[08]Grizzlies(18-5) -- Grizz win nail-biter!

[dansensei]

another nice win.

howard and lewis sure had monster back-to-back games..

[almightyx]

Grizzlies roll again, take out Utah, 90-65
December 12, 2008
Box Scores: Memphis 90 Utah 65


Rudy Gay buries a 3 from the wing in the first quarter against the Jazz.

Memphis, TN -- The Utah Jazz (15-8) came into the FedEx Forum tonight, looking to knock off the hottest team in the West and prove that Memphis (16-5) has no business being at the top of the standings. Early in the first, that certainly looked to be the case. Utah jumped out quickly on the Western Conference leaders, taking an 11-4 lead 3 minutes into the quarter. Memphis' defense came out sluggish early, but picked it up after Grizzlies Head Coach Mark Iavaroni called a timeout to give his team some time to regroup. The Grizzlies went on an 11-4 run to tie the game up on a Rudy Gay 3 pointer (pictured above) with 1:19 left in the quarter. Utah scored the only bucket of the 1st quarter after the tie, and led 17-15 heading into the second. Memphis' defense held Utah to 36% shooting in the 1st, but the Jazz stayed ahead due to outrebounding Memphis 14-7. In the much-anticipated matchup of 2 of the best point guards in the NBA, Gilbert Arenas came out on top, scoring 6 and adding 3 assists. Deron Williams played very un-Williams-like, scoring 2 points on 1-8 shooting, with 2 assists.

Despite all the hype surrounding the early-season matchup, both teams played an uneventful 1st quarter, but stepped it up in the 2nd. The teams traded baskets for much of the 2nd quarter, with Utah holding the lead up until the 2:48 mark, when Gay hit a pivotal 3, his second of the game, to give the Grizzlies a 1 point lead, 34-33. The two teams continued to trade baskets after that, but Memphis outscored the Jazz 27-23 to take a 2 point lead into the break. Agent Zero (Arenas) scored 10 of his 16 first half points in the 2nd, adding 4 more assists and 2 steals to his line. Gay upped his game total to 8 points on his second 3 of the game. #3 overall pick OJ Mayo had 10 points at the half, all in the 2nd quarter. He went 0-3 in the 1st, but found his touch and knocked down 4 of the 6 shots he took, including 2 free throws. On Utah's side, SF Andrei Kirilenko did his best to be the Jazz's do-it-all man, scoring 8, adding 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. PF Carlos Boozer had 7 points and 2 rebounds as he split time with PF Paul Milsap who had 4 points and 9 boards to end the half.

Due to Memphis' struggles last year, very few of their games this year are being televised in primetime on networks like ABC, ESPN, and TNT. Those that are being televised were supposedly only chosen to showcase Memphis' young stars, Gay and Mayo. If a showcase was what they wanted, a showcase was what they got from one of those young stars. Mayo took advantage of Jazz SG Ronnie Brewer, repeatedly driving to the hoop and picking up fouls. OJ outdid himself in the 3rd, scoring 14 points, including 6-7 from the charity stripe, and added 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and a steal. Arenas also helped lead the charge, scoring another 8 points and dropping 6 assists, with 2 boards, and another steal. The most impressive stat of his line, though, was the fact he had zero turnovers before the 4th. Memphis' defense absolutely stifled Utah's shooters, holding them to a measly 33% shooting in both the 3rd and 4th quarters. With the game tied, Memphis outscored the Jazz 22-5 over the final half of the 3rd and never looked back. Mayo alone outscored the Jazz in the 3rd, as the Grizzlies held them to only 13 points. Utah's big 3 scored a combined 6 points in the quarter. Williams was shooting a terrible 20%, including 0-3 from 3-point land, but still had 7 assists at the end of the quarter.

