Thunder strikes the Spurs in Game 3

After being down 2-0 in the Western Conference finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder proved the reason for their playoffs spot Thursday night, defeating the San Antonio Spurs in Oklahoma City.

The 20-point victory came after two back-to-back wins by the Spurs on their home court in San Antonio.

The final score was 102-82 at the end of the night. The teams will meet again in the Chesapeake Arena in Oklahoma on Saturday night, where the Thunder to tie the series 2-2.

Meanwhile, drama almost but didn't quite make it to the "Will Call" in the Chesapeake Arena lobby. Check out this story about rapper Lil' Wayne (and other random sports news).

Can Grizzlies Force Game 7?

written by: stacia_doss.
Since the start of the NBA Playoffs, there has honestly only been one series I have been following: The Memphis Grizzlies v. the Los Angeles Clippers. Right now, L.A. leads the series 3-2.

Wednesday night, the Clippers were one game away from ending the series, but the Grizzlies managed to survive the game, winning on their home court at the FedEx Forum.

This is how the series has played out so far (in case you haven’t seen it).

Game 1 in Memphis: Clippers win

Game 2 in Memphis: Grizz win

Game 3 in L.A.: Clippers win

Game 4 in L.A.: Clippers win

Game 5 in Memphis: Grizz win

So, you see, the Clippers managed to take advantage of their home court, winning both games, along with a victory on the road. The team heads back to the Staples Center to face the Grizzlies in Game 6 on Friday night. Game 6 is an absolute must-win for Memphis if they want to make it past this first round of the playoffs.

During Wednesday’s Clippers loss, the L.A roster and coach certainly got a little hot under the collar, earning the team a total of five technical fouls, four amongst the players and one for coach Vinny Del Negro.

The Grizzlies have managed to keep their composure, but have not been playing like the seemingly "unstoppable" team they seemed like near the end of regular season.

While Grizzlies Coach Lionel Hollins was grateful for the victory in Game 5, he feels the momentum of the team is still not where it needs to be.

Memphis closed the game with a 92-88 winning score, and at one point had a 24-point lead. But the faces on the fans during the last five minutes of the game were fearful as the lead at one point became as small as six points.

Can Memphis manage to stay in this NBA Playoff race? I sure hope so.

Grizz Fever

written by: stacia_doss.

Memphis Grizzlies victorious against Dallas Mavericks on
April 7, 2012.

This weekend was just what I needed...some time away from the St. Louis area and a visit back to my home state, Tennessee.

The Memphis Grizzlies faced the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, April 7, at the FedEx Forum for a game that was pretty integral to securing the Grizzlies a more favorable playoff spot. 

The team successfully defeated the Mavericks 94-89, placing the Grizzlies at fifth place in the Western Conference.

Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph led the team in scoring with a combined 40 points. Recent addition Gilbert Arenas looked almost unstoppable, bringing high energy and contributing 14 points to the team's victory, spending just over 17 minutes in the game. 

Overall, every player that stepped on the court for Memphis in some way contributed to the win over Dallas. It was "team work" in every sense of the phrase. 

Dallas was led by Dirk Nowitzki, who had 17 points and 2 assists. Jason Terry led the team with assists, ending the night with 8, and 12 points total.  

Sadly, this was the first and last time I'd see the husband of one of my favorite reality stars in a Dallas jersey (Lamar Odom).

*The Grizzlies faced the Los Angeles Clippers Monday night at home, and added another victory to the list with 94-85 win. 

This was the first regular season Grizz game I have attended in a long time. The atmosphere was great, the attendance was great, and I had an overall good time. It felt just as good as the playoff game I attended last year. Check out my pictures from the game. I had some pretty amazing seats! 

*=updated

A weekend of "madness"

Written by: stacia_doss.

Friday evening to this Monday has brought about a pretty shocking turn of events in sports. The latest being that Peyton Manning made the decision to join the Denver Broncos, dismissing the San Francisco 49ers, the Tennessee Titans, and anyone else who wanted him as their new, "seasoned" QB.

