Preview: Grizzlies at Kings

by Tom Ziller on Nov 6, 2010 12:00 PM PDT in Commentary

STARTING LINEUPS & INJURIES

The Kings will start, per usual, Tyreke Evans and Beno Udrih in the backcourt, Omri Casspi at small forward and Carl Landry at power forward. The twist is Samuel Dalembert at center; he replaces DeMarcus Cousins, who figures to come in with about 4-5 minutes left in the first quarter and play 25-30 minutes, barring foul trouble. Francisco Garcia, Pooh Jeter, Darnell Jackson and combo-forward (!) Jason Thompson will round out the rotation. Luther Head and Antoine Wright are inactive, Head because of a funeral in Chicago and Wright because of a Thursday DUI arrest. Hassan Whiteside will be active for the first time since the season opener, when he logged two minutes.

The Grizzlies will start Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo in the backcourt, Rudy Gay at small forward and Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol up front. Randolph and Gasol have been, to varying degrees, banged up, but Marc has played five of six games and Randolph played in Phoenix Friday night. Off the bench, the Grizz have Darrell Arthur and Hasheem Thabeet up front, Sam Young and Xavier Henry on the wings, and Acie Law in limited minutes at the point.

SCOUTING REPORT

HighTops has your full scouting report. Here are my short notes.

* Gay is a fantastic scorer, and can be dangerous from anywhere, at any time. But he's perhaps most deadly off the dribble. He finishes well if he gets all the way to the rim, but he also has strong production in the mid-range. According to HoopData.com, last season he shot 47% from 5-10 feet, 48% from 10-15 feet and 39 percent from 15-23 feet. Forcing him to shoot or pass as far out in the circle as possible is the key here.

* Conley has been great in the passing lanes so far, but keep in mind that seven of his steals came in a 22-steal game for Memphis against awful Minnesota. His steal rate has always been good, but what he has in quickness he lacks in strength, which means Udrih should be able to run Conley off screens or take him into the paint off the dribble. Memphis simply has to help when Conley's man gets into the paint, and Udrih has shown great court vision early this season.

* Memphis' defense has been much better than that of Sacramento so far, and the opposite is true on offense. But the Grizzlies were great on offense last season, so don't be surprised -- given the Kings' defensive deficiencies so far -- if Memphis comes out and rings up a ton of points.

* About Tyreke's improved jumper: Evans is 19-34 (56 percent) within five feet and 13-37 (35 percent) from further away. This kid still lives at the rim. And the line.

MATCHUP OF THE GAME

Casspi vs. Gay. The Grizzlies' small forward could pop off 40 points at any point; it's up to smart, tight defense from Casspi to prevent that. On the other end, Casspi has shot wonderfully from long-range (10-21 on threes) -- making Gay dart around chasing Omri could help, especially after a big-minute double-OT game from Memphis last night.

PLAYER TO WATCH

DeMarcus Cousins. He'll likely face off against Thabeet in the first half. Dear God Almighty, let him face off against Thabeet in the first half.

DETAILS

7PM Pacific tip in Sacramento, available on Comcast SportsNet and KHTK 1140 AM. Game threads at 7 and 8:30. Let's go Kings.

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Comments

20-10 for DMC off the bench?

DeMarcus Cousins. He’ll likely face off against Thabeet in the first half. Dear God Almighty, let him face off against Thabeet in the first half.

very doable if they give Thabeet some burn.

Umm... I thought we were officially referring to Voison as the Chick Replacing Amick at the Paper? or CRAP, for short.

by sac_faithful on Nov 6, 2010 12:25 PM PDT reply actions

I admire your optimism, but I wouldn't give you my money and send you to the market if I thought there was any chance someone was around selling magic beans.

Rocks are free, and slingshots easily stolen. And for a limited time, every third person who follows me on Twitter (andy_sims) gets a free ice cream cone.

Which I will eat.

by andy sims on Nov 6, 2010 1:18 PM PDT up reply actions

lol

Umm... I thought we were officially referring to Voison as the Chick Replacing Amick at the Paper? or CRAP, for short.

by sac_faithful on Nov 6, 2010 2:08 PM PDT up reply actions

Man, I'm smart sometimes.

Rocks are free, and slingshots easily stolen. And for a limited time, every third person who follows me on Twitter (andy_sims) gets a free ice cream cone.

Which I will eat.

by andy sims on Nov 6, 2010 9:49 PM PDT up reply actions

Tyreke might not have expected the Yeti

But the Yeti sure as hell didn’t expect Tyreke either.

Author of the Pick and Scroll. Follow me on Twitter here.

by Aykis16 on Nov 6, 2010 12:29 PM PDT reply actions

Play as we did against LA

but hit a few more FTs and we should win.

Question is: Can they keep that good focus against a less ‘sexy’ opponent? It’s something they have had trouble with the last few years.

So imitate the action of the tiger!.
Lend the eye a terrible aspect
- and teach them how to war!
Henry V iii

by lietothegirls on Nov 6, 2010 1:57 PM PDT reply actions

Heh

I’m always amused by the use of the word “sexy” to describe things that don’t really fit the meaning. I mean, I totally get what you’re saying and agree with you that it’s been a problem for us in the past, but still. One of my professors always talks about swallowing being sexy, but she’s such an academic nerd that I don’t think she means it in a dirty way, but rather as a synonym for “popular”. It always makes me laugh though.

