Necessary Criticism: Memphis Grizzlies Week in Review and Three Takeaways

The Memphis Grizzlies are struggling to put together a series of wins that would suggest playoff contention.

“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same purpose as pain in the human body: it calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” -Sir Winston Churchill

Watching the Memphis Grizzlies lately is painful, and it certainly calls attention to an unhealthy state of affairs that merits a fair amount of criticism.

As all but two teams in the Western Conference (Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs) have struggled more than anticipated in the first two months of the season, the Grizzlies still find themselves only one game back of a playoff seed that could grant them home court advantage despite surrendering several befuddling losses.

Let’s take a look back at the week that was and three in-depth takeaways from the week that was.

December 8 Memphis Grizzlies vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder played well. The Grizzlies, however, did not.

The Grizzlies’ third quarter struggles have never been more apparent than in this game in which OKC outscored Memphis 39-16 in the third quarter. Mario Chalmers could have gone off for a career high point total again and it wouldn’t have mattered. Save for a three-pointer by Vince Carter in the waning seconds of the game the Grizzlies would have lost by 40.

This contest was a disaster and it underscored the increasingly evident fact that suffering a huge blowout loss is not a fluke for this Memphis team. It is to be expected on a weekly basis.

December 9 Memphis Grizzlies vs. Detroit Pistons: The Shot

In what was the high point of the past week, the Grizzlies visited the Detroit Pistons and outright stole a victory.

At the conclusion of a game that was competitive throughout, Matt Barnes got the ball near mid-court giving the Grizzlies a chance for the win. With the Grizzlies trailing by two with nearly four seconds left, rather than call a timeout for an opportunity to set up a play or pass to Courtney Lee who would’ve had an open three-point shot at the buzzer, Barnes incomprehensibly chose to heave the ball at the basket from beyond the half-court line.

And he absolutely nailed it.

Grizzlies fans haven’t seen a shot that induced so much outrage and face-palming immediately replaced by elation and fist-pumping since Greivis Vasquez somehow made this bucket:

December 11 Memphis Grizzlies vs Charlotte Hornets

In case you missed it, Friday night was a Star Wars-themed home game for Memphis. Yoda, Han Solo, Storm Troopers, Darth Vader, and Chewbacca were all prominent fixtures, the Grizz Girls dressed like Princess Leia, the game programs looked like classic Star Wars movie posters and the Grizzlies supplied fans with coveted Tony Allen Jedi robes as the promotional give-away.

Then the actual basketball began.

Strong with the Grizzlies the Force was not. Another bad third quarter and overall weak showing resulted in a huge loss at home for Memphis, this time by 24 to the Charlotte Hornets. The Grizzlies were terrible on defense and Allen, the man who coined the “G’n’G” mantra and embodied the playing style, declared after the game that “grit and grind is fading away” following the Hornets’ 123 point outburst.

I’m not one for sugarcoating  the suck or trying to find silver linings to crushing defeats, but we should at least revisit one great play Memphis made in this disappointing contest:

December 13 Memphis Grizzlies vs Miami Heat: The Joerger Bomb Lineup

At the end of a rough week, the Grizzlies came out fast and furious against the Miami Heat and, for the first couple hours of the game, gave us hope that they might be able finish the weekend on a high note by beating a quality team on the road.

Then, in a final stretch that was as bizarre as it was dreadful, chances of clinching the much-needed win quickly fell to pieces when the Grizzlies blew a late lead and let Miami come out on top.

In his return to Miami, the Heat greeted Chalmers with multiple warm ovations and a tribute video highlighting his successes with his former squad. Like Chalmers, the Grizzlies got off to a nice start and had a solid game until a sordid finish. This time it wasn’t an abysmal third quarter that ruined the Grizzlies, it was the final 92 seconds or so.  

In an odd turn of events that saw coach Dave Joerger play mostly with a small-ball lineup, and after Allen curiously sustained an injury during warm-ups that caused him to miss the entire game, Jeorger elected to start Barnes at the power forward spot that has almost exclusively belonged to Zach Randolph for the better part of a decade.

Shaking things up, Joerger went with Jeff Green and Barnes at the forward spots and dealt them more minutes (a game-high 44, and 37, respectively) than he gave Randolph and Marc Gasol (26 and 37, respectively).

For what it’s worth, Barnes and Green both played their finest basketball of the season. Barnes had 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including three triples, to go with two steals and his game-high 13 rebounds.

