Youth against Experience: Spurs face the Grizzlies

The youth of the Memphis Grizzlies will take on the perennial powerhouse San Antonio Spurs Friday night in what will be a competitive game. San Antonio hasn’t been at the top of the NBA hierarchy for several years now, and will now be facing one of the teams that is looking to make their way to the elite level.

The Grizzlies are loaded with talent at all positions. Even their center Marc Gasol is having outstanding success in the NBA despite being labeled the “other Gasol”. Mike Conley is a pure point guard that distributes the ball extremely well. His job is made easier having O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph to pass to. Mayo was thought to have come out too early when he left USC after his freshman year, but he has shown signs of improvement all year long. He has become a threat both inside and out offensively, and has done surprisingly well on the defensive end of the floor. Rudy Gay has turned out to be a steal by Memphis as they picked him up in the middle of the first round a few years ago. He is averaging over 20 points per game as well as over 6 boards. He too was thought to be an average NBA player when he came out of UCONN back in 2007, but he has proven to be a legitimate scorer in this league.

After jumping around the last few year Zach Randolph looks to feel at home in Memphis. He has been extremely productive over his 9 year career, but never seemed to fit in any of his previous teams offenses. Randolph is having a phenomenal year shooting the ball. His .503 shooting percentage is far and away the best of his career, and a reason why the Grizzlies are in a position to make a deep run in the playoffs.

The Spurs have a new look this season. Their defensive stopper Bruce Bowen is gone, and they now have a different scoring option with the addition of Richard Jefferson. Jefferson started the season slowly. This was most likely due to trying to figure out his roll on the team. He is no longer the first or even second scoring option as he was in New Jersey. Now he is expected to play solid defense and pick up the slack when Ginobili, Parker and Tim Duncan are having off days. He has adapted well, and is now making his presence know as the Spurs have made a drastic improvement after their 4-6 start to the year. Duncan is Duncan, and although many say his skills are diminishing, he still finds a way to get his 20 points and 11 boards every night. He still has more than enough in the tank to take this team to another NBA Championship.

It will be interesting to see if the Spurs can dictate the pace of this game against a Memphis team that likes to get out into the open court. Tune in Friday at 8:30pm Eastern to see if youth and speed can take down age and experience as the Spurs and Grizzlies collide.

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2. Kobe Returns to Lakers Tuesday Night
3. Spurs Try to Stay Alive Against Suns in Game 4
4. Red Hot Spurs Take on Cleveland Monday Night
5. Spurs Look to Even Series with Mavericks Wednesday Night

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