Now the matchup is set. Tonight is the final night of regular season for the NBA. Grizzlies are playing a shutdown Orlando Magic team at home for a chance to take home-court advantage. I always thought the 3 playoff seasons we had the 8th seed going in because we boasted the notorious record of 0-12 in the playoffs up until the 7 wins from 2010-2011 post-season. We actually had the 6th seed in 2004 and the 8th in 2005. Unbelievable to my short memory, the Grizzlies had the 5th seed going into the 2006 playoffs only to be swept by Dallas after losing 2 quick ones on the road and then 2 crushing heartbreakers at home by the hands of Dirk Nowitzki. After that flameout the Grizzlies spent the next 4 years rebuilding into the product you see now!
With that introduction, I jump into a series of player matchup comparisons starting with the point guard position. You will see right away how vital home-court will be just looking at the Clippers vaunted starters.
Mike Conley
Skills: The famous "Keep the Ball on a String" video.
Chris Paul
Skills: Looks somewhat rusty but still got it.
Both basically run their team. The Grizzlies have 4 other very strong leaders in Gay, Randolph, Gasol, and Mayo. Conley is ultimately the guy that operates the offense, and executes the coaches' will out there on the floor. Chris Paul is more of a lone wolf out there running the offense, calling the shots, and making the plays. In crunch time it's CP3 time and the other guys are supporting characters.
When it comes down to it Conley's numbers don't compare with Chris Paul very well, but hopefully that's because the Grizzlies have so many more scoring options than the Clippers do. As the game grinds down the Grizz advantage will have to come from somewhere other than the point guard position. I will point out though, according to that chart above, Conley has 10lbs on Paul. Conley can be physical and if the Heliflopter takes flight, just get out the way and let him make himself look foolish!
Set em up,
and Knock em down!
No comments:
Post a Comment