Tag: Dave Joerger

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Sports Sports Feature

Grizzlies Face Three Big Challenges This Summer

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

The firing of Coach Dave Joerger wasn’t a surprise to anyone who had been paying attention to the Grizzlies’ tumultuous 2015-16 season. That’s not to say that Joerger’s dismissal was entirely about him, or his behavior, but it was clear to all involved — especially by the final media availability of the season — that Joerger and the Grizzlies’ front office were headed toward some sort of divorce.

I won’t get into the specifics of that divorce here — what’s done is done, and Joerger is now comfortably ensconsed (complete with a $4 million salary) as the head coach of the Sacramento Kings. But with the Grizzlies’ coaching search still in full swing at the time of this writing, I think it’s important to talk about the three things the Grizzlies have to get right this summer.

Hire the Right Coach: Mike Conley is a free agent this summer, and hiring a coach for whom he would be comfortable playing is a big step toward retaining his services. In his final media availability, Conley talked about his desire to see a plan from the Grizzlies, given how much uncertainty faced the franchise, and that was before they’d fired Joerger. Hiring a coach Conley is happy with is a must.

By the same token, in basketball, your three best players determine the way you play. After this summer, Marc Gasol, Conley (assuming he re-signs), and Hypothetical Wing Free Agent (see below) will be the Grizzlies’ three best players, and that will require a fairly radical reconsideration of the way the Grizzlies play, and the role of some beloved players — Zach Randolph and Tony Allen — may have to be scrutinized. The right hire is a guy who can get Gasol and Conley to buy in to the direction he’s headed offensively — something Joerger was never able to do, as evidenced by the two player revolts against “the new offense” in 2013-14 and 2015-16. It’s a big task on a team with some (quietly) headstrong personalities. Hiring a coach who can handle it is imperative.

Re-sign Mike Conley: The odds are in the Grizzlies’ favor here. Conley’s never played anywhere else, is very close friends with Gasol (with whom Conley consulted before Gasol signed his $120M deal last summer), and the Grizzlies can offer him a longer contract for more money than any other team. Conley’s injury history and the mileage on his 29-year-old body are of concern at this point, and a five-year max deal is a gamble, but the Grizzlies don’t have many other options if they want to avoid rebuilding the team completely, and Conley will probably have a hard time turning down the extra $35-40 million that the Grizzlies can pay him.

The only way this goes wrong is if the Grizzlies don’t 1) hire a coach Conley approves of and 2) can’t convince him they have a plan for staying competitive while retooling around him and Gasol.

Sign the Right Hypothetical Wing Free Agent: This is the thing the Grizzlies have never done before that they have to do this summer: attract a free agent making more than the mid-level exception salary (that is, around $5 million per season). It’s no secret that the Rudy Gay/Tayshaun Prince/Jeff Green transitions at the starting small forward spot didn’t do much to improve the team, and, if anything, they solidified Conley, Gasol, and Randolph as the team’s three best players and primary scoring options.

This summer, they’ve got to do something, whether it’s bringing in Nic Batum from Charlotte, prying Evan Fournier away from Orlando, throwing a big contract at Kent Bazemore, or trying to create a new wing player from a supercomputer à la Weird Science. As Randolph and Allen age, it becomes less realistic to rely on them to contribute at a high level every night. This summer is the Grizzlies’ chance to reconfigure around a (presumably re-signed) Conley and Gasol core.

Achieving one of these challenges would make for a big summer for the Grizzlies, but they’ve got to do all three — and they’ve got to monitor Gasol’s recovery, make a draft pick, develop their younger players, and fill out the rest of a half-empty roster. It’s a challenge the Grizzlies’ decision makers have to meet if the team is going to remain competitive.

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Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said…

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Steve Steffens’ Viewpoint “Tear Down the Shelby County Democratic Party and Start Over” …

The current party is a bunch of jackals fighting over the scraps left over after the Republicans have torn the state apart. They have no desire to do their own hunting.

Jeff

About Kevin Lipe’s Beyond the Arc post, “Dave Joerger out as Grizzlies Head Coach” …

While I was initially shocked by this decision, after reading all the “behind the scenes” stuff, I agree with it. I’ve always thought coaching changes set back franchises, but obviously we had a coach who wanted no part of our team. He’d been here nearly 10 years. Thanks, Dave. It’s time to move on.

Midtown Mark

The shedding of tears was also a shot at front office, “Oh, woe is me, it was so hard, all the injuries, they traded Jeff Green, they traded Courtney, then had a carousel of D leaguers… and, oh yeah, they picked Jordan Adams instead of Rodney Hood ….”

It was a shot at front office, and I’m not saying he was totally wrong on everything, but that’s what it was.

His remarks the next day were actually in line with all his prior behavior, including the tear fest. He was thankful for his players, but had disdain for front office since his sponsor Jason Levien left.

Juce

About Frank Murtaugh’s From My Seat post, “Preferred Playoffs: Hockey” …

I am a hockey fan, not the best place to live for that. The Predators are having a good run. I am a Leafs fan. So that is the same as saying, ‘Hey, I am delusional,’ but I grew up in Ontario, so that is my excuse. The playoffs in the NHL are called hockey’s second season for a reason. Often all bets are off. Guys who bag it during the season suddenly come alive. Sometimes the big guns go silent. Always love watching.

Paula Langley

On J.D. Reager’s Local Beat column, “A New Booker in Town” …

Here’s hoping that he’s successful at broadening the mix of performers to appeal to a wider audience. And to appeal to folks truly interested in hearing good live music, not just in drinking and socializing with a live band as merely a backdrop. Much needed at Lafayette’s. (Special request: Please bring back Castro Coleman, aka Mr. Sipp, the Mississippi Blues Child!)

Strait Shooter

On the letter about “Madam President” in Last Week’s “What They Said” …

We elected a black man as president because people said that this country is more than ready for a black man to lead us.

They are and were right, but should we have ONLY one candidate of that sex or color represented?

Surely there are more qualified women to run for office than someone who is under federal investigation for mishandling of classified material and who has let an embassy be sacked and the ambassador murdered and dragged through the streets.

Besides,we have already had a woman president. When Calvin Coolidge had his stroke, his vice president did not want to assume the duties, so Mrs. Coolidge sat in the president’s place and made decisions for the country.

towboatman

Towboatman,

Pssst … it was Wilson, not Coolidge who had the stroke. And if Mrs. Coolidge took over after Mrs. Wilson poisoned the president, well, we got ourselves an HBO series!

CL Mullins

About Joshua Cannon’s News Blog post “Ghost River Requests $66,455 for Tap Room, Renovations”

I love Boscos and Ghost River. Corporate (and a lot of other) welfare, not so much.

ALJS

About zoo parking …

The parking problem will not go away with the Band-Aid proposed last week. Memphis artist Roy Tamboli’s suggestion to see the parking quandary as an opportunity to innovate and enhance the park landscape has been the only solution with a flicker of ingenuity. Surely we have enough great architects and civic-minded business leaders to turn this dilemma into a show-stopping solution. Don’t leave it to the clumsily thuggish zoo PR team or the big-business-indebted zoo board and City Council. Find a Tamboli-like solution that will enhance and resonate for decades.

P.Hall

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Grizzlies trade Jeff Green for Clippers 1st rounder, Lance Stephenson

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Larry Kuzniewski

Alas, Jeff Green’s tenure as a Grizzly never really worked out, but they got a protected first round pick for him.

The Grizzlies have traded Jeff Green to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for a lottery-protected 2019 first round pick and guard Lance Stephenson. In doing so right at Thursday’s trade deadline, they turned an OK trade period—yesterday they turned Courtney Lee into PJ Hairston, Chris Andersen, and four second-round picks—into an unqualified success.

In turning two players who were playing well but underperforming into a first round pick (which might actually convey, assuming the Clippers make the playoffs that year), four seconds (though one is so protected it probably won’t ever make it to Memphis), a young guy who hasn’t lived up to his promise, a big to replace Ryan Hollins at the end of the Gasol-less frontcourt rotation, and whatever you want to call Lance Stephenson (a.k.a. “Born Ready” a.k.a. “This Guy Will Be Gone In A Couple Months”)… the Grizzlies really did well.

This is the kind of smart deadline those who watch the team were hoping they’d have: moving guys on expiring deals to teams willing to give up assets in exchange. The players the Grizzlies got back are pretty much all certifiably insane—and now they’re on a team that already had Zach Randolph, Tony Allen, and Matt Barnes—but the bet here is that (1) these guys are all going to be gone at the end of the year anyway, but those draft picks won’t and (2) the Griz may or may not make the playoffs anyway, so why not shore up their position for the future?

