Memphis Grizzlies: Do They Need To Shoot More 3s?
By John Hugar
Mike Conley has been a decent 3-point shooter for the Memphis Grizzlies this season, but will it be enough in the playoffs? Photo Credit: Mark Runyon,
The Memphis Grizzlies have a lot of things that rest of the league should be envious of. With Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph as the starting bigs, they may have the best frontcourt pairing in the NBA. They also have an emerging point guard in Mike Conley, who has played an increased role in the offense since the departure of Rudy Gay. Finally, there’s Tony Allen, who might be the best defensive guard in the league (sorry Avery Bradley). Truly, there’s a lot to smile about in Memphis these days.
Unfortunately, they have one key flaw that could seriously bite them come playoff time: a lack of 3-point shooting. The Grizzlies don’t shoot a great deal of 3s and they lack any truly scary threat from beyond the arc. In the regular season, this has not been a major issue for them. They’ve been able to score points by slowly taking the ball up the court and feeding it to either Gasol or Randolph in the post. More importantly, they’ve never needed to score that many points because they possess one of the stingiest defenses in the league. They’ve been able evade the 3-point issue.
But in the playoffs, things get a little different. The teams who have players who can put points on the board in rapid succession tend to be successful. Sometimes that production can from superstars like Kevin Durant or LeBron James, who come through when they need to, or other times it come from 3-point specialists like Steve Novak or Kyle Korver; players who have one job to do and do it well.
The Grizzlies don’t have anyone like that. While Gasol and Randolph are decent mid-range shooters, neither would qualify as a “stretch” big man. Mike Conley is a solid 3-point shooter, shooting .370 on the season, but he’s only recently begun playing a large role in the offense and it remains to be season whether or not he can keep it up in the postseason.
The closest thing the Grizzlies have to a 3-point specialist is backup small forward Quincy Pondexter. Pondexter is shooting .400 from downtown this season and has emerged as a potentially dangerous bench threat for this Grizzlies team. Still, Pondexter’s role in the offense is fairly minimal, as he only attempts 5.1 shots and 2.6 3s per game. He gets hot from time to time, but he’s not a reliably deadly shooter like Novak. In the playoffs, Pondexter could be an extremely important player for Memphis. If he is able to step his game up and become The Guy when the Grizzlies need a 3, he could fix one of their few truly glaring flaws. If not, the Grizzlies will be left with some serious questions from beyond the arc.
The Grizzlies’ defense might be able to keep the elite teams at bay for awhile, but what happens when they get hot from downtown? Suppose the Grizzlies are playing the Oklahoma City Thunder in Round 2. They have a modest lead, but suddenly Kevin Durant heats up, and drains two quick 3s. Next thing you know, Kevin Martin banks in two more. Suddenly, the Thunder have scored 12 points and the Grizzlies have no one who can come in and make up the damage. The Grizzlies have a lot of skills that can make up for their struggles from beyond the arc, but they can’t erase the problem completely. When the playoffs come, they’re going to need to find someone who can hit from downtown. If not, it could be another depressing first-round exit for the Memphis Grizzlies.