Sunday, January 10 - Celtics at Grizzlies
Pregame - Stevens Discusses Challenge of Defending Memphis' Bigs
MEMPHIS – It has been more than a year since the Celtics were last in Memphis to take on the Grizzlies at FedEx Forum.
It hasn’t been long enough for Brad Stevens and the C’s to forget about what Memphis’ talented frontline did to them that night.
The combination of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph were dominant on Nov. 21, 2014 as they led the Grizzlies to a 117-100 win over Boston. They combined to notch 48 points, 24 rebounds and six assists in the game.
“Those guys are really, really good,” Stevens said before tonight’s game. He later added, “t’s challenging because each of those guys is unique in what they bring to the table.”
In particular, Stevens was referencing what each big man brings to the table at the offensive end.
Gasol was out in full force during that Nov. 21 matchup. He led the game with 32 points on 13-for-22 shooting and was legitimately unstoppable for the majority of the night. The 7-foot-1 Spaniard will never be the most athletic guy in the gym, but he is incredibly skilled and owns a refined offensive repertoire.
“Marc’s got an array of moves,” Stevens said. “He gets fouled, he can get to that right-hand hook or the turnaround, which is nasty, over his right shoulder.” Lastly, Stevens added, “He can move in small spaces exceptionally well for a big man.”
Randolph is a bird of a different feather. While he is also skilled with a stash of moves, he puts the ball through the basket in a much different manner.
Randolph is a true post player who can shoot it, take it off the dribble, and finish in traffic as well as any big man in the league.
“Zach was born to score on the right block,” said Stevens. “That’s just the way it goes. Some guys can do that.“
Randolph is also a monster on the glass, as Boston learned during its loss here last season, when he tallied 16 rebounds to go along with 16 points.
One particular facet of Gasol’s and Randolph’s games stands out most to Stevens. While each player torched the C’s throughout these teams’ first meeting last season, Stevens knows that they excel during crunch time.
“I think the thing that you really appreciate when you watch both Zach and Marc play is, you can throw those guys the ball late in games and they go get baskets,” said Stevens. “And they’ve gone and got baskets for a long time.
“You have to meet that challenge for the whole 48 (minutes), because sometimes they’re best at the very end of the game.”
Fortunately for Boston, it can lean on the fact that it has met that challenge for an entire game. When these teams met on March 11 of last season in Boston, the C’s limited Gasol and Randolph to a combined 23 points and 15 rebounds.
Boston can slow this duo down. It just hasn’t done so in Memphis in a long, long time.
- Marc D'Amico