It’s going to be interesting to see how this works out on the court. Lee’s usage was pretty easily replaceable but the bulk of Green’s minutes now will probably be split between Matt Barnes and, well, Vince Carter? I’m not sure who’s going to be the bench 3 now. It could be James Ennis, recently recalled from the Iowa Energy. Maybe Stephenson will play backup 2 and Carter will slide over to small forward.

An ideal rotation might look a little something like (UPDATE — Now that it’s confirmed that the Grizzlies aren’t going to waive Stephenson, this is a better guess):

  • Conley / Allen / Barnes / Randolph / Wright
  • Chalmers / (Stephenson / Carter / Ennis wing bench wings) / Green (there’s only one now!) / Andersen

…at least, until Jordan Adams returns from his knee surgery, which will hopefully happen before the end of the season. I don’t expect Stephenson to play much, but if he can tamp down his insanity, he might be a nice addition off the bench. That’s a pretty big “if” though.

There’s something to be said for the comments that in adding Hairston, Andersen, and Stephenson, all guys with histories of off-court issues (well, and on court ones too), the Grizzlies may have added too much “crazy” to a locker room that already has some pretty outsized personalities, but I’m not sure I buy it. These guys are crazy, but they’re not stupid. The Grizzlies’ locker room has very solid leaders, who will keep guys in line (especially Zach Randolph and Tony Allen, in terms of keeping personalities in check).

The on-court fit is secondary to the haul of draft picks, of course. Once it comes time to sign free agents, the Grizzlies’ basic position is the same, except now they have a few more little pieces to work with if they’d like to facilitate a trade into their cap space instead of a signing. It’s a bet on the future, a recognition that they need to prepare for the road ahead, even if it costs them games in the short term—which, let’s be honest, might happen, especially at first with so many new guys to fill what had been established roles in the rotation (and I count the returning Brandan Wright in that, too).

This is exactly the kind of trade deadline the Griz needed to have if they were going to prove to the world that they recognized the importance of the future over the “now” (and even over next season). Plus they stuck the Clippers with Jeff Green, who—though he’s had some great games this season—caused more chemistry problems on the floor that he was worth.

We’ll see these guys in action tomorrow—Hairston and Andersen both practiced with the team today. More on this as it develops.

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Sports Sports Feature

The Memphis Grizzlies at the All-Star Break

It’s been an interesting season for the Memphis Grizzlies. From the rough start — which included the only 50-point loss in franchise history — to Marc Gasol’s likely season-ending broken foot against Portland, it seems the season has been a progression of obstacles.

No doubt the Gasol injury now casts the season — its goals, its methods for getting there, its ultimate value in a Western Conference where there’s very little doubt as to who will emerge victorious — in a new light. Coming as it did right before the All-Star Break, the prospect of playing out the stretch without the team’s best player provides maybe the ultimate opportunity for evaluating, for taking stock.

The Foot of the Spaniard

There’s no question that Marc Gasol had been struggling this year. It’s been one of the worst seasons of his career, with a defensive rating worse than any season since 2009-10. And yet, he’s had some of the best single games of his career. A new career scoring mark, several 30-point games, the first triple-double by a Grizzly since his older brother did it, and some huge plays in close games.

When I talked to Gasol during the preseason for a Memphis magazine profile, he said team practice was the first time he’d played basketball all summer. I think he thought he could play his way into shape, taking it easy at the front of the season in order to be in his best shape at the end of it.

That’s not how conditioning works, though. Going from “no work” to “trying to play the same way I always do” is a guaranteed recipe for fatigue, for injury, and for strain, and Gasol’s movements on the court had been labored since the first night. That’s not what you want from a 31-year-old in the first year of a five-year, $110 million deal.

In the short term, a Griz team that was already a little light in the frontcourt — with a rotation that Dave Joerger was already leaning on Ryan Hollins to bolster — is now even lighter and will have to rely on either Hollins to play productive minutes or JaMychal Green to 1) be played by Joerger and 2) keep his foul rate down during the minutes he gets.

Given that this is a team with a long history of deep playoff runs and that just about every player on the team is playing below his career averages, it’s still entirely possible that they make the playoffs, albeit as a seventh or eighth seed. But it’s also possible that they just can’t play .500 ball without Gasol, and that some of the other teams around the middle of the substantially weaker West get it together just in time to push them into the lottery.

I hope this injury puts to bed forever whatever notion Gasol has that he has to play through every injury. Sometimes doing the right thing means missing two or three games so you don’t miss two or three months. He and Mike Conley both have been playing through injuries big and small for years now, and there’s no question that it’s probably cost both of them years off their careers. But this is the first example (that we know of) of one of them playing on an injury, aggravating it, and missing serious time that he might not have, otherwise.

Going forward, it’s important for the training staff, the players, and the coach to be on the same page about this stuff. “If Marc Gasol says he can play, he’s going to play” isn’t going to cut it anymore.

Ah, Trade Deadline. Ah, Humanity!

The interesting wrinkle to the Gasol injury is that it’s happened just before the trade deadline. It’s no secret that the Grizzlies would like to see if they can turn some of their expiring contracts into some sort of future asset. Between Jeff Green, Courtney Lee, Matt Barnes, a partially-guaranteed Vince Carter, Mario Chalmers, and (well, it’s got to be said) Mike Conley, the Griz have a lot to work with here. In the interests of preserving this season, though, it’s probably safe to say that Conley, Barnes, and Chalmers are off the table, so that leaves Green, Lee, and Carter as the most likely expiring deals being shopped.

Expiring contracts aren’t worth as much with the cap projected to rise dramatically this summer, and since the Grizzlies have been holding their own as of late (albeit against weaker competition than at the start of the season), the front office is probably more likely than not to hold on to what they’ve got, unless they can persuade another GM into giving up draft picks for a player on an expiring deal.

Conventional wisdom among some of the NBA commentariat is that the Gasol injury provides the Griz all the reason they need to look for a deal for Conley that nets them young players on long contracts. I get the argument, but I think that’s a worse and riskier alternative than re-signing Conley to the right deal and absolutely not what the Grizzlies are interested in doing.

What About the Draft Pick(s)?

Because of the trade made in 2012-13 that sent Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington, Josh Selby, and a pick to the Cavaliers in exchange for Jon Leuer (remember JONNY BASKETBALL?), a salary dump that cleared the way (ostensibly) for a better Rudy Gay trade, the Grizzlies owe their first round pick to the Denver Nuggets this year if it is higher than 5th but lower than 15th. Basically, if the Grizzlies are horrible or make the playoffs, they get to keep their draft pick this season. If the pick doesn’t convey this season, it’s likely to next year when it’s only top five protected.

Because of the Jeff Green deal, the Grizzlies also find themselves owing Boston a pick that can’t be conveyed until two seasons after the Denver pick conveys. Granted, I don’t think they’re worried about whether it conveys in 2018, 2019, or 2020 at this point, but it is on the radar.

From everything I’ve gathered, the Griz have no intention of tanking to miss the playoffs. They want to make the playoffs, keep the pick, and get a quality guy on a rookie contract for next year to add to their growing roster of young guys (Jordan Adams, Jarell Martin, and James Ennis). There also seems to be a fear that a pick in 2017 will cost them a lot more money than a 2016 rookie contract because of changes to the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA). I’ve heard that from more than one Griz executive, and they seem pretty confident that they can grab a player with this year’s pick. Given that if they make the playoffs, it’ll probably be as a very low seed (7th or 8th), they’ll probably be picking in the 16-20 range, and good talent is almost always available in that range. I find it very unlikely that they’ll do anything to bolster this year’s playoff odds at the expense of future cap flexibility.

What all of This Means for Now

I think you’re going to see the Grizzlies’ — the players’, I mean — backs against the wall, trying to win every game they can. They’ve been playing much better lately, even if it’s been against non-elite teams. The schedule is still fairly relaxed through the rest of February and early March, but then it ramps up again. If they can still make the playoffs, I’m not sure they’ll have much of a chance of advancing, but that was likely against the Spurs or Warriors, even with Gasol playing.

This year, from opening tip, was not going to be a championship year. The worst thing the Grizzlies could do would be to sacrifice future flexibility or ability to acquire talent in a misguided effort to make the playoffs for no real reason this year. Unless six Warriors and three Spurs break their ankles, the Western Conference title isn’t really up for grabs.

I’d like to see them try to flip expiring contracts for players on rookie deals, or maybe some extra picks. If those deals aren’t there, and I don’t expect them to be, they might as well just hang on to those guys and try to keep the pick this year. No player making more than $4 million or $5 million next year is really worth the future cap space.

