Grind City GameDay: Grizzlies vs. Kings
Michael WallaceBy Michael Wallace
Grind City MediaWith the Grizzlies having crossed the midway point of their season, dejected point guard Mike Conley stood in front of his locker the other night in Washington and demanded his team face reality.
First, the process requires them to face themselves.
“We’ve got to look into the mirror, man, and we’ve got to get out of our own way,” Conley says of what’s clearly become the first step toward reversing a disturbing trend. “We’re getting too many mental blocks from too many guys at the same time, whatever it may be. We have to continually think about the big picture and not yourself. You have to get out of that funk and find a way.”
One of coach David Fizdale’s biggest challenges in his first season on the job was to help Conley, the franchise catalyst, find his own voice as an outspoken leader this season. That’s one area where the Grizzlies (25-19) have been excelling recently. Yet that’s not necessarily a good thing when considering Conley and the team’s other veteran leaders have been repeating themselves quite often amid a puzzling stretch of performances in recent weeks.
The Grizzlies open a critical three-game homestand on Friday against the Sacramento Kings (16-25) at FedExForum while taking deep inventory of a season that’s essentially reached a crossroads. At its best, Memphis has proved to be a team worthy of that 9-4 record against every other team in the West that entered the weekend in playoff position, which includes a 4-0 mark against Golden State and Houston.
But on the other hand, the Grizzlies have been an absolute enigma. Their best stretch of the season came during a demanding December in which half of their primary rotation players missed huge chunks of time. Now that they’re healthy, the defense, chemistry and consistency have all suffered over a period in which the Grizzlies have lost 10 of 17 games dating to a Dec. 16 home loss to the Kings that coincided with Conley’s return from a back injury.
The mission is to correct a defense that has gone from leading the league in overall efficiency a month ago to a unit that has routinely started slowly, given up 30-point quarters and has surrendered 100 or more points in 10 of the past 13 games. The search for answers left former defensive player of the year Marc Gasol and perennial all-defensive team stalwart Tony Allen recently huddled around an iPad in the locker room to watch film of games they just finished playing in moments earlier.
Their defensive breakdowns haven’t even been consistent, and it’s been role players – not superstars – who have done the most damage. In Sunday’s loss to Chicago, the Grizzlies allowed Doug McDermott to shake free on the perimeter for 20 of his season-high 31 points in the second quarter. And in Wednesday’s loss to Washington, the defense was torched for 66 points in the first half and Otto Porter Jr. drilled a career-high six three-pointers on the way to 25 points.
After that game, Allen suggested the Grizzlies – from the coaching staff on down – didn’t spend enough time scouting Porter Jr. and needed to pay more attention to detail regarding opposing role players.
“We’ve got to have more of a sense of urgency each possession; basically cherish each possession,” said Allen, who has fouled out of two of the past three games. “When you talk about coming in and being elite … we’re not supposed to give up plays that you can control. It’s the 50-50 balls, the careless turnovers and basically just (not) understanding the detail of your opponent. When we learn to (focus) for 48 minutes, I think we can get on a roll. We’ve shown signs of it. It’s just got to be more consistent.”
That consistency must also play out with Fizdale’s rotation. Although Memphis has maintained its starting lineup of Conley, Allen, Chandler Parsons, JaMychal Green and Marc Gasol for nearly a month, the extended rotation has been in flux throughout that time as Fizdale and his staff look for combination that work well together. After last week’s win in Houston, Fizdale said that having almost his full roster available has created “a good problem to have” when sorting through effective options.
But the constant juggling hasn’t been a formula for steady performance.
Indeed, these are shaky times for the Grizzlies, who hope to regroup at home against the Kings, Rockets and Raptors before departing late next week on a season-long trip with six games over nine days.
“There’s always urgency to it, but I’m also going to be patient and see how things work out,” Fizdale said of addressing rotation concerns. “The results will take care of themselves, but I’m looking big picture in terms of what’s going to get us over the hump. Whatever that takes, that’s what I’m going to do.”
HEALTH REPORT
The Grizzlies continue to be the healthiest they’ve been all season, with only Brandan Wright (ankle) listed as out for Friday’s game against Sacramento. Wright has been with the team on the road and is progressing through his rehab from November’s ankle procedure. For the Kings, former Grizzlies’ standout Rudy Gay will miss the season after tearing his Achilles on Wednesday.
NUMBERS WATCH
17. The difference between beating the Kings and losing to them so far this season has been determined by Memphis’ ability to knock down shots from beyond the arc. During the New Year’s Eve win in Sacramento, the Grizzlies set a franchise record by making 17 threes on 35 attempts, with a season-high seven different players drilling at least one from distance. But in the Dec. 16 loss to the Kings in Memphis, the Grizzlies shot just 5-for-25 from three-point range.
KEEP AN EYE ON
Troy Daniels. The Grizzlies’ resident sharpshooter has missed 11 of his last 15 attempts from three-point range over the past four games, but that lack of rhythm can be attributed to sporadic playing time the past two weeks. As Memphis has prioritized getting Parsons more acclimated, particularly in the first half of games, Daniels has gradually become the odd man out of the primary rotation. After playing 22 minutes in last week’s thrilling comeback against Houston, Daniels saw just seven minutes of action during an 0-for-5 night in Sunday’s loss to the Bulls. Then, he didn’t play at all in Wednesday’s setback in Washington. Daniels’ improved defense gave him a shot to stay on the floor the past two months. But the larger problem now is that Fizdale is struggling to find a solution at backup point guard when Conley rests, and Daniels hasn’t shown he can run offense in a crunch. Regardless, he’s the team’s best shooter and a must-have on the floor. Exhibit A: His team-best, plus-minus ratio of plus-85 on the season.
GRIZZ-TAKE
Gasol on the Grizzlies’ lack of consistency on both ends of the court– Obviously, we’re trying different things, trying to figure it out. We’re talking a lot, doing different stuff. If we don’t’ get stops, it’s going to be hard to win. We’re not a super firepower team. It’s a lot by feel.
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Memphis Grizzlies. All opinions expressed by Michael Wallace are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Memphis Grizzlies or its Basketball Operations staff, owners, parent companies, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Memphis Grizzlies and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
Published on Jan 20, 2017
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