Matt Barnes on his Grizz: ‘We’re coming to a gunfight with spoons’
This is sad. This is unfortunate. For those of us even objective observers that still proudly wear our ‘Grit, Grind’ t-shirts for as many times per month as its frayed edges will allow, these are not the Memphis Grizzlies we know.
[Follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]
Injuries have decimated the team, so much so that the Grizz are not only starting a series of roster-fillers against a 67-win San Antonio Spurs team in the first round, but they’re losing in both embarrassing and dulling fashion. Memphis lost by 32 points in Game 1, and 26 points in Game 2.
The Grizzlies are now the playoff version of the guy that skulks to a diner to slurp some soup alone.
Starting swingman Matt Barnes, typically, used a bit more violent imagery following the team’s Game 2 loss:
The Spurs are at full strength, even with Tim Duncan failing to nail a single field goal, a first for him in 243 (yikes) career playoff games. Memphis is without Marc Gasol, without Mike Conley, without Brandan Wright, while working with a limping Tony Allen and a stalwart in Zach Randolph who missed a chunk of March due to injury.
They start Jordan Farmar and Chris Andersen, two players who have been working on the NBA fringes for years. Vince Carter, who rose to fame around the fin de siècle, is its go-to perimeter force at age 39. Lance Stephenson abounds. Co-incidentally, this team is 10,000 spoons, and all it really needs is a knife.
Which is a shame, because as ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz detailed recently the Grizzlies have done incredibly well to establish a culture and a position that 29 other NBA teams (including their current postseason opponent) should be envious of. This has always been a team and franchise worth rooting for, full of commendable individuals (save for, perhaps, the person quoted in the tweet above) working within one of our country’s greatest cities.
You don’t have to watch the Memphis Grizzlies, as they wind down their season. This is not aesthetically-pleasing basketball, and at this point we’re merely just hoping that nobody on either side gets hurt.
You still have to respect these Grizzlies. They’re all heart, etc.
– – – – – – –
Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