In basketball news, "March madness" truly proved to be madness this weekend. Underdogs many were rooting for like Murray State and VCU's trails ended this weekend. Who would have thought that Duke, Mizzou, or even Memphis would be knocked out of the tournament as early as they were? It was a shocker, and pretty heartbreaking (to say the least) for many fans. I know how disappointed I was watching my Memphis Tigers get to this point only to be beaten by an underestimated team (The St. Louis U. Billikens) under the leadership of a great coach. I have to give the Billikens credit, though. Even though they were eliminated in the following game against Michigan State, the team played a good, physical game in both rounds. I just hope that my alma mater Tigers can go all the way next season during their last school year in C-USA.

Peyton Manning. He's no doubt a great player, but I wasn't seeing Denver in his future. I thought, for sure, he'd join the Titans. Denver is expected to trade Tim Tebow. But what happens if 35-year-old Manning gets hurt? Tebow would seem to be a fitting back up, but time will only tell if he will move on to another team.

With Z-Bo's (Zach Randolph's) return the Memphis Grizzlies faltered against the Toronto Raptors on Friday, but were able to come back with a 97-92 win against the Washington Wizards on Sunday.

I'm anticipating the first weekend in April, because I will be returning to Memphis to watch the Grizz face the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks. Many photos will be taken and posted upon my return!

**Update: Tim Tebow was traded on March 21 to the New York Jets along with a Denver Broncos' seventh round pick player in exchange for a 4th round pick. He will be joining Mark Sanchez in New York!

Forget about the price tag?

written by: stacia_doss.
It seems nearly impossible to do so in professional sports. (Now begins my rant…) Price tags determine who will be on your “Championship-bound” team and sometimes even determine if the team will even continue to exist (in that particular city). Such is the case of the St. Louis Rams.

One. yard. short.

Before I moved to the area, I didn’t care too much about the Rams. All’s I remembered is them beating the Titans in the Superbowl years ago. (How could I forget that image to the right?) I didn’t really follow baseball, either, but I have allowed myself to be slightly sucked into the Cardinals’ news and Rams news, too. Not too long ago, I was informed that the Rams team will likely leave the city in 2014 if significant improvements are not soon made to the Edward Jones dome. In the long run, the city gains revenue from the Rams being around, but hey, they will probably be gone. From living in Greater St. Louis, I see the professional baseball fans around here far outweigh the football ones anyway.

Back to the Cardinals. I also was particularly and almost involuntarily aware of its latest Pujols fiasco. The battle to get him…who would put up the most money? It was all over the news in multiple stories. Frankly, I didn’t care, but I downloaded a local news app simply to enter an Ipad 2 contest and got a surprise “update notice” the next morning. It was Breaking News that Albert Pujols had signed a ten year contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He was drafted by the Cardinals in 2001, and he was ready for a change. Plus, the Angels clearly put a bigger “price tag” up for Pujols. People got a little sad around here, some even hostile, but hey, I’m happy for the guy.

Those are just two fine examples of how forgetting about the price tag is nearly impossible in sports. “Dream teams” only exist when they’re not dreamt up and pieced together on purpose. Real dreams of teams come together over time.  

I’m ecstatic that the NBA Lockout is over, but the past five days have brought my head spinning. Tyson Chandler to the (New York) Knicks, Lamar Odom to Dallas (Mavericks), Chris Paul to the…Who knows now? And Dwight Howard begging to be out of Orlando. Price tags…and dream teams. They go hand-in-hand, I suppose.

You can expect my next post to be more uniform than this, but I had to get that off my chest. It’s been a while. 

