An angry Conley ready for Game 2
SAN ANTONIO — Practice had ended long ago. The team had headed for the bus. But one Grizzlies player remained on the far end of the court, shooting foul shot after foul shot after foul shot.
It was as if Mike Conley was doing penance for his performance Saturday night. He finally stopped and took his place in front of the microphones.
“I’m ready,” he said, quietly. “I’m ready for Game 2.”
Ready to take on Tony Parker, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Jonathon Simmons and whoever else San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich throws at him.
Which is good news for the Grizzlies, because they won’t win a single game in this series if Conley doesn’t rise to the occasion better than he did in Game 1, if he doesn’t find a way to counter Popovich’s efforts to make him disappear.
That’s one of the many things Popovich does better than any other coach in the league. Ask Zach Randolph about it. After Randolph destroyed the Spurs in the 2011 playoffs, Popovich resolved it would never happen again. Sure enough, Randolph has struggled against the Spurs ever since then. Who: Memphis vs. San Antonio (Game 2; Spurs lead series 1-0) When, where: 8:30 p.m. today, AT&T Center TV, radio: TNT, Fox Sports Southeast; WMFS 92.9 FM
/ 680 AM SAN ANTONIO - A blowout loss in the beginning of their Western Conference first-round playoff series hasn’t deflated the Grizzlies or changed their main goal. Memphis still believes it can steal a road game against the San Antonio Spurs and make the matchup competitive. The Grizzlies appeared upbeat, focused and hardly shaken Sunday afternoon when they returned to practice following a 29-point Game 1 loss. The best-of-seven series continues Monday night with Game 2 in the AT&T Center. In many ways, the Grizzlies were unrecognizable over the final three quarters of a lopsided Game 1 defeat. Part of their troubles had to do with the Spurs’ intensity and championship-caliber defense. Memphis’ struggles also had to do with relying on role players appearing in the postseason for the first time. Either way, the Spurs’ dominance counted for only one game. That’s the message Grizzlies coach David Fizdale sent after a no-holds-barred film session. “We came in here understanding we’re playing against the No. 2 seed and to win a series we know it wasn’t going to be a sweep on our end. Let’s be real about it,” Fizdale said. “Our goal is how do we get one game in San Antonio and take care of our home? That’s how you win a series when you’re down. We can’t wallow in how we lost. You put it behind you; you prepare from the film; you make the adjustments and try to win Game 2.” Even the Spurs aren’t putting much stock in Game 1 as they want to avoid a letdown given their long storied playoff history with the scrappy Grizzlies.
Now Conley is Popovich’s target, which is both a compliment and a curse.
“We knew coming in he was going to key on one guy,” Conley said. “Different years, it’s been different people. So it’s my first time having to deal with it, honestly, so I’m going to figure it out.”
Conley figured it out just fine in the first quarter of Game 1, hitting all four of his shots for 10 points. He added a finger roll at 8:40 of the second quarter and then — incredibly — didn’t get a bucket again.
Not a 3-pointer, not a floater. He was outscored by 34-year-old Tony Parker, 18-13.
Some of this was because Conley missed shots he normally makes — a right-handed floater at the start the second half springs to mind — but much of it was because of Popovich’s devious plans.
He put 6-foot-6 Danny Green on Conley to start the second half. He sent double-teams from everywhere.
Popovich later said he was willing to concede points to Marc Gasol. Conley, not so much.
This is the kind of attention Conley earned with his brilliant play during the regular season. It is the kind of challenge Conley craves. But on this night? Conley went 1-10 after that blazing start. With Conley not doing anything, the Grizzlies offense died. And while the Grizzlies had plenty of problems other than Conley — the miserable bench play, the typically hideous third quarter, the unfocused defensive effort — Conley took his struggles particularly hard.
“Didn’t sleep really, man,” he said. “It felt like a done-for-the-year type of loss.”
Indeed, it will be a done-for-the-year type of loss if the Grizzlies can’t figure out how to get Conley going again.
So that was the focus of Sunday’s practice. What adjustments can coach David Fizdale make?
“We’ve got to figure out a way to keep him going when they move different guys onto him,” Fizdale said. “We’ve got to be strategic in the way we free Mike up and get him loose because the only way we’re going to get this series is if Mike has some games.”
The trick, of course, is that Conley can’t do any of this by himself. The best way to counter the Spurs pressure on Conley is to move the ball. But for that to work, players besides Conley — players like Wayne Selden and Andrew Harrison, who were described by Fizdale as looking like “deer in the headlights” — have to make plays.
Saturday wasn’t just a Conley problem. It was a Grizzlies-perimeter-players-don’t-scare-Popovich problem. Sound familiar, anyone? “Our team is going to have to find a way to help every single guy be better so hopefully we’ll figure something out and definitely try to steal one in the second game,” Conley said. “I have to trust my teammates and their ability to make plays for me and vice versa, so I don’t put it all on myself like I sometimes do.”
So that is the challenge for Monday, as the Grizzlies try and snap their ninegame playoff losing streak to the Spurs.
“Makes me angry,” Conley said. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Popovich vs. the point guard, Round Two.