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The Grizzlies are coming off of a couple tough road losses.  In both of these games I expected the Grizzlies to pull out the win.  At least they put up some nice stats.  But, it was not enough, mostly because the other team's stats were better in some crucial areas.

Tonight, the Grizzlies are facing the Lakers.  36% of the people who voted in the offseason poll (to the right), said this was the game they were looking forward to the most this season.  There are a number of reasons to be excited about this game.

1. We are playing the defending champs.  It would be a HUGE win if we knocked them off, and could get the team headed into the right direction as they come up on some winnable games.  I can see us knocking off Houston, Minnesota, the Clips, Philly, Milwaukee, and Sacramento.  I don't expect the Grizz to win all of these, but they are all more than winnable.  Beating the Lakers tonight would give the team a lot of momentum heading into those games.

2. Who does not want to see us whoop up on Pau?  Not too many Grizzlies fans are over the whole Pau debacle, and if they were it was probably brought back when they saw him hoisting that trophy over the summer.  It would bring pleasure to all Grizzlies fans if he gets worked tonight
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3. Back to Pau.  It is always a good time watching brothers battle.  I know every time I play my brother I want to make him look like a fool.  The difference between the Gasol's and us is that the little brother is better than the older one in this family.  (just kidding Danny..kind of)  Oh, another difference they are Spaniards.

Prediction
Grizzlies 103 Lakers 115

I just don't think the Grizz have what it takes yet to be competitive with LA.  The good thing is that they can at least keep it respectable this year. 

I am excited to see the kind of minutes Iverson gets tonight.  Over/under 30?
I say over.
 
 
The Grizz showed a lot of good things this game.  They unfortunately came up short, but I was impressed with some things.  First of all, the rebounding was fantastic.  Zach Randolph is having a great year so far. 

On a bad note, the Iverson drama has begun.  He complained about his minutes following the game.  I figured they were trying to ease him back into it after his injury, but he does not seem to think that.  I expect his minutes to increase tomorrow against the Warriors.
 
 
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Well, the season didn't start out the way we wanted it to.  The Pistons game was more or less embarrasing.  There was turnovers, terrible FG %, and terrible play from the rookies.  However, the Grizzlies have the chance to rebound from that loss tonight against a very good Raptors team.

In case you didn't see, the Raptors took down the Cavaliers a couple nights ago.  I really like the Raptors this year, and have them ranked at 10 in my power rankings.  Colangelo had a very busy offseason, and so far so good.  The Grizzlies had a very active offseason, and so far so bad.  The good thing about this is that it is only one game into the season.

I am most interested to see how Marc Gasol does tonight.  He did great on Wednesday, but that was against Kwame Brown, old Ben Wallace, and Charlie V.  He put up 21 points and 15 boards.  Tonight he is going to be tested against Bargnani and Bosh.  Bargnani looked like an animal against the Cavs, and Bosh is an elite big man in the league.  So, we will get to see how Gasol does verse the big boys.

Prediction
Grizzlies 93 Raptors 100

-I just don't see the Grizz being able to hang with the Raptors tonight.  I have a feeling that Bosh is going to tear up Randolph down low.  Our bench play was horrific on Wednesday night, and we are in desperate need of Iverson to return.  He could have provided a spark for that second unit and taken some pressure off the rooks. 

-Darrell Arthur would have been nice, too.  But, we have what we have right now for a bench.  And that is not good.  That is where the Grizz lose the game tonight, because the Raptors added some quality depth this offseason. 

-Rudy started off hot last game.  Let's hope that can carry over. 
-Chip, over at 3SoB, made a good point about how OJ was chasing Rip and Gordon around picks all night, and how this contributed to his shot being off. 

Other Commentary
3 Shades of Blue
Straight Outta Vancouver
Grizzfans
 
 
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It has finally arrived.  The Memphis Grizzlies open the season against the Detroit Pistons.  The preseason had many ups and downs, but ultimately I came away happy.  The main reason for this was the potential that the team showed.  The team's best game came against the Pistons, so let's hope the Grizzlies can carry that over on Wednesday night.

This game does not have as much drama as anticipated with Allen Iverson out.  But, I am still excited to see how this team does in a regular season game.  It will also be interesting to see what kind of minutes each player gets.  I am especially interested to see what kind of minutes the rookies get after having an overall impressive preseason.

Not to mention the Grizzlies opening night entertainment includes the JabbaWockeez and Three 6 Mafia.  And free tshirts!  That was almost enought to talk my girlfriend into making the trip for opening night. 


My Prediction

Grizzlies 95 Pistons 90

I have high expectations this year!  I am not going to predict a loss to start the season.  I really liked how the Grizzlies looked against the Pistons in the preseason.  They played well against the scrubs, but more importantly they well against the starters. 

I think the Grizzlies have better overall depth than Pistons  With preseason over with, it means that the experimentation is over.  It will be interesting to see how many minutes each player is going to get.  I am especially interested to see how many minutes the rookies get after their overall impressive performances in preseason.  Hopefully the end of the experimentation translates to less turnovers.  If the Grizz are going to be competitive this season they can't average 21 turnovers a game.