Where/Who are they now? NBA Throwback

Just decided to post a couple of random throwback photos from NBA Drafts over the years. This year's draft was full of unfamiliar names and faces, some memorable and well-known ones were thrown in the mix, too. But can you still recognize all of these players? Are they all superstars now? No. Well some of them are, but some never reached high success in the NBA. And it's funny to see some of these ballers in their original draft team jerseys in the first photo (excluding Glen "Big Baby" Davis). Reminisce on these.

2005 Rookie Shot




2007 NBA Draft

 

Congrats, Mavs...special shoutout to the benchwarmers.

Sunday night, the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat 4-2 to become the 2011 NBA Champions. The team came together to make history, giving Dallas its first championship in franchise history. I know I haven't blogged very much about The Finals..I might not have discussed them on T.W.S. at all, but the team's victory is certainly something worth mentioning.

In my web browsing today, I found this really cool clip. Jimmy Kimmel and Usher teamed up to make this hilarious song and video. You'll see some players you haven't seen in a while.."Benchwarmers."Notably, I caught a glimpse of former Grizzlies player, Hasheem Thabeet.

Enjoy. :)

Dwayne Wade: My Life as a single NBA Dad (Re-post)

I found this article on Newsweek's website to be pretty touching. Check it out below.

Photo courtesy of: blackcelebkids.com

"There are a few words that come to mind when I think about the past couple years of my life: challenging, rewarding, transformative—they roll off the tip of my tongue in an instant. In the span of a year my two good friends LeBron James and Chris Bosh...(read more)

NBA fans will miss you, Kazaam.

We've seen him play a genie.
We've seen him demonstrate the meaning of "Taco Bell syndrome."

We have even seen him rap a diss about Kobe Bryant.

We have seen him in a Lakers, a Heat, and a Celtics jersey (+ a few more).

We've seen him miss repeated free throws..more than anyone could have imagined.

We have seen him on Shaq vs. attempting to play other sports.

And (my favorite), we've seen Aaron Carter proclaim "how he beat Shaq," dunking on Mr.O'Neal in a video.

Unfortunately, we have to say goodbye now to the entertainer (NBA fans). Shaquille O'Neal announced today that he is retiring from the NBA (Via Twitter). We will miss you, Shaq, and all of your memories. If you have any other Shaq memories to contribute, feel free to comment.

NBA postseason of hope and uncertainty

article by:stacia_doss.

Darrell Arthur(MEM) guards Russell
Westbrook(OKC) as he drives in for the
shot.

What a great winter and spring the Grizzlies had! They ended their victorious NBA postseason Sunday night, when the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated them 105-90 to close the series. But the high of how far the team came didn't end in Oklahoma City.

As the team arrived in Memphis, the players and coaches were greeted by over 1,000 fans welcoming the Grizzlies home at Wilson Air. The welcome only further stressed the echoing words that followed the team throughout the 2011 Playoffs: Believe Memphis. Fans truly showed that they still believe, and that's something the team has needed for a long time. Things should only go up from here. Congratulations, Grizz!

After the Oklahoma City Thunder's hard fought series win over the Memphis Grizzlies ended on Sunday, the team packed up to face the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas on Tuesday night. To no surprise, Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 48 points. His efforts propelled the team to a 121-112 victory over the Thunder. Kevin Durant respectively had 40 points, with eight rebounds and five assists. Thabo Sefolosha helped with two steals.

On the other side of the scoreboard's top player stats, though, were contributions mainly made by players other than Nowitski. Tyson Chandler had eight rebounds, Jason Kidd had 11 assists and three steals. JJ Barea was also a key player in Dallas' Tuesday night win. The key to an OKC win on the road will have to be somehow stopping Nowitzki's thunder, but with the help of his starters and bench, he seems unstoppable. The two teams will face off again for Game 2 Thursday May 19 at 8p.m. Check this out.

 AP Photo: Derrick Rose (CHI) guards Dwayne Wade (MIA)
challenging a tough shot.

