![]() Having someone that was the best at their position was something the Grizzlies weren’t used to having. Though he didn’t wow the ground with highlight-reel dunks or anything, he combined stellar footwork and precise techniques - both in the post and on the glass - with sheer force and physicality to get the Grizzlies where they needed to go.įor that good stretch, you could make a legitimate argument that Zach Randolph was the best power forward in the NBA. “And then “Whoop That Trick” would crank up and air itself would shake.”Įven against an all-time great like Tim Duncan, or a dazzling young phenom like Blake Griffin, Zach Randolph was rising above. “He’d hit those sweet jumpers on one end and then put Blake Griffin on the floor,” longtime columnist, currently Daily Memphian columnist Geoff Calkins described it. Against a team more known for showtime pizzazz and Hollywood theatrics, Randolph bullied them and just beat the hell out of them with his brute force and ground-and-pound, in-the-mud style game. Randolph was just ruthless against the Clippers. A year after falling to this squad in the 1st round of the 2012 playoffs, you could sense the energy around this Grizzlies team, and specifically Zach Randolph - payback. #Whoop that trick beat series#The same vibe was felt in the Los Angeles Clippers series in 2013. Randolph, in that series, gave the city of Memphis a glimpse of somethings they haven’t seen before - how postseason success feels, how an environment gets in crucial playoff basketball, and what it looks like to see a star take over in those big moments. The stocky, solid youngster Dejuan Blair? No way, young fella. Bruising veteran big man Antonio McDyess? Nope - party’s over, grandpa. ![]() In a battle with multiple Hall-of-Famers on the other side - one arguably being the greatest power forward this game has ever seen - it was Zach Randolph that stood out as the best player on the floor in those 6 games. The inevitability and the dominance were heavily on display in the Spurs series. Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images The noise would crescendo as the moments got bigger, and it reached its highest octaves in the 20 postseason - specifically against the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Clippers. Everybody in the building knew Z-Bo was about to bust someone’s ass. With each jab step, each Z-Bound, and each bucket, the crowd’s energy level would rise. ![]() You could feel that buzz from the arena in those moments. He was going to get that rebound and bucket - that wasn’t a prediction it was a spoiler. Z-Bounds were what many Grizzly faithful will know that sequence as. And maybe again, before getting that bucket. If he missed the layup, he’d find a way to grab the rebound. You’d have thoughts that circulated when Randolph was battling down low. “and other teams were not going to have fun seeing him do it.” “He was gonna get is,” fellow GBB Senior Staff Writer Shawn Coleman said. ![]() Defenders could do their best to stop it, but their only solution was to just hope he’d miss, regardless of the pressure applied. Nonetheless, Randolph was going to go for that fadeaway - and more often than not, it’d find the bottom of the net. Sometimes, there would be a dribble or two to generate separation or momentum from his defender. Zach Randolph would get the ball in the low post. You could feel the electricity in the building whenever he got going.Īnd I don't even need clips or highlights for anyone to know which moments I’m talking about. Your voice would be gone from chanting “Z-Bo!” repeatedly. The aura and energy in the building whenever would step on the floor is unlike anything we were used to seeing in Memphis, especially for the Grizzlies. There’s this different mystique around Randolph on and off the court - something that may not transcendent with any other player that’s donned this Beale Street Blue. Zach Randolph is getting his jersey officially retired and hung up in the rafters of the FedExForum, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he’s the first Grizzly player to have this done.
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