Memphis Grizzlies: A Motivated Marc Gasol Is Still An All-Star Caliber Player

The Memphis Grizzlies struggles largely correlates to Marc Gasol’s inconsistent play. When he is aggressive he is still an all-star caliber player.

No, I’m not saying Marc Gasol should make the all-star game because he has had so many games where he’s had little impact. The Memphis Grizzlies are also not in the current playoff picture so it’s hard to envision them getting an all-star.

His ability to impact the game in so many ways could be enough to keep this team in the playoff hunt for the rest of the season.

So far this season he is averaging 15.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. He does it all for this team and while he has games where he doesn’t rebound the ball he has had a couple of other games where he is dominant on the glass.

His defensive impact is still one of the best in the league. He is averaging 1.3 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.

His health has been good as well. He has dealt with some injuries this season but he has still played in all 41 games up to this point.

He shot the ball very well to start the season but his numbers have continued to drop and it seems as if it has affected the rest of his game.

He averaged 19.5 points in November while making 50% of his shots and 39% of his three-point attempts. His January hasn’t been very good, he is averaging just 12.6 points on 40% shooting and 28% from deep.

In the win against the San Antonio Spurs, he showed us what he is still capable of when he put up 26 points and 14 rebounds.

The Grizzlies have to find a way to get him to play at a high level each game. They have not been winning many games lately and they need their star center to step up and play as he is capable of.

When he has struggled to make shots he has still made an impact there’s no doubt about that but for this team that struggles to score the ball so often, they need him to contribute on that end each and every game.

In seven games where he scores single digits, the team is 2-5 which shows how important he is. One of those wins was against the Portland Trail Blazers in a game that he only had nine points in while the other was against the Los Angeles Clippers where he finished with just four points.

Against Portland, he still had a huge impact though. He finished with seven rebounds, six blocks, five assists, and one steal.

In that game, he held Jusuf Nurkic to just two points on 1-15 shooting. So there have been games where he can dominate the game in other ways but more often than not his lack of offensive production has cost this team wins.

In the 19 wins, he is averaging 17.9 points and 10.1 rebounds while in the 22 losses he is averaging just 13.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

The big difference in that is his three-point percentage. In wins, he is hitting 41% while he is only making 31% in the losses.

The team’s struggles are caused by so much more but a locked in and motivated Gasol can go a long ways towards righting the ship and getting this team into the postseason.