Monday, December 14, 2009
A Game for Basketball Fans
Posted by Chris Herrington on Mon, Dec 14, 2009 at 11:11 PM
I'm going to hold off on a traditional post-game report until tomorrow, because my first reaction to tonight's game, a 110-105 loss to a now 20-4 Boston Celtics team, is to soak up how much I enjoyed it and to try to put it in a little perspective relative to the development of this team.
I care a lot about the success of the Grizzlies on and off the court, but I come at the team from the perspective of an NBA fan first and foremost, and it's that perspective from which I loved this game. Tonight, a veteran title contender with the league's best record, a 10-game winning streak, and a lineup built around three future hall-of-famers came into a road game with a day's rest to face a suddenly surging but very young team on the second night of a back-to-back.
The lead never exceeded five points in either direction. The young team on the back-to-back was clearly fatigued in the second half, but mounted several mini-comebacks when it seemed like they were ready to fold, including a surprising six-point run just past the three-minute mark to pull within two points and force the veteran contenders to call a timeout. The rest of the way — fewer than 90 seconds to play — it took all three future hall-of-famers making clutch shots for the veteran team to take this game: A high-arcing 22-footer from Kevin Garnett. A fierce driving finish from Paul Pierce. And then the back-breaker: Down only two points with under 20 second the play, the Grizzlies broke up a Celtics play, forcing a long, off-balance three-pointer at the end of the shot clock. The shooter? Walter Ray Allen. Game over.
A tweet from an NBA fan watching from outside the city of Memphis tonight: "You get the sense that the Celtics actually respected this team. Which is kind of awesome."
There was a lot of that tonight. I follow many out-of-town NBA fans — bloggers, writers, etc. — on Twitter, and I noticed tonight that an awful lot of them seemed to be watching Grizzlies-Celtics.
If the city of Memphis is still catching up to a team that is increasingly winning fans among NBA junkies nationwide, that's to be expected. The Grizzlies spent several years digging this hole and aren't about to climb their way out in a few weeks. But that process has begun. It will start with national press filtering in, increased TV viewership, more people reading local coverage of the team, more tweets, more water-cooler talk, more talk-radio calls. Ticket sales will be the final piece. But I think that will come, even if not until next season. At least I hope so. Tonight: 14,193 announced. A shabby crowd for a game against the high-profile Celtics, even for a Monday night.
But while attendance will lag behind performance, that means an awful lot of former, potential, and future Grizzlies fans are missing out. My favorite Grizzlies season is everyone's favorite Grizzlies season. The 50-Win Year. The Hubie Year. But my second favorite Grizzlies season is the year before that, a 28-win campaign in which fans first saw the signs of a young, promising team coming together. This year has become that year, except with more than 28 wins at the end of season and more upside beyond it.
Most fans will come around later, when this team has clearly become a real playoff contender. Call us when you're ready to win something. The Grizzlies have probably earned that reticence.
But the fun of watching a good team won't be quite as sweet for them as for the fans that watched a bad team getting better. Getting a late ticket means missing out on unexpected, rousing affairs like last week's wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers. And it means missing out on rare games like tonight's, when a loss felt like a win.
Comments (21)
Showing 1-21 of 21
Love the comment..."when a loss felt like a win" Even though we lost that's exactly how I felt about the Grizz effort on the 2nd night of a back to back. They easily could've mailed it in and hit the showers early....................BUT THEY DIDN'T!!!
Fans will come around, just as this team is rounding out that corner to be a future playoff contender. Teams are no longer sleeping on the Grizzlies and for good reason.
Don't let them mess around and add a couple of key pieces...they could easily leap frog a lot of top tier teams and be a contender, just like that.....GREAT GAME!
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Great post, Chris. I agree 100% that for a basketball fan there really is something special about watching a young team growing into a good team. There were moments tonight when I found myself cheering or clapping just for that very reason. As in the game against the Cavs, plays were made by young guys tonight that we've been longing to see them make in a game of this caliber (Late plays included Conley's aggressive And-1 layup, Mayo's silky jumper, Rudy taking it to the basket and scoring, which it's beginning to seem like he can do every night against any opponent, and some defensive deflections, the last of which tragically didn't go our way). Along those lines, I know you were against the pick, but I would love to see your game post throw a little praise Thabeet's way for the growth he has shown on the defensive end. Tonight against the Celts, his defense was flirting with a term I heard the kids talking about this summer: "difference maker" (at least for stretches).
