How far can Taylor Jenkins guide the Memphis Grizzlies in the playoffs?
Memphis Grizzlies Taylor Jenkins gets second crack at Playoffs
The playoffs are a completely different animal than the regular season— a team plays the same team in a best of seven-game series. Because the team plays the same opponent every game, the coach becomes a lot more important. They have to diagnose mismatches, make adjustments, and find any edge they can to give their team an advantage in winning games and the series.
In last year’s playoffs, the Memphis Grizzlies shocked the world by earning the 8th seed in the Western Conference. They were not supposed to be in the position they were in, so expectations were low.
They played the No. 1 overall seed Utah Jazz and continued to defy expectations by shocking the world when they won Game 1. They won that game on the back of Dillon Brooks and Ja Morant having excellent performances and perhaps Utah underestimating the Grizzlies.
Memphis then went on to lose four straight games and, in turn, the series. It would be hard to find anyone who would have picked the Grizzlies to win that series whether it was because they didn’t have the pedigree, talent, or matchups to do so.
Even so, any time you lose four straight games in a playoff series, it’s often a sign of poor adjustments by the coach. The Grizzlies proved that they could play with Utah by winning game one. Ja Morant even set the Grizzlies franchise record scoring 47 points in a post-season game.
Whether it was because the expectations were low or the team was not supposed to be there in the first place, the four straight losses were swept under the rug and everyone looked forward to a bright Grizzlies future after making the playoffs when they weren’t even supposed to.
During the 2021-2022 regular season, the Grizzlies built on their achievements from last year and again outperformed expectations. But those four straight losses last year come to mind as the Grizzlies barely scrape by a Minnesota team who debatably outplayed and outcoached them for the majority of the series.
The media and fans can talk about how Minnesota was a bad matchup for the Grizzlies all they want, but if not for some late-game heroics from Ja Morant and standout performances from Desmond Bane and Brandon Clarke, the Grizzlies would be leaving early for vacation.
It hasn’t all been bad in the playoffs. Jenkins did show growth in how quickly he went away from Stephen Adams when he was shown to be a mismatch that Minnesota was exploiting. Coaches will always catch flak if they lose.
Try not to get too down on the coaching staff for the Minnesota series though, because in a lot of ways they have put players in positions to perform and win. Grizz players did not perform up to par.
Shot quality, which become a very popular Twitter account (@Shot_Quality), showed the Grizzlies had a better shot quality and therefore a higher percentage of winning the game in every game they played against the Timberwolves except the last game, in which they trailed the Timberwolves by one shot quality score.
The moral of the story is that the coach can put the players in the best position to make shots, but they cannot make shots for them. Nevertheless, the Grizzlies avoid a first-round exit and are rewarded by drawing a matchup with the odds-on-favorites to win the NBA Championship.