It's not easy to have a happy New Year when you drop your last three games heading into the holiday, and the Memphis Grizzlies are suffering from the effects of their struggles on the court.  What is bothering the team the most is the fact that they fall apart when the fourth quarter comes around.  Everyone on the team accepts that as the problem, but the underlying issue is a rift between the coaches and players.  Coach Marc Iavaroni has openly laid the blame for the lack of execution in the fourth quarter squarely on the shoulders of his players, sparing himself most of the culpability.  While some of it may be on the players, the coach's job is to deflect negative attention from his players as much as possible, not use them as scapegoats.  This is the sign of a

Continue reading "Grizzlies grumbling as calendar turns"

It was a new year but a similar result for the Memphis Grizzlies as they hosted the San Antonio Spurs on Friday.  The Grizzlies faded in the second half of a 91-80 loss after putting up a fight for the first 24 minutes.

Tim Duncan controlled the paint and was more of a factor than he had been in earlier meetings.  On the flip side the Grizzlies had one of their patented third-quarter flops that turned the game in the Spurs' favor.  The Spurs led only 44-40 at the half before going on a 23-8 run in the third.  Duncan had plenty of help as Manu Ginobili scored the Spurs' first seven points of the fourth to snuff out a Grizzlies rally.

Hakim Warrick led the Grizzlies in scoring with 21 points off the bench as the team's two stars struggled once again to put the ball in the basket.  It's good to see him contributing consistently now after having his difficulties in the early part of the season.  Unfortunately, the Grizzlies can't afford to have Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo have coinciding off-nights.  If one of them doesn't have his shot, the other has to pick up the slack.  Without the offensive leadership of at least one of those guys, the Grizzlies don't stand much of a chance of winning, especially against a team like San Antonio.

Continue reading "Spurs 91, Grizzlies 80"

Enough was finally enough for the Memphis Grizzlies.  After 13 consecutive losses to the Dallas Mavericks, the Grizzlies outplayed them in every facet of the game on Sunday as they claimed a shocking 102-82 win.

The Grizzlies threatened to hold the Mavericks to a season-low scoring output, missing out by only a point.  They showed the kind of defensive effort that was their calling card in the first few weeks of the season.  More surprisingly, however, the Grizzlies shook off their status as the league's worst rebounding team to outrebound the league-leading Mavs 43-34.  As a result, they dominated second-chance points 26-12.  That is what they have to do to win against playoff contenders.  The Grizzlies must win second-chance points and points off turnovers to win on a consistent basis.

Continue reading "Grizzlies 102, Mavericks 82"

The Grizzlies waived Darius Miles on Tuesday to avoid paying the rest of his salary for this season.  He didn't get much of a chance to play in the brief time he was with the team, mostly based on the clause that said if he played more than 10 total games this season, the Portland Trailblazers would have to claim his $18 million salary and would end up paying a luxury tax.  Miles is expected to clear waivers today, which would make him available to all 30 teams.  The Grizzlies could then re-sign him if they wanted.  The Trailblazers, however, have threatened to sue any team who signed Miles to a contract.  They claim that any team that signs him would be doing it for the sole purpose of putting his salary on the Blazers' payroll.  It seems to me that the Blazers are being very immature and really won't have a case if a team does sign him and it ends up in court.

Continue reading "Grizzlies head north in need of a win"

The Grizzlies signed Darius Miles to another 10-day contract on Friday after the league assured its teams that it would disregard any attempt by Portland owner Larry Miller to prevent them from doing so.  Miller warned fellow owners via email that he would sue any team who signed Miles, believing that a team would sign him for the sole purpose of burdening Portland with his salary.  Miller wanted to protect his team's ability to pursue free agents next offseason, when high profile players such as LeBron James will be available.  In reality, the Blazers still would have had plenty of cap room even after taking on Miles' contract, so Miller's demand was unreasonable.  Several league owners responded angrily to Miller's email, taking it as a personal threat.

The Grizzlies lost for the 11th time in their last 13 games last night as they fell to Toronto 103-82.  The Grizzlies rallied from an early 13-point deficit to trail by only three at halftime, but they collapsed in the second half.  They allowed the Raptors to shoot a season-high 57 percent.

Continue reading "Grizzlies re-sign Miles, fall to Raptors"

The Memphis Grizzlies faced a short-handed Cleveland team on Tuesday, but the Cavs still had the only player they really needed.

LeBron James put up a triple-double with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists as Cleveland breezed past the Grizzlies 102-87.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ben Wallace both missed the game, making things a little easier for the Grizzlies to get the ball inside.

Darius Miles appeared in his ninth game of this season, one short of the 10 that would put his salary completely on the Portland Trailblazers.  Miles scored 13 points in 13 minutes, a promising offensive display.  I think he has proven that he still has the potential to be a consistent scorer, although he hasn't gotten extensive playing time yet.  He has definitely made the most of the time he has gotten.