Gasol’s injury is a weird blow to a weird year. How the Grizzlies react to it, and whether they’re able to use it to shore up their position for next season and seasons beyond will tell us a lot about the the organization’s ability to set a course and stick to it. The rest of the year should be used by everyone involved to win as many games as possible while figuring out who they want to be, and how they want to get there.

Kevin Lipe writes the Flyer‘s Grizzlies blog, Beyond the Arc.

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Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said…

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Toby Sells’ post, “Urban Land Institute: Save the Coliseum, Youth Sports for Fairgrounds” …

I see nothing new here, minus the fact of complete demolition of the Coliseum. The idea of a “shell” of a building was introduced at the Roundhouse Revival, and carried along by a very few to the charrette meetings the following week. I see nothing that we did not expect. What was the fee for this study?

SmoothieMovie

The report does not call for saving the Coliseum, but repurposing part of it in homage to the original, the same recommendation as the preliminary report.

TjonesMfs

Move the Zoo! The Fairgrounds property is roughly three times the size of the current Zoo property, and there is room to expand even beyond that. The Zoo is one of our best attractions. Double its size and provide enough parking to create a world-class facility that would likely become the No. 1 attraction in Memphis. Move the Zoo and solve umpteen problems at once, not just for today but for decades to come.

Jeff

The only way moving the Zoo works (financially) is if the current Zoo property is sold to private interests for development. If it reverts to public-owned parkland, you get no return on all that capital and sunk costs. That’s the only way you would be able to raise the kind of seed funds to make it viable. Even then, there is probably too much money sunk into the current location. Where is this community going to come up with the $100 million or more that it would take to build a new world-class zoo from scratch?

Packrat

I suggest Corrections Corporation of America. Either location. The Zoo is obvious. The Coliseum, I believe, has been suggested as the next Thunderdome.

Dayn Rand

About Bianca Phillips’ post, “Officer Who Shot Darrius Stewart Will Not Face Criminal Charges” …

It is often said that a district attorney could indict a ham sandwich. I can’t help but wonder how enthusiastically Weirich made her case.

Randy Osborn

A young career criminal,who has two out-of-state outstanding warrants, assaulted a law enforcement officer with handcuffs while wrestling on the ground, which resulted in the officer shooting said criminal in self-defense. And now it’s time for Al Not-So Sharpton to come to Memphis and profit from the naive and the stupid? Or is it Jesse Jackson’s turn to fly in and line his pockets? Or maybe, just maybe, it’s time for Obama to metaphorically adopt another “son”?

Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler, do you know of any instances of police brutality or unjustified shootings?

CL Mullins

About Kevin Lipe’s post, “Warriors Hand Grizzlies the Worst Loss in Franchise History” …

Chris Wallace shouldn’t be allowed to GM this team after this season. He’s responsible for all this oldness on the team. The Grizz need a fresh vision for the future.

Dave Joerger hasn’t been the coach he was said to be — a guy who could renovate the offense and develop young players — but I’m not a fan of sacking coaches who consistently win 50-plus games a season. I think it’s the GM’s fault. We don’t have the personnel to play the kind of offense that is needed, and the team keeps adding old players, which makes it difficult to develop young players.

Iggy

I said before the season began that we have to attempt to trade Tony Allen for a younger wing player who can shoot. We cannot play four-on-five basketball on offensive and expect to win. While it may not be popular in town, we need to get rid of Allen while he still has some value. Until we do, why not start Barnes instead. Then let Beno, Wright, Jeff Green, Adams, and JaMychal Green come off the bench, and use Tony as a spot take-on defender with either unit from time to time?

Fred

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Cover Feature News

Hoop City Memphis 2015!

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

The Grizzlies

Can the Core Four take it up a notch?

Last year’s Grizzlies were the best or second-best team in the NBA for most of the season, before a collapse down the stretch lost them the Southwest Division title and landed them in the fifth seed in the playoffs. Marc Gasol had a career year, Zach Randolph had the best season since his 2012 knee injury, Mike Conley elevated his play offensively, and until the Griz fell apart and then limped into the playoffs with key injuries to Conley and Tony Allen (not to mention the broken face Conley suffered in the first round against Portland), it looked like last year was “the year.”

Larry Kuzniewski

Marc Gasol

Instead, they took the Golden State Warriors to six games in the second round before being eliminated, and what looked like “the year” became another run at the title that didn’t quite get there.

This year, things are in flux a little bit. Here are the 10 biggest questions facing the Grizzlies in the 2015-16 season:

Can the Grizzlies really win a championship in today’s NBA?

This question has hounded the Grizzlies since they lost to the Spurs in the Conference Finals a few years back, and has only intensified in the years since, with the rise of the Warriors and Hawks and other “pace-and-space” three-point shooting teams, and of “small-ball” lineups that push the pace without traditional big men.

Given the Grizzlies’ offensive limitations, it’s not hard to see that in the postseason, when the game slows down and becomes much more chess-like and concerned with tactical adjustments made on a nightly basis, the Griz are uniquely built to be hard to adjust to, given that what’s different about them is their personnel and not the plays they run. But, as we saw in last year’s second-round series against Golden State, those limitations can become a liability in the playoffs, when the other team decides to take away the ability to score in the post and dares the Griz to shoot long-jumpers.

I’m not sure what they can do to counter those adjustments, besides have a different roster and play a different way. And with Gasol returning on a five-year deal, and Conley likely to do the same, it seems exceedingly unlikely that that’s what’s going to happen. In the meantime, we watch and wait to see if they can evolve offensively enough to turn the corner.

Is the season a failure if the Griz don’t make it past the second round?

One thing was repeated in almost every Grizzlies preview story written in national media this year: As good as these Grizzlies have been, and for as long as they’ve been that way, we still don’t know whether they’re good enough to win an NBA title. The question remains: Are the Grizzlies just going to be the speed bump in the path of the great teams forever, like the Bad Boy Pistons to the Western Conference elite’s Jordan Bulls?

This year’s team is basically the same as last year’s, with a different look from the bench (bringing in Brandan Wright and Matt Barnes has totally changed the complexion of the second unit) and a brewing controversy about whether Jeff Green or Allen should start at small forward (hint: not Green).

Now that “Can they go the distance?” is the question most often asked about the Grizzlies, instead of “Can they make the playoffs?” it’s hard to argue that it’s anything less than a disappointment every year that they don’t make a deep run into the postseason.

Is this year actually a stealth rebuild?

The conventional wisdom is that with Gasol’s return on a five-year contract, the Grizzlies are essentially “running it back” this year with the same guys, and rolling the dice to see if they can end up with better seeding and better matchups in the playoffs, thus making it to the Conference Finals or maybe even the Finals.

On paper, it looks like that’s exactly what’s happening, but I’m not so sure. Yes, the personnel is mostly unchanged from last year, but, while adding Wright to the bench is a huge deal for what the Griz can do offensively, outside the “Core Four,” the team is mostly made up of young guys who haven’t proven themselves, veterans in contract years, and old guys on the verge of retirement (Okay, maybe that’s just Vince Carter).

Is this really a stealth rebuild with a bunch of roster churn where the Grizzlies try to stay good while flipping pieces around and loading up for next year?

Let’s think through this “stealth rebuild” hypothesis. Obviously, the Grizzlies have been an excellent team for the last five straight seasons. That has to end at some point.With Randolph entering the season at age 34, and Allen turning 34 in January, it’s obvious that age will catch up with these two guys at some point. Who are the guys who are going to step up if it happens to be this year? (Crickets)

Exactly. Those guys aren’t on the roster right now. There was talk of Jarnell Stokes being “Z-Bo replacement” material, but that was a stretch at best. Right now, the Grizzlies don’t have a backup plan. The way to have a backup plan is to build your next core group while your current core group is still playing. The Spurs did this right around the time that some team from Memphis knocked them out in the first round, and came out of it with future Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard. They looked completely done in that series, but all the while some of the pieces that would win them their next championship were already on the roster.

The Grizzlies don’t have that right now. They’ve got a bunch of guys who could be that but haven’t played much, and they’ve got some guys who are probably going to be gone after this year, and then they’ve got the Core Four and Wright.

This team has a lot of expiring contracts and decisions to make this summer. Players who are free agents after this season: Conley, Green, Courtney Lee, Beno Udrih, and Barnes.

And these are the players who have team options after this year, meaning the team can decide whether to pick up that option: Jordan Adams, Stokes, Russ Smith, JaMychal Green. Carter’s final year of his contract is $4.2 million on paper but is only partially guaranteed, meaning they don’t have to pay him the whole thing if he’s waived. All nine of these guys are basically going to have to prove their worth this season (except Conley, one assumes).

