Grizzlies looking to finish strong
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For much of the season, the Grizzlies were searching for small victories. Lately though, small victories have been replaced with actual victories.
The Grizzlies have been playing near-.500 basketball the last few weeks, having won seven of their last 15 games. While that may seem a modest accomplishment, consider that prior to this 15-game stretch, they’d won just two of their previous 21 games.
With those recent wins under their belts the Grizzlies enter the final two games of the season with a chance to surpass last year’s win total of 22, where they currently sit. Again, it’s a modest goal, but represents something positive to build upon. Of course, Grizzlies head coach Marc Iavaroni is less concerned with passing a win total he wasn’t around for last year than he is with developing the young talent he has to work with and laying the foundation for a brighter future.
“We’re not comparing ourselves to last year, because this is different than last year, the circumstances are very different,” he said after Monday’s practice at FedExForum. “This is part of a plan we all agreed was going to be best for this franchise moving forward. We knew it would be tough this year, but it’s all based on what we can get done in the summer and how we can bounce back.”
The plan he referred to was the trade of Pau Gasol to L.A. at the start of February and the commitment to playing the young players. Immediately after the trade happened, the team seemed to fall into an abyss. The deal came in the midst of the 19-losses-in-21-games stretch mentioned above, and only three times in the month of February did the team even crack 100 points.
However, they’ve scored 100 or more nine times in these last 15 games, and the players seem to have figured out how to put up points without relying on dumping the ball into Gasol in the post.
“I think the adversity has really brought them together. They realize we have a good core group,” said Iavaroni. “Chemistry has gotten steadily better…they realize their effort has to be consistent, and they’ve gotten more consistent, and so we’ve had better results and guys have felt good about themselves and the team.”
What also feels good is the reliance on young players is starting to pay off. Rudy Gay is nearly certain to finish with a scoring average north of 20 points per game, and is a leading candidate for the league’s Most Improved Player Award. In six games this month, Mike Conley has been nearly unstoppable at the point, averaging 14.8 points on 50.7% shooting from the field. He’s already made 10 three-pointers in April, more than any other month this season, and his 50% shooting from long range shows an improvement in his outside shooting, something he’s struggled with through much of the season.
Meanwhile, Kyle Lowry is averaging 12.0 points on 51% shooting this month and Hakim Warrick is proving to be more than capable as an offensive option in the post, averaging 16.5 points since joining the starting lineup after Gasol’s trade. Javaris Crittenton had also been playing his best basketball of the season before suffering a thumb injury last Sunday in Minnesota.
Contrast that to last year, when the Grizzlies ended the season with several players on the wrong side of 30, and four players on the roster who aren’t in the NBA this season.
While no one is suggesting this team is ready to make a leap into the upper reaches of the loaded Western Conference next season, there is an air of optimism and excitement around the Grizzlies right now that wasn’t nearly as prevalent two months ago.
Of course, regardless of those circumstances, the marked improvement the team has shown in the last month will be overlooked by many if the team finishes with the same number of wins it had last year. As such, they’ll be looking for that 23rd victory either tonight in Portland and/or Wednesday in Denver to give casual observers something tangible to go on, no matter how trivial it is in a big picture that seems much brighter these days.