In other NBA news, many anticipated the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls match up. Carlos Boozer and Derrick Rose met the likes of the Heat's "triple treat" which includes Chris Bosh, but more recently named "dynamic duo" of Lebron James and Dwayne Wade. The result was a Bulls 103-82 win in Chicago Sunday night.

In the regular season, Chicago won over Miami in all three games that the teams met. However, the stats overall were extremely close. None of those games were won by much more than a few points. But Sunday night told a different story. The next game will be Wednesday night at 7:30. Will Miami pull through or will Chicago ultimately win the Eastern conference finals?

Every game this series

written by:stacia_doss.
...I've been away from the television, but have heard and read about Memphis playing phenomenally from either the radio, Twitter, or an app on my phone. But when I finally get to a television, things quickly have began to go somewhat awry.

Above: Marc Gasol (Grizzlies) and
Serge Ibaka (Thunder),
Courtesy of zimbio.com

Monday night, all I heard was good things. The Memphis Grizzlies had an 18 point lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Z-Bo, Gasol, Mike Conley and the rest of the Memphis crew were on FIRE! Then..I got home. I watched the lead quickly dwindle down before my eyes, and with the start of the second half, it appeared the lead was quickly slipping, slipping...and gone.

I looked away for a while, reading tweets frequently to update me, and I figured I would lay my head down and let the Grizzlies work their magic without my eyes on the television. Before I knew it, my followers on Twitter had tweeted "OT!" I went to sleep thinking (with confidence) "The Grizz have got this."

To my surprise, I woke up to a 133-123 Thunder win in not overtime, but TRIPLE overtime!

Charles Barkley, along with former Grizzlies' head coach Mike Fratello made a prediction before the game that whichever team won Game 4 would when the series.

Fortunately, neither one of them are fortune tellers, and I hope their prophecy does not come to life.

Besides, I feel like the versatility of the Grizzlies would be tougher competition for the Dallas Mavericks. How Dallas swept the Lakers on Sunday with a 36 point victory speaks volumes for what the team could do against the Thunder, a team that (unlike the Grizzlies), has a large majority of its points coming from two players every game.

May the best team win.

Enjoy these positive "Grizz" articles I found during my browsing today (one of them supports my argument).

*The Memphis Grizzlies Unprecedented Climb

*Mavericks Should Hope for Thunder Victory over Grizzlies

* Reasons to Believe

Walkin' in Memphis...

written by: stacia_doss.
I traveled 285 miles down the road this weekend to see the Memphis Grizzlies trample the San Antonio Spurs. (Or so I hoped that's what I would see.) Lucky for me, things went my way!

The Grizzlies ended the night and nearly began Saturday morning with a 99-91 victory over the Spurs late Friday night. The intensity in the FedEx Forum was like nothing I had ever witnessed before. Most of the people in the stands held "Believe Memphis" towels that they excitedly waved with nearly every play. It was great!

Just two days after eliminating San Antonio, Memphis moved on to start Round 2 of the playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The team took their first victory and a 1-0 lead for the start of the Conference Semi-Final playoffs with a score of 114-101 against the Thunder. This is going to indeed be a tough series for both of these young teams, but I anticipate watching the fight to victory.

Second round hopes 'spurring' away from San Antonio

article by: stacia_doss.
Here are just a few of the headlines I read Monday night and Tuesday morning:

  Grizzlies maul Spurs, game away from clinching series

  Grizzlies. Blow. Out. Spurs. 3-1.

  Off the Dribble: Spurs Pushed to Brink by Grizzlies



FedEx Forum in downtown Memphis, Tennessee.

But the biggest indicator of the significance of the Memphis Grizzlies' 104-86 victory over the San Antonio Spurs Monday night was the headline of an article by Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com that read: "Grizzlies gaining believers with each huge win." Better yet, this statement was proved with an even more reliable source: Twitter.

Being a graduate of The University of Memphis, most of the people I follow either live in or are from the blues city.  Tickets for both Games 3 and 4 sold out at the FedEx Forum, but the reactions of the people in Memphis who weren't in attendance of the game told the story.

