A season that opened with such promise for the Grizzlies wound up as one of the franchise’s worst since moving to Memphis.
The Grizzlies couldn’t have started better than 5-1
Vontaze Burfict Bengals Jersey , sitting near the top of the Western Conference standings with a pair of early wins over the Houston Rockets and a home victory over the Golden State Warriors. By the end, the Grizzlies’ hopes of an eighth straight postseason appearance turned to hopefully landing a top two pick in June’s NBA draft.
When the injuries started, most notably what wound up a season-ending left heel-Achilles tendon injury to point guard Mike Conley, the season imploded. And kept getting worse through multiple double-digit losing streaks. The first long slide cost coach David Fizdale his job after a short tenure and leaving interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff at the helm.
The change didn’t help as the Grizzlies lost 19 straight between early February and mid-March – the longest skid since the team moved to Memphis in 2001.
”It’s been a challenging year, obviously,” center Marc Gasol said.
Asked if he had ever endured a 19-game skid, Dillon Brooks, a rookie from Oregon, said, ”There’s not enough games in college to go through a losing streak like that.”
Actually
Roquan Smith Jersey , there are.
But rock bottom for the Grizzlies came with the largest defeat in franchise history came with a 61-point loss in Charlotte in late March.
”It’s been difficult,” Bickerstaff said. ”It wasn’t what we expected when we sat down over the summer and put our plan together and went through training camp. So, there’s always that shock value.”
—
Some things looking at the Grizzlies’ season and the future:
RARELY THIS BAD IN MEMPHIS: The Grizzlies’ win over Detroit in their home finale – their 22nd of the season – kept Memphis from notching the worst record since the team moved to Memphis for the 2001-02 season. The Grizzlies had two other seasons with 22 wins since relocating. So how did the Grizzlies deal with all the losses? ”Red wine helps at night,” Gasol said.
BICKERSTAFF BACK? Bickerstaff was associated head coach when Fizdale was fired in late-November. Bickerstaff says he has discussed his future with management and would like to return next season. ”I feel like we have started something,” he said. ”We have started to build a culture. You want to be part of a group that you like. I think there’s going to be a tremendous bump next year, health permitting. I would love to be a part of it.”
OWNERSHIP RESOLUTION: One huge offseason concern was answered this week when majority owner Robert Pera said he would retain controlling interest. Minority partners Steve Kaplan and Robert Straus had invoked a buy-sell option in November. That forced Pera to buy out the shares of the other two or sell his interest to them. Pera told select season-ticket holders Monday he was retaining control of the Grizzlies, a move that should provide stability this offseason for Bickerstaff, front office personnel and the draft.
DRAFT PICKS: Memphis hasn’t capitalized on draft choices often even when blessed with a high choice. The franchise picked Hasheem Thabeet with the No. 2 pick in 2009, a player who never lived up to his potential. Beyond that, the best first-round choice has been Conley
John Ross Jersey , the fourth overall choice in 2007. The Grizzlies did get serviceable play from a pair of second-round picks last summer in Brooks and Ivan Rabb out of California when forced into greater roles by injuries.
INJURIES: Not only did Conley get hurt, but replacements such as Andrew Harrison and Mario Chalmers also suffered injuries. Chandler Parsons played in only 36 games missing 32 games with various knee problems and not counting the nights of Memphis simply sat him for ”rest.”
The strangest situation involved Tyreke Evans, Memphis’ offensive threat when shut down before the trade deadline in anticipation of a deal involving the guard and his expiring contract. But the Grizzlies never consummated a deal. Evans returned for six more games, and has not been with the team for ”personal reasons” since scoring 16 points in the 61-point loss at Charlotte on March 22.
—
The Minnesota Wild returned home from Winnipeg and regrouped to roar back in their first-round playoff series.
The Jets were a late arrival for Game 3 in more ways than one.
Mikael Granlund and Zach Parise had power-play goals in the first period for the spark that was missing on the road, and the Wild scored four times in the second to beat the Jets 6-2 on Sunday night.
