They have the talent they just need a better Coach. JVG , Sloan or Adelman would have those guys in conference finals at a minimum. Even Nate McMilllan would be a upgrade over Hollins.
Zach Randolph recovering from injuries hurt their chances, as they also did not have Darrell Arthur. Honestly, they do not need much. Maybe a nip here or tuck there. They are fine. Hell, I thought they would've given any of the other remaining teams a hellacious series.
We are talking about contending status. Were they going to beat the Thunder? I think the ATL comparison is a good one, a definite playoff team but a team that is merely a obstacle for lesser teams and fodder for the better teams. Kind of like the gate-keeper fighters in MMA or Boxing.
They lost to the Thunder last year in 7 games. They lost a triple OT game agains t them or they would be playing Dallas. And they matched up really well against Dallas.
Lebron has made it to the finals how many years and still haven't won it? If all that was required was a superstar he'd have 3 championships. Hell it took Chris Paul 4 years of playoffs to make it out of the first round. He did it in his rookie year and then nothing. The reality is that the grizzlies had to overcome major injuries to Zach and Darrell Arthur. They also had to integrate Rudy Gay back onto the team. They had to make trades and integrate: Spieghts, Pondexter, while losing Grevis Vesquez. All in a season that was condensed. The grizzlies clearly weren't playing together the whole series, and actually the whole season was a grind as we just couldn't get everybody on the same page. Zach didn't start for us until the playoffs began. So, i'd say that we had a fair number of obstacles. But saying the grizzlies are first round fodder is ridiculous.
I don't agree that Randolph has peaked. Seemingly, he was battling his injury all series long; I think he said he was 85% ready to go during either a pre- or post- game interview. There were so many factors that allowed LAC to win the series, as some have pointed out already: 1. Lack of offensive execution by Memphis 2. Randolph not being 100% 3. Rudy Gay trying to be Michael Jordan 4. Clippers flopping all throughout games 1-6 5. O.J Mayo not being a very good sixth man 6. Marc Gasol not playing up to his skill level until games 5-7. Frankly, if Memphis didn't choke that first game away, and won game 3 or 4, this thing would have been done in 5. Instead, a potent combo of #1 and #3 on my list caused Memphis to lose. Hard. Spurs - Grizz will be way more competitive than Spurs - Clips are going to be. Oh well. I'd still build around Randolph and Gasol (more Gasol than Randolph
How in the world did they draw the weakest seed in the West when it was a 4/5 matchup? A 4/5 matchup is usually an even matched series just like this series was. No way are the Clippers weaker than the Nuggets and Jazz.
Gay, Conley, Gasol, Randolph. Memphis is pretty much stuck with these guys for the next few years. But, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. If Randolph can come back strong next year, that will make a big difference. If Memphis can tweak their roster a bit and pick up someone in the draft with their first round pick, they could improve enough to be a long shot contender. I don't see anything wrong with that.
When your youngest foundation players in Gasol and Gay have many years left they have a higher ceiling than say?? the Rockets who let Rudy walk them on draft night.
Actually Rudy Gay wasn't too bad this series, he was a lot more aggressive about drawing contact and finally started getting to the line. Was he $15 mm good? Probably not, but he needs to be if they're going to get anywhere in the future because it doesn't seem like there's a lot of help on the way.
Memphis will be ok if they get Z-Bo healthy, add a healthy Darrell Aurthur, and find a consistent 3pt shooter to stretch the defense
They've peaked. It's the NBA superstar rule. They are basically the Hawks, Nuggets and a better version of the Rockets. Bunch of really good players, no great players. Of the 7 best players in this series, they had 5 of them, but the clippers had the best player. It unfortunate the NBA is this way, but it is. 2 great players beat 5 really good players.
Rudy and Gasol is a really nice core regardless The Big contract is what will eventually hold them back.
The Spurs will prove this wrong this year And there is no way Blake is better right now than a healthy Z-Bo in the playoffs.
They still haven't peaked. Not mature enough yet to go the distance. But unfortunately, this core's time is running out pretty fast.
Z-Bo will be 31 years-old soon. He peaked last season and I doubt the Grizzlies get to ride that same train in the playoffs again. They are locked into Z-Bo, Gasol, Gay and Conley for a while and need to improve the pieces around those guys. At the same time, either Z-Bo returns to peak playoff form or Gay must develop into an elite playoff scorer/closer. They have some good basketball ahead of them but it may not be at a championship level. Honestly, I STILL can't believe they lost to the Clippers. SMH.
