The Memphis Grizzlies 2017/2018 season wasn’t a complete loss
It seemed a lot of things slipped through the cracks during the 2017/2018 season. One clear takeaway for the Memphis Grizzlies was their spot in the NBA draft lottery, but the team at Beale Street Bears decided to take a lot at some other takeaways from this long season.
Brendan Smart (@Bsmart21): The Team Bought into Bickerstaff and Gasol help the youth
When a team hits rock bottom like the Memphis Grizzlies did, usually the coach is the one that picks them up off the mat. The coach would tell his team to “get in there and compete,” but how many interim Head Coaches have done that? While the losing wasn’t fun, watching a team grow around its Head Coach throughout losing streak after losing streak was awesome. Bickerstaff has a unique way of coaching, and the whole team wants him back in 2018. In a year when everyone was yelling “tank” (rightfully so), Bickerstaff was pushing to get the most out of his team. He cares.
One last thing that will go unnoticed because this fanbase doesn’t appreciate it, and that is Marc Gasol. Did he get David Fizdale fired? Possibly, but as I’ve watched the season progress, it was better for both sides. Gasol has talked about the guys around him all season, and his thoughts on progression, and you’ve seen it first hand. Young guys like Dillon Brooks know when to cut down the baseline and which side of the court to be on when Gasol is in the post. Gasol has spent so much time, along with Bickerstaff and the assistants developing young talent that will be fighting for a job next season.
Parker Fleming (@PAKA_FLOCKA): A string of bad moves caught up…
The Memphis Grizzlies did get bitten with bad luck. They went through two double-digit losing streaks. Mike Conley, the team’s best player, only played 12 games.
It’s certainly not ideal when you’re trying to continue an eight-year playoff string. However, this season showed that a string of bad moves finally caught up with this team.
This year’s restricted free agent class is comprised of the 2014 draft class. This means that the draft classes of 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 were on cheap rookie deals this season. Guess how many first-round picks the Grizzlies had from these years? That’s right, 1.
Jarell Martin was the only player on a rookie deal, and he didn’t even crack the rotation when JaMychal Green and Chandler Parsons were both available. Just imagine if the Grizzlies drafted somewhat well. Replace Jordan Adams with Rodney Hood, Wade Baldwin with Dejounte Murray, and go back in time and prevent the front office from trading the 2017 first-round pick.
Granted, they might not have made the playoffs, but the team wouldn’t have been this bad.
Not to mention, they made a complete waste of funds in the past two offseasons. Chandler Parsons was an ideal signing at the time, but he hasn’t stayed healthy. They used a multi-year deal on Ben McLemore, who wasn’t good at all this season.
Yes, the season went awry when Conley went down, but the failure to utilize resources properly made it even worse.
Chris Kern (@Chriskern11) The Season Went Downhill Quickly, But It Wasn’t A Waste
The Grizzlies had high expectations for this season. The fans were hopeful that this team would be able to win a playoff series. This team looked really good when healthy; that was only for the first few games though. It all went downhill after that. Mike Conley missed the majority of the season and Chandler Parsons still didn’t play anything like the $94 million dollar man the Grizzlies paid for.
There is still some positives to takeaway from this season though. Tyreke Evans was amazing this year, he really rejuvenated his career. He played very well and now he has a chance at getting good money in a contract this season. Dillon Brooks played great this season. He was a second round draft pick so he wasn’t expecting a huge role. He ended up starting in 74 Of the 82 games. At the end of the season when the Grizzlies were resting players to tank he was one of the main offensive forces on this team and he played great. He is a guy who could be a good contributor next season on hopefully a healthy and much improved Grizzlies team.
All the injuries gave so many young guys the opportunity to play big minutes for this team. Kobi Simmons started the season on a two way deal but he ended up being the starting point guard to end the season. And with the injuries to Marc Gasol and JaMychal Green guys like Deyonta Davis and Ivan Rabb were able to play a lot for this team. All these guys getting so much playing time will be very beneficial to this team going forward into next season and beyond.
Justin Lewis @J_Timberfake_:
I remember being in high school (a long time ago) and Fox Sports South would have trivia questions during a game broadcast. If you text in the correct answer you would most likely get a call from the ticket office offering you two free tickets to the game. One time they had so many tickets to give away I got 4, on my birthday (which is this Sunday by the way).
You would assume nosebleeds, right? Try seventh row on the home side baseline. The front office was desperate to get butts in seats (to sell concessions obviously), that they were shoveling out free tickets. The team was so bad that Steve Nash (my favorite player at the time) and Shaq did not even travel to Memphis to play us. They stayed home and rested.
That is what this season reminds me of. Miserable basketball being played on the floor. While the outcome of games and play on the floor resembled those lowly seasons, there is one difference: Hope. Fans still showed up and supported this team, not because they had hope we were going to win the game. No. They (most of them) had hope for what was to come.
It is almost like the basketball gods did Memphis a favor, tossing in a lost season for the greater good. If the Grizz made the playoffs again this year and misused another late first round pick, there would be no clear vision for the future. Our stars are aging. Plain and simple.
This bump in the road allows the franchise to draft a future face of the franchise to transition to and build around.
All this to say, my one takeaway from this horrendous season is this:
The best is yet to come for this franchise, and it could very well be next season.