jaietxeap

Memphis Grizzlies vs ?Utah Jazz

?The bookies are taking in consideration a lot of things here but I think that the most important one is that the Grizzlies didnt play well so far this season. I rate the Grizzlies as one of the 8 best teams in the league and for me Utah is not even close so this is a no brainer for me, lets take Memphis.

We have here two of the best team deffensively in the league, probably the best two. Utah has Gobbert and Favors in their frouncourt while the Grizzlies have Marc Gasol and Randolph. Gasol is probable and I expect him playing. I cannot imagine Memphis playing in Utah without Marc knowing that Utah have a very powerful frontcourt. In the Jazz side, they are with Favors questionable. He has flu and in their last match he left the court in the second half to not play again. He should be playing but still not at his 100%

Besides these two frontcourts, we have Hayward as the main weapon for the Jazz and Conley for Memphis. Hayward had great numbers in previous matchups against the Grizzlies and it is for sure the player to watch over. I really think that Allen and Green could stop Hayward and if they do that, Utah is in troubles. The biggest advantage that Memphis has over Utah is the depth in their roster. While Utah has Neto, Burks, Burke and Hood as "the other guys", Memphis has Allen, Lee, Barnes, Green, Wright, Udrih or even Carter. For me there is a big gap between both rosters in their favour (Memphis).

I think that Memphis will take this one. You can take the ML or the short spread, but both should be good imo.

Btw, their last meetings played in Utah were won by the Grizzlies, and they have almost the same roster than then.

Memphis to win @2.20 (5dimes)

Memphis +2.5 @1.91 (pinnacle)

Nets and Lakers are two of the worst teams in the league, but I see the Lakers as the team with a better near future. It is true that the Nets had a harder schedule so far but we saw nothing coming from them in all those matches.

Nets plays at home but I was in NY watching them the past year and the ambient is very cold, distant. I do not think that the Nets playing at home improve their performance and thats why I dont care too much about the fact that they are playing at home. 5 losses and no wins so far this season with a tough schedule as I said before. Chicago and Milwaukee at home (they lost by 23 points combined), Atlanta Spurs and Memphis playing away (lost by 51 points combined).

We have a very old team in Brooklyn where Joe Johnson is the superstar (let me laugh a little bit), Brook Lopez their only reliable player, Thadeus Young a very irregular player, Bogdanovic a very overated player (the same for Johnson and Young by the way) and the rest of them are pure trash. I dont like how they play and they lost their PG from the past year, Deron WIlliams, that was one of the few positive things that they had. One of the teams that plays worse in the league. Defensively a disaster and offensively a team full of shooters that is not the same that scorers.

The biggest hope for the Nets is Lopez. I always say the same because I really think that. The problem here is that the Lakers has Hibbert that for me is deffensively good enough to stop Lopez a little bit. Of course the problem with Hibbert are always the personal fouls, but if he has not problems with that, I think that the Nets are in big problems because he can stop Lopez.

Lakers 0 wins so far, the same than the Nets, with 4 losses. Dallas, Denver and Minnesota at home and Sacramento playing away. Their schedule was not that hard to be 0-4 but they are still winless. At least they fought in some of them, but they need to improve their game to be at least a little bit more competitive.

Lakers with Kobe that tries to be the superstar that once was. I think that he still has basketball in his hands but he has to pass more the ball and that his not easy for him to understand. Hibbert, Kobe, Lou Williams Nick Young or Brandon Bass put the experience on the pitch, but they have very talented youngsters like DeAngelo Russel, Jordan Clarckson or Julius Randle. If you put everything together, you have a team that could be in the middle of the table but somehow it doesnt work like that. Kobe cant accept his new role, they have too many shooters and sometimes they need 3 balls at the same time to be happy with all of them shooting, Hibbert is not working ... Anyway, that should change with more games played and I rate them as a better team than the Nets.

Take Lakers +3.5 @2.02 (SBO). Good luck!!!