Beyond the Arc, Memphis Flyer

Game 2: Spurs 93, Grizzlies 89 (OT) — Can’t Repeat the Past?

Chris Herrington — Tue, 21 May 2013 23:59:18 -0500

The Grizzlies saved Saturday.

Griz-Spurs Game 2 Preview: Everything is Everything

Chris Herrington — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:42:00 -0500

I was asked on a radio interview yesterday what went wrong with the Grizzlies in San Antonio on Sunday afternoon. Um... everything?

When problems are this vast, so are potential answers.…

Game 1: Spurs 105, Grizzlies 83 — When 0-1 Looks Steeper Than it Did Before

Chris Herrington — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:40:28 -0500

box score

In a dreadful start to the series for the Grizzlies, let me start by underscoring four points that I made in my series preview:

1. The key to defending the Spurs has less to do with containing stars than containing team three-point shooting, especially from role players. Tony Parker was splendid on Sunday afternoon, scoring 20 points on 9-14 shooting, with 9 assists.…

Western Conference Finals Preview: Ten Takes on Griz-Spurs

Chris Herrington — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:40:00 -0500

The Grizzlies' Playoff Reunion Tour continues. On Sunday, the team begins its sixth playoff series in three seasons under the direction of Lionel Hollins, those six series collectively against only three different opponents.…

Griz Get Spurs, Conference Finals Start Sunday

Chris Herrington — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:17:03 -0500

With last night's Game 6 road win by the San Antonio Spurs over the Golden State Warriors, the Western Conference Finals are now set, with the Grizzlies traveling to San Antonio for Game 1 on Sunday. The schedule for the first four games:

Game 1 — Sunday, May 19th, 2:30 p.m. — San Antonio
Game 2 — Tuesday, May, 21st 8 p.m. — San Antonio
Game 3 — Saturday, May 25th 8 p.m. — Memphis
Game 4 — Monday, May 27th 8 p.m. — Memphis

If needed:

Game 5 — Wednesday, May 29th — San Antonio
Game 6 — Friday, May 31st — Memphis
Game 7 — Sunday, June 2nd — San Antonio

Single-game tickets for Games 3 and 4 go on sale at noon tomorrow.…

Game 5: Griz 88, Thunder 84 — Western Conference Finals Bound

Chris Herrington — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:18:04 -0500

Even without their all-NBA point guard and with star Kevin Durant smothered to the tune of 5-21 shooting and seven turnovers, it took three daggers to finally eliminate the Oklahoma City Thunder on their home floor.

When the Thunder had whittled a double-digit deficit down to five points with a minute-and-a-half to play, Tony Allen got behind the defense in transition, finished with contact and again from the line to give the Grizzlies a seemingly solid 8-point lead with 1:26 to play.…

Griz-Thunder Game 5 Preview: Ten Takes

Chris Herrington — Wed, 15 May 2013 09:51:50 -0500

The Grizzlies return to Oklahoma City tonight for Game 5 and a chance to advance to the Western Conference Finals with a win. The Grizzlies have come up short in two previous shots at road close out games, both in 2011 — Game 5 in San Antonio and Game 7 in OKC.…

Game 4: Grizzlies 103, Thunder 97 (OT) — Team Defense Trumps a Scoring Star

Chris Herrington — Tue, 14 May 2013 01:57:00 -0500

On a day in which the Grizzlies put three players on the NBA's All-Defensive Team, each of those players demonstrated their worthiness in a wild final 29 minutes that turned FedExForum back into "the Grindhouse."

The Grizzlies held the Thunder to 33% shooting after halftime and erased a 17-point second-quarter deficit to first force overtime and then take a 3-1 series lead that leaves the team one win away from the franchise's first conference finals.…

Griz-Thunder Game 4 Preview

Chris Herrington — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:05:13 -0500

A few quick thoughts ahead of tonight's Game 4:

Will the Griz Regret Game 1?: Before this series started, I picked the Grizzlies to win in 6, and that's still where I'm at. But I'm actually slightly less optimistic about their prospects than I was before Game 3 despite the team pulling that one out.…

Game 3: Grizzlies 87, Thunder 81 — Making Them When it Matters

Chris Herrington — Sat, 11 May 2013 21:52:35 -0500

From the arena concourse to the locker room to the dais of the post-game press conference, the mood was more one of relief than exultation for the Grizzlies and their fans after escaping with an 87-81 win at FedExForum Saturday night to take a 2-1 series lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Grizzlies won this tight game for much the same reason they had lost Game 1 in Oklahoma City; free throws.…

The Coaching Question, Revisited

Chris Herrington — Sat, 11 May 2013 12:08:08 -0500

The offseason can never wait. A couple of weeks ago, with the Grizzlies down 0-2 to the Clippers, a smattering of eulogies to the Z-Bo-era Griz sprouted up.…

Griz-Thunder Game 3 Preview: Twelve Takes, Part Two

Chris Herrington — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:33:00 -0500

As promised, part two of a preview for tomorrow's Game 3:

7. Potential Thunder Adjustments: Coming back to Memphis 1-1, the Thunder seem to have more adjustments to make.…

Griz-Thunder Game 3 Preview: Twelve Takes, Part One

Chris Herrington — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:02:00 -0500

I was mostly done researching and thinking my way through the elements of a planned two-part preview of Saturday's game — one part meant to post Thursday morning, with a second part following Friday morning — and had begun the writing process Wednesday night when my laptop decided it had had enough. I lost everything.…

Game 2: Grizzlies 99, Thunder 93 — Tony Allen's Reminder, Mike Conley's Breakout

Chris Herrington — Wed, 08 May 2013 01:21:13 -0500

With six seconds left in a decided game, Tony Allen stole the ball and did what you're not supposed to do, streaking down the floor for a needless exclamation dunk, then soaking in the boos it provoked. Seconds later, according to the Twitter feed of Commercial Appeal beat writer Ron Tillery, Allen walked by the scorer's table and yelled, “First team, all defense [expletive].”

