2012 NBA Playoffs: The Chris Paul Show.
The Memphis Grizzlies entered the 2012 NBA playoffs with a good amount of hope. There were a lot of media types that liked them to go to the NBA Finals, and for good reason. They had advanced to the second round of the 2011 playoffs and even made it to the 7th game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
It was obviously disappointing to lose that series, as the goal is always to win a championship, but the Grizzlies had a trump card in their back pocket. Another piece, already on their roster, that many felt would have put them over the top in 2011 and would only help matters in 2012.
After four games in the 2012 first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Grizzlies’ trump card may have been trumped.
It’s not as though they’ve gotten blown out, in fact they’ve outscored the Clippers for the entire series. At the end of the day, the lack of execution has been downright un-Grizzlie like and Memphis now has just one game to get back to their winning formula.
On Monday night, the Grizzlies lost another heart-breaker to the Clippers, putting themselves in a 3-1 deficit that only eight teams in NBA history have ever climbed out of.
The Grizzlies finished regulation on an 11-1 run that took them from the edge of being blown out, to having a chance to take the lead late in the game. When Chris Paul lost the ball on the final possession of the 4th quarter, it looked like all the momentum was on the side of the Grizzlies.
Then, Paul took over.
By my count, Chris Paul has been one of the best 5 or 6 players in the world for a solid five years now. While his resume speaks for itself, consider Monday’s game a cliff’s notes version as Paul was outstanding, and the best player on the court for the fourth straight game.
Paul scored eight points in overtime alone and guided the Clippers to within one win of their first playoff series victory since 2006.
While Paul imposed his will on the Grizzlies, Rudy Gay struggled through another frustratingly inefficient game. Sure, he had 23 points and 7 rebounds, but he took 25 shots and hit only 8 of them. The 7 rebounds aren’t mediocre on it’s surface, when you consider that he played 48 minutes, you start to wonder if he couldn’t have done more.
Understand, this is Rudy’s first playoff series, I’m sure nerves have played a role (as have the Clippers), but you can’t tell me that a lot of these contested jump shots are better for the team than Rudy getting the ball to Marc Gasol or Zach Randolph. I’ll never believe it.
Gay is a supremely gifted player who can do anything you want on a basketball floor. He may not do it as effectively as Carmelo Anthony or Lebron James, but he is capable of similar things. He’s also a really nice guy. He does a lot of good things off the court and his teammates seem to love him.
However, Gay is prone to playing “Hero Ball” late in games and while it’s good that he has that kind of confidence, he simply hasn’t accomplished enough to be assumed that he gets those shots. Quite simply, he hasn’t earned it yet. He still could, and maybe he eventually will, but think of the guys you see taking and making big shots every night across the league: Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Steve Nash, Chris Paul… Do you really see Rudy even close to those guys?
Those are MVP caliber performers and perennial all-stars. Consider that Gay has never sniffed an all-star team and is a ways away from being an MVP candidate. So why try and force Rudy into being that guy? Do the Grizzlies think that since they’re paying Rudy like a franchise player, that he is one? That line of thinking has done many teams in and is one game away from sinking this Grizzlies ship that had so many people on it and believing just two weeks ago.
Understand, this isn’t all Rudy Gay’s fault. He’s played poorly, sure, but the Grizzlies find themselves in the hole that they’re in because Zach Randolph isn’t playing at the same level as he was last year and because the Grizzlies seem to reject the idea of getting Marc Gasol the ball in the second half, period.
At what point do you go back to the very thing that helped you go on a run last year? Yes, the Spurs and Thunder were good match ups for the Grizzlies, but they were good match ups because the Grizzlies chose to exploit the weaknesses that those teams had on the post. The Clippers’ front court is alright, but do you see Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett on their side?
If you’re Memphis, how do you abandon the identity that you’ve been working on constructing for almost three full seasons now? You have two all-stars in the post, yet you continue to let Rudy Gay put up 25 shots? Contested, difficult shots at that?
So while Gay can be blamed for not making smarter decisions with the ball, you have to wonder what Lionel Hollins talks about in that huddle. Who’s job is it to keep the guys in the offense? I asked these same questions after game 1 and apparently the Grizzlies are still going to live or die with Rudy Gay steering their ship.
Who coaches this team? Or should I ask, who’s supposed to be coaching this team?
The Grizzlies are in a ditch right now, but they’re not dead. Far from it. If they can take anything away from these first four games it’s that they’re in virtually every game. It seems like they’re incapable of being blown out and if they ever get back to playing Memphis Grizzlies basketball, the sky is the limit. That’s the theory anyway.
Game 5 will be in Memphis and I expect nothing less than a raucous crowd, ready to take their team to the next level. If the Grizzlies can win that game, they’ll go back to Staples for game 6 and while they’re currently 0-2 out there in this series, neither game was exactly convincing. If they steal that game, they’re coming home for game 7. Things can change just that quickly, and this series can too, if the Grizzlies use The Grindhouse as the springboard that it is.
As bleak as it looks right now, I still very much believe that the Grizzlies can pull this series out and they can, as long as they dust off the 2011 game plan and scrap the current one. Being down 3-1 is a death wish, but not a death sentence. Let’s see if the Grizzlies treat it accordingly.