I’ve said all this and it makes it sound like I think the team is going to win 30 games. I don’t believe that. I think, as good as this group of players is, health is the only thing that could keep them out of the postseason. But I do think we’re going to see the start of that roster churn this year. I think guys are going to get traded. I think they’re going to struggle to get it together because there are some interesting depth issues and some real crowds at the forward positions. I think the organization’s eyes are probably on being as good as they can this year while trying to build the next great Grizzlies team around Gasol and Conley.

If Jordan Adams gets healthy, is he going to matter this season?

Adams has the unenviable position of being a late first-round pick on a veteran team that can’t afford to “miss” on many first-round picks because most of them have been leveraged to build the current core of players.

With any luck, Coach Dave Joerger will realize at some point this season that he simply has to play Adams for the good of the team: If they’re going to develop him into a rotation player, he has to play NBA minutes. It’s the same problem former Coach Lionel Hollins had of not developing talent and then blaming the younger players for their own lack of development. I’m not encouraged that Adams will be given a chance to make a difference, but I hope he will, because the Grizzlies simply can’t afford for him not to; they’ve given up too many future draft picks already.

Larry Kuzniewski

Mike Conley

Can Mike Conley make it to April without health issues?

Even before he got his face broken in the Portland series last year, Conley was already so banged up he could barely play. He and Allen both went into the postseason with nagging injuries, the kind that don’t heal unless you take time off, and the first round of the playoffs is not the time for that.

So can Conley keep his body together long enough to make it to the playoffs intact? That depends on whether the Grizzlies’ current backup point-guard tandem of Udrih and Smith can play well enough so that Conley doesn’t have to be on the floor for more than 35 minutes a night.

Udrih isn’t really in game-shape after offseason ankle surgery, and Smith is young and unproven, just as likely to turn the ball over as he is to dazzle the crowd. And if they can actually hold down the fort, will Joerger take the opportunity to rest Conley or play him so that the Grizzlies have a better shot of winning regular-season games? If the Grizzlies are going to emulate the Spurs model, resting players and not worrying about every regular-season game is something they’re going to have to do.

Is this the year Tony Allen gets old?

Allen turns 34 this season, and his maniacal defense is greatly dependent on his athletic abilities and using his incredible physical gifts to be in the right place at the right time. But his quickness and reflexes are going to leave him at some point. He won’t always be able to play the game the way he plays it now.

Injuries have plagued Allen the last couple of years. He only played in 63 games last year, and the year before that he played 55. If that’s the beginning of a pattern, the Griz shouldn’t be surprised if Allen misses 20-plus games again this year.

I think Allen’s got another season or two left before he starts to really feel the effects of age, but his recent injury history is worrying, especially, because as far as I know, there’s not a backup plan for losing one of the league’s best perimeter defenders.

Jeff Green’s not really a starter, is he?

I’m withholding judgment on the Green Starting at Small Forward era until I have more than one game’s worth of evidence on which to base said judgment, but that first game was just like the preseason, and just like the games last year where it happened: The offense reverted to the bad old days of the Lionel Hollins/Rudy Gay Memorial Clogged Toilet Offense — nobody moved and guys dribbled the ball until somebody came open for a quick shot instead of passing the ball around.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the presence of a player similar to Gay in the lineup has brought back the same issues that plagued this roster when Gay was here. But maybe Green just hasn’t found his rhythm yet. Maybe he needs a few games to get his sea legs.

Who will be on the roster after the trade deadline?

I’m sure that if the Jeff Green experiment has proven by February that it’s not going to work out, Green will be shopped (he’s got a $9 million expiring contract). Other guys with expiring contracts might be too, though if Lee can keep up his hot streak of aggressive play from the preseason, he won’t be going anywhere and will probably get re-signed to the Grizzlies to a new deal. Time, and Lee’s production, will tell.

Is this the year people stop saying they want Lionel Hollins to be coach again?

Judging from Twitter during the Grizzlies’ blowout loss to the Cavs to open the season, not even close. — Kevin Lipe

The Tigers

Can the Tigers turn the program — and Josh Pastner’s career — around?

These are sunny days for the University of Memphis — if you’re a football fan. But what of the long-proud basketball program, last seen leaving a court in Hartford, Connecticut, an 18-14 season in the books, and no postseason tournament for the first time in 15 years? The questions abound.

Should Memphis coach Josh Pastner take the departures of Austin Nichols and Nick King personally?

Yes and no. Anytime a still-valued player leaves a program (read: coach), exhaust fumes from the proverbial getaway car surround the coach with an unmistakable stench, at least for a while.

Larry Kuzniewski

Josh Pastner

King and Nichols were Pastner’s prize catches in the recruiting class that arrived merely two years ago. Furthermore, they are products of this city, raised on blue dreams and gray passions. For each player to decide — after but two seasons — that the hometown program (read: coach) is not a good fit is quite the opposite of a selling point for future prize recruits, be they from Memphis or elsewhere.

“I was totally blindsided by Austin Nichols,” Pastner says. “Had no idea. I’d had many conversations with him. He told me he loved it here. That said, there’s no ill will. We move forward.We’ll play differently, spread the floor more.”

But then also consider the departures, in modern terms, business decisions. King was a disappointing player over his two seasons with Memphis. A new environment and uniform can make for a fresh start in ways that more subtle adjustments (goal-setting, work habits, etc.) cannot. And Nichols clearly had one eye on Virginia since his days at Briarcrest. Memphis (read: Pastner) obviously didn’t provide enough to refocus that wandering eye, but this is a divorce initiated by the player, not the coach. The Tigers will not win without players who want to play for Memphis.

Can Shaq Goodwin (finally) be The Man?

The Tigers’ senior power forward has had a nice college career. In 101 games with Memphis (91 of them starts), Goodwin has averaged 9.5 points and 6.0 rebounds. (As a junior last season, the numbers were 9.6 and 7.1.) With 44 more points, Goodwin will become the 50th member of the program’s 1,000-point club. If he stays healthy, the Georgia native will likely climb to ninth in career rebounds at the U of M. But …

There always seems to be a “but” in measuring Goodwin’s impact. He was positively monstrous (23 rebounds) in a one-point loss to Temple at FedExForum last February. But he took only eight shots (and made only two), coming up short on the offensive end in a game the Tigers had to win (and lost by a single point). Goodwin must be a complete force — the face and body of this program — for the Tigers to have any hope of NCAA tournament play come March.

What are we to make of the Tigers’ backcourt?

Lots of pieces here, few of them guaranteed playing-time. There are a pair of seniors with SEC experience (Kedren Johnson and Ricky Tarrant). There are two familiar faces whose roles never became clear last season (Avery Woodson and Markel Crawford). There’s a trio of freshmen who could land rotation spots or end up waving towels at the end of the bench (Jeremiah Martin, Randall Broddie, and Craig Randall).

If Pastner fails to clearly identify and assign roles, the backcourt could become a mess. Try winning a basketball game when you don’t know who is handling the ball.

“[Tarrant] is a veteran guard,” Pastner emphasizes. “He can score; he knows how to play. When he wants to be a very good defender, he can be.” Tarrant is well-traveled, having scored 1,000 points at Tulane (where he was C-USA’s Freshman of the Year in 2012) and last season at Alabama before transferring as a graduate student to Memphis. He would seem to be a stabilizer for an otherwise young roster, a player who won’t be surprised by the size and speed of Division I college basketball.

“I’m excited to see how we play with better spacing,” Pastner says. “And we’ll play faster. We need to do some things better than we did last year. We had a lot of turnovers to start the season and gave away games. Our guard play wasn’t good enough, and that falls on me. I made some recruiting misjudgments.”

Johnson has been dealing with a balky right shoulder, and Tarrant is coming off foot surgery, so this bounty of guards may be reduced — temporarily or long-term — when the Tigers open against Southern Miss on November 14th.

Larry Kuzniewski

Shaq Goodwin and Dedric Lawson

What can be expected from star recruit Dedric Lawson?

Memphis has seen mixed results from the last four McDonald’s All-Americans to suit up as Tigers. None of them — Elliot Williams, Joe Jackson, Adonis Thomas, and Goodwin — reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. (Goodwin, of course, has one more season to change this.) Lawson turned 18 on October 1st. Can he compete immediately against players four and five years older?

“He’s a high-IQ and skill guy who can shoot the ball,” Pastner says. “He can create matchup problems. We’re asking him to do a lot from the get-go.” Having his older brother, K.J., nearby could ease the transition to college life for Dedric. “There’s a comfort level,” Pastner says, “and they’ve had success together, both in high school and AAU ball.” (Having one’s father on the bench, on the other hand, can be a mixed blessing. We’ll see what kind of influence Keelon has this year with two of his sons fighting for playing time.)