Thabeet was going to be the subject of one of my "points" until I decided to go a different route. I'll try to follow-up tomorrow after the paper is put to bed. Still don't think Thabeet will end up being the right pick, but he's definitely making some positive strides.
Thabeet brings something to the team for sure, but that something is a backup center who can rebound and alter shots. His lack of an offensive game is troubling and I actually laughed out loud when he took that jumper last night. I could see the value in Thabeet later in the first round, but taking him at #2 was a colossal waste.
The game last night was fun to watch. Actually, the games of the past 2 weeks have been fun to watch with the exception of the Thunder game (which is the only one I actually attended). This team is young, has talent, and seems to be playing with desire. Conley is actually playing well and seems confident when he drives the ball. We still need to get OJ more involved IMO.
This is a product I would pay to watch.
The cost of attending these games is prohibitive right now. There are a lot of bankers I know that aren't doing so well. A lot of FedEx employees in Memphis had across the board pay cuts. Most places didn't give out any raises this year. It is too bad, because the Grizz deserve a packed house. But with the cost of going to a game being $100/person it is hard to justify. Especially on a weekday going into Christmas.
I was definitely upset about the Thabeet pick, but I think his play recently would certainly nullify his pick being a "colossal waste." And I think everyone cringed when he took that jumper, but was it really that bad of a shot decision-wise? I've been pleasantly surprised with his form and touch from the foul line, and the jumper he took was right about there, but I do agree -- probably not the shot we're looking for...
There are so many reasons why this team is doing well as of late, and it can't be hinged on just one player's performance, but there can't be any doubt that Zach Randolph is one of if not THE biggest reason why this team is having the success it is. And beyond his play, he seems to be a great teammate. So far, he's been a huge success for us. I really hope we can keep this team together for a while.
I hear you, 38103, but a couple of points:
1. That $100 a person you cite is assuming a lower-bowl ticket, and even adding on a significant amount for parking/concessions for the cheaper lower-bowl tickets. They were selling upper deck seats to the Thunder game for $3 (and some lower-bowl seats for $33). Really good seats for Grizzlies games are certainly expensive. Getting into the building is not.
2. The economic factors would be more persuasive if we didn't have more people going to FedExForum to see what amount to college exhibition games (U of M vs Central Arkansas, Montana State, Tennessee Tech, etc.) than to see an exciting and improving young NBA team play against elite opponents.
As a Christmas present for my kids, last night I tried to buy 4 tickets to a Grizz game in February, $36 decent seats plaza level. After Ticketbastard add ons, fees, etc., it came to about $180. @#$%@#, $36 in fees? Fine, I'm ok with that, it's a treat for the kids. Then, ticketbastard tries to make me sign up for some kind of Visa verification BS to complete the transaction, I have to get a logon, password, etc. I voided the transaction. screw 'em. I'll watch on TV.
Packy, ticketasshat pulled that on me for clapton tickets w/my mastercard. i ignored it and the transaction went through....
A relevant piece: League-wide, ticket sales down but TV viewership, web activity up.
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/1266081…
I'm glad we're not the Lakers though. I would never get to see a game. And 1.9M a game is staggering. Given that the UFC took in 1.7 on Saturday and those tickets weren't cheap.
Thanks for the great post and putting this whole thing in perspective. I have said for many years watching a team build is so much fun if not frustrating as well. Just like the Hubie years and just before, this team is actually building a solid group that continues to grow and seemingly has even more upside if you look at the develpoment to come with Mayo, Gasol and hopefully Thabeet and Young too. Interesting last night was the toe to toe fight and how the Grizz continued to fight and never gave up despite beinng clearly fatigued as evident by the poor 3 point shooting. Yes for all those who jump on the bandwagon too late they will be missing the great process of seeing how this team is getting there.
I guess "colossal failure" is a bit much (at least at this point), but what I meant was there are at least 5 or 6 rookies who I would rather have than Thabeet based on performance as a pro.
