I don’t know how even the most die-hard Memphis hater could look at all the bright young Memphians who showed for the Flyer’s “20<30" party and not see that there’s a lot to be proud of — and optimistic about — in the old Bluff City.
In case you missed it, you can read our “20<30" cover story and see a video about the winners here.
“Guess Where I’m Eating,” Susan Ellis’ award-winning game that’s sweeping the country, offers chapter 15 this week.
Frank Murtaugh has four things you should think about when considering Sunday’s big game.
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Don’t you love the two weeks the NFL gives us between the conference championships and the Super Bowl? (For those of you who count Sunday’s Pro Bowl as a football game worth watching, bless you and that permanent indentation on your couch.) It’s gracious of the league bosses to allow the AFC and NFC champions to heal their wounds, to rest up for the biggest game of their lives.
Stop laughing. I know. Forget battle wounds that need healing. These two weeks are all about the two M’s: Money and Media. Sell, sell, sell all and anything that can be sold with a Super Bowl logo, a Super Bowl sponsorship, even alternatives to the Super Bowl (the Puppy Bowl?). As for the media (as I stare in the mirror), find and report every angle imaginable, from the rags-to-riches reserve linebacker to the culinary exploits of the starting left guard. (All guards can cook. Look it up.) Here are the angles for Super Bowl XLVIII I’ll be pondering another few days:
• Peyton, Peyton, Peyton. The draw of Denver quarterback Peyton Manning — who will pick up his record fifth MVP award Saturday night — is undeniable. And on so many levels. Already bound for the Hall of Fame, Manning endured a divorce from his Indianapolis Colts after missing the 2011 season following neck surgery. Could one player — even a Canton-bound quarterback — make a difference for a franchise that hadn’t been to the Super Bowl since John Elway rode off into the sunset with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the 1999 season?
At age 37, three years older than Hall of Famer Troy Aikman was when he retired, Manning set records for passing yardage (5,477) and touchdowns (55) that look silly even in today’s pass-happy NFL. His Broncos set a new record for scoring with 606 points (37.9 per game). One man made the difference. Now, having played in one Super Bowl against his father’s longtime team (the New Orleans Saints), he’ll play another in the stadium where his brother spends Sundays with the New York Giants. If this event seems to be sponsored by the Manning family — a son of Archie will play for the fifth time in eight years — the connection fits. Pro football has been good for the Mannings. And the Mannings have been good for the NFL.
• It’s fun when a former Memphis Tiger plays in football’s biggest game. Stephen Gostkowski has played in two for New England. Reggie Howard picked off a Tom Brady pass for the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII after the 2003 season. This Sunday, we’ll see Clint McDonald — a reserve defensive tackle for Seattle — take the field at MetLife Stadium. McDonald earned first-team All-CUSA honors with the Tigers in 2008, the last season Memphis played in a bowl game. I can’t recall an athlete using the word “sir” more than McDonald did in an interview before his senior season at the U of M. He’s a gentle giant (5.5 sacks this season) worth rooting for.
• It’s a shame Richard Sherman’s WWE-inspired rant after his Seahawks’ victory in the NFC Championship has become a primary talking point. The third-year cornerback from Stanford may in fact be, just as he huffed into Erin Andrews’ face, the best corner in the game. (Sherman has been first-team All-Pro each of the last two seasons.) How Sherman helps thwart the Broncos’ passing game — will he match up with Demaryius Thomas? Eric Decker? — will go a long way in deciding if Seattle’s in the game after halftime. It’s a juicy angle, particularly when you consider the alma mater of Broncos executive VP John Elway.
• Much has been made about the potential for ugly weather, the game being played in New York City. During winter. Outdoors. I happen to like the venue. Football’s premier championship should be decided in nature’s elements. I find the Super Bowl to be rather plastic when played in domes. This is a place (NYC) and an event that had to dance at some point. Remember the two M’s.
My pick: Denver 23, Seattle 13
More accurately, guess where I’m drinking …
The first person to correctly ID the drink and the restaurant wins his or her choice of 5 Malco movie passes or $50 gift certificate to Jim’s Place.
