Time For a Turnaround
Posted 11/18 at 9:24 AM
Pete Pranica is the Grizzlies television play-by-play announcer. He and Sean Tuohy make up the broadcast team that hosts Grizzlies Tonight! before each home game.
Grizzlies Bloggers
What started most promisingly for the Grizzlies has dissipated in a four-game losing streak. Here’s how to get it back.
One of my favorite Lou Holtz stories is of the day he was playing golf with a PGA Tour professional. Lou is in fact a very good golfer, but this day was really struggling. Lou also has a decent-sized temper and after one particularly unsightly shot, he launched the offending club down the fairway.
His playing partner drolly offered up this insight: “Lou, you’re not good enough to get upset over a bad shot.”
Right now, the Grizzlies aren’t good enough on defense or offense to think they can get by with less than 100% effort.
The first few games, we saw a Grizzlies team that gave no quarter. Dwight Howard didn’t know what hit him. Talk radio wags in Houston were calling Marc Gasol a “Euro-thug.” Golden State, the poster team for high-octane offense, was held to 79 points.
Well, since that game, every opponent has rung up a c-note or better on Memphis.
Meanwhile, the offense sputters and breaks down into little games of one-on-one, resulting in contested jump shots.
The Grizzlies aren’t that good yet that they can a) take possessions off on defense and b) rely on individual effort to score the ball.
Coach Marc Iavaroni admitted to me prior to the Milwaukee game that the ball “gets stuck” sometime during the course of running a play, resulting in late-clock, hurried shots. Impatience of youth perhaps? Probably.
But when you figure that the Grizzlies have three guys who can command double-team attention (Gay, Mayo and Gasol), you would have to figure that smart passing and good player movement should result in an open shot for someone. But you have to run the play. You have to see the floor.
This is the most dramatic stat on the sheet so far this season. There is only one team in the NBA that averages more turnovers than assists. It’s not Oklahoma City, not the Clippers.
It’s the Grizzlies. I understand they’re only a half-assist away from a 1-to-1 ratio, but even a 1-to-1 ratio isn’t particularly good. Teams should average around 20 assists per game (the Grizzlies are at 15.6, last in the NBA). Turnovers should be in the mid- to low teens (the Grizzlies average 16.2 miscues per game). Figure if you average 20 assists and 15 turnovers, that’s a ratio of 1.3 to 1. Detroit, lauded for their offensive efficiency, checks in at a 1.6 to 1 ratio of assists to turnovers. Doesn’t sound like much, but it makes a difference.
The lack of offensive efficiency is also a problem when it comes to scoring cheap baskets. The Grizzlies are middle of the pack in fastbreak points and well below the curve (7th-low) in scoring off opponent turnovers.
Until the Grizzlies can get themselves some easy buckets, they’ll face defenses ready to disrupt Memphis’ sets and hope they fall into a one-pass and jump shot team. The Grizzlies have to run their sets, commit to the defensive principles and play team ball.
They’ll be playing tonight against a Sacramento team without their leading scorer and Grizz tormentor Kevin Martin. The Kings have one of the better passing centers in the NBA in Brad Miller who can do a little of everything. Sacramento comes in a little mentally fragile after missing two great opportunities for home wins, losing to Phoenix by two in OT and to the Spurs by two when the Kings led into the fourth quarter. Also, Kings co-owner Joe Maloof put coach Reggie Theus on notice about getting a system in place. Things are not well in Sac-town. Attendance in the usually rabid ARCO Arena is dismal as the Kings find themselves, somewhat like the Grizzlies, in a transition year.
Posted 11/18 at 9:24 AM
NBA.COM is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network.
Advertise on NBA.com | Career Opportunities | Help