Although it was Barnes who, with 1:32 to go and the Grizzlies still up six and in a scoring dry spell, made the crucial mistake of fouling the Heat’s Gerald Green on a three-point shot, allowing him to cut lead to three without any time elapsing.

Green had a strong first half and finished with a season-high 26 points while shooting 50 percent from the field. However, Green also missed a wide open look from three with under 30 seconds that likely would’ve been the dagger to keep the Heat from making a comeback.

On the flipside Gasol and Randolph only scored 12 apiece on a combined total of 19 field goal attempts, one less than the 20 shots attempted by Green alone.

Chalmers again came off the bench to give the Grizzlies backcourt a boost, scoring 12 points including a three-point play following a tough drive and score against Hassan Whiteside who fouled Chalmers on the play.  

Meanwhile, starting point guard Mike Conley did little to help the Grizz. Conley only scored nine points to go with four assists and two turnovers including a costly mistake on the Grizzlies’ last possession.

With a chance to take the lead, the Grizzlies came out of a timeout and had Conley dribble out the majority of the time remaining in the game. With the clock winding down, Randolph set a high screen the Heat saw coming and Conley dribbled around a second screen set by Gasol. Conley struggled but kept his dribble working back towards the lane and attempted a pass to Gasol who had started to roll to the basket after setting the pick. Conley’s errant pass was thrown far behind Gasol, the Heat recovered the loose ball and Memphis was forced to foul with only seven tenths of a second remaining. The Heat extended the lead to three after two made free throws. Conley’s ensuing desperation buzzer beater bounced off the back of the rim and just like that the Grizzlies had blown a huge lead and lost yet another game.

The heartbreaker the Grizzlies lost in Miami was worse than the one Memphis dealt the Pistons earlier in the week. And though the team failed to seal the victory at the end, coach Joerger giving more run to a smaller lineup is an interesting experiment to watch going forward. Joerger indicated after the game that the team will continue go with this type of lineup “for a while.”

Three Takeaways

1. Dave Joerger has been less than inspiring to this team and its fanbase

Perhaps more troubling than the Grizzlies’ actions on the court are the reactions from those within the franchise.

Allen isn’t the only one suggesting the defensive mentality is gone. In addition to the well-earned criticisms circulating through NBA media and blogospheres, there have been disconcerting comments from the head coach such as his remarks following the Hornets game when he stated that the Grizzlies only guarded their opponents “for the first five or six minutes” while also commenting on the disparity in the two team’s effort and execution.

If the Grizzlies’ effort and execution are poor, you have to question the coach as much as, if not more than, the players. With Joerger suddenly opting to completely alter the team philosophy in favor of small-ball, things could get worse before they get better and we might see several more adjustments.

More pressing than any moves the front office may need to make, the Grizzlies need to play like a team in which players and coaching staff have an unwavering level of mutual trust and respect.

Joerger is a good coach, but he may not be the best option for this group of players long-term and he doesn’t appear to have the full confidence of his team right now. He’s probably capable of doing better with this group than he has so far this season,  but we’d all like to see outcomes that back it up in the win column. Otherwise, the franchise may seriously need to consider not only who plays on the court for this team  but also who stands on the sideline coaching it.

2. The Grizzlies need more from the duo at the inner core of the “core four”: Mike Conley and Marc Gasol

Though Joerger discouraged people from playing the blame game, there are plenty of culprits to share the blame for the Grizzlies’ questionable play this season, and  accountability needs to start with the team’s leaders: Gasol and Conley.

Much has already been written and said about Gasol’s noticeably different approach to this season: he appeared to be less physically prepared at the season’s onset, seemed less focused or disinterested at moments this year and hasn’t exactly brought the defensive intensity or effort you would expect of a former DPOY. His shooting percentages are down from last season and overall he’s less effective than he was during last season.

Conley has had some great games this season and some pretty rotten ones. He’s capable of shooting much better than the 40 percent mark he’s averaged so far, and offensively Memphis desperately needs Conley to consistently attack the lane dropping his ambidextrous floaters and spotting up for three-point shots as he’s the only gunner from deep on this team that’s hit even a third of his attempts from beyond the arc this season.

If Conley misses the All-Star game again this year, it won’t be because he got snubbed. It will be because he continued to play like this.  

As for the rest of the core four, Allen is still far from hitting his stride and we’re not sure what kind of impact he will have on the rest of the season if at all. Hopefully the Grizzlies figure out how to get him involved because they’re better when he’s stealing passes, chasing down rebounds, flexing and doing Allen-like things.