To enter, submit your answer to me via email at ellis@memphisflyer.com.
The answer to last week’s contest is the Black Bean Tacos at Evelyn & Olive, and the winner is … Marti Ponton!
Going into the weekend, I thought it was possible that the Grizzlies could win both games against the Rockets—one home and one away—but that doesn’t mean I thought it was likely.
When the Grizzlies won the first game in a close one (88-87) that came down to a couple of last-second possessions and some stifling defense (remember that?) from the Griz to end the game, no thanks to Chandler Parsons hitting ten three pointers in a row, my prediction for the second game was that it would be even uglier, even slower, and even closer. I was right… for one quarter.
Ultimately the Grizzlies won 99-81 after several minutes of garbage time. At one point with six minutes left, the Grizzlies led 90-63. The Rockets have been prone to shooting droughts as of late—I’m thinking specifically of this game against Oklahoma City in which they scored 73 points in the first half and 19 in the second—but that’s not really what happened on Saturday night.
What happened is that the Grizzlies bludgeoned the Rockets into submission and ran away with the game. Zach Randolph, matched up on Dwight Howard for a good bit of the time and Terrence Jones for the rest of it, had 15 points and 17 rebounds. Kosta Koufos, who’s been playing mostly spot minutes as of late, played 24 minutes and had 14 and 7. Marc Gasol only had 6 points, but his continuous frustration of Dwight Howard on both ends of the floor—something that’s happened for years—made for delightful entertainment. According to the advanced stats, Howard had an offensive rating (ORtg) of 68 and a defensive rating of 95. Which is, umm, less than stellar.
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I spent a lot of time this weekend creating this meticulous video recap of what happened to the Rockets in the second half on Saturday:
The Rockets are a good team. Good enough to be in fifth place in the West, currently. The Grizzlies came into Friday as the only team without a win over a divisional opponent, 0-10 to that point. As of now, their record still isn’t good (2-10), but two straight wins over a quality opponent, one home and on the road, is a great way to build momentum going into the coming week.
The Week Ahead
I’ve already tried to spring bits of the Pounding the Rock Lexicon on you from time to time. The first example of that was using SEGABABA for the Second Game of a Back to Back.
Well, it’s time to try out another one: what the Grizzlies are facing this week is a dreaded FOGAFINI, otherwise known as Four Games in Five Nights. Two back to backs with a single day of rest in between. Even more fun for the Grizzlies? The first three games are all on the road. Tuesday night at Portland, Wednesday night at Sacramento, Friday night at Minnesota, and then back home Saturday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The only game that looks tough on paper is the Portland game. The Trail Blazers have been off-the-charts good this year, currently third place in the West with a 33-12 record. Portland is a tough place to play when the Blazers aren’t very good, so right now it’s probably more of a death trap than a basketball game. But… the Grizzlies have Marc Gasol, even if he’s still not totally at ease on the court yet. They have two straight wins over Houston, which should give them a much-needed boost of confidence. The defense is finally starting to come online to an extent, even in the absence of Tony Allen. If they’re going to go on the road and beat the Trail Blazers, this would be the time to do it.
Wednesday night in Sacramento is a game that should be easily winnable. The Grizzlies have historically not played well at Arco Sleep Train Arena, but they handled the Kings in a close one two weeks ago at home.
Minnesota handed the Grizzlies a home loss in December in the middle of a five-game losing streak that included the Thunder, Pelicans, Lakers, and Mavericks as well. This Grizzlies team has more than ten players, and since that loss, has added James Johnson and Courtney Lee to the mix, so I expect them to perform better. By Friday, though, fatigue is going to start to become an issue. If the Portland and Sacramento games are both close, hard-fought games—which I expect them to be—the Grizzlies will probably be less than tack sharp rolling in to Minneapolis on Friday.
If Friday doesn’t go well, given the effort/intensity issues we’ve seen with this team for stretches this year, who knows what’s going to happen on Saturday when the Milwaukee Bucks—led by Giannis “The Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo and an overweight, mostly disinterested O.J. Mayo—come to town.
