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The guys at 3 Shades of Blue like to think we have a corner on the bright thoughts about the Grizzlies but as our readers like to remind us..we don't. To showcase that reality here is a guest blog from a long time reader John Willet. Players vs. Coaches
by John Willet It's been a tough schedule so far, with a lot of points scored and conceded, some promising signs and only a 1-4 record to show for it. Add to that, there are some players within the organization looking out for their own interests more than others. Considering that AI could be seen in the past playing 45 minutes in a game, and would be shown during those other 3 sitting on the bench, looking like he just heard news his mother was diagnosed with cancer.. maybe it's not surprising. It's rocky times at the moment, and it doesn't get any easier heading into the Staples Center against the champions. They say winning cures all, but it's not happening. As is human nature, we always want to assign blame to someone. Who to blame?
It seems there it's always hard to draw a line between the players and the coach. They are a team after all. They win together, they lose together. A coach could draw up a great final play, and the inbounds pass could be stolen. Or he could draw up a bad play, and someone gets an offensive rebound and kick it out for an open 3, making him seem like a genius. It's always hard to assign blame because there are so many plays during a game, and one bad one can lose a game, but what about all the other good plays that lead up to that point?
The players aren't blameless. Forced shots on offense (Rudy, OJ), turnovers while forcing dribble penetration (Rudy), missed FT's (Carroll, Gay, Williams, Gasol), unforced bad pass turnovers (Conley), numerous 3 second violations (Haddadi, Thabeet) and lots of defensive mistakes (everyone) are things that are hard to blame a coach for. Maybe except for the defense thing..
The main area coaches are usually criticized is substitution patterns and rotations. For the Grizz, Mayo fans would say that he needs more minutes and more ball. AI fans would say he needs to start. Thabeet fans would say he needs more opportunities. After all, a rookie can't learn and grow if he never sees the floor. We all saw that with Darko. When you draft someone high up you are committed to them and are in a sense shooting yourself in the foot if he never sees the floor. For the most part I think Hollins has been pretty good with rotations. Sure you could nitpick, for example Mayo in Denver was benched in the 4th and didn't come back until late but he had played a lot of minutes without rest and started to cool off. Maybe he could have came back sooner. AI has been gradually getting more minutes, after all he is new to the team and missed preseason and still trying to get his legs back. I will never understand the argument for starting AI because the starters clearly haven't lacked offense in this young season. They have been very strong in this area. The bench however has been awful, and AI getting his own shot off the dribble in the mid range becomes an asset in this situation. I don't think the same thing could be said for those forced midrange shots, if you have Mayo, Rudy, Randolph on the floor, all who are hungry for the ball and shots. If you get 30+ minutes, play well and finish the game (which will happen if AI torches the other team), it doesn't really matter who starts and who doesn't. Jason Terry had 35 off the bench the other night, nearly double the points of any of his teammates. If the games were 30 minutes, and everyone used 6 man rotations, and it was about putting your best players on the floor at the same time, then the above opinion would be different.
You also have to cut Hollins some slack because of the bench he has to work with. Williams is the most experienced and hasn't exactly seen a lot of minutes in the last few seasons. Carroll, Young and Thabeet are all rookies. Hunter is older but more defensive orientated with little offense. The rookies are all very raw and rarely get the benefit of the referees whistle. The offense has been bad and the defense hasn't been much better. Williams has been the most effective so far, but now that AI is back, won't even see the floor. The rookies were brought in to aid the defense but so far it hasn't happened. So it's a hard job for any coach to give these guys minutes, whilst still trying to hold onto a lead.
Add to that, Hollins has been handed a ticking time bomb in terms of chemistry. Randolph has been pretty good so far, Rudy and OJ have already had words, AI hasn't helped matters and as long as the L's keep racking up, it seems only a matter of time until the bomb stops ticking. This can't be easy, especially given the average age of the team. Rudy Gay is the longest serving Memphis Grizz at present, he is in his 4th year.
One area I do want to criticize Hollins though, there has been a pattern in the last 4 games, and especially the last 3 road games. Hot starts in the first quarter, very high FG%'s, and some stops leading to a big lead. Lots of points scored and a great fluency to the offense. And then after a timeout or two, some adjustments made by the opponent, and then a gradual decrease in the offensive production for the Grizzlies, and a gradual increase in the scoring of the other team. With Memphis stops becoming harder and harder to come by as the game goes on. And to add to that, it seems impossible for this Grizz to ever hold onto a lead, which will make a blowout win near impossible to achieve. The initial game plans have seemed to catch the other team offguard, which is great. But once the adjustments have been made, the Grizzlies go from looking like world beaters to looking average or worse. Can this be pinned on the coach?
Maybe it's no coincidence that the sole Grizzlies win came against young Raptors coach Jay Triano, where the Raps are his first team. The hot starts leading to losses have come against George Karl (Nuggets), Paul Westphal (Kings), and Don Nelson (Warriors), all coaches who have coached many years in this league, with numerous playoff appearances. The L's can't be blamed on this point alone, afterall if players hit their FT's one night and not the next, there is not much the coach can do about it. What about the defense? The players surely deserve some blame there. Maybe it's harder to defend with the same energy when you are up by 10, as opposed to when it's close and the teams are trading baskets. However there has been a worrying trend over the last 3 games, and it will be interesting to see if it continues in the next few games. The Nuggets are a tough team, but the Warriors and Kings games were winnable.
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