Lance Stephenson: Dave Joerger’s Treasure to Lose

Lance Stephenson, a.k.a Born Ready, is a bona fide diamond in the rough. Why he was so easy for the Grizzlies to obtain is a question best posed to Doc Rivers, who ill-advisedly forfeited a potential star in exchange for a watered down version of the hugely talented Rudy Gay (on whom I will soon be writing another piece). Regardless of how drastically he failed to meet expectations in both Charlotte and Los Angeles, since being shipped to Memphis, Stephenson has displayed numerous flashes of the star-potential he once regularly boasted in Indiana.

According to the numbers, Stephenson has been a positive force for the Grizzlies; since joining the squad, Stephenson has averaged a commendable 14 points on 47.4% shooting from the field and 81.6% shooting from the free throw line, 2.9 assists, 1.8 turnovers, and 4.7 rebounds per game, all of this in 25.9 minutes per game and with a PER of 17.4. Through 23 games with the Grizzlies, Stephenson has functioned as the ultimate energy supplier off the bench; almost immediately after checking into games, Stephenson has elevated the verve of the Grizzlies’ offense and disrupted enemy defenses with his oftentimes deadeye midrange jump shot, lightning drives, and thunderous jams. Born Ready has contributed a handful of dynamite performances that whisper of possibilities far exceeding his current averages. In his first game with the Grizzlies, Stephenson scored 16 points on 60% shooting from the field and 100% shooting from the free throw line, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in a mere 22:22 minutes of action. In a win over the Utah Jazz, Stephenson tallied 16 points with a 72.7% field-goal percentage and had a +/- of +15 in a paltry 24:36 minutes. In an astounding triumph over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Stephenson notched 17 points on 53.3% shooting from the field, 3 assists, and 7 rebounds. His premier outing for the Grizzlies came in a gritty win over the New Orleans Pelicans in which he scored 33 points on 60% shooting from the field, 4 assists, and 7 rebounds. In a narrow loss to the Timberwolves, Stephenson nearly snagged a triple-double with 24 points, 7 assists, and 11 rebounds. His overall +/- on the Grizzlies is +2, and for games in which he logs more than his average 25.9 minutes, his cumulative rating skyrockets to +38.

So why doesn’t Dave Joerger play Stephenson more often? Great question. One might gander that a man who is clearly in the running for “best Grizzly” would take the court quite a bit more often than Born Ready does. Stephenson did not play a fortuitous victory against a befuddled Chicago Bulls team; Joerger attributed the lack of playing time to “matchups.” Last night, in a loss against the Dallas Mavericks, Stephenson played a scant 24.32 minutes of a game in which the Grizzlies struggled mightily to match the Mavericks’ scoring pace. He scored 10 points on 50% shooting, but he didn’t receive enough playing time to truly make the difference, despite a promising-looking run towards the conclusion of the game. Joerger currently seems unable to detect a certain explicit reality: Born Ready is one of the few good things the Grizzlies have going right now. Earlier in the season, when Mike Conley was playing truly abysmal basketball, did Joerger ever bench him for matchups? Nope. To do so would have been absolutely justifiable, for Conley seemed incapable of getting anything done for a while there. Has Joerger docked playing time from Matt Barnes, a floundering starter who has played worse than Stephenson in nearly every measurable way. Ixnay.

The true obstacle here appears to be blindness. Joerger is failing to recognize the fact that many of his elected starters are playing worse basketball than his bench players are. This sort of obtusity was most clearly demonstrated in a repulsive recent defeat at the claws of the Toronto Raptors in which, during the fourth quarter of a close contest, Joerger opted to substitute a starting lineup that had been falling flat all game for his red-hot bench. The result? A loss. While that game was by no means one of Stephenson’s best, he can hardly be accused of playing worse than Barnes, who stole 2 points on 14.3% shooting. In the post-game press conference, Joerger was asked by a reporter why a bench that was so blatantly superior to the starting lineup was replaced at a crucial juncture in the contest. Joerger’s cookie-cutter reply about there being advantages and disadvantages to both lineups uncovered a disturbing secret: blind deference to the starters. In such a climate, how the considerable accomplishments Lance Stephenson has accumulated thus far have been overlooked becomes more clear.

If the Grizzlies want to make anything at all of this playoff run, Born Ready simply must become a more integral component of the rotation. In fact, promoting him to starter status may be vital. Stephenson supplies an arrogance and swagger that, without him, the Grizzlies are utterly lacking. Lance Stephenson plays to win; he will take the shots that need to be taken, he will absorb contact and exhaust himself, he will guard the opponent’s best player and try to get in his head, and, best of all, he will never give up. Born Ready will enter every game desiring, nay, assuming that victory is nigh. In a season as tempestuous and troubled as this one has been, Memphis must embrace Stephenson. Otherwise, the Grizzlies can resign to taking the sweep and enjoying summer. Hey, they may very well do that anyway. But why not at least try to put on a show? And at this point, it’s obvious to most fans who has the greatest possibility of doing so. I hope Joerger finds out, too.