Was Allen taunting his opponent or the fans in Oklahoma City?…

Griz-Thunder Game 2 Preview: The Conley & K-Mart Correlations

Chris Herrington — Mon, 06 May 2013 23:15:00 -0500

I did a radio interview with a station in Tulsa on Monday afternoon. Early on, we talked about how defending Kevin Martin would be a key to the series.…

Game 1: Thunder 93, Grizzlies 91 — Déjà Vu Times Two

Chris Herrington — Sun, 05 May 2013 22:28:00 -0500

Game 1 in Oklahoma City Sunday afternoon yielded a pretty simple synopsis: The Grizzlies made too many mistakes — 10 missed free throws and more turnovers than made field-goals in the final five minutes — and Kevin Durant was brilliant.

Ultimately, this game — played, ridiculously, less than a day and a half after the Grizzlies and Thunder had polished off their first-round opponents — felt like a combination of the Grizzlies' Game 1 and 2 losses against the Clippers.…

Grizzlies-Thunder Series Preview: Ten Takes

Chris Herrington — Sat, 04 May 2013 22:34:00 -0500

With the barely-a-day break between the end of the first-round series with the Los Angeles Clippers and the start of Sunday's second-round series with the Oklahoma City Thunder happening to coincide with a day of solo parenting for me, there wasn't much time to research this Thunder-Grizzlies playoff rematch. (Grizzlies Playoffs: Revenge Tour 2013)

But I did manage to scribble out 10 quick takes on what lies ahead.…

Game 6: Grizzlies 118, Clippers 105 — How a Resurrection Really Feels

Chris Herrington — Sat, 04 May 2013 02:45:00 -0500

When it comes to Zach Randolph, in Memphis, in the playoffs, sometimes “hero ball” takes on a different meaning. Sometimes it means wrestling on the floor with a Kia pitchman and dunk-crazy ingenue power forward.…

Griz-Clippers Game 6 Preview: Invitation to an Exorcism

Chris Herrington — Fri, 03 May 2013 08:54:00 -0500

An exorcism is being held at FedExForum tonight, and 18,119 are invited.

Things are suddenly trending very well for the Grizzlies in this series, who have the Clippers reeling — on the verge of elimination, on the road, with their second-best player limited if available at all.…

In-Between Games: Griffin's Ankle, Z-Bo's Flashback, and Really Missing Reggie Evans

Chris Herrington — Thu, 02 May 2013 12:09:41 -0500

The power forward match-up between All-Stars Blake Griffin and Zach Randolph had already shaded into the Grizzlies' favor ahead of Tuesday night's Game 5 in Los Angeles, but that game was something of a tipping point.

Griffin, struggling with a high ankle sprain suffered in practice the day before, scored four points on 2-7 shooting in fewer than 20 minutes of play before finally bowing out for good in the third quarter.…

Countdown: The 2012-2013 Season's Top Ten Moments

Chris Herrington — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:04:00 -0500

I wanted to put this up in the meager time between the end of the regular season and the beginning of the playoffs, but was too bogged down. With a two-day break before Friday's Game 6 and coming off a rousing win last night in Los Angeles, let's take a moment to remember some of the high points of what was an eventful and thoroughly enjoyable regular season.…

Game 5: Grizzlies 103, Clippers 93 — One Game Away

Chris Herrington — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:13:00 -0500

A 35-point explosion from Chris Paul was mitigated by an injury-impacted performance from Blake Griffin as the Grizzlies held on for a 103-93 win in Los Angeles Tuesday night. The Grizzlies now take a 3-2 lead over the Clippers and will have a chance to close out the series in Memphis Friday night.…

Griz-Clippers Game 5 Preview: Ten Takes

Chris Herrington — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:26:33 -0500

A high-stakes Game 5 between the Grizzlies and Clippers tips tonight at 9:30 p.m., Memphis time. Here are 10 takes ahead of the action:

1.…

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Game 4: Grizzlies 104, Clippers 83 — Gasol & Randolph Tag Team Secures a Game 6

Chris Herrington — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 21:14:22 -0500

The big trains from Memphis kept rumbling along Saturday afternoon at FedExForum, as Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol combined for 48 points and 22 rebounds on 61 percent shooting to lead the Grizzlies to a 104-83 victory over the Clippers that sends this series back to Los Angles tied at two games apiece.

Fitting their city's pro wrestling heritage, this was a classic tag-team affair.…
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Game 3: Grizzlies 94, Clippers 82 — Big Trains From Memphis Get Chugging

Chris Herrington — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:47:40 -0500

The Grizzlies saved Saturday.

Needing three victories over the final four games, winning this series against the Los Angeles Clippers is still a heavy lift.…
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