I am pumped to get this season underway!  Be sure to check back at The Growl for pregame and postgame breakdowns.  I will do my best to get them up for as many games as possible, but as you know college can be tough with the homework. 
 
Also, be sure to check out the other Grizzlies sites for some great analysis.
3 Shades of Blue
Straight Outta Vancouver
Grizzfans
 
 
I have to get my two cents in on these new alternate jerseys.  They are hideous.  They remind of those Starter jerseys that people bought at Wal-Mart in the late 90’s.  I will say that I do like the trim on them, but the shiny stuff just isn’t working.
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The classic Pippen Starter throwback. Similar to the new unis.
Maybe this will turn into a good thing.  Back in high school, we had 5 different jerseys.  We had our whites, alternate whites, greens, reds, and a grey one.  By far, the ugliest one was the reds.  But, we did not lose in them.  Before Regionals we realized that we were 6-0 on the season in our reds.  So, we decided we were going to let the reds ride all the way through the postseason.  That year we made it to the Elite Eight.  We beat some pretty good teams in those bad boys. 

On a side note.  Players like Sherron Collins (Kansas), Jon Scheyer (Duke), Bobby Frazier (North Carolina), and other various D-1ers were there in state with us.  I believe Derrick Rose was eliminated in the Super-Sectionals.  It was a fun time but, we lost in the quarterfinals to a team we had beaten during the regular season.  Now that I have relived the high school glory days we can move on. 

Point is the ugly red jerseys took us all the way to state that year.  My hope is that these baby blues can be the Grizzlies’ lucky charm.
 
 
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In my Halloween post, I talked about my excitement for the upcoming season.  I am just going to enjoy it while I can, because who knows when I will be excited for an upcoming Grizzlies season again.  Here are 9 reasons why I am excited. (In no particular order)

1.       The Rookies

Carroll and Young have looked better than expected in the preseason thus far.  Even Thabeet has done some things at times that make me smile.  Carroll and Young have been playing so well that many fans want them in the starting lineup.  I have heard lineups like – Mayo, Young, Carroll, Randolph, and Gasol.  Not that I agree with these lineups, but I think all three rookies are going to contribute a lot this year.  And if Rudy keeps up his recent performances he might be looking over his shoulder at Carroll and Young.

2.       Iverson in a Grizzlies’ Uni

Allen Iverson in a Grizzlies’ uniform.  That just sounds crazy.  I am excited to see how this experiment works out this year.  There was a great piece on him last week from Scott Cacciola at the Commercial Appeal.

3.       OJ Mayo’s and Marc Gasol’s development

We might actually see a decrease in both players’ statistics, but I am looking forward to seeing how they have developed their game.  The acquisitions the Grizzlies made this offseason are going to mean fewer touches for Mayo and Gasol.  However, I am still excited to see how Gasol will fair with the weight he loss this offseason.  I also want to see if Mayo has developed a better all around game.  We have seen some flashes from both players in the preseason, but I want to see how they do throughout the entire season.

4.       Up Tempo Offense

It is just going to be more fun to watch.  We have the team for this style of offense.  This is also going to provide more shots for everyone, and that will keep everyone happier.

5.       The Team is Better

There is no question that the Grizzlies have improved from last year.  They made some controversial decisions, but none of them have made them worse than they were last year.  They had a successful draft overall, and their core from last year should so some improvement. 

6.       Randolph is Looking Good
Randolph’s play through the preseason has impressed me.  Not only does he look like he is in better shape, but he is playing hard.  Well, at least hard for Zach Randolph.  As expected, he is putting up some nice stats.  I am excited to seeing him carry this over to the regular season.

7.       Jaric and Milicic are Gone

Adios Marko and Darko.  So, no more Lima.  She was never at games anyways. 

8.       Fans in the Forum

The Grizzlies shot up to top 10 in the league in ticket sales.  Much of this is because of the Iverson signing, but I like to believe that Memphis is excited for the team in general.  The preseason has had the attendance of a Wham! cover band concert, but it is always like that in the preseason.  A packed house every now and then will be beneficial for the players and the city of Memphis.  What is even more exciting is that the Grizzlies can actually compete with everyone they play this year.

9.       It’s Contagious

Everyone is jacked for this year.  When everyone gets excited, it gets me excited.  We actually have something to look forward to.  The 3 year plan might not exactly be on track, but the Grizzlies are going to compete this year.  Heading into the offseason, no one believed that we could possibly make a push for the 8th seed in the playoffs.  That is best case scenario, and pretty doubtful, but it was completely unlikely in June. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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The Growl was featured on Yahoo's Ball Don't Lie today.  Just wanted to give them a shout out, and say thanks.  Here is the post that "started" at point guard.
 
 
This is a sweet little highlight video put together for the Grizzlies' preseason games.