Does this team have a good shooter?

Woodson (37.7 percent) and Johnson (35. 3 percent) were competent but inconsistent from the outside last season. Tarrant (29.9 percent) won’t make anyone forget Doneal Mack, let alone Rodney Carney. Newcomers Broddie and Randall know their way to the basket, but neither will be a high-volume scorer from long distance. Former Mitchell High School star Jeremiah Martin — in the mix at point guard — shot 37 percent from three-point range as a senior and could build his value in the rotation as an off-the-bench shooter. “He plays hard,” Pastner says. “We’re teaching him some things. He has a tendency in transition to gamble. You can get away with that in high school.”

Pastner thinks his team needs to be more efficient from the three-point range. “The adjustments we make, spacing-wise, will allow more time for shooters to set their feet,” he says. “We’ll get open looks with better spacing.”

Are the Tigers too small?

The Tigers have exactly three players taller than 6’7″: Goodwin and Dedric Lawson are each 6’9″ (and must avoid foul trouble like processed meat), and Marshall is 6’11”. A native of Lexington, Tennessee, Marshall will likely absorb much of the blue-collar responsibilities: shot-blocking, offensive rebounds, defense help. “He’ll have some highs and lows as a freshman,” Pastner says. “He runs hard, rebounds hard. He’s not really skilled offensively right now. But his effort’s there. In time, he’ll be really good for us.”

Larry Kuzniewski

Shaq Goodwin

Goodwin loves what he’s seen from Marshall. “He’s my favorite,” the senior says. “He’s big. So much opportunity. He’s smart, too. And he’s got a soft touch around the bucket; he’s just a little raw.” The Tigers are a small team. Pay close attention to Marshall’s development.

Who is the Tigers’ X factor?

Trahson Burrell. The senior swingman displayed versatility on the wing (and on both ends of the floor) that called to mind former star Will Barton, but with the frequency of a moon phase. Six straight games with at least 10 points last December (five of them Tiger wins). Six straight games in single figures last February (three Memphis wins).

“He has to be a better defender for us,” Pastner says. Even with a season under his belt, Burrell may have the biggest “upside” of any player on the Memphis roster. And this team needs him … way up.

Can the Tigers win the AAC?

The American Athletic Conference sent two teams to the NCAA tournament last March. Defending league champ SMU has been banned from postseason play (and its Hall of Fame coach, Larry Brown, suspended nine games) for NCAA infractions. Cincinnati is a perennial threat, but a team Memphis beat by 13 last winter. The transitional nature of modern college basketball makes it hard to forecast a team’s strength based on the previous season. AAC coaches picked Memphis to finish fifth in the league, behind SMU, UConn, Cincinnati, and Tulsa, so these Tigers will play as underdogs.

What’s the most important area of improvement for the Tigers this season?

Count the empty seats at FedExForum. Last winter, there were an alarming number. If more of them aren’t filled this season, you’ll know the program is heading in the wrong direction. As recently as 2010-11 (Pastner’s second season as head coach), the Tigers averaged 16,768 tickets sold on game night. Last season, that figure plummeted to 13,915 (still 21st in the country).

For the second season in a row, Memphis will pack December with seven home games. The opponents are not the kind you circle a date to see: Louisiana Tech, Southeast Missouri, Manhattan, Southern, Ole Miss (okay, one circle), IUPUI, Tulane.

If the Tigers were in the Top 10 and bursting with star power on the court, you might see 16,000 fans visit FedExForum on a December Tuesday with Southern in town. The 2015-16 Tigers will be fortunate if 10,000 show up.

Will this be Pastner’s final season with the Tigers?

If the Tigers win 25 games and reach the second week of the NCAA tournament, Pastner will not just return; he’ll likely get a raise and an extension (beyond his current contract, which has him here through the 2017-18 season). If the Tigers fail to reach the NCAAs for a second year in a row, it’s hard to imagine Pastner surviving the outcry. The U of M fan base can go negative in the best of times. (Remember John Calipari’s “Miserables”?)

The Tiger coach remains positive. Reflecting on significant players’ transfers, Pastner notes, “Everything was basketball-related. We’re in Memphis, and you’re under a microscope 365 days a year. We’re privileged to have that microscope. The offseason had its challenges, but it was nothing that embarrassed the university or was against the law.”

Pastner thinks the number of televised games has contributed to the lower attendance figures, and on-court struggles have been exacerbated by that metaphorical media microscope. “There’s a lot of negativity by some media members,” he says. “Maybe they don’t like me. Maybe they don’t like me because I’m positive and they choose to live their lives negatively. I think it gets overblown. I’m gonna stay positive, locked in on who I am.

“When you step back and look at the success we’ve had here over six years [148 wins, 58 losses], a lot of people would have signed up for that. I love my job, and I love Memphis. I hope to be here a long time.”

Count at least one significant player fully in Pastner’s camp. “It took me a while to understand it,” Goodwin says. “But that’s how he is, 100 percent of the time. You can think of things — anything in life — two different ways: positive or negative. So why negative? I took it and ran with it. I preach it to the team. Last year, when I was struggling, I looked at things in a negative light. Had to change my mindset.”

Wins have historically been the best mindset-booster in sports. For this team, its coach, and fan base, a season of revelation is upon us. — Frank Murtaugh

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Sports Sports Feature

Farewell, Sweet Grizzlies

There’s lots to say about whether the Memphis Grizzlies’ season was a successful one or not, or whether they did as well as they could have against the Golden State Warriors, given the circumstances.

There’s no doubt that their ever-present lack of offensive firepower and outside shooting played a big role in their elimination, but so did the laundry list of injuries to Mike Conley — a wrist issue, a bum foot that never got all the way healed, a broken face with titanium plates in it and a nasty recovery from a tough surgery, and then an ankle injury on top of all of that — and the fact that Tony Allen tried to play Game 6 and contribute on defense but could neither run nor jump because of his hamstring injury. The Grizzlies got bitten by the injury bug at the worst possible time; that’s not an excuse for why the Warriors were about to handle them in six games, but anyone who says that didn’t play a factor is being dishonest.

So now the season is over.

Coming into this year it felt like The Year — it felt like it had to be. It still feels that way a little bit, but the truth is that it wasn’t The Year. Until the Grizzlies figure out how to score enough to keep up with the modern NBA, it will never be The Year, and this season made that even more painfully clear than the 2013 Western Conference Finals did. Defense and a maniacal determination not to lose from your best players will only get you so far.

Given the way the Griz played until the All-Star Break, it felt like maybe the formula had been found. But after the Jeff Green trade (and maybe because of it but I’m not sure we’ll ever know the full story) things started to fall apart for a while, in a way that never really pulled back together until the playoffs, and even then only for some of the games. We may never see that group of Grizzlies again, the ones who were the best team in the league, with a top-five offense and defense.

This offseason is going to be one long gut check. Marc Gasol is a free agent, and while it seems likely that he’ll stay — and the Grizzlies haven’t made much noise about being worried that he’ll leave — that’s certainly not a guaranteed thing. Gasol has to now see, just like the rest of us do, that this team as currently configured will have to get extremely lucky to advance past a truly elite team in the playoffs. They’re very good, and no one wants to play them, and they’re always a threat, but that might be the extent of it without catching some lucky breaks along the way.

Even if Gasol stays, there’s work to do. The wing positions still don’t produce enough. Jeff Green has a player option he’ll probably pick up — and no one should fault him for that, really — and Vince Carter will still be here. There are exciting young players at the end of the bench in Jordan Adams, Jarnell Stokes, and Russ Smith (and JaMychal Green is also on a multi-year deal), so there are players to develop. Backup point guard is better than it’s ever been, but Nick Calathes is a restricted free agent. There’s a high probability that next year’s Grizzlies will look very different in some ways.

For now, though, the 2014-15 Grizzlies are done. This was a legendary regular season that turned into a frustrating one, that then turned back into a legendary playoff run featuring a point guard who put a mask on and carried the team to some improbable wins, even though he had no business doing so. We didn’t get to see them play for as long as we’d hoped, because in the end they weren’t who we wished they would be. But that’s how things go sometimes, and even in those moments it’s better to embrace what’s there than be dissatisfied by what isn’t.

We’re entering a very important summer for the franchise and its future and its fanbase. But even in these moments of loss, there’s a sense that this was a special year, a year of things that will not soon be forgotten. There will be more about this season and what it was in these pages, but now is the time for gathering ourselves, catching our breath, remembering the thundering roar of the Forum when the masked Mike Conley was introduced before Game 3, the way every other sound in the world was drowned out by the howl of the crowd, even the sound of your own thoughts.

