The Grizzlies took on the two time defending champion L.A. Lakers at the Forum last night and won... behind Mike Conley. You read that right, Mike Conley sliced and diced the Lakers in route to a season high 28 points on 10-13 shooting. In comparison, Kobe Bryant had 29 on 9-25 shooting. In comparison to that, no Grizzly shot more than 15 shots. Oh, and 19 year old rookie Xavier Henry held his own against the best player in the world with a +8 on the +/- for the night.
This is the Grizz team we signed up for this year. Playing as a team. No one getting all the shots, everyone contributing. This is how this team can compete and even win a game in the playoffs. A couple of notes.
- This is why Xavier starts. He is physical. I was struck by how big he is when I first saw him at Grizz open practice. This 19 year old kid can physically compete with the Kobe Byants of the world on a nightly basis. OJ cannot.
- Marc Gasol is not healthy. His efficiency is way down and I have to think it's because he's still hurt. The Grizz need to get him healthy. If he's gotta miss a couple of games, then so be it. We've got to be full strength going forward.
- On that note, play Hasheem Thabeet!!! I know he sucks, but I went to the Detroit game last week and we blew them out. Did Lionel take this opportunity to get Hasheem extended minutes? Nope. He kept the starters in when we had the game in hand. He's not gonna get any better if he doesn't play. If an opportunity presents itself, play him.
- OJ has a huge opportunity tonight. Atlanta gives the Grizz a lot of problems. One of the bigger ones is their bench being more productive than ours. Jamal Crawford is one of the top sixth men in the NBA. Can OJ score with him? I sure hope so. OJ still needs to adjust to the role, but he seems to be getting more and more comfortable. He needs to be looking to score every time he touches the ball. That is a huge adjustment for him, but I think he'll like it once he does.
- Check out this blog on Rudy living up to his contract. On a side note, who knew the New York Times had an NBA blog? I'm in.
- John Hollinger was in town for the game last night. Check out his coverage over at ESPN.com and listen to his appearance on Chris Vernon on iTunes.
That's about it for now. Grizz face a tough one in the ATL tonight. Here's hoping they can keep this momentum up and X can make life difficult for Joe Johnson. If he can, Mike could have another big game against Bibby and we could sneak out of there with a W. Go Grizz!!!
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