They play at the Grizzlies pace and there's a chance they can lose. GS is a really good team, but like they say, "Live by the jumper. Die by the jumper." People seem to forget that Memphis beat GS earlier this year and the last two times we loss we didn't have Conley. This series is going at least 6 games. Sorry if you thought it would be a sweep, but the Grizzlies have too much experience to just roll over and die.
Funny you should say live by the jumper die by the jumper..because Memphis last night won with better perimeter shooting. Gasol and Randolph weren't exactly getting theirs in the paint (Gasol got his points from jumpers/ Randolph made jumpers and some really tough shots but went 7-16).
Also, You did have Conley for one of those games (he went HAM for the first half too) and it was the one in which you lost more by.
I dunno which W's fan thought this would be a sweep. I myself have always maintained that the Spurs and Grizzlies are the biggest mismatches (though the Grizzlies less so than the Spurs in recent months thanks to the emergence of our front court depth defensively).
From my perspective, what I saw last night was simply Memphis playing with a sense of urgency and execution that the W's didn't match. I think the whole MVP festivities kinda took the team out of their focus and they got rightfully so punched in the mouth for it by the Grizz. Some observations
Splash Bros.
Steph had an off night but at least was still able to manufacture his points without the 3 ball dropping. That was ok. What was not ok was his defense. He got torched hard by Conley and Kerr should've switched assignments with Klay quicker. I understand why he did it as he was banking on the fact that Conley couldn't maintain his scoring output (happened in the 2nd regular season meeting between the two teams which was mentioned above). Kerr banking on Conley to fizzle out offensively was a tactical gamble that didn't work out in our favor.
Klay had a horrendous game and seemed to channel his inner YNB last night (kinda funny that Fjord would post that gif of Klay looking at the MVP trophy- pretty much encapsulated his play style). Takin a one legged 3 and then blowing a wide open dunk on the next series...really? He just looked out of whack all night...and you have to give Mr. First Team All Defense credit for this.
Draymond- That second foul was a bullshit call. 3's didn't drop last night but that's not really his thing. I thought he played most consistently out of everyone. He did a good job on Randolph for the most part and really forced him into tough shots. He made Randolph earn his points inefficiently. On offense, he got to the line and generated some offense when everything else was stagnant. He recognized and pushed pace as much as possible. No real complaints about his game. He was probably the only dubb that came out to play last night.
Barnes- It's nights like these where I wish he would assert himself more offensively. You saw flashes of him doing things. A nice post up move here, a solid finish there. But ultimately he was inconsequential-
Bogut- He had a bad defensive night in general but his offensive putbacks kept us in the game during the first half.
D Lee- Was really pulling for him to make a bucket. He gave us some good minutes at the 4 when Draymond went to the bench. Bench role clearly doesn't suit him as he has no rhythm offensively
Iggy- best 3 point shooter of the night. Same with Barnes, it's nights like these where I wish he'd assert himself more on the offensive end.
Barbosa- Terrible first half/ nice second half. I wish he wouldn't put his head down and just charge into the teeth of the Memphis D.
20 TO's- Some really sloppy execution last night. There was a lot of careless and sloppy passing last night (there was an Iggy pass straight through the teeth of the defense last night that had me shaking my head- it's like he was forcing a HR play when it didn't exist). Those things are easily correctable. I feel like the Warriors aren't as good of a team at execution as other observers think (individual talent covers up this sloppiness). They aren't Spurs or even Hawks level in that regard. In that sense, I feel as though there's a next level the W's can go to with offensive execution (something to work on in the off season).