The 4th was no better, as Memphis pushed their lead to 25 with 6 minutes left in the game, then brought in their subs, who preserved the lead and the win. Arenas had a game-high 29 points, with 14 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals. Mayo added 27 on 10-20 shooting, with 6 boards, 2 assists, and a steal. Gay was the only other Grizzly in double figures, with 10. Utah also had 3 players in double figures, as Boozer had 11, Williams had 10 on 5-17 shooting, including 0-5 from behind the arc. Kirilenko had a team-high 12, going 6-15 from the field, including 0-3 from 3 point land. As a team, the Jazz shot a terrible 38% from the field, including an ugly 1-12 from behind the arc. Memphis had another hot shooting night, hitting 52% of their shots, while going only 2-6 from behind the arc. After the game, Mayo talked about his team's dominance, "This is great man, I'm havin' a blast. I wish I could play like this every night. Coach kept tellin' me to work hard in practice and its paid off. Everything is clickin' for us right now too. We're just goin' out there and havin' a good time. We're doin' everything Coach has asked and its all working. We don't plan on stoppin' any time soon either." The 25 point win was Memphis' 7th straight, their second such streak of the season. The Grizzlies upped their record to 17-5, while the Jazz dropped to 15-9. Memphis goes for win #18 on Saturday at home against the 11-13 Charlotte Bobcats.

Next Game: Dec. 15 vs. Charlotte (11-13)

Around the League:
In a relatively boring evening with no exceptional individual performances, Corey Magette's line stuck out above all in Golden State's 92-86 win over Minnesota. His line: 24 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 7 blocks.

*I want to apologize to all my followers for leaving you guys hanging for a while. I was getting bored with Live so I figured I'd take a break for a bit. Like I said earlier, I think it may be getting to easy. If you guys have any suggestions that help keep it challenging, please let me know. My interest has been waning recently because of it. I do appreciate all those that voted for me in the Dynasty of the Year poll. 5th is quite an achievement that I wasn't expecting, and I was beat out by 4 exceptional dynasties. I am truly grateful for everyone who voted for me. And because you guys do follow and enjoy my dynasty, I just don't want to leave ya'll hangin because I got bored. Hopefully you guys can give me some good suggestions and/or hopefully my break will renew my interest. Thanks for reading though!

[Lamrock]

Nice job getting the win. I've noticed that the recaps have been gradually less common. You may want to try shorter articles, and possibly simming some games during the season. Big recaps, while good, tend to burn people out in the long 82 game season.

I have noticed your over-achievement. I would recommend changing your sliders to increase difficulty, and maybe sim-intervening some games. This is one of my favorite dynasties, and I don't want to see it die. Good luck in whatever you do.

[almightyx]

I appreciate the reply Lamrock. I was getting worried that nobody was following any more. I also appreciate the advice, it sounds like a good plan. Glad to know that it's still one of your favorites, and as long as I still have followers, I'll still write. I actually have played another game but was holding on the recap to see if anyone was still following. As soon as I said Live was getting too easy, I played a hell of a game against Charlotte, and I didn't even change my sliders! The recap will be up before the end of the week, I promise.

[balozunite]

Lower your sliders for FG. They are way too high. You should be shooting less than 50%. Even if you had the game against Charlotte, everyone has bad games. Look at average and your % are around 50-60%. That would make it a little more realistic and more people would follow

[Klaidux]

nice dynasty

[Lamrock]

I'm still looking forward to your next recap. We really need to do something about this dynasty drought.

[almightyx]

Hey guys. Sorry for the complete lack of updates. I've been working more than 70 hours a week for the past month and its been kicking my ass, to say the least. Add on top of that I have to spend time with the wifey when I'm off, so I've barely touched my computer since then. I don't know when my schedule is going to get any lighter, but until then I can't guarantee anything, but I'll do my best to get something up when I can.

[Lamrock]

70+ hour weeks? Damn, that sucks. Work and wife are definitely top priority. When you do resume updates, we'll still be following.

[almightyx]

Even though I worked 84 hours last week, I still found a bit of time, and I've been trying to come up with a new format, something to refresh interest in my dynasty. I'm close but Photoshop is being a real bitch and isn't letting me do what I want to do (apparently you can't place .gif's on top of another picture) so it's put a temporary hold on my plans. As soon as I can get something figured out, I'll start again as I have a few days off soon.

[almightyx]

Grizzlies win nail-biter over Charlotte, 88-81
December 15, 2008



Box Scores: Memphis 88 Charlotte 81

Next Game: Dec. 17 vs. Chicago (9-16)

Around the League:
December 15, 2008
Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton combined for 52 points on 21-54 shooting, with 22 assists, 3 steals, and 7 blocks in a 96-75 win in LA over the Lakers. Kobe Bryant had 29 points in the loss.
December 16, 2008
Charlotte signed SF M. Harris to a 3 year contract worth about $15 million
Houston traded B. Jackson to Milwaukee for D. Gadzuric