What can you say about tonight's win? First of all, it was the most exciting Grizzlies game I've seen since the double OT loss to the Spurs last year. To recap for those who weren't there/didn't watch, the Grizzlies let a 10 point lead with 5:46 remaining transform into a 2 point deficit with 9 seconds left. (Side note: the Grizzlies lead the NBA in number of blown 10-point leads.) Enter Zach Randolph. The burly big man caught a pass under the basket and then drew a shooting foul on Washington's Brendan Haywood as time expired. The referees reviewed the play, ruled that Randolph was fouled before the clock hit 0:00 and put 0.3 seconds back on the clock. Randolph stepped to the line needing to hit both free throws to send the game into overtime. And then he did. Bedlam ensued. The Grizz regained their composure in overtime and used clutch free throws by Marc Gasol to seal the win.
See the highlights here: http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=291228029
For all the flack the Grizzlies and GM Chris Wallace caught for making the Randolph trade, it has been unbelievably successful. I'm going to go ahead and say it: Randolph is the best player to ever put on a Grizzlies uniform. And that includes Pau, Rudy, OJ, etc. Look at his scoring/rebounding numbers from the last 6 games: 23/19, 27/14, 33/18, 32/24, 26/16, and 10/10. For December, he's averaged 23.3 (10th in the NBA) and 14.3 (6th in the NBA). For the season, he's putting up 19.9 and 11.1. Ridiculous. And the most amazing fact: he's absent from the All-Star ballot. It makes no sense that Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady (who's played in a grand total of 6 games this season) are on the ballot while Randolph isn't.
Oh, well... I'm just glad I can say that I was there tonight. These past few weeks of Grizzlies basketball have me thinking big. Randolph for mayor.
Owen
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