Postgame Report Grizzlies v. Trailblazers

The Custodian, cleaning up a mess, as he was hired to do. 9 points, 5 assists, 4 steals, and of course, two HUGE three-pointers.

This was one of the ugliest games of the season. Jason Williams, Dhantay Jones, Lorenzen Wright, they just never got it going. Its times like these you don't mind having drafted Drew Goodin, when Mike Miller can come in and make things happen in crunch time.

Miller really lead the team down the stretch, with 4-8 shooting beyond the ark, and 22 points on the night. The rest of the team hardly shot 35%. Portland came in and they played physical basketball, and only one Grizzly looked ready to step up and counter that. Bonzi Wells.

Bonzi didn't have the best night from the floor, shooting 4-16, but he did tie a career high in rebounds with 14, while generally irritating the suspect Portland defense in the process.

The game, and crowd, were flat through three quarters, and the Grizzlies really struggled to keep up, cruising along most of the game training 6 to 10 points, but, as Damon Stoudamire said, "That's what good teams do. They take away games and that's what (the Grizzlies) did."

It means a lot to get this win, while Portland is still 7 games under .500, they are on the playoff radar, and if we continue to float around the 6 spot, we might have to contend with them.

How is Memphis supposed to gain ground with San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston continue to play just as well as we have. Ron Tillerey noted to day, in his article in The Commercial Appeal, Memphis now has more wins than they did at this time last year. Fratello is doing a great job, and it's almost hard to imagine how good this team will be if Posey and Gasol get healthy.

The rumor is that Gasol plans to be on the floor after the all-star game, but it could be mid-march before we get to see Posey fly around the court. Plantar Facitis...who'd have thought. This is why the NBA ought to prohibit players from playing international ball during the off season.

Next up? Memphis @ Indiana Sunday @ 5 p.m. I'll get a pre-game up sometime Sunday morning.