Tonight your Phoenix Suns seek out their first home victory of the season against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizz are fresh off of a 115-109 defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors in which Monta Ellis dropped 17 in the final quarter en route to 39 to propel the Bay City Rollers to victory.
Tonight the Grizz will be without coach Lionel Hollins and possibly Z-Bo, who will be a game time decision. Meanwhile Rudy Gay is struggling through an oblique strain which has given him "difficulty breathing," as well as the ability to score 35 points against Golden State.
On paper, it would be easy to say that tonight's match up should be one in which the Suns should win. Of course we remember how the Grizz destroyed the Suns on a couple of occasions last season. At this point, every game is going to be difficult for Phoenix, and no opponent can be taken lightly.
Thus far in the season, the Grizz and Suns are close in terms of both points scored and allowed. Obviously numbers don't mean a whole lot at this point and the keys to any game for the Suns are fairly redundant. Nonetheless, as a discussion starter, I'm going to drop some master of the obvious skillz:
- It would be a nice game for Lopez, Turk, and Frye to get going offensively.
- It would be a nice game for Dragon, Dudley and Chill to get some quality minutes.
- It would be a nice game for Nash to get a feel for his teammates, for Lopez to learn the roll part of Pick 'N...and for the WarMachine to continue his confident, torrid play.
Yes it would be nice for things to come together tonight, however the Grizz are capable of playing quality basketball as evidenced by a 91-90 victory in big D that saw the Grizz hold Dallas to 15 4th quarter points. But the Suns clearly have the superior second unit. If there is a clear advantage anywhere in the Suns favor, it's the members of the pine.
I have a good feeling about this. If the Suns bring some D and keep Gay and Mayo from going crazy, while bodying Gasol and Z-Bo (if he plays), and making some of the shots they missed a couple nights ago, the Suns should be able to bleed the Grizz bench en route to victory.
Keep your internet channel on BSOTS for PHX Seth updates, interviews, and thoughts from the game. In the meantime, check the game day links:
Assorted Thoughts on Mike Conley (www.Straitouttavancouver.com)
Does this extension make Mike Conley overpaid? Yes. But so is just about every small-market player. If Conley had gotten away, who could the Grizz have easily replaced him with this offseason? Jamal Crawford and T.J. Ford are the only starting caliber options hitting free agency this year. Trading looks bleak too, the Grizz's only real excess talent with trade value is Xavier Henry.
The Grizzlies' defense might be the right remedy for the Suns to find their pick-and-roll rhythm. Memphis has not been a good pick-and-roll defensive team and has given up dribble penetration and high percentage of 3-pointers thus far. This Grizzlies' road trip has started with them surrendering 124 points to the Lakers and 115 points to the Warriors. Memphis is also the only team in the NBA that ranks lower in defensive rebounding percentage than the Suns.
If Randolph doesn't play or only plays limited minutes, the Grizzlies' already short bench gets even smaller. Darrell Arthur has started all five games for the Grizzlies and is averaging a solid 14 points and five rebounds in 30 minutes of action. The only other bench player getting consistent time is 6-6 forward Sam Young, who is averaging 6.4 points per game in 17 minutes this season, but Young had some of his best games last year against the Suns.
DJ's Thoughts on Mike Conley (Straightouttavancouver.com)
Does this extension make Mike Conley overpaid? Yes. But so is just about every small-market player. If Conley had gotten away, who could the Grizz have easily replaced him with this offseason? Jamal Crawford and T.J. Ford are the only starting caliber options hitting free agency this year. Trading looks bleak too, the Grizz's only real excess talent with trade value is Xavier Henry.
Grizzlies vs Suns coverage