My timeline was flooded with dozens of Memphis Grizzlies' fans. No one cared if they weren't fans before. The fact that a professional team in their city has done so well was enough to cheer with pride. But what made me even more haughty was the fact of being able to see where they've come from. As an intern last season, I saw so much potential. I knew with the right additions and growth, this young team would make their way to the playoffs and be successful.

And it happened. I have faith that Memphis will progress to the second round of the NBA Playoffs. I am ecstatic that they are finally getting the support they deserve and I hope televised regular season games and sold out stands will, sooner than later, be the result.

Congratulations, Grizzlies.

I'm proud.

Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam...

article by: stacia_doss.
I was in Oklahoma this past week.  My alma mater Memphis Tigers were playing in that very state on Friday while I was there, but I unfortunately wasn't in Tulsa. I was in Oklahoma City.

I couldn't be more proud of the Tigers, though, and their phenomenal performance against the Arizona Wildcats. On my ride back to "Native America" from Dallas, I listened to every play of the tournament game. It's just too bad when calls can't seem to go your way. Still, great job for making it so far, Memphis Tigers! They were underestimated, at first, and superseded the expectations of most. :)

What I thoroughly enjoyed about my weekend, however, was the Oklahoma City Thunder (vs. the Charlotte Bobcats) game my sister gave me the pleasure of attending. It was my first NBA game outside of Memphis' FedEx Forum, and I couldn't help but compare my experience to those I had last season working with the Memphis Grizzlies.

The venue: No doubt, the Thunderdome brings in a heck of a lot more fans than Memphis typically does. The sad thing is that Memphis is a good team, too. But the Tigers bring in more home fans on average than the Grizzlies do. The only time I witnessed sell-out games were if the Grizz were playing big-named teams like the Lakers or Heat. It pretty much hurt my heart to even think about it.

The Atmosphere: The fans were so amped and pumped. Even motivating music was playing during the game (and not just during time-outs). I could feel the real love from the fans and how it is truly shown to both them and the players during the entire game. I honestly cannot say I've felt the same during the Grizzlies games. In fact, I remember a time where free t-shirts had been given out to fans, and the players had made a couple of bad plays, so the "fans" started throwing them on the ground. At the Thunder game? Whether the team was doing great or a little shaky, it had full fan support during the game's entirety.

After experiencing my first NBA game outside of Tennessee, I just want the fans to do better. If a team that has shown significant improvement and a major increase in wins over the past few years still can't get much support, there's not a lot of hope for it's survival.

If not, I fear the team won't be in Memphis for too much longer.

I'm going back...to Chicago.

Long time, no blog.

written by:stacia_doss.
So much has been going on lately. I've been writing so many articles and essays outside of Blogger that I almost neglected my own blog! I know, shame on me!

Don't think I haven't missed out on all the unnecessary celebrity drama, the Wisconsin protesters, the shocking NBA trades, or the results of the NFL Combine..Oh no, believe that I have been paying attention even if I haven't blogged about it.

The New York Knicks recently acquired Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony, who (and correct me if I'm wrong) is currently averaging the most points per game in the NBA. So far, Amare Stoudamire and the rest of the Knickerbockers are doing great and contributing significantly to wins with their fresh-faced team. Good for them!

I really cannot comment much on some of the other issues. They are interesting, and one is very important. I just can't find the words or energy to express how I feel about them right now.

I am sitting back to see where 2010 Heisman winner, Cam Newton, will end up when he enters the NFL draft. Could it be the Tennessee Titans? I'm kicking my feet up on the table and just waiting to see what his verdict will be.

New year, new game plan.

written by:stacia_doss.
Happy New Year to everyone..I can't believe it is 2011!

The Titans finished their season off Sunday night with a 23-20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. The question on many people's minds at this point is whether or not the team will keep long time coach, Jeff Fisher. I believe the wise decision would be to let him go for the benefit of the team.

