Z-Bo Gets Boxed Out: Memphis Grizzlies Week In Review And Three Takeaways

One third of the season in and the Memphis Grizzlies are still finding their true identity.

The Memphis Grizzlies are still trying to feel out who they are and who they want to be.

Matt Barnes is getting significant run at the four and Zach Randolph isn’t. The Grizzlies experienced a couple bad losses during a week that was bookended by encouraging wins. Let’s look back at the week that was as well as three key takeaways from last week.

December 14 Memphis Grizzlies vs Washington Wizards

It took a favorable matchup against a depleted Washington Wizards squad that was more Gary Neal than Bradley Beal, but the Grizzlies won convincingly. It was a fun game to watch and a welcome change for fans who’ve suffered through several horrid third quarters and bad losses. Regardless of whatever happens with the diminishing roles of Randolph and Tony Allen and how fast and small the team plays, this season and future years’ outcomes will be most directly affected by the play of Marc Gasol and Mike Conley.

Gasol and Conley delivered on the franchise’s high expectations for the duo, as the pair lead the Grizzlies to a 112-95 win. Gasol recorded one of his best performances of the year, posting 24 points, 12 boards, and six assists. Conley finished with 11 assists and 18 points on 50 percent shooting.

Memphis’ basketball bears had six scorers in double digits including Gasol, Conley, Barnes, Jeff Green, Courtney Lee, and Mario Chalmers. Randolph logged under 21 minutes and added eight points off the bench.

As great as Gasol and Conley were in this one, the most impressive individual performance belonged to starting “power” forward Barnes.

Barnes continued to look good as a starter for the Grizzlies as he scored 20 points, including hitting 4-of-5 three-point shots. He subdued the Wizards with his efficient scoring and dogged perimeter defense, two skills the Grizzlies desperately need. Check out his outside shooting touch:

While people keep insinuating that “old age” has hurt the Grizzlies this season, this footage from the game against the Wizards proves nothing could be further from the truth:

December 16: Memphis Grizzlies vs Chicago Bulls

In the most recent NBA installment of  Los Hermanos Gasol,  Marc and the Grizzlies lost 85-98 to Pau and the Chicago Bulls.

Continuing a trend we noted earlier this season, the Grizzlies again refused to guard obvious three-point threats. Playing the Bulls at the United Center is never an easy draw, but allowing an obvious three-point specialist like reserve forward Doug McDermott to repeatedly jack uncontested attempts makes the difficult task impossible. “Dougie McBuckets” nearly matched his career high, tossing in 17 points while going 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Lee led the Grizzlies with 18 points on 8-of-11 shots, and no one else in the Beale Street blue had a particularly remarkable game. Once again the Grizzlies played a good team, lost, and couldn’t even stay within double digits in the final score.  

December 18: Memphis Grizzlies vs Dallas Mavericks

The Grizzlies notched one of their only wins over a Western Conference playoff contender by beating the Dallas Mavericks earlier in the season, but Dallas made sure Memphis would not make it two in a row by handing the Grizzlies a 97-88 defeat .

The Grizzlies’ frontcourt looked unimpressive against their Dallas counterparts, as Green failed to make a single field goal, and Randolph got outplayed and outscored by Maverick reserves Charlie Villanueva and Javale McGee.

Yes you read that correctly. McGee, aka “Tragic Bronson” of Shaqtin a Fool’ notoriety, outplayed Green and Randolph in this contest and bested their joint scoring output(McGee 10 pts, Randolph and Green 9pts). That’s never a good sign.

The Grizzlies didn’t get trounced by a terribly disgraceful margin of 30, 40, or 50 points as they sometimes do, but the offense looked less than stellar as Memphis only connected on 30 of its 80 attempted field goals and assisted on only 13 baskets.

December 19: Memphis Grizzlies vs Indiana Pacers

After back-to-back losses, the Grizzlies played their best basketball of the week on Saturday. Memphis overcame 29 points from Indiana Pacers star Paul George, and prevailed 96-84 over Indiana. The Grizzlies for the first time in a while looked like a defensively-sound basketball team.

