Grizzlies Season Grades: O.J. Mayo.
(This is the seventh part of an ongoing series where we will grade the Memphis Grizzlies team and franchise for the 2011-2012 season. The first six parts can be found here: Lionel Hollins, Mike Conley Jr, Tony Allen, Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol.)
If you’re a fan of the NBA (and if you’re reading my humble site, there’s a good chance that you are) then you’ve noticed the sixth man’s importance coming back to the forefront after a few years of it being somewhat dormant.
The trend started with Manu Ginobili coming off the bench for the San Antonio Spurs and helping them win three world championships. Ben Gordon became an off-the-bench assassin for the Chicago Bulls of the late 2000’s, Lamar Odom’s versatility helped the Lakers win two straight titles and James Harden has become a key player for the Oklahoma City Thunder who are currently in the driver’s seat for one of the title favorites in the league right now.
Memphis’ own sixth man if none other than O.J. Mayo, shooting guard from USC and once he finally embraced that role, he’s become quite good at it.
After a trying 2010-2011 season in which he was “demoted” to the bench, got punched out on the team plane by Tony Allen, was suspended for potential banned substance abuse, Mayo played an entire season off of the bench and was quite productive.
Mayo continued to give the Grizzlies minutes at point guard and shooting guard and came a long, long way defensively where he was very poor in his first three seasons, but became half-decent this year.
Mayo was also the Grizzlies only consistent three-point threat as he led the team in threes made with 100 and hit them at a 36% clip, just over the league average.
Unfortunately, Mayo picked a bad time to play one of his worst seven game stretches in Memphis as he was in a funk in the first round of the playoffs against the Clippers and never got out of it. It was a huge blow for a guy that was relied on so heavily by a team that has a tough enough time scoring in the first place.
When Mayo was unable to stretch the floor, and when the Clippers realized that fact, they packed the painted area and shut the Grizzlies down almost completely in game 7 where the Grizzlies scored a ghastly 72 points in a 48 minute game.
The biggest problem with Mayo in that series was that the Clippers almost accidentally stumbled onto his kryptonite. Eric Bledsoe is a quick, athletic defender with some length and he had an answer for whatever Mayo wanted to do on the floor. He couldn’t shoot over Bledsoe, he couldn’t drive past him and he even made it tough on Mayo to make plays when he was playing point guard.
A guy of Bledsoe’s caliber usually starts for some teams, but since he came off the bench for the Clippers, his man was Mayo and with the exception of game 2, Juice never got going.
As we know now, Mayo is a restricted free agent and as we’ve discussed before in this space, he could very well be on his way out of Memphis, depending on the contract that he gets from another team. If he does indeed leave, I would hope that fans remember the good moments and not the way that he and the Grizzlies exited the playoffs in his last season with the club. Mayo was a crucial part of the Grizzlies for four years and will continue to be a good player regardless of where he ends up.
It’s easy to get attached to a player that you watch every day for four years and go through the ups and downs with, and when the time comes when they move on, it’s tough. Still, others subscribe to the “everything ends badly, or else it wouldn’t end” theory, especially in sports. It’s sad but it is what it is. All I know is that if Mayo does find himself in another city next year, when he returns I will cheer. Not because he left, but because of what he helped the Grizzlies achieve here, which has been plenty.
Best Game:
Mayo’s shooting percentage was much to write home about (8-19), but he hit big shots when the Grizzlies needed them, including a crucial 5-5 from the free throw line down the stretch as the Grizzlies closed out one of their most impressive wins of the year at the time.
2011-2012 Final Grade: B.