My focus for the next few months will be more so on basketball than football, so look out for the shift of focus on posts of that subject.

What I hope to achieve in 2011 with "The Word:Unscripted" is more posts and contacting more people. I'm going to try to reach out locally and find out what's going on in my community to share and inform with readers of this page.

I'm open to any suggestions if you may have them..Thanks for visiting!

A weekend 'For Colored Girls' and Sports

written by:stacia_doss.
This weekend, I did the usual: watched football. I sadly saw one of my college teams get trampled with zero points on their end for the final box score.

Through my observations of the quick snippets of games that the NFL Redzone showed me, I only saw

one major pass (from Vince Young) to newly acquired Randy Moss in the only NFL game I cared about watching yesterday. The Tennessee Titans fell short with a 29-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon. 

In fact, every Tennessee football college team lost this weekend except for Tennessee Vols with a sweeping 52-14 victory over Ole Miss for their Homecoming.  

On a higher note, the Dallas Cowboys have not experienced a victory in a while, and they finally did on Sunday...against the New York Giants. Good for them, I think they needed to feel what it was like to win again.

Also, my Memphis Grizzlies held their own against the Boston Celtics on Saturday. Although they lost 116-110 in overtime, I was pretty proud of them. It's too bad I can't see them on television now that I'm not in Memphis anymore. Bummer!

One thing I did, out of the ordinary, was go to the movies to see Tyler Perry's widely talked about film "For Colored Girls"...Except, it wasn't my first time. It was my second time seeing the movie in two consecutive weekends. But it wasn't because I just loved it so much. It was because the experience of viewing something can be different based on who accompanies you..so I wanted to see it again with my mother.

I only noticed one minor detail the second time around that I hadn't the first, but that's about it..All of the buzz and debate about it that followed its premiere last weekend cluttered my mind as I watched it the second time around. It just wasn't the same...

What ever happened to Allen Iverson?

written by:stacia_doss.

Before I go into where he is now, let me give a brief explanation of my history with hooper, Allen Iverson.

As a little girl, I loved the Philadelphia 76ers during the big era where they, the Lakers and the Spurs were the frontrunners for the NBA finals. I remember it like it was yesterday. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant verses Allen Iverson ( Eric Snow, Aaron McKie, etc.).

The games got my heart racing, even back then. Iverson, however, was my favorite player.

As timed progress, I started to hear less and less about Iverson. He went to some other teams but seemed as if he was slowly fading away as he got older. But I unexpectedly came across the opportunity to meet, even interact with him.

Last season, after starting my internship with the Memphis Grizzlies, I was notified that Iverson would be a member of the team.

I could not believe someone who used to be my favorite professional basketball player was playing for the very team I worked for, but it was not for very long.

During his short time there, he said hello a couple of times. He even held the door open for me, but then he was gone.

After the drama with himself and with the team subsided, I did not hear a peep from Iverson until I saw him on television crying about finally being part of a team, the Philadelphia 76ers once again.

Shortly thereafter, I took a trip to Atlanta and saw him in a crowded "Wet Willies" restaurant hanging over the stairwell peering down. Who would have thought that I would see him again in the same place?

Now, where is former NBA star, Allen "The Answer" Iverson?

Possibly signing a 1-year deal in Turkey! Crazy, huh?

Grizzlies start their tenth season off right

article by:stacia_doss.
The Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Indiana Pacers Wednesday night with a close 89-87 victory for their first preseason opener at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee.

Memphis was led by forward Rudy Gay with 12 points, while center Marc Gasol helped with nine rebounds.

Center Roy Hibbert guided Indiana with 18 points and ten rebounds, but the team efforts just were not enough for a Pacers win last night.

The Grizzlies will hit the road to Atlanta to face the Hawks Thursday night. The Pacers will try to earn their first preseason win at home as they prepare to face the Orlando Magic on Friday.

Click here for the complete box score of Wednesday night's game.