Gasol and Conley stepped up and provided the leadership the Grizzlies need from them, with Gasol tallying 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, while Conley went for 20 points, four rebounds and eight assists. Barnes steadily harassed the Pacers on defense and gave the Grizzlies 15 points, 10 rebounds and also added two assists and two steals. Green had 11 points and six rebounds while Chalmers had another good game off the bench as he scored 12 against Indy. 

Grizzlies fans need be encouraged by the overall strong defensive showing against a decent team and that they came out of halftime and built on a lead. After weeks of third quarter woes the Griz gang won the third quarter 26-23 and scored 52 second-half points while holding the Pacers to 41 in the last two quarters.

Not to be overlooked, Vince Carter played 22 minutes of basketball in an NBA game and dropped nine points on the Pacers. It should also be noted that Carter played eight more minutes than Randolph.

And Carter reminded us all he can still throw down on folks. Behold his one-handed slam after Barnes zipped a pass to Carter cutting underneath the hoop:

Three Takeaways

1. Randolph is too good to waste away on the bench.

With respect to Randolph conceding his starting spot and not fitting with a small-ball run and gun strategy, coach Dave Joerger still needs to figure how to best use the new sixth-man version of Randolph.

Z-Bo has openly stated for years that he considers Memphis home and would love to spend the rest of his career as a Grizzly, but if he’s relegated to less than 15 minutes a game and viewed as such a poor fit for the small-ball philosophy the Grizzlies are trying to implement, don’t expect this current situation to last.

Randolph has graciously accepted a role coming off the bench and may make the most of it if the Grizzlies can find a way to get him decent run as a reserve. However, if he can’t get around 25 minutes a game or enough touches to average double-digit scoring with the Grizzlies while he’s still capable of doing so, he might wind up somewhere that will value the veteran’s rebounding and scoring versatility in longer stints.

It’s hard to think of a Grizzlies team without number 50, but if “throw it to the hand” is not part of their plans going forward, perhaps the best scenario for both parties is for the Grizzlies to make room for a player better suited for the team’s new desired style of play by sending Randolph to a team that is more willing to feed 50.

Hopefully the Grizzlies can find a way to make it work by maximizing Zach’s abilities with the second unit or in situations where he can overpower opposing players in the post without having to chase them around the three –point line too much.

It behooves this team to do more with Randolph, even if that means trying to shop him around the league.

2. The Grizzlies need Barnes in the starting line-up

Since the off-season, there has been debate about how to best mix and match the Grizzlies’ glut of wing players: who to start, who to bring off the bench, who to play with which other forwards.

With Randolph’s exit from the starting lineup and with Allen’s recent disappearance, most of the minutes at positions 2 through 4 have gone to Lee, Green, and Barnes. Lately Barnes has certainly made the most of the opportunity.

With the ability to defend the perimeter, run in transition, find open teammates with sharp passes, and keep opposing defenses honest by knocking down long-range shots, Barnes has provided the Grizzlies with almost everything the team needs from a forward. Barnes got off to a turbulent start this season (on and off the court) and still needs to improve  on consistency, but lately he has been more consistent than Green and Lee, and overall his play has been satisfactory if not excellent in the increased role.

3. Grizzlies need to play more games on consecutive nights

Following their win over the Pacers, the Grizzlies improved to 7-1 on the second game of back-to-backs this season. Considering the Grizzlies do so well when playing games on consecutive nights, and how poorly the team does coming out of the halftime break, maybe this team should consider forgoing rest and sleep for the rest of the season. Even players on the bench should stay standing to prevent experiencing any type of respite or relaxation that could be harmful to the Grizzlies’ chances of winning.

And-one:

Pacers’ point guard George Hill has generated some attention this season by opting to live his dream of becoming 1999’s one-hit wonder novelty rapper Sisqo. Like Carlton Banks channeling MaCaulay Culkin, George Hill starts his day with the tough decision of choosing whether his hair color will be Dandelion-Yellow(trademarked Crayola color) or a Dehydrated-Person’s Urine (trademark pending). As relayed by the Grizzlies, here’s Hill’s reaction to a Green hammer against Hill and the Pacers:

Can Barnes sustain his solid play as a starter? How much should the Grizzlies expect from Randolph? Add your comment to join the discussion.