"That was the most offensive thing I have seen in 20 years of teaching and that includes an elementary school production of "Hair.""

by Christina_J on Nov 6, 2010 5:17 PM PDT up reply actions

Wat

by KingsJunkie on Nov 6, 2010 5:18 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

Wat

by KingsJunkie on Nov 6, 2010 5:18 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

sex·y (sks)
adj. sex·i·er, sex·i·est
1. Arousing or tending to arouse sexual desire or interest.
2. Slang Highly appealing or interesting; attractive: “The recruiting brochures are getting sexier” (Jack R. Wentworth).

Some people may be aroused or interested in having the redacted or Memphis as an opponent.

by chenp22 on Nov 6, 2010 5:29 PM PDT up reply actions

I suppose that's true

I guess I was going with my own personal preferences. The NBA players I find sexy are not on either team mentioned…it’s a select group ;) haha

"That was the most offensive thing I have seen in 20 years of teaching and that includes an elementary school production of "Hair.""

by Christina_J on Nov 6, 2010 5:47 PM PDT up reply actions

I guess the thing is, it doesn't even have to be a human to be sexy

“That tree is sexy.”

by chenp22 on Nov 6, 2010 5:57 PM PDT up reply actions

Memphis

will be tired after double overtime at Phoenix last night. Run them hard should pay off.

Happy Days are here again! Wildcat's have #1 recruiting class again!

by oldcat73 on Nov 6, 2010 3:58 PM PDT reply actions

Double overtime and this will be their 4th game in 5 nights

I’m also in favor of a running game. Memphis is young so they won’t be as tired as some other teams would be, but still, thats a tough schedule for anyone, especially when they give their starters so many minutes because of their horrible bench.

Author of the Pick and Scroll. Follow me on Twitter here.

by Aykis16 on Nov 6, 2010 4:13 PM PDT up reply actions

drove all the way from SLO

to see this game. lets hope they shut rudy down

by KingsSince1990 on Nov 6, 2010 4:24 PM PDT reply actions

Thank you.. Basketball Gods

Luther Head is out of the lineup…. how he gets minutes on this team really beats me,, dude be stinkin’ up the court with his game if u know what i mean.

by jadams12 on Nov 6, 2010 4:40 PM PDT reply actions

what?

have you been watching the games?

Sharlon Schoop - de favoriete Nederlandse honkbalspeler van McCovey Chronicles.
You always have to be one step ahead of your drunk friends
--Daisy Owl

by Viliphied on Nov 6, 2010 5:09 PM PDT up reply actions

I watched two of his 3's miss the rim.

but your probably right, he’s not as bad as jadams makes him out to be. But, he’s not so good that he deserves big minutes on this team. His best fit is as defensive stopper when Tyreke sits or along with Tyreke. But, he’s never going to take minutes away from Beno or Garcia.

There is a reason he was released, and we picked him up as a free agent.

"If you don't have anything good to say, LIE" - Mom
The greatest impact player in NBA History - Tim Donaghy

by HighTops on Nov 6, 2010 5:16 PM PDT up reply actions

i heard someone on the radio refer to him as quincy douby

thought it was funny

by tricky bastard on Nov 6, 2010 6:37 PM PDT up reply actions

I've been saying that for the past couple weeks now

Dude is a Quincy Douby that produces. Doesn’t produce much, but he does alright with his time.

Author of the Pick and Scroll. Follow me on Twitter here.

by Aykis16 on Nov 6, 2010 6:53 PM PDT up reply actions

if he can play D like he did vs the lakers

our perimeter D would really be helped

by tricky bastard on Nov 6, 2010 7:02 PM PDT up reply actions

Dude, he's out of the lineup to attend a funeral

That’s kinda fucked up to be happy about that.

His shot selection hasn’t been great but he’s played really solid defense. I’m still undecided on him (as the season is a whopping 5 games old), but he definitely has potential.

"That was the most offensive thing I have seen in 20 years of teaching and that includes an elementary school production of "Hair.""

by Christina_J on Nov 6, 2010 5:18 PM PDT up reply actions

Not to speak for jadams12, but

I don’t think he was saying “thank you” he’s out of the lineup because of someone passing away.

I thought Luther had some terrible looks the other night. If he’s open and he’s set at the three point line, then shoot that all day. The shots that I didn’t like were either off balance, forced, or not in rhythm. He did play good defense though.

by chenp22 on Nov 6, 2010 5:35 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, I know that probably wasn't the intent

And maybe he/she didn’t notice the part up there, but that was my initial reaction.

I think Luther should stop looking for his shot for the time being. He should be more of a defensive guy and maybe just take a couple of shots per night until he works on his shot selection and becomes a smarter offensive player. Jacking up a 3 on a breakaway (like he did the other night) is often not the way to go.

"That was the most offensive thing I have seen in 20 years of teaching and that includes an elementary school production of "Hair.""

by Christina_J on Nov 6, 2010 5:48 PM PDT up reply actions

In-bound pass to other team ?

With flashes of better than solid play I would say way he is a better option than say , Temple? Price? Mccants? douby?…. etc. Id say he shows good potential for his spot.

by 9K1NGS6 on Nov 6, 2010 5:48 PM PDT reply actions