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Friday, October 12, 2007

Grizzlies Devour MMT Estudiantes, 98-73

The Memphis Grizzlies routed MMT Estudiantes 98-73 in an NBA Europe Live Tour game played at Palacio de Deportes in Madrid, Spain. Darko Milicic led Memphis with 13 points, while Pau Gasol had 10 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots in 19 minutes. Mike Miller contributed 11 points but shot just 4-12 from the field and rookie point guard Juan Carlos Navarro had just six points and four assists while shooting 2-7 from the field, a far cry from his game-high 21 points in Memphis' 102-99 loss to Unicaja Malaga on Tuesday. Emilio Jasen led MMT Estudiantes with 17 points.

MMT Estudiantes placed ninth in the 18 team Spanish league last season and from the start of the game it was immediately obvious that they were completely overmatched. Memphis led 32-11 after the first quarter and 52-33 at halftime. After the game, Coach Mariano de Pablos offered this assessment of his team's performance: "We played a little soft...We did not have the right attitude. I think that the game was over in the first quarter."

Although this game was a blowout, Memphis Coach Marc Iavaroni was impressed by what he saw of the European teams: "They're well coached. They move the ball very well. Technically, they are on the cutting edge of ball movement, unselfish play and, obviously, shooting the ball. They're big and they're strong and, frankly, it's very physical. The NBA, overall, has done things to enhance the offense. In Europe you see that it's still very, very physical and American teams have to be aware of that when they come over here and play."

Obviously, this game tells us absolutely nothing about how the Grizzlies will do this season.

posted by David Friedman @ 1:13 AM

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