Memphis Grizzlies: Grizzlies Still Have A Fatal Flaw
The Memphis Grizzlies look like a team on a mission. They’re off to a 6-0 start, by far their best start in franchise history. The disappointment of losing Game 7 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs last season seems to be fueling them.
In a game where they lost Zach Randolph to a questionable suspension, the Grizzlies had to believe they could have won the game if they had their leading scorer.
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Marc Gasol wanted to be more aggressive this season and it seems to be paying off. After failing to average 15 points a game in his career, he’s now scoring nearly 20 a game. It remains to be seen whether he can sustain anything close to this through an 82-game season though.
It doesn’t look like he can, since he’s already back to averaging 14 points a game over his last three games.
The Grizzlies have one major flaw that has been holding them back the past few seasons. Their anemic offense makes it very difficult to win games in the postseason against elite competition. Their inability to score will ultimately hold them back from making a deep postseason run.
Of the last 10 champions, no team has had an offensive rating ranking lower than 11th and no team has had a defensive rating ranking below ninth. Although the Grizzlies have consistently had a top-10 defense since the start of the Mike Conley–Tony Allen-Randolph-Gasol era back in the 2010-11 season, they’ve also had a mediocre offense in that span.
The Grizzlies’ stifling defense has held opponents to a ridiculous 90.9 points per 100 possessions through their first five games, per NBA.com. To put this into perspective, the top-ranked Pacers’ defense from last season held opponents to 96.7 points.
The sample size is very small and it’s too early to jump to conclusions, but the Grizzlies have had a great defense and mediocre offense the past four seasons and this trend appears to be continuing in year five.
Defense has been their calling card the past few seasons. Especially in the Western Conference, it’ll be a daunting task to lock down a potent offensive team in a seven game series without a formidable offense of their own.
It’s difficult to find flaws with a 6-0 team, but none of their wins have come against quality competition either. With wins against the Timberwolves, Pacers, Hornets, Pelicans, Suns and Thunder, the Grizzlies are yet to be tested.
Although a couple of these teams are vastly improved, only three of the teams they beat made the playoffs last season. Of those three, the Pacers and Thunder are teams decimated by injuries to their superstar players. Their record seems to be more a reflection of the good fortune in their early season schedule rather than their play.
The Grizzlies’ schedule has been soft so far, but December is a totally different story. They play the West’s elite teams and many of their games will be against contenders. It’ll be interesting to see how they fare in those games.
Their early-season tear is reminiscent of the Pacers last season. The Pacers’ defense was dominant last year and they got off to a 40-11 start before finishing the season 56-26. If a team doesn’t have a good balance of offense and defense, it will eventually catch up to them at some point.
It won’t be easy for the Grizzlies to contend for a title with a 21st-ranked offense. Their Grit & Grind mantra is what defines them but their offense is what needs to improve. They seem to be destined for disappointment with the sky-high expectations they have.
Their trend of mediocre offense is continuing this season and for them to win a championship with an offense ranked worse than 11th, it would be an amazing feat that hasn’t been accomplished in at least the past decade.