In that roar, somewhere, is everything.

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Sports Sports Feature

Grizzlies at the Break

Anyone who says they thought the Grizzlies would be in this position — 38-13, second in the Western Conference standings, with Marc Gasol as an All-Star starter and Zach Randolph playing the best basketball he’s played since the Griz knocked off the top-seeded Spurs in 2011 — is probably not being truthful. My season preview in these pages said that the Grizzlies had a good chance to have the best season in franchise history, and even I didn’t quite think they’d be doing this.

That’s not to say that all of the questions about this year’s team have been answered. In the aftermath of Tayshaun Prince’s and Quincy Pondexter’s trade for Jeff Green and Russ Smith, the Grizzlies’ offense — already much diversified from the way they used to play during the Lionel Hollins years — continues to evolve. But even though Green’s athleticism gives the Griz a whole new element to deploy, his lack of outside shooting (Green is a career 44-percent shooter, 33 percent from 3-point range) means that the Griz still have to operate in the narrow windows of floor spacing they’re able to create.

Vince Carter’s recent injury is a depressing exclamation mark on an underwhelming season, with Carter never quite finding his shot nor becoming the outside threat the Grizzlies signed him to be. Though he’s expected to return this season, teams weren’t even guarding Carter from three-point range before the injury, leaving him wide open to miss. With the addition of Green and Carter’s continued struggles to get on track (followed by his absence), the Grizzlies still haven’t solved the problem we’ve been talking about for years now: the lack of a floor-spacing knock-down 3-point shooter. Courtney Lee filled the role earlier in the season but has slowly begun to regress to his career averages. Shooting is still something the Griz just don’t quite have enough of — but it may be a moot point, now that the offense is beginning to fully integrate Green’s athletic attacks on the rim and his ability to draw attention away from Gasol and Randolph just enough for those two to operate.

The biggest stories of the season for the Grizzlies are, without question, the two guys who were the most important players coming into the season: Gasol and Randolph. Gasol continues to play at a level that has him getting serious discussion as an MVP candidate, aggressively carrying the Grizzlies’ offense when he has to. Randolph, meanwhile, is playing the best basketball he’s played since his 2012 knee injury, having ceded his “first option” duties to Gasol and Mike Conley only to reclaim them in a lengthy streak of double-doubles in January and February.

The real question is whether the Griz can win an NBA title this year, and with the Western Conference still wide open, it seems like all of the preseason talk about “this could be the year” is still very much in play: This really could be the year. Assuming the rest of the conference standings shake out somewhat close to the way they are now, the Grizzlies could catch the Spurs in the first round, which wouldn’t be optimal, but barring that, a return trip to the Western Conference finals seems like a reasonable outcome.

The Griz are good enough to make it to the NBA Finals this season — whether or not they do seems like it will come down to playoff matchups and which teams they have to face to get there. There are few teams with whom the Griz don’t match up well, and even those teams don’t feel impossible to beat the way the Grizzlies’ archrivals have in years past. (I don’t expect the regular season troubles, mostly injury-related, that the Spurs are experiencing to carry over to the postseason. Betting against San Antonio doesn’t seem wise , no matter the situation.)

This is already the best team in the history of the Grizzlies franchise, regardless of what they’re able to accomplish after the regular season. They’re a veteran group used to playing with each other, with a great deal of trust and faith in each other and a real shared desire to bring the NBA title to Memphis this June. With the remaining games of the season, the challenge is whether they can continue to improve and steel themselves for the approaching challenges of playoff basketball, and whether they can continue to win games at the rate they’ve been doing it so far.

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Cover Feature News

HOOP CITY!

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

The Window

The Grizzlies are back with one of the best, deepest rosters in team history. It may be the best shot they’ve ever had at an NBA title.

by Kevin Lipe

“This is the year.” It’s a thing fans say to each other all the time. This is the year that the team gets over the hump. The year that everything lines up, the year that they catch the lucky breaks a team has to take to make it to a championship. This is the year. The year that we finally get to stop asking, “Are they good enough?” and just bask in it, revel in it, feel what it’s like to have something that isn’t an “almost.”

This is the year.

NBA teams are like the peonies in my backyard. They spend a lot of time looking like dead weeds, and then a lot of time as tender shoots coming up out of the spring ground. One morning they burst forth, beautiful, heavy in the dew, the air around them sweet — and then, just as suddenly, they’re gone, nothing to look at for the rest of the year. There’s a window, a time in which they’re at their peak, and then there’s the rest, three-and-a-half other seasons.

How’s that for a strained analogy? And yet, the Grizzlies are one of a handful of teams in the Western Conference that could legitimately win an NBA championship this year. Anyone who tells you any different isn’t paying attention. They’re deeper than they’ve ever been, the key players are either reaching the peak of their potential or not yet much past it. The front office has added pieces that strengthen them, but the competition is not going to stay static for long.

Larry Kuzniewski

Marc Gasol

Marc Gasol‘s Contract Extension

Marc Gasol is currently in the last year of his contract, making $15.8 million. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent when this season ends. Even if his intentions are to re-sign with the Grizzlies without ever testing the free agency waters, he can wait until the season is over and sign whatever deal the Grizzlies offer him at that point.

Gasol himself has said almost nothing about the situation, preferring to talk about winning basketball games, winning a championship, and how the team can improve. That doesn’t mean the rumors aren’t flying — the Knicks, now run by Pau Gasol’s former coach Phil Jackson, have already surfaced as a team very interested in acquiring Gasol’s services, and they likely won’t be the only ones.

The whole year is going to be like that, as general managers and agents spin up the rumor mills and try to pry Gasol away from a Grizzlies team and a city that he unabashedly loves. At some point, there will be reports that any and every team with max contract space is pursuing Gasol; that Gasol could “possibly” sign with them; that Gasol will leave the Grizzlies; that he’ll stay. It’s going to be a circus. That comes with the territory of having one of the best centers in the NBA.

It’s going to be hard for the team to keep the chatter from becoming a distraction in the locker room. Remember the run-up to the Rudy Gay trade? The whole team said they were just going to go out and play basketball and let the trade rumors fly, that they weren’t affected by it. Once the trade happened, though, every last one of them admitted that it had bothered them — especially the longest-term Grizzlies, Gasol and Mike Conley, the guys who had been with Gay all along. These guys are professional athletes, but they’re also people, and that sort of speculation is hard to shut out. If anyone can do it, it’ll be the no-nonsense Gasol, but it’ll be a major storyline going forward.

Larry Kuzniewski

Vince Carter

Whither Vinsanity?

The Grizzlies were able to land Vince Carter this summer in a deal that surprised most everyone, including the Grizzlies. Talks weren’t going well with fan favorite (and apparent LeBron James favorite) Mike Miller, and Dallas signed forward Chandler Parsons away from blood rival Houston, which left no money for Dallas to use to re-sign Carter. He and the Grizzlies started talking, and soon enough, Carter was a Grizzly, and Miller went off to sign a deal with the Cavs and chase another ring with LeBron.

At any rate, Carter (once healthy — he’s still recovering from offseason ankle surgery to repair an injury) gives the Grizzlies a new dimension of wing play that they haven’t had since, well, the Rudy Gay trade or earlier: someone who can shoot well, get to the basket when he needs to, defend, and create offense when a play breaks down. Carter, even at 37, is an upgrade over Miller in every category save three-point shooting percentage and promises to open up the floor for the Grizzlies’ bigs in ways that were impossible with the team’s roster in recent seasons.

It remains to be seen whether Carter will end up starting or fulfilling the same Super Sixth Man role he played in Dallas (though signs point to the latter, and I think that’s probably the best use of his skills at this point in his career). If he can recover fully from his surgery and integrate himself into the Grizzlies’ second-unit offense, he has a chance to really change the complexion of the Grizzlies’ bench and, of course, to be a “closer” in crunch time.

Larry Kuzniewski

Tony Allen

The Tony Allen Conundrum

Even though he arrived in Memphis a full season after Zach Randolph (in case y’all forgot the fun 40-win 2009–10 team that fell apart down the stretch), Tony Allen feels like the epicenter of the cultural explosion that is the Grit ‘n Grind Grizzlies. He’s the one who said “all heart, grit, grind” in the first place (lest “The Sefaloshas of the world” forget). It was his face and his quote that radio host Chris Vernon put on the T-shirt that launched an entire industry of bootleg/unlicensed Griz gear, lots of it bearing Allen’s likeness in some form or another.

