Friday, April 9th, 2010 at 10:00 am  |  13 responses

Have the Memphis Grizzlies Quit?

With no shot of making the Playoffs, the Grizz appear to have shifted down into the lowest gear of late, which has led to unhappiness from the coaching staff and local media. The Commercial Appeal reports: “These Grizzlies are in position to take a step out of mediocrity if they choose to finish the season with all-out effort. Yet what’s been on display with losses in six of their last seven games is a lack of maturity and mental toughness on the floor. This is what compelled coach Lionel Hollins to call out his team Wednesday night after a lackluster effort that resulted in a 110-84 loss at Dallas. Hollins continued his tough love approach Thursday when he did not schedule a practice and instead met with players individually. ‘Dallas, San Antonio — they’re still playing for their playoff lives,’ Hollins said after the Dallas debacle. ‘They’re coming out and playing hard. Are we willing to make that sacrifice and play that hard? It hasn’t shown in the last seven games that we are willing to do that.’ The Grizzlies’ only shot at redemption is improving their general lack of focus and concentration, which has led to opponents averaging 26 points off turnovers during their three-game losing streak.”

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  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com Hursty

    They’d still be in mediocrity even if they won just one of those games. Besides, looking at their standing in the L, winning games isn’t a priority at this point. Might as well slow down a little bit (call it tanking if you want) and bolster your chances of a top 4 pick.

  • O***

    This is the biggest problem in American pro basketball or pro sports in America all together as I have understand it.

    Teams are kind of rewarded if they finish in a low place if they don’t make playoffs, the lower they end up the better the chance of getting a better draftpick. I personally think this is screwed up. If you win less than 20 games in season then maybe you shouldn’t play in the best league in the world? Maybe you should be downgraded to a league under the NBA( if there were one) as punishment for being a lousy team instead of being rewarded with a better chance of winning the lottery?

    What incentives do the Memphis Grizzlies have to give their best when the chance of going to the playoffs is equal to none? I don’t think the fans will care so much that they stop attending the games if they end up in 12th place instead of 10th place. If you love your team and are a real fan you don’t stop watching your team wheter they are in 12th place or in a division lower then the NBA. You should love the team no matter what and root for them anyway.

    This is maybe an European opinion since I’m Swedish I don’t know but this is how I feel! Agree or Disagree?

  • Coney Islander

    You might just be onto something. I remember when the Spurs intentionally tanked one whole year to get Tim Duncan in the draft. I’m all for making the lottery teams the newest addition to the D-League for a year after the lottery!

  • http://sevendeu2u.wordpress.com/ Seven Duece

    Wow, I turned my head and coughed for the doctor and now they’re out of playoff contention.

  • O***

    @Coney Islannder

    I agree, I also believe the quality of the D-League would be better if real NBA teams had to compete in it to get back to the NBA. And If they don’t make it back then they should’t be in the NBA in the first place. A fair deal would be that worst team in the NBA got a ticket straight to the D-League and the winner of the D-League should take the worst teams place. The second worst team in the NBA should have to meet the runner up in the D-League to compete about the NBA spot.

    This is just my 2 cents but you have to agree that it would be a lot more exciting and it wouldn’t be a total bore to watch a game between the Nets vs. Timberwolves when it actually mean something!

  • doyouwantmore

    That ^^^ is an interesting, and totally impossible idea. A perfect example of the kind of forward-thinking that would serve the fans and make the sport more fun to follow. Also the kind of thinking that anyone making more than a hundred grand a year is utterly incapable of.

  • http://slamonline BossTerry

    Tell em why you madd. O.. Grizz dont have much else to play for BUT a Lottery selection.. They still missing that 1 piece.. I really hope they extend Rudy Gay’s contract or else they can rely on the lottery for years to come.

  • http://sdifjlc.com Jukai

    NBA teams playing in the D-League makes no absolutely no financial sense, none-what-so-ever… unless you want to see lower teams fold because no one wants to come to their games. It also makes ‘d-league call ups’ impossible. What, are you going to call up Rudy Gay or OJ Mayo from the D-League?
    A better way to make teams competitive: equal chances at lottery in the draft, monetary incentives for the team for making the playoffs (or punishments for teams that don’t).

  • The Philosopher

    The NBA is the greatest league in the world.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    Man, if sucky teams DON’T get the benefit of the draft, how are they supposed to claw their way back to respectability? The Lakers already get advantages and are favored by the league, would you really want them to get equal chances at landing John Wall as the New Jersey Nets (if you aren’t a Lakers fan)?
    The draft saves sucky teams; just ask Cleveland, Portland, Denver, Miami, and pretty much every team except the Knicks. And Pistons.

  • http://www.jewelzlopez.com -Mas-

    How does anyone of here DARE call the Timberwolves, Clippers, Nets, Warriors amd teams of this nature NBA TEAMS! Please! At least this year they do not deserve to be called NBA teams. Even if teams like the Wolves get a superstar like KG via draft they are so poorly organized that they were never able (or willing) to build and invest on a winning team around their Superstar player. Clippers are the Clippers no need to explain, the Nets could be defeated by both Butler and Duke this season and do not deserve that fans pay big $ to go see an NBA team and all we get is the Nets. Not fair for the fans. And so on. My point is that some teams even when they begin to get better just decide it is not fiscally responsible. Take the Grizzlies, they gave away a Gasol that got 50 wins a season for a younger and cheaper Gasol. Lets see if the Cavs, Heat and other teams “helped” by the draft can retain their superstars and build around them. Other organizations deserve an opportunity to prove they can do better than Wolves, Nets and Clips. PS. No team that gets a number 1 pick this year will win a NBA Championship so they only thing a high draft pick guarantees is another couple of sucky seasons or a bunch of bad luck if your the Blazers or Clips.

  • Lai Wai

    The finacial reality of the NBA is that many of the teams aren’t now and never will be successful.
    Teams like the Grizzles, Charlotte, New Orleans, Oklahoma, Scaramento, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Current Nets, Portland (if not owned by Allen).

    If they don’t have a Billionaire owner they can’t really compete. 13 Teams are paying luxury tax but not all can afford it. It puts teams like the Lakers, Dallas, Knicks, Boston at a distinct advantage not that NY capitalized on it.

    Some are run as a business Portland and Toronto are basically corporate teams holding firm under the luxury tax. I would love a 2 tier system with the top 16 teams in a 1st division and another 16teams in a B division but with the same hard cap only a plus or minus of 5% on lets say on 60 million.

    The bottom 4 teams in A league go into B and the top 4 teams in B league go to A league. Every team gets a similar chance at getting 1st pick with maybe B teams getting a 25% advantage.

    Every team would be reconfigured in a giant dispersal draft with no team getting a priority on current players. Add 2 new teams likely one in Seattle and Vancouver.

    Would make a very interesting dynamic great competition.

    Obviously it would never happen the networks would crap if the Lakers were in B league. But fun

    Obviously it

  • msballa

    da grizzlies will alwayz b my favorite team. and i kno they’re a better team tha this. idk y they’ve given up. it almost erases the amazing season they’ve had. they’ve proved alot of pointz and shut alost of my classmatez mouthz about their constant losing. they had a rough start and it lookz like they’re gonna have a rough ending to match. juz dont 4get how good the middle waz. go grizzlies!!

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