HoopsHype.com Rumors

Memphis Grizzlies

Visit the HoopsHype Forums to discuss the latest news and rumors in the NBA.

 

» Tuesday, May 21 2013

On offense, the ball got stuck, which allowed the Spurs' defense to recover and wipe out any scoring opportunities for Randolph around the basket. "All the things that we did wrong - no pace, no moving the ball, no running back, no communicating - if we do all that good and we are who we are and we lose, now we're going to see," center Marc Gasol said. "It's hard to get a lot of information about that last game because we just played so poorly." Game 2 provides a clean slate to try again, and Memphis hasn't had two straight poor games yet this postseason. "We adjust, I think, pretty well to teams and this is no different. We have to come out, make the same adjustments, stick to those adjustments and trust them because this team is so disciplined that they're not going to stop what they're doing," Conley said. "They do what they do very well. They're the best in the league at it." CBSSports.com

The 15-man Memphis roster boasts five lefties: Mike Conley, Tayshaun Prince, Zach Randolph, Ed Davis and Tony Wroten. Head coach Lionel Hollins is a lefty, too. All told, that's more than the other three teams combined. The Heat have two southpaws (Chris Bosh and Joel Anthony), the Spurs one (Manu Ginobili) and the Pacers none. In this season's playoffs, lefties have accounted for 46.1% of all minutes played by Memphis players, the second highest percentage in NBA playoff history behind the 46.2% of the 1969 Philadelphia 76ers, according to an analysis by Basketball Reference. During this season's playoffs, lefties have accounted for 48.5% of all Memphis field goals attempted, second in NBA playoff history only to the 48.8% of the 1968 New York Knicks, according to Basketball Reference. Wall Street Journal

One reason that the Nets' coaching search isn't moving too quickly: Lionel Hollins and Brian Shaw, two of Brooklyn's foremost targets, are still at work in the playoffs. Sources say that the Grizzlies remain determined to sign Hollins to a new deal after the playoffs. Contract discussions were mutually tabled by both sides until the postseason plays out, but that does expose Memphis to a high-dollar offer from Brooklyn in July that gets Hollins' attention. ESPN.com

The Clippers, though still deliberating on the future of incumbent coach Vinny Del Negro, are now widely presumed to be in the running for Hollins as well after owner Donald T. Sterling -- who doesn't even attend all of his own team's playoff games -- showed up courtside Sunday in San Antonio to watch the Grizzlies get thumped in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. But skepticism persists, even if the Clips do soon have an opening, about Sterling's appetite to pay what it would take to extricate Hollins from Memphis, where he is revered locally. ESPN.com

 

» Monday, May 20 2013

Zach Randolph is not hiding it. He knows how badly he played in Game 1 and after pracitce Monday made no bones about how much it affected him. "I apologized to the guys for the way I played, Randolph said. "I have to come out and give them something. "I've been hard on myself. I couldn't sleep last night." Randolph was limping with both knees iced after practice, but told CBSSports.com he's "allright," and the biggest problem is his patience. "I'll feel better once we get the game going," the two-time All-Star said after he went 1-for-8 on Sunday. "I wanted to play today." CBSSports.com

This is a true story about Randolph, though, one that starred Tiago Splitter, Tim Duncan, Matt Bonner and even Boris Diaw as the resident bullies, and it has the Grizzlies forward gritting and grinding his teeth after an ominous sign in the opener. "That was the best defense I've seen on the big fella in a long time; they did a great job," said the Grizzlies' Mike Conley, who was outplayed in his point guard battle with the Spurs' Tony Parker. "He tried to apologize (in the locker room), and we wouldn't accept that. We said, 'It's not you; it's all of us.' He's just saying that he's going to do better, but we've all got to do better defensively, and offensively we've got to move the ball in order to get other guys open like Zach and play our game." Parker, who had eight of his 20 points in the first quarter in which San Antonio led by 17 points, said, "Yeah, we tried to make it hard on him (with a) double-team. Obviously, he's their best scorer. He's a beast inside. (But) we know he's not going to play like that every game." USA Today Sports

 

» Sunday, May 19 2013

Everyone knows the deal: Pau Gasol to the Lakers for his chubby, unheralded younger brother Marc Gasol, bust Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton and a couple first-round draft picks. Stunning criticism crushed Wallace for getting fleeced while being backhandedly credited for handing the post-Shaquille O’Neal Lakers the keys to certain championships. “I expect the media to shoot from the hip and not study the deal. That’s to be expected,” Wallace said. “I just shook my head. I had never seen that kind of response from inside the league. I don’t deny that was the assist for two Lakers championships, but we had to shake things up. We had never won a playoff game. We had been in the 20s [wins] and there was complete apathy in our market. Calipari and the Tigers were roaring at the time. "When we went around the league, we weren’t going to get a tit-for-tat deal. We wanted to bring our salary structure down, get assets and draft picks. And no one else had a Marc Gasol.” NBA.com

Marc Gasol attended high school in Memphis as Pau was becoming the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. At 18, he returned to Spain to begin his professional career in the Spanish ACB league, largely considered the world’s second-most competitive league. In 2007-08 he was tearing it up. "He was trending up so much at the time. He was on pace to be the ACB MVP,” Wallace said. “I said it at the time, I felt like the little boy crying wolf. There was no question Pau was going to flourish next to Kobe and could win several titles, but this deal couldn’t be judged for several years.” NBA.com

 

» Saturday, May 18 2013

“This moment means a lot to me,” Randolph said. “I’m happy, but we still have work to do. I want to win a ring.” Randolph can be the king of colloquialisms when talking about others, such as when he described the defense teammate Tony Allen was applying to Kevin Durant: “Tony’s a dog, man. He’s in the mud.” The Grizzlies marketing department has crafted slogans and campaigns around Randolph’s colorful descriptors and phrases. NBA.com

 
 

Any rumor missing? E-mail us at   hoopshype@hoopshype.com.