Memphis Grizzlies: Not Going As Planned

Wednesday night against the Pelicans was supposed to be a chance for the Memphis Grizzlies to get on track after a win against the Celtics on Monday. However, it turned out to be a terrible night all around. First, it was good to see an athlete choose his family over one game. I have three sons and I would not have missed the birth of any of them for anything. Zach Randolph, in my mind, made the right decision and I hope more athletes do the same.

Congratulations to Z-Bo on his newborn child (NBA.com photo)

Another Slow Start

Yet again the Grizzlies got off to a slow start and yet again they had to dig themselves out of a hole. In all five games the Grizzlies have averaged 19.6 points in the first quarter; this is not a recipe for early success. It seems that the starting lineup might need a tweak or two to help jumpstart the team early in the game. Against the Celtics the Grizzlies scored a season high 27 points in the first quarter, and during that quarter Pondexter entered the game at the eight-minute mark. Upon entering Pondexter hit two three pointers helping the Grizzlies take an early lead. Now I’m not sure who needs to sit and who needs to start but it feels like Allen and Prince are not a good fit together. Both Allen and Prince are not the shooters that Miller and Pondexter are, therefore, so one of those shooters needs to be starting.

From Bad to Worse

The Grizzlies never recovered from the slow start and ended up losing by 15 points and they only scored a season low 84 points. In addition, Memphis had 18 turnovers and was out-rebounded by 10 rebounds, very unlike the grind with which the Grizzlies normally play. Furthermore, Gasol played for 31 minutes and only had one rebound and shot 4-of-11 from the field. Also, Conley played 34 minutes and only had one assist while missing all 4 of his three point shots. Now that was the bad, but it gets a little worse from there. Jerryd Bayless went down with a knee injury in the third quarter and is listed as day-to-day. Then Conley took a little elbow shot from Anthony Morrow and had a small cut below his eye. It seems like both players will be fine, but it almost made a night even worse.

Scary Stats

I understand it’s five games into the NBA season. However, there are some statistics that will not give Grizzlies fans confidence. First, in all five games this season the Grizzlies have trailed heading into the 4th quarter. Second, Memphis is 20th in the league in turnovers averaging just under 18 per game. Last year they were fourth in the NBA at 13.2 turnovers. You would think the turnovers would be attributed to the faster play, but the Grizzlies are only three points over the 93 points per game they averaged last year. Again it is still very early, but if they do not figure out how to play with less turnovers and with more energy, they will be looking at the lottery for the first time since the 2009/2010 season.

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