Memphis Grizzlies Head Coach Taylor Jenkins rips officiating crew after Game 4 loss

The normally stoic and even-keeled Memphis Grizzlies Head Coach Taylor Jenkins has had enough. The man finally snapped after his team lost Game 4 on the road in Minnesota on April 23.

The rate in which the referees have been calling fouls on the Grizzlies is abhorrent. Within the first couple of minutes in each game, Memphis has multiple players in foul trouble.

Drew Hill of The Daily Memphian pointed out some of the troubling numbers in this series. There have been 210 total fouls between the Grizzlies and the Wolves (through four games), which works out to 52.5 per game. The league average during the regular season was 39.3 fouls per game, according to Hill.

Memphis has been called for 99 fouls in this series, 33 of which came in Game 4 alone. The referees have effectively hijacked this series. There is no pace to the game, no flow, no rhythm, and the players aren’t able to do what they do best: play basketball.

Jaren Jackson alone has been called for 20 personal fouls through 4 games in this first-round playoff series. How is that possible? He fouled out with slightly less than 5 minutes remaining in Game 4.

In Game 4, the referees awarded Minnesota 40 free-throw attempts  Memphis shot just 25 free-throws for the entire game.

Taylor Jenkins roasts refs after Memphis Grizzlies Game 4 loss vs Wolves

Grizzlies Head Coach Taylor Jenkins finally spoke his mind in his post-game comments after Game 4. He acknowledged a fine would likely be coming his way, but he had to air out some dirty laundry.

“In my opinion, [Game 4 was] one of the most poorly officiated games I’ve ever seen in my NBA career,” Jenkins said. “All five of our starters were borderline fouled out in the first quarter.”

Jenkins acknowledged the Grizzlies didn’t lose the game solely because of poor officiating, but it certainly didn’t help.

“10+ foul difference, 40 free-throws—yeah, some things we’ve got to clean up and get better at,” Jenkins said.

“I’m always going to look in the mirror and say: How do we play better, how do we coach better? But, I’m at a loss for words. I’m not going to go as far to say that’s the reason that we lost, but I’m going to let it be known that’s messed up,” he said after Game 4 to members of the media.

“From the get-go it was foul, foul, foul, foul, foul, inconsistency. There was actually one play where a whistle was blown before contact was even made—it’s embarrassing,” Jenkins said.

“I’ve never seen a more inconsistent, arrogant, officiated game. So, I’ll take whatever hit is coming my way. I’ve got to protect our guys,” he said.

You can see Jenkins’ comments in full in the clip below.