Memphis Grizzlies: Looking at the team’s slow pace

The Memphis Grizzlies are the slowest paced team in the NBA. Let’s look at the reasoning.

“Pace” is a metric that is often used incorrectly when analyzing basketball. Many people interchange pace and transition, and yes there is a correlation between the two, but “pace” is mostly something entirely different with a variety of other factors. It represents the number of possessions that a team has per game, and the slower teams have a lower number.

Leisurely teams have fewer possessions because each trip down the floor takes a longer amount of time, most frequently because a field goal attempt comes late in the shot clock. The Memphis Grizzlies are currently the slowest team in the NBA, meaning that they average the fewest possessions every night.

As I just stated, the biggest factor in the lethargic pace exhibited by the Grizzlies is their constant problem with getting play development. Sometimes it takes a long time for the team to get into their first action, and often that action leads nowhere and the squad doesn’t get a good look. As a result of this, they frequently have to shoot late in the shot clock.

The stats back this up. The Memphis Grizzlies lead the league in shot attempts per game that come in the final four seconds of the shot clock, per NBA.com. They are also sixth in the league in attempts between 4-7 seconds, and the combination of these stats show how slow their offense truly is.

This possession shows the problems, to an extent. The play is dead and the shot clock is winding down. Nobody on the team makes any moves or runs any actions, so when JaMychal Green cuts to the top of the key, he is the most open player on the team. He gets the ball and is forced to shoot with the shot clock approaching zero, and he misses:

This is an example of both the team’s slow pace and why the slow pace hinders the offense. Late shot clock shots are often worse attempts, and in the Grizzlies’ case, much worse. The team is shooting 44.5 percent as a group on the season overall, but in these late shot clock scenarios, they are knocking down just 40.3 percent of their shots, and 31.2 percent from 3. This shows just how much the slow pace effects the team.

Oh, and remember those shots they take with 4-7 seconds left on the shot clock? The stat they are sixth in the league in? They are 28th in shooting percentage on said shots at a dismal 42.7 percent.

Meanwhile, let’s look at the flip side. In shots defined as “very early” by NBA.com, the Grizzlies are scorching. They are close to the bottom at 25th in the league in total attempts in this type of shot per game. On these shots, they shoot 58.8 percent, which is tied for third in the league. If they were to get into their offense early, aka “push the pace,” they could get more of these shots that they are shooting so efficiently.

The last reason for the team’s slow pace is not a knock on the team but just a stat; they rank 17th in transition frequency. This just means they don’t run off of misses a lot, which isn’t necessarily good or bad. But they rank 11th in the league in points per possession in these scenarios, meaning that they are above-average in scoring efficiency on these plays. If they made more of a concerted effort to get out and run, perhaps they may score a few more points per game on these easy transition attempts.

Next: 2017-18 Week 12 NBA Power Rankings

The Grizzlies have been 25th or worse in pace in each of the last five seasons. This season, they are struggling to get efficient shots in their half-court offense, so maybe they should try to play a little bit faster. Perhaps it could fix some of their offensive problems. The Memphis Grizzlies’ slow pace isn’t helping them at all, and given their 12-25 record, perhaps changing their pace could help them right the ship.