The Grizzlies lost 100-99 to the Portland Trailblazers tonight in what I think can legitimately be called the worst loss of the season. It’s the fourth loss in a row and the first game after a “player’s only” meeting meant to get the team back on track. The game moves the team down to 4-8 (a win would have put them at 5-7 and the difference between those two records feels bigger than a single game).
I don’t think a 4-8 start against a legitimately brutal early schedule, especially when so many losses have been so close (including two in overtime), is a cause for panic, but I worry that the players (see that “player’s only” meeting) and the fans (bad starts are fan-interest killers that make it hard to win attention back) won’t see things that way.
So, given that the team seems to have reached a rather fragile and perilous point already in the season, I’m going to dispense with my typical game-specific format and try to use tonight’s game to riff on some wider issues with the team:
Defense:
In his post-game press conference, coach Lionel Hollins seemed most concerned with the team’s offensive struggles tonight, but I thought defense was the bigger issue. Before the game, on The Chris Vernon Show, Vernon and I cited a couple of particular match-up concerns for the Grizzlies tonight: Mike Conley on Andre Miller and Zach Randolph on LaMarcus Aldridge. And both of these were indeed issues.
Frontcourt defense: Aldridge hurt the Grizzlies early, shooting or finishing right over the top of Randolph (and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Darrell Arthur). Aldridge was less effective against Marc Gasol, but Gasol’s minutes were limited by foul trouble, and with Portland also featuring athletic 6’11” center Marcus Camby, the Grizzlies couldn’t match-up with the Blazers’ frontcourt length even with Gasol on the floor.
Randolph is a poor defender generally, but given his relatively short stature for the position and his floor-bound game, it would be hard for him to stop a 6’11” big man with a soft touch like Aldridge. If Randolph is going to be the starter, the team needs to be able to bring a longer defender off the bench at times. Theoretically, that player is there in the form of Hasheem Thabeet. But, of course, Thabeet has struggled terribly this year, appearing to regress even from his disastrous rookie season. Still, the Grizzlies were very effective, particularly on the defensive end, last season when they paired Thabeet and Gasol. And Thabeet also generally seemed more comfortable in that pairing, probably because Gasol is a better interior passer and more attentive teammate.
Given Thabeet’s general struggles and the improved play of Darrell Arthur, it’s understandable that it would be harder to get the Gasol/Thabeet pairing on the floor this season, but I think they’ve only played a couple of minutes together (and that in the game coached by assistant Dave Joerger). With the Grizzlies struggling against a particularly tall frontcourt, I think giving this lineup a shot would have been a good idea.