The Grizzlies are going to be exhausted by Saturday. If they can tought out this stretch and win three out of the four games in the FOGAFINI (which I feel is very doable given the competition), they’re currently two games back of Dallas for the 8th and final playoff spot, and equal in the loss column with 20. (Here’s a link to the official NBA standings.) Winning more than half of the games this week—which presumably means winning at Sacramento, at Minnesota, and against the Bucks, and playing with house money against Portland because of the two Houston wins—would leave the Grizzlies in great shape headed into February and winding down to the All Star break.
With any luck, they’ll capture 75% of the FOGAFINI and Dallas—who plays Houston on Wednesday and then the Kings and Cavs later, all at home—will drop a couple. If not, the grind continues either way.
Bring It is a newly organized non-profit dedicated to expanding the farm-to-table movement in Memphis. Christopher Smith has the story.
Frank Murtaugh reports on Memphis’ home victory over USF at FedExForum, Sunday.
The path to a high NCAA tournament seed is paved with winning streaks. In beating an undermanned South Florida team Sunday afternoon at FedExForum, the Tigers gained a third consecutive victory in what they hope will be a run that boosts the team back into the nation’s top 20, perhaps to the top of the American Athletic Conference, and into the realm of seeds four (or higher) come March’s big dance.
Memphis started the game flat, as though the Bulls — entering the game on a three-game losing streak — weren’t capable of drawing the best out of the home team. (The Tigers beat USF by 15 on New Year’s Eve in Tampa.) With 3:55 to play in the first half, the Tigers led by only two (24-22). But back-to-back three pointers by Joe Jackson and Chris Crawford fueled a 10-0 run to end the half and give the U of M a 34-22 lead. The Tigers’ hot shooting had only begun.
Over the course of the first nine minutes of the second half, Memphis hit seven treys, three by Crawford who recently became the fourth player in the program’s history to hit 200 for his career. The Tiger lead grew to 23 (56-33) with 12:36 left to play and Memphis coach Josh Pastner was able to expand his rotation the rest of the game.
Crawford finished with 15 points, Jackson added 14 (with seven assists), and sophomore forward Shaq Goodwin had his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Geron Johnson added eight points and seven assists and freshman Nick King scored ten points in 16 minutes off the bench.
“We’ve got one of the greatest shooters in the country in Chris Crawford,” said Johnson after the game. “This is going to get him started, hopefully like he was in last year’s conference tournament. We’ve got to stay focused. My focus level wasn’t up, but that happens in the game of basketball. We don’t want to play close games.”
While the Tigers missed 15 of 35 free throws (the seventh game this season they’ve missed at least ten), they picked up 23 assists on 25 field goals, a remarkable percentage that speaks well for the team’s collective effort to share the ball. “That’s phenomenal,” said Johnson. “That’s unselfish basketball. We’ve got great character guys. We’re just having fun, working the ball. The open man is the go-to man.”
The Tigers held USF to 34-percent shooting from the field. Ridgeway alum Martino Brock led the Bulls with 17 points off the bench. He was the only USF player to reach double figures.
Crawford was pleased with his team’s hot outside shooting, but emphasized that it came within the normal flow of a game. “Our inside-out philosophy has been working,” said Crawford. “Everybody’s so unselfish. When you make a couple of shots, you’re gonna take at least one bad three, just to see how it’s looking. But we’re letting the shots come to us.”
When exactly did Crawford know he had a hot hand? “As soon as the first one in the second half went in,” he said. As a team, the Tigers hit ten three-pointers for the first time this season.
Now 15-4 (5-2 in the AAC), the 23rd-ranked Tigers will travel to Orlando and face UCF next Wednesday. After that, it’s a road tilt with a rising SMU program (February 1) before a return to FedExForum to play Rutgers (February 4).
Greg Akers reviews The Invisible Woman, about Charles Dickens and his young mistress, Nelly Ternan.