Is it reasonable to expect this season’s Grizzlies team, as presently constituted, to make the playoffs? Why are we even asking this? Because of an implication in yesterday’s Commercial Appeal that the roster isn’t talented enough to earn a post-season birth:
The situation is such that Hollins again strongly suggested that Griz management should consider tweaking the roster. The bench just isn’t good enough.
In fairness to coach Lionel Hollins, he isn’t quoted making this case, but it is implied, and he has made similar comments earlier this season to the effect that if the team doesn’t make the post-season it will be because they aren’t talented enough to do so.
At 18-21, the Grizzlies are currently 9th in the Western Conference, two games back of the eighth seed — and a playoff birth — with 43 games to go. The team right below them, the Houston Rockets, may look like a juggernaut when they play the Grizzlies, but look very beatable when they play anyone else. And both teams immediately ahead of the Grizzlies — the Portland Trailblazers and Denver Nuggets — seem on the verge of shaking up their rosters with the idea of either outright rebuilding (Denver) or at least reorganizing their team with an eye toward the future (Portland).
In other words, the 7th and 8th playoff seeds — at least — are very much up for grabs, and the Grizzlies — who have played slightly better than their record (a +0.2 point differential) and have a much easier schedule going forward than they’ve had to this point — should be poised to claim one of those spots.