Continue reading "Cavaliers 106, Grizzlies 87"

The more they lose, the less credible the Grizzlies become as an organization.  It's getting hard to buy even the players' comments anymore.  The team lost for the 13th time in its last 15 games on Friday, and they seem to bring the same lazy attitude to the court every night.  I know deep down somewhere they must want to win.  If they didn't, they wouldn't be human.  I understand that they are young, but they don't appear to be learning much from their losses.  Every night, we hear them say that they just didn't get it done.  They say the opponent just wanted it more.  If coach Iavaroni is the problem, and I'm sure a lot of this has to do with him, I still think the players could play together and win some games in spite of him.  So you have to

Continue reading "Jazz 101, Grizzlies 91"

The Memphis Grizzlies fired head coach Marc Iavaroni Thursday night.  Thus continues the trend of professional sports owners giving their coaches the "kiss of death" vote of confidence.  Everytime an owner says a coach's job is safe, you know he is about to get the boot.  It's the same as when a coach says he's not interested in any job other than his current one.  Grizz owner Michael Heisley said earlier in the year that Iavaroni was safe, only to retract that statement prior to the New Year, when his tone changed to "The month of January will decide Iavaroni's fate." The Grizzlies are currently in the midst of a seven-game losing skid, among their longest of the season.  Their lone win this month came against Dallas, and they got thumped by the lowly Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday, 101-86.  That loss was the Grizzlies' second of the year at the hands of the Bobcats.

Continue reading "Iavaroni done as Grizzlies coach"

The Grizzlies fired Marc Iavaroni last night.  Good job, here's a cookie.  Unfortunately, they couldn't wait to screw it up.  They had to name Lionel Hollins as the permanent replacement to Iavaroni less than 12 hours later.  That was after announcing that there would be a league-wide search.  Hollins has been the interim coach before, and we all know how well that went.  This will be his third stint with the Grizzlies.  Apparently I forgot about one of them last night.  He is 18-46 in that time.

What is disgusting is that Michael Heisley is cheap, as my new hero Geoff Calkins pointed out in his column in the Commercial Appeal today.  http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/jan/23/makes-no-cents/

Heisley and general manager Chris Wallace are not willing to spend the money it takes to make this franchise successful.  It's going to take a financial commitment to lure a top-notch, or even mid-level coach to Memphis.  They didn't even bother to try this time.  Why even lie to us and act like you are going to look outside the organization?  Really, Wallace is the problem.  It's nothing new.  I've said it before.  I'm sure he's probably not done screwing the fans, so I'll probably say it again.

Continue reading "Grizzlies Front-Office Ineptitude Continues"

I have just read that Lionel Hollins is bringing Maurice Cheeks with him as an assistant coach, so Hollins may not end up being the full-time guy after all.  Cheeks was one of the first names to come up in rumors yesterday as a possible replacement for Marc Iavaroni.  Hollins hasn't signed a contract as of yet, so he isn't officially the new head coach.  All I am asking is that Michael Heisley and his front office staff put some consideration into this move.  The Grizzlies are struggling to get fans to come to their games, and they need to make a positive move now to show that they are committed to winning.  I guess I will get off Chris Wallace's back for now, but I still don't trust him not to screw this up somehow.

According to ESPN, Avery Johnson declined an offer from the Grizzlies, which doesn't surprise me much.  The Grizzlies reportedly offered Johnson a five-year deal to leave his analyst position with ESPN.  Assistant Johnny Davis will coach the team tonight against the New York Knicks.

Continue reading "Coaching Update"

Lionel Hollins will sign a contract this weekend to become the full-time coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.  No doubt barraged by questions about this hasty and, well, questionable, decision, owner Michael Heisley said this one is all on him.  Heisley said this is the first coach he has ever selected himself, and he will take responsibility for the outcome of his decision.  On one hand, that seems awfully big of him.  At closer inspection, however, you have to ask : How much risk is Heisley himself actually taking?  His job can't be on the line if this pick doesn't pan out.  He's the owner.  Still, it brings up the possibility that he is tired of relying on his general manager to make such a critical decision for the franchise.  This may bring him one step closer to replacing Chris Wallace.  It's a mess.  There is no other way to describe it.  The Grizzlies franchise is in a state of chaos.  Any dreams of a three-year plan are now officially shot, not that such a plan ever really got off the ground to begin with.  We can only hope that somehow Hollins has improved as a coach since he was last here, or else Heisley is just wasting more time and money.

Continue reading "Grizzlies tab Hollins, fade against Knicks"

The Grizzlies introduced once-and-current head coach Lionel Hollins at a press conference this afternoon, allowing him to get in a full day of practice with the team before Tuesday's game against Denver.  It is still unclear at this time who will serve as Hollins' assistant coaches.

The Grizzlies (11-32) fell to the Nets 99-88 on Saturday despite hanging around for three quarters and winning the third.  As in most of their recent losses they collapsed in the fourth quarter, losing the period 27-18.  They opened the game by shooting well, especially from the perimeter.  O.J. Mayo broke out of his recent shooting slump to lead the Grizzlies with 23 points.  Mayo is having a rough January, suffering through the same shooting woes that haunted Rudy Gay earlier this season.  It was good to see him match Vince Carter point-for-point.  Statistically, the Grizzlies didn't play all that poorly.  Probably the telling stat was the fact that New Jersey only turned the ball over six times, while the Grizzlies coughed it up 11 times.  New Jersey scored 11 points off the Grizzlies' turnovers while the Grizzlies scored seven points off the Nets' miscues.

Continue reading "Grizzlies fall to Nets, prepare for change in style"