”We’re here to play,” goalie Devan Dubnyk said, ”and we’re fully capable of pushing hard.”
The Wild will try to tie the best-of-seven series 2-2 when they host Game 4 on Tuesday night.
”They have been physical so we’ve got to push back,” said Jordan Greenway, who scored his first NHL goal just 20 seconds after Eric Staal sent a wrist shot past a struggling Connor Hellebuyck. Fighting pucks all night, Hellebuyck was pulled for Steve Mason at the second intermission.
Matt Dumba and Marcus Foligno bookended the furious middle frame with goals for the Wild
John Ross Bengals Jersey , who won a postseason home game for only the second time in their last nine contests. Mikko Koivu and Nick Seeler each had two assists and Dubnyk made 29 saves, keeping the crowd loud all night.
Blake Wheeler and Tyler Myers scored for the Jets.
”We’re in a series here,” said Hellebuyck, who made 16 saves. ”We’re going to lose one once in a while. It’s how we respond to the next one.”
After overtaking the Wild with two third-period goals to win 3-2 in Game 1 and dominating the action in Game 2 on the way to a 4-1 victory, the Jets hit some minor turbulence. The blizzard that blanketed the Twin Cities forced their charter flight to land in Duluth on Saturday afternoon and return to Winnipeg for the night. The Jets skipped the customary morning skate and arrived Sunday about eight hours before faceoff.
Whether or not the Jets were actually affected by the weather hardly mattered, given the way the Wild greeted them after the lackluster performance in Game 2.
”I don’t know if it made us worse, but I can say for a fact that it certainly didn’t make us better,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said.
The only shot the Jets sent on target over the first 11-plus minutes was the one by Wheeler that went in, a wide-angle attempt on the power play and a softie if there ever was one in keeping with Dubnyk’s uncanny tendency to let fluke goals get by him while making many more high-degree-of-difficulty stops. Dubnyk also gave up a goal on the first shot in a couple of games late in the regular season.
”And then he shut the door. So I wasn’t worried,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. ”I thought
Derrius Guice Youth Jersey , `OK. This is going to work.”’
The Wild snapped right back. Koivu took the initial shot that set up both goals in the first period, with Granlund waiting for the rebound on the first one . Parise freed himself from a tie-up in traffic with Jacob Trouba to move in position for the redirect of the second one .
Myers brought the decibel level down with his slap shot that cut the lead to 3-2 , but the Wild killed consecutive penalties with only about a minute between power plays soon after that to retake momentum. Then came the goals by Greenway and Staal, and the rout was on.
”When when that second period started, we weren’t able to get faster,” Wheeler said. ”And that’s when the game changed. They stuck with it, and we just weren’t able to get to our speed we needed.”
The second period went from bad to worse for the Jets, when Myers was checked by Foligno and caught his skate at the bottom of the boards. He needed help off the ice and into the locker room and did not return. Maurice had no update on the defenseman’s condition, but without elaborating he suggested the injury could have been avoided.
”Didn’t love it,” Maurice said
Austin Corbett Jersey , referring to both the hit and the outcome.
There was a lot to like, at least, about the Wild’s performance. All four lines produced at least one goal, and the rookie defenseman Seeler had a breakout game in the back with four blocked shots and a breakaway shot that hit the post and barely stayed in front of the line.
”That’s playoff hockey. You need everybody,” Staal said. ”You don’t win unless you have four lines and all your defensive core going.”
NOTES
The Wild set a franchise postseason record for goals in a home game. Their high was a 7-2 victory at Vancouver in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals on May 5, 2003. … After clinching their first-round series with a win in Game 6 at Xcel Energy Center in 2015 over St. Louis, the Wild lost both home games in a sweep by Chicago. Then they went 1-5 on their own ice in the playoffs over the last two years in series losses to Dallas and St. Louis. … Jets center Mathieu Perreault missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. Defenseman Toby Enstrom and center Matt Hendricks have yet to play in the series due to a lower-body injury. … Wheeler had the third postseason goal of his career in 28 games.
—
.