We already have a great young center in Gasol.
it was a great game, close throughout and gritty. boston's team d was superior (the helpside simply wasn't there for the grizz) and mem had major problems defending the high pick-and-roll. at times in the 2nd half, fatigue hit offensively and the grizz resorted to chucking up ill-advised jumpers. that being said, the team continued to show resolve and poise down the stretch and battled back a bit. its a greater positive to have that kind of belief within a squad than to focus on what can be fixed in practice i.e. defense lapses and making sure to re-set the offense on a broken play.
just one question: why take sam young out in the 2nd half when he's starting to gain some momentum offensively? he was the only spark offensively, taking it to the rim and creating good looks, so why not ride the hot hand?
Good post. But let's be clear about one thing. This season's Grizzlies are not a "bad" team, at least not as long as everyone in the starting lineup remains injury-free and Zach Randolph continues to play unselfishly. Talent wise, they're arguably a rising middle-of-the-road team that has the potential to come close to challenging for a playoff spot.
Maybe that's shocking to all the naysayers who have grown accostumed to putting the Grizzlies down.
It will be interesting to see what Heisley does to try to improve the team for next season. If he can somehow keep the core together and then add one or two key contributors to the mix (especially a reliable three-point shooter who is at least marginally adequate on defense), we're looking at almost being guaranteed of having a "good" playoff-caliber team next season.
Longer term, and assuming that Gay and Mayo remain in the fold, I think the Grizzlies probably need to start thinking about a replacement for Randolph. Given his shortcomings athletically, it's hard to imagine that he will continue to produce at the same level for more than a few more seasons. (Still, he gets my vote for team MVP thus far this year!)
Yes, Randolph has been better than advertised, but he is starting to show signs of the old Randolph, jacking up more outside shots, not converting dribble drives to the basket, committing too many turnovers mainly with lazy passes. Beyond what he has done to instill confidence in Thabeet, Hollins' greatest coaching job will be to keep Randolph under control the whole season. Randolph does have something here that he never has had before, the respect of his teammates, but will he let it go to his head or will he remain content to be a force around the rim where he is most effective?
When you have won 22, 22, and 24 games in three seasons and then start the next season 1-8, you are by definition a "bad" team. When you improve from 1-8 to 10-14, you are "getting better." So I fail to see how the formulation of this season being the process of "a bad team getting better" doesn't apply.
That's not being a "naysayer" that's just being realistic.
Superb stuff,as always, Chris. I loved your irony in last night's game blog about how so many Memphians apparently prefer to come out and watch their beloved Tigers bash the crap out of Montana State rather than packing the Forum last night to witness the legendary Celtics, the most storied franchise in NBA history, not half bad in their current incarnation, either, btw.
This current local love affair with Josh Pastner (see Tuesday's NYT valentine; was it ghost-written by the Highland Hundred?) is getting on my nerves. Yes, he's a kinder, gentler college hoop coach, but that begs the question, i.e. college basketball at the top level is an utter and complete fraud, and would still be even if Mahatma Gandhi were your coach.
Nothing against Coach Pastner, but this NYT article is downright silly. "A climber with a conscience." I'd expect a line like that in the Helmsman, or a made-for-tv inspirational flick, New York Times? Has the world gone mad?
Ok, so i'm a grinch, but I just don't get it. College basketball is minor-league basketball, plain and simple. There are occasionally interesting things to see on the court, but the game outcomes are nothing anyone with half a brain should get their knickers in a twist over, ever. These "student-athletes" are no different than the kids that show up every summer for the Redbirds, no more no less, and when was the last time you heard anybody ooh and ahh about them? Hell, the Redbirds won the 09 PCL crown, but like the tree falling in the middle of the forest, did this event even make a sound? Aside from a thousand Redbird loyalists, no one else in town even noticed.
Whatever one thinks of the "thuggish" NBA pros (aside: Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe once said that, of all the pro sports he's covered, pro basketball players, as a general rule, were by far the most intelligent and erudite) and the obscene levels of lucre they command, these guys on the court are the best in the world at their craft. The first quarter of last night's Celtics/Grizz game was played at as high a level of basketball performance one could witness anywhere on this planet. And yet there was no sellout? Go figure. We are a minor-league town at heart, i suppose...
If the Grizzlies organization was smart (no comment), they would continue to offer $3 upper deck seats for every home game while this team is hot and gaining momentum. That is how you get people in the door and prove to them that you are building something worth spending your time and money on.
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