Game Preview Later Today

I will have a preview of tonight's game against the Kings up sometime this afternoon.

I've gotten bogged down with the paper's Monday/Tuesday production cycle and need to get through all that before I can work on Griz blog stuff.

Check back this afternoon for preview goodness.

Submitted by Chris Herrington on Tue, 11/18/2008 - 4:16pm.
Chris Herrington's blog | 2 comments

Grizzlies-Kings Pre-Game Three-Pointer

Tried to post this earlier in the afternoon, but my Internet connection was down:

If individual games can be important for a young team more focused on development than playoff contention, tonight’s game against the Sacramento Kings would seem to fit the bill.

After a promisingly competitive west-coast swing, it would be a downer for the Grizzlies to come up empty on a three-game home stand against middle-of-pick teams. After last week’s bad loss to the Knicks and overtime stomach punch to the Bucks, losing tonight would do that. It would also put the team’s current losing streak at 5, a round number significant enough to erase the optimism of a 3-3 start.

On a housekeeping note: I will not be able to make it to tonight’s game. I might still do a post-game three-pointer depending on how the night goes, but it won’t be from a courtside perspective but rather from the home office here on the Midtown/North Memphis border.

As always:

1. Transition Scoring: The Commercial Appeal’s Ron Tillery made a strong observation in his game story today, pointing out that the Grizzlies are 7th in the league in turnovers forced per game but only 25th in points scored off turnovers, which suggests rather clearly that the Grizzlies aren’t taking advantage of transition opportunities. You can see this in Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, and Kyle Lowry poorly executing fastbreaks on several occasions and in Mike Conley not pushing the ball hard enough off turnovers to create more transition shots.

The Grizzlies fancy themselves a scrappy, speedy team that likes to get out on the break, but so far that theory isn’t being put into practice often enough. If the Grizzlies can correct some of these execution issues, transition scoring could be a big plus tonight. The Kings are turnover prone (28th in team turnover rate) and poor defensively (last in defensive efficiency). The Grizzlies need to turn on the pressure tonight and take advantage.

2. Point Progress: Point guard has been a problem all season, but the focus has been mostly on the disappointing play of Mike Conley. Lately, however, backup Kyle Lowry has been just as bad, if not worse.

Tonight, Conley and Lowry need to be the focal point of the defensive pressure on the Kings’ turnover-prone point guard, Beno Udrih. In Sacramento, on the road trip, the Grizzlies (especially Conley) let Udrih get into the lane too easily. That needs to change.

Offensively, the Kings’ porous defense and lack of shot-blockers should make it easier for Conley and Lowry to make more of an impact. Conley was much more forceful with the ball against the Bucks, his early penetration helping the team (and especially Marc Gasol) get off to a good start. Let’s hope that energy carries over tonight.

3. Marc Gasol vs. Brad Miller: Veteran Kings’ center Brad Miller didn’t play in the game on the road trip, but he’s back and playing well, averaging 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists. For his sake, Gasol had a forgettable game against the Kings, getting double-teamed and taken out of the action to the tune of 5 points and only 3 field-goal attempts in 31 minutes.

Before the season started, when I’d quiz Grizzlies insiders on Gasol’s ceiling, Brad Miller was the name that came up the most. Ten games into his career, I’d upgrade the Miller comparison from Gasol’s ceiling to a very reachable goal, and tonight’s the first time we’ll get to see them go up against each other.

What’s been missing most is the passing aspect. Gasol’s assist numbers have been very low after putting up good numbers in the preseason. It’s partly a function on his high turnover rate, but mostly a result of a team offense that clearly isn’t operating at full capacity. Gasol has flashed terrific, Miller-esque, passing skills, but those skills haven’t been exploited very well so far.

The Jacob Riis Report: The Kings will likely be playing without leading scorer Kevin Martin and super sub Francisco Garcia, which would leave their wing rotation very thin. To compensate, the Kings have been playing some big lineups with rookie power forward Jason Thompson moving to the three. This would help their rebounding, an area in which the Grizzlies are vulnerable, as the Bucks game would attest. But if this means Thompson is stuck guarding Rudy Gay, the Grizzlies will take it. Rudy should be able to go off if presented with that match-up. A good sign: After an abysmal start to the season with his outside shot, Gay has hit a more expected 4-10 over his past two games. Hopefully that suggests his shot is finally coming around.