My annual Grizzlies-season preview for the Flyer‘s print edition hit the streets of Memphis yesterday and is online this morning. This year, colleague Frank Murtaugh and I teamed up, with his annual University of Memphis men’s hoops preview paired up with my Griz piece, while Hannah Sayle and Susan Ellis highlight some choice downtown pre- and post-game dining options. Basketball season’s here, y’all!
In the piece, I riff on five defining issues facing this year’s team, make five fearless predictions, and put the spotlight on seven high-profile home games. Check it out.
Guard rotation yields options: While the season preview is already out, preseason action, regretfully, is still going on, and it seems like everyone with the Grizzlies is ready to get the real thing started. But that didn’t stop the Griz from dispatching the woeful Orlando Magic 115-100 last night at FedExForum, playing something approximating a regular-season rotation and with most everyone who saw court time giving performances in the decent-to-good range.
As the regular season nears, the only real rotation question seems to be in the backcourt, where Mike Conley is set for probably 32-36 minutes a night at point guard, leaving roughly 60 minutes to fill out each night. Tony Allen is the presumptive starter at scoring guard, but has been held out of most preseason games to rest his knee after offseason surgery. Last night, even with Allen active, Wayne Ellington remained in the starting lineup. The team hasn’t made any announcements about a starting lineup change, and I still expect Allen in the lineup for opening night, but this does bear watching.