Randolph, aside from his inability to keep up with quicker forwards through pick-and-rolls and three-point shooters on pick-and-pops, has capitalized on his inside game, rebounding and mid-range shooting about as well as anyone could hope for the 14-year veteran. He has too much to offer and can’t be dismissed just because his game looks nothing like Draymond Green’s.

Following the loss at Miami, Joerger’s usage of Randolph in a reserve role could be a long-term solution for the Grizzlies in the seasons to come.

Randolph had a great game off the bench, as he scored 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists in 26 minutes. At this point with the roster the Grizzlies currently have they probably still need to rely on Randolph for more scoring and minutes but he doesn’t jive with the fast pace of small ball forwards playing the four.

Regardless of whether Joerger goes with a small-ball lineup or a more traditional lineup with post players, he must find a way to consistently get more out of Conley and Gasol for this team to have any chance of staying above .500.

As for Allen, if his new role is to be a regular DNP-CD, the Grizzlies may as well cut him loose for whatever you can get for Allen in today’s NBA. He still has value but it remains to be seen if the Grizzlies can still find away to take advantage of Allen’s defensive prowess while covering for his offensive limitations.  

3. Even if the ceiling for this group is a first round playoff exit, this team is still playing well beneath its potential

To be more successful, this team clearly requires some major internal changes and adjustments and external changes, if not the self-destruct overhaul some understandably distressed fans are clamoring for.

The Grizzlies still sit at sixth in the Western Conference and are far from hopeless, but right now this team is a rudderless ship that has no identity and currently bears no semblance of the squads Memphis fans have come to know and love.

And if this is the end of the “We in the mud” bully-ball era, the Grizzlies might be fine or even better off if they can maximize their strengths in some other reliable and sustainable ways. Sadly, building an identity based on the one skill this team has consistently demonstrated, a penchant for hitting amazing game winning last-second shots, does little for a team that finds itself down by 30, 40 or 50 points in the closing seconds of a game.

As for internal changes, the Grizzlies garner so much criticism for their wildly inconsistent play because they do have many strengths. They can and should play better than this.

The current roster features essentially the same personnel as the team that won 55 games last year and, despite late season injuries, breezed past a talented Portland Trail Blazers team and held a 2-1 series lead against Golden State. If you are going to argue reasons as to why this team is doing so much worse then you need to do more than blame the difference solely on seven months’ worth of “old age.”

As previously mentioned, the Grizzlies need more from the guys that they have come to count on (Gasol, Conley and Lee to name a few) who’ve been notably off pace from last season’s production. None of those three guys are very old. Lee is shooting almost 20 percent lower on threes than he was at this point last year and whatever the reason may be, it’s not because he suddenly became elderly and feeble this past summer. You could possibly argue that for Carter’s decline in production, but not really for anyone else on the team.

Joerger isn’t a newbie anymore and he has a group of veteran players that have played together for multiple seasons. Joerger can also rely on recent additions of skilled veteran role players like Chalmers, Barnes, and Brandan Wright, plus the emergence of JaMychal Green as a valuable frontcourt player. It’s only shown in glimpses here and there, but this is a team that returned a First-Team All-NBA defender and the First-Team All-NBA center and has more than enough talent to get to back to the playoffs.

While glaring deficiencies in three-point shooting and defending persist, many of the Grizzlies’ issues and concerns might be solved by improvements in team chemistry, attitude, and resilience. Unlike seasons past when the Grizzlies clawed their way back after allowing a faster-paced opponent to go on a big run, at the first sign of adversity this season the Grizzlies inexplicably crumple and collapse like a flopping Clipper coming off a screen.

Defying the perceived advantages of continuity,  this veteran group often looks out of sync not only on offense but also on defense where it once prided itself. Hopefully the Grizzlies can pull together and give themselves an opportunity to play to their full potential, something that hasn’t happened on a consistent basis since last season. Again, this is a talented team that could build on last year’s impressive performance despite underachieving thus far.

And-One:

Memphis wasn’t the only NBA team that hosted “Star Wars Night” this past Friday, and it appears all of the teams had some (dorky) fun with it:

Do the Grizzlies have any chance of making a serious run in the playoffs with their current roster and current coach? What changes can they realistically make to improve this season? What changes may be best for this team in the long run?

Add your comment to join the discussion.