It’s his insane, addled, ball-hounding defense that is so fun to watch in big moments, when he ratchets up the pressure, as the saying goes, and turns somebody’s water off. That and his ability to miss every single point-blank layup he gets… except the one that ties or wins the game for the Griz, his flexing on the sidelines, and his constant walking around the court mumbling to himself while everyone else is off huddling or doing some other team activity.

Allen is a major reason for the Grizzlies’ recent run of success. He is one of the key figures in the deepening of the city’s love affair with its pro basketball team, establishing roots in this city that would be hard to pull up.

Allen is also a bit of a problem: The things that make him one of the most tenacious perimeter defenders in the league also make him a wild card on offense. Sometimes, he decides to pull up for an 18-foot jumper. Sometimes, he tries to drive through three defenders to the basket and his layup bounces off the bottom of the rim (this has already happened this season). Sometimes, he makes a brilliant cut to the basket for a go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter. Sometimes, he goes rogue and tries to win the game himself, when there are other, better options on the floor. Allen’s offense is unpredictable to the point that he’s generally a liability on that end of the floor — not only because he can’t shoot very well, but also because he seems incapable of slowing himself down to process what he needs to do.

Beyond that, Allen’s stint on the bench last year clearly rubbed him the wrong way. After an extended hand injury that turned into a wrist injury that turned into “maybe they’re just sitting him so they can trade him” speculation, Allen returned to the court and started playing some of the best basketball of his career. The only problem with that, from Allen’s perspective, was that he was doing it coming off the bench. He wasn’t happy about it and made that known off the court, in the locker room, everywhere but in interviews. One gets the impression that he feels like his leadership role on the team means he’s guaranteed a starting spot, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in the eyes of head coach Dave Joerger. Allen is starting again, for now, but if someone else is playing well enough to claim that job, will Allen be pushed back to his sixth man role? And, if so, what will happen to the team’s chemistry? Do his defensive abilities outweigh his offensive limitations enough that starting him for morale/chemistry reasons makes sense from a “trying to win a championship this year” perspective?

The Grizzlies need the best Allen they can get this year, and they cannot afford for him to be a net negative. If they can keep him happy, and he can play to his strengths instead of holding back a team that needs all the offensive firepower it can get, things will be fine. If anything happens to throw that equation out of balance (whether injury, age, or Jordan Adams) the ride could get turbulent.

How Much Z-Bo Are We Getting?

Over the summer, Randolph signed a three-year contract extension with the Grizzlies for $10 million a year that will keep him here through the 2016–2017 season, at least. Randolph had a great season last year, carrying the team’s offense on his back (with no small amount of help from Mike Conley) through the dark days of Gasol’s injury.

As Randolph (who is 33) ages, his game will decline in some form or fashion, but for the Grizzlies’ title hopes this season, he’s got to be able to duplicate his success from last year, a return to form for Randolph, who suffered a major knee injury during the 2011–2012 lockout season.

There are signs of decline creeping in around the edges for Randolph: his field goal percentage has dropped, his shot gets blocked more often, he has a harder time working through his post moves to get baskets, and — most worryingly — his defense fell off a cliff last year. Randolph has never been a great defender, but in the last year or 18 months, teams have figured out that they can run pick-and-roll plays involving Randolph’s man and regularly get a pretty easy look at the basket. If he can improve on defense, or at least not get worse, he’ll probably be fine this year. This year’s new look, contract-year Gasol is only going to make the opportunities easier for him.

If he can stay healthy and can keep himself from being the main point of weakness in the Grizzlies’ fabled defense, Randolph, at $10 million this season, is likely going to be a bargain.

Back to the Window Thing

So what does this all mean? It comes back around to the idea that NBA teams have a limited window of time in which they can win a championship. There’s no guarantee of anything in sports. Things that no one can predict happen on a regular basis and change the course of entire teams, entire careers, entire franchises.

Everything is lined up for this Grizzlies team to be the best one the franchise has ever put on the court, including the 2013 team that made it all the way to the Western Conference finals. Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (and now Russell Westbrook) have both suffered big injuries. Houston didn’t improve much this summer because it gambled on Chris Bosh and lost. Dallas added Chandler Parsons and bolstered its roster but didn’t improve dramatically. The Clippers have an even bigger hole at small forward this year than the Grizzlies did last year. The Spurs are and forever will be the Spurs.

Beyond this year, even if one assumes Gasol will return, there is no guarantee of what will happen. Things change. Players age and retire. Chemistry doesn’t work out. Trades happen for financial reasons. Other teams improve. Last year — the slow start, the Gasol and Allen injuries, the Randolph Game 7 suspension in a winnable playoff series — should’ve taught Griz fans that no season can be taken for granted.

Will this be the last year of this run of playoff success? Who knows? The team is poised to be good for the next several years, assuming they can hang on to Gasol and Conley. But every window closes at some point, and usually you can’t tell it’s happened until after your chance at winning it all is gone. When eras end, things tend to collapse under their own weight, leaving wreckage and years of rebuilding to be done.

On paper, this appears to be the deepest and best Grizzlies team of all time. Grizzlies fans should cherish this team and this year, because for once, they really could win the NBA championship — and because nothing is guaranteed and nothing lasts forever.

This is the year.

…

Guarded Optimism

The 2014-15 Memphis Tigers will lean on a pair of veteran pillars as a new backcourt finds its way.

by Frank Murtaugh

Rarely has the University of Memphis basketball program undergone the kind of personnel transition Tiger fans will witness over the course of the 2014-15 season. Just last winter, the Tigers rode the play of four guards — all seniors — to a record of 24-10 and a fourth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. Those guards are all gone, of course, leaving the ball — and the Tigers’ hopes for a return to the Big Dance — quite literally in the hands of players with exactly zero minutes played in a Memphis uniform. If you haven’t seen Pookie Powell play, or Markel Crawford, or Dominic Magee, or Avery Woodson, pull up a chair and join the crowd. Add Vanderbilt transfer Kedren Johnson to the mix and you have a quintet of new faces, each aiming to take the Tigers new places on the college basketball map.

“We’re so inexperienced, so young,” says Josh Pastner, who aims to become just the second Memphis coach (after Dana Kirk) to take the Tigers to five consecutive NCAA tournaments. “I won’t know [what we have] until we play actual competition. I have no clue. Everything’s brand new. Every game we play this year will be a new experience for a lot of these guys. We basically have three guys with game experience. That’s it.”

The “Perfect Guard”

If you combine the premier qualities of the five players likely to man the Tigers’ backcourt, you might just have the perfect college guard. Sophomore Powell may be the most versatile scorer (he averaged 27.8 points as a senior in high school). Redshirt freshman Crawford may be the best perimeter defender. Sophomore Woodson could be the best shooter (37.6 percent from three-point range at East Mississippi Community College). Freshman Magee is likely the best penetrator. (“I can drive and finish or drive and kick it out,” he says.) And Vanderbilt transfer Johnson may be the best ball-handler (he led the Commodores in assists as a sophomore in 2012-13). But how does Pastner best combine these skills on the court? And who is the guard (or guards) versatile enough to stay on the court when his go-to strength is failing him?

“There’s talent,” emphasizes Pastner. “But they have to develop a better understanding of the game, a better feel for the game. Retention is important, especially at that position. I think we’re going to be a good team, but it’s a hard read [now]. Sometimes when you least expect it, you have a breakout year. We need to find guys who know the system, know what I want, and can execute it. They’ll be the first with opportunities for game time.”

Powell spent last season with the Tigers but wasn’t allowed to practice. If there’s a player bursting for minutes on the floor, it’s the Orlando native with a toddler’s nickname. “Last year actually went by kinda quickly,” he says. “I’m just glad to be back out here, doing what I can do. I’ll bring energy every time I step on the court. And I want to show Coach I can win. I’ve never really won anything in my career.”

Larry Kuzniewski

Shaq Goodwin and Austin Nichols

The Returnees

Despite the veteran presence in their backcourt last season, the Tigers looked hopelessly overmatched against Connecticut (in the American Athletic Conference tournament at FedExForum) and Virginia (in the third round of the NCAAs) as their season came to an unceremonious close. The few current Tigers who felt the sting of those losses — most notably forwards Shaq Goodwin and Austin Nichols — will be tasked with infusing this year’s team with a dose of motivation and toughness. Along with Nick King, Goodwin and Nichols are the only returning rotation players. Kuran Iverson is also back, intent on significantly increasing the 9.1 minutes he averaged in 19 games as a freshman last season.

