We here at Beale Street Bears decided that the Grizzlies’ exit from the playoffs and the approach of the finals would be a good time for a Roundtable, where all our great contributors here give input on what’s going on. This roundtable is centered on answering: what happened to the Grizz that they were swept? How will the Spurs look to do in the Finals?
Look forward to an end-of-the-year summary round table to be posted soon!
May 27, 2013; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol (left) and point guard Mike Conley (right) at a press conference after game four of the Western Conference finals of the 2013 NBA Playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs at FedEx Forum. The Spurs won 93-86. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports
Q: How did the Grizzlies get beaten so easily? What went wrong?
Joseph:
I’m lazy, you can find my full thoughts on what went wrong in the series here.
Charles:
I don’t think anything went wrong exactly, the Spurs were just better. Popovich is a pro at getting his teams to peak at the right time and while the regular season win total was close between the two teams, the Grizzlies were jumping to another playing level in going from the Thunder without Russell Westbrook and a weird Clippers team to a fully functional Spurs team that is built for this time of year.
Andrew:
Yeah, absolutely, the Spurs were just the better team. Pop outcoached Hollins and they nullified Z-Bo completely. Mike and Marc also didn’t have a great series, and we needed them to. SAS had a great offensive game plan — the Grizz actually clamped down for long stretches in games 2-4, but they burned us bad in Game 1 and in both overtimes.
I don’t think our lineup is quite there yet. We still need more reliable shooting and a better small forward. (I do like Prince, though. He’s just not an offensive threat. He would be better off the bench, I think.) I’d love to see Hollins (or whoever is coaching us next year) develop Wroten and Leuer — I think they both can be great contributors. We probably need to ditch Darrell Arthur (think we could trade him for Speights?). But if we keep the core in tact, I don’t doubt we can get back to the WCF next year.
Tim:
It’s definitely hard to argue with the “Grizz just didn’t make shots” thing, as Daniel says. I mean, the Spurs did an amazing job packing people on ZBo and Marc, but too many of those shots were just misses on uncontested jumpers. Open misses happen to everyone, but it’s hard not to feel like they wouldn’t have been swept if someone had just made an open shot.
But, yeah, the Grizz definitely need to pick up one or two 3 and D guys this offseason. That’s really probably all they need, someone to stretch out defenses and give their ground and pound guys room to work. I’ve said this before, but I think the main reason they lost is they just didn’t have anyone to punish the Spurs for packing the pain from distance. I like Prince too, but it turns out he’s a fantastic bench option. He was way more efficient in bench lineups at the four than he was in the starting lineup.
Kevin:
The Spurs were just able to dominate the Grizzlies in so many ways. Definitely what hurt most was the difference in three-point shooting. Memphis had no reliable three-point shooting in the series, the only exception being Quincy Pondexter. When he was off was usually when Memphis struggled. Mike Conley’s three-point shot was off for the series and Tayshaun Prince has hardly been a factor from that far out in his career, and that allowed the Spurs to pack the paint and make things difficult for Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. On the other end, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and the rest got open threes in bunches as the Grizz defense collapsed in on Tony Parker and Tim Duncan, and they hit them at a great percentage.
But the other issue that made things difficult for Memphis was their inability to guard Tony Parker. Tony Allen and Mike Conley, both among the league’s best perimeter defenders, couldn’t keep Parker from getting practically whatever he wanted. He averaged 24.5 points on 53.2% shooting and 9.5 assists for the series, and the normally strong Grizzlies defense looked slow-footed against him the entire time. Parker got a career-high 18 assists in Game 2 (his only game below 50% shooting), and in the only game where San Antonio truly struggled from beyond the arc, the clinching Game 4, Parker dropped 37. Most of the Spurs played well to really well against Memphis, but Parker shines separately from them. He was truly spectacular.
Q: So how well do you think that the Spurs will fare against the Heat or Pacers?
Joseph:
Well, four titles in the last decade or so can’t exactly be a fluke. So I think they’ll fair alright either way. Here’s hoping Timmy can land his fifth ring.
Charles:
I think the Spurs will be alright against whoever they end up playing. Obviously the Heat would be tougher, but the Pacers represent an interesting challenge with Roy Hibbert and David West. San Antonio stretches the floor so well that it’s tough to defend whoever they have on the court.
Against Miami, I like how the Spurs should be able to control the boards, plus they have Tony Parker. If the Heat make the decision to put LeBron on Parker then the Spurs still have Manu or Kawhi Leonard to handle the ball and start the offense.
The Pacers’ eventual undoing will be their shallow bench. I still think they lose to the Heat, but if they can win that series, then they’ll face a Spurs team that has no problem throwing 8 or 9 guys out there and playing them big minutes if the situation calls for that. The Pacers don’t have that luxury and would have to rely on their starters big minutes and that would likely wear them down after two months of playoff basketball. At this point, I’d have to pick the Spurs as the best challenge against the Eastern champion regardless of who that may be, but the only team I can’t see winning the championship at this point is the Pacers.
Kevin:
I’m going to go a step further and say that I would probably consider the Spurs to be the favorite against both teams, the way things look right now. The Pacers defense is exposing the holes in Miami’s offense, and I’d think that Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter can put on at least a decent impression of Paul George, Lance Stephenson and Roy Hibbert. The Spurs’ ball movement, three-point shooting and dribble penetration will also put pressure on an ultra-aggressive Heat defense. San Antonio has the slightest of edges in this matchup, and I’d predict Spurs in 7.
Against the Pacers, the Spurs have a considerably better chance. However, I still don’t consider it to be an easy matchup, and you probably shouldn’t either. The Pacers’ stingy perimeter defense, anchored by Roy Hibbert in the middle, will make it harder for the Spurs to get the offensive edges they would have against Miami (ball movement, etc.). However, George Hill isn’t the defender that Mike Conley/Tony Allen is, and even they couldn’t contain Tony Parker. Parker, with his floaters and speed, can cause exactly the kind of havoc that can unravel the Pacers defense.
Andrew:
I think Spurs-Heat would be a great series, though I have no idea who would win. If somehow Indiana does upset Miami, they would get disassembled by SAS like we did.
Tim:
Yeah, I’m more with Andrew in that I think the series would be extremely competitive, but I have no idea who would win. My concern re: Heat-Spurs is that the Heat will come in and play their best basketball in months and just decimate the Spurs. I think the pieces are there for this to be a hyper-competitve, fantastic series, but the Heat are capable of just dominating anyone at any point in time. So I think that’s concerning.