out.

Hollins has done a great job of getting guys to buy in….but he still needs to use Gay in a more complimentary role to the bigs…especially now that Z-Bo isnt a total black hole like he used to be.

I agree with Indiana…Gay just seems to be a ball stopper. He gets the ball and more often then not, he is shooting it, and alot of the time the shots he is taking are just not the types of shots you want your team to get, even when he is making them, it just looked like bad offense.

Is it just me or do 75% of his touches come in the low post? I get that he is a solid scorer down there, but I would say he needs to stay out a little more to space the floor. I think that Randolph and Gasol should be banging in the paint and have Gay cutting/slashing/spotting up more often.

The Beautiful thing about the Grizzlies is that they may have the most complete team in the West, there is litterally not a position that they are weak at. They can run their offense through alot of guys and when they are moving the ball effectively, they have at least 5 guys who can go for 20. I think they need to get Gasol more involved because when he gets it, good things happen. He is a fantastic passer from the post, has a nice mid range shot, has great moves and shoots a high percentage from the charity stripe.

Rudy Gay needs to stop forcing his offense so much, I realize that he is their end of shotclock guy, but besides that, he should be able to score in the flow of the offense because they have so many weapons. I still expect Memphis to win the series and advance to the Western conference Finals, on paper they have all the pieces.

I don’t know that I see what Gay gives them that a top defender who can hit open 3’s doesn’t.  Conley, Gasol and Randolph are all capable of being go-to guys.  Gay is an expensive luxury that can, at times, break the offense.