“I’m not looking for a leadership position,” says Goodwin, who averaged 11.5 points last season and led the Tigers with 6.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore. “Once you start singling out people, that’s where different expectations come that you don’t need. Once we’re one big team, we’ll be fine. My thing this season is staying consistent. Coach [Robert] Kirby has worked with me on rebounding and staying consistent at the free-throw line, two areas where I struggled last year.” (Goodwin shot 59 percent from the charity stripe.)

The Tigers will need Goodwin to be as fierce on the floor as he is genteel off it, and the same goes, really, for Nichols. The Briarcrest alum started every game last season, averaging 9.3 points and 4.3 rebounds on his way to Rookie of the Year honors in the American Athletic Conference. Whereas Goodwin lost weight after his freshman season to make more of an impact, Nichols added close to 20 pounds this summer in hopes of the same. “Conditioning is a huge thing,” he says. “If Shaq and I can play large minutes and not get tired, that’s huge. And staying out of foul trouble. Be smart; no easy fouls.”

Larry Kuzniewski

Nick King

King will likely start at small forward, returning the Tiger lineup to a conventional two-guard, three-forward look at tip-off. The East High alum averaged just 4.9 points and 11.1 minutes per game as a freshman, but showed flashes — like 23 points against Oklahoma State in his second college game — that suggest he could be an offensive force (if his defensive limitations don’t force him to the bench).

And Iverson is excited to settle into a power-forward slot, even as a reserve. “I like being in the paint,” he says, “where I can make my moves easier, near the hoop. I can block shots, play defense, and rebound.” Adds Goodwin, “Kuran can be whoever he wants to be. He can dribble, he can shoot. He just has to put it in his mind. He’s on the right path. I see a big difference between Kuran this year and Kuran last year.”

Like his entire fan base, Pastner looks at Goodwin and Nichols as the stabilizing forces for a team desperately in need of on-court leadership. “They have to be consistent,” he says. “We have to depend on them and know what we’re getting every game.”

Frontcourt Newbies

Two new arrivals should add muscle to the Tiger frontcourt, particularly on the defensive end. Calvin Godfrey (6’8″, 233 lbs.) transferred from Southern and is actually the only senior on the team. Chris Hawkins (6’6″, 230 lbs.) averaged 15.2 points and 6.8 rebounds last season at Southwest Tennessee Community College but was limited to nine games by ankle injuries. Yet another Memphis rookie, Trahson Burrell, could earn minutes at forward, guard, or both. More wispy than Godfrey or Hawkins, Burrell (6’6″, 169 lbs.) was a scoring presence over his two seasons at Lee College in Texas, averaging 20.7 points on 52-percent shooting.

Each of the transfers will don a Tiger uniform with expectations for impacting the Memphis program immediately. “I didn’t bring them here to be 10th or 11th guys,” Pastner says. “They have to produce for the program. Calvin is 23. He has a maturity about him. Kedren started at Vanderbilt. They have to get the job done, and they know it. If there is a bruiser [on this team], it’s Calvin Godfrey.”

The Rotation

By the time conference play arrives in January, a dozen players now in the mix for significant playing time should be whittled to eight (or even seven). Pastner will go deeper on his bench only if forced. “A seven- or eight-man rotation keeps it organized,” he says, “and lets everyone know their roles. But that rotation won’t be defined in November. We’ll know by the end of November, though, because of the teams we play early. We’ll be tested.” After opening their season against Wichita State on November 18th (in Sioux Falls, South Dakota), the Tigers face Baylor on Thanksgiving day (in Las Vegas).

A Transition Year?

No team in any sport wants to be considered part of a “transition year.” The tag implies losses, growing pains, the only silver lining, perhaps, a preview of better things to come. But it’s hard to look at the roster of the 2014-15 Memphis Tigers and not have the T-word at least tickling your consciousness. “It does feel like a transition year,” says King, another sophomore thrust into a position of veteran leadership. “New faces, new attitudes. But I think we have great team chemistry. The new players are great people. If you’ve got a good person, you can make a great player.”

The way Pastner sees things, forget any notion of transition. “This is a start-fresh year,” he says. “If you’re forecasting, you’d say we’re loaded for the future: everybody’s coming back, the recruits we’re getting. But people are anxious to see how we do this year. This is a brand-new team, starting from ground zero.”

And does the 37-year-old coach feel any of that anxiety himself? “I’m rejuvenated, excited about it,” Pastner says. “There was a lot more managing last year. Every second is more teaching this year. If I wanted to, I could stop every possession of practice to teach. But that’s not reality. I have to let them play, adjust, recover on the fly. I wish they’d give us 10 more games to play.”

There’s a photo mural that runs the length of the Tigers’ practice court at the Finch Center on the U of M campus: 12 players, arms linked, only their torsos visible. No faces. The mural says, “One team. One goal. No egos.” The 2014-15 Memphis Tigers will not be a faceless team. That’s impossible in this town. Whether or not those arms remain linked (at least metaphorically) come March will depend on how trying the next four months become for a team that will spend most of the winter learning how to get along, on the court and off.

…

Schedule Highlights

• For a team learning to play together, the Tigers have a schedule luxury: nine straight home games, starting December 2nd (Stephen F. Austin) and ending January 3rd (Tulane). Oklahoma State (December 13th) will highlight this stretch. If you want to circle a few dates on your 2015 calendar, start with January 15th, when Cincinnati visits FedExForum (the Bearcats are picked to finish fourth in the American, right behind Memphis). League favorite (and defending national champion) Connecticut visits February 19th and SMU will be here February 26th.

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From My Seat Sports

Elvis Sings the Memphis Grizzlies

I take my Elvis Week song dedications very seriously. No throwaways here, and you get one of the King’s tunes attached to your name only by earning it. The old-fashioned way, as the saying goes. This year’s dedications are distinctly Beale Street Blue, which, if you think about it, would have made a great Elvis song.

To Zach Randolph: “Teddy Bear” — You gotta admit Z-Bo has some teddy-bear qualities to him, particularly when he’s handing out turkeys on Thanksgiving or rescuing injured dogs. The ever-present headband on game day lends itself to the image, as does Randolph’s megawatt smile. Now, when he’s slinging 250 pounds inside for another put-back, or jogging upcourt alongside the likes of Steven Adams, Z-Bo’s claws come out and the teddy bear becomes decidedly, well, grizzly.

To Mike Conley: “The Wonder of You” — “You’re always there to lend a hand / In everything I do.” No one has played in more games as a Grizzly than the undersized (that’s what I thought) point guard from Ohio State. He’s been the pulse of four playoff teams now but has yet to get an All-Star nod. He won’t stuff a stat sheet (career scoring average: 13.1), but will be on the court for the decisive moment, one fourth quarter (or overtime) after another. These athletes tend to carry the same wondrous tag: winner.

To Tony Allen: “Blue Suede Shoes” — I like envisioning the Grindfather’s reaction if an opponent chose to knock him down, or step on his face. (Ask Chris Paul.) Allen has become as Memphis as dry rub, as distinctly Bluff City as Beale Street. Somewhere there exists a marketing campaign with Allen walking down Beale, a half-chewed rib in hand . . . and blue suede shoes on his feet. “Now go, cat, go.”

To Marc Gasol: “A Big Hunk O’ Love” — Big and hunk. That’s Gasol, his game, his impact on the Grizzlies franchise over the last six seasons. Memphis sagged (10-13 record) six weeks last winter as Gasol nursed an injury, then surged (33-13) over the season’s final three months to secure a fourth straight playoff berth. Gasol’s contract status will be the most talked-about variable next season, and could be the tipping point for this group of Grizzlies as title contenders. If Griz owner Robert Pera shows Gasol the same love the team’s fan base has, Big Marc should be around a long time.

To Dave Joerger: “Stuck on You” — That spring tango with the Minnesota Timberwolves made for an uncomfortable 24 hours, but the young coach came to his senses and returned to his current home, signing a contract extension that should stabilize what appeared to be a rapidly spinning operation when CEO Jason Levien was abruptly dismissed in May. And why shouldn’t Joerger be stuck on Memphis? Handed a roster dripping with playoff experience, he guided a second-half surge during his rookie season as a head coach to reach 50 wins, the benchmark for NBA contenders. “Squeeze you tighter than a grizzly bear . . . .”

To Robert Pera: “Big Boss Man” — For two seasons, there was an Oz quality to the Grizzlies’ principal owner (“don’t pay attention to the man behind the curtain”). Levien seemed to have the wheel of the franchise, steering by his own compass, evaluating players (and coaches) with his own value structure. No more. In firing Levien and bringing Chris Wallace back as general manager, Pera asserted his position as the man in the corner office. Ideas are welcome. Creativity is encouraged. But no freelancing on the company dime.