Official Grizzlies Bandwagon Thread

Don't kid yourself.

 

Preach

 

Not sure how well the locker room would respect him, but he seems to be fine x's and o's wise.

He probably wouldn't match Keyon Dooling against Chris Paul for an entire quarter because he felt like it. So he's got that going for him.

 

Not long ago, success as a head coach in the Continental Basketball Association was a reliable predictor of success in the NBA. Phil Jackson, George Karl and Flip Saunders, among others, all came up through the minor leagues before landing on an NBA bench. So did Joerger, who won five championships in seven seasons as a head coach in the IBA, CBA and D-League -- all before turning 35 years old.

“He loves the craft,” says an NBA general manager. “Look what he’s done with [the Memphis] defense. He’s got Thibodeau’s thing for defense, but he’s a lot more likable than Thibs.”

When Lionel Hollins delegated the Memphis’ defensive game plan to Joerger, the Grizzlies were the league’s 24th-ranked defense. In the three seasons since, they’ve finished ninth, then seventh and now second in defensive efficiency, and they did it with Zach Randolph at power forward and an unusually small point guard in Mike Conley. It’s rare that NBA players cite their assistants by name, but Tony Allen routinely praises Joerger’s defensive blueprint as an essential ingredient in the Grizz’s success.

Joerger loves to problem-solve and grapple with game theory, and he has an appreciation of analytics. He knows which NBA point guards, in descending order, reject screens most frequently and understands how to impart that information to players. Most of all, Joerger has an acute awareness of what each player on the roster can and can't do. Randolph won't be asked to perform Joakim Noah tasks, and a unit's collective shortcomings are priced into coverage schemes.

Every NBA team these days wants to patent a defensive system, and those in search of an architect have a natural candidate in Joerger.

 

He doesn't have "head coach of a western conference finals team" going for him. Lionel took a group with no business of being there, to boot.

 

Yeah, winning in the CBA twenty five years ago when it was the second best league on the planet is comparable to doing it at the tail end of the league's meaningful existence.

 

The Rudy Gay trade and the Russell Westbrook injury paved the way for our appearance in the WCF.

EDIT: I should preface that with the fact that we wouldn't be in that position without Chris Wallace and Hollins' work to turn around the team.

 

Hat, are you a Grizzlies fan? Just curious.

And in any case, if it were up to you, what should Memphis do to improve their chances of competing?

 

You beat who is in your way. The thunder were still equally or more talented.

 

Maybe so, but after watching them struggle to finish off Houston, it was clear that they were having some issues.

 

If Lionel goes to LA that's going to be downright scary. Talented roster plus top flight coach.

 

When Kevin Martin wasn't making ridiculous shots and Derek Fisher wasnt shooting 200% from the corner, the Thunder weren't a great team. We matched up very well with them once Westbrook was hurt.

 

So their gameplan wasn't that great. I agree.

 

I would agree with that. But someone mentioned on radio here in Memphis that he just flat out doesn't like Blake Griffin. Also, I wonder how Chris Paul would respond to his style of coaching. Seems like he would be grateful for anything after Vinny.

 

I like Hollins. That said, I don't think he will be back. Or new front office is a bunch of analytical thinkers and Hollins hates advanced statistics. I think he's a good coach but I think he finds another job.

 

There's no doubt he finds another job.

 

There are just some obstacles and differences in philosophy that can't be overcome.

 

And letting a proven coach go for a "hope he will be as good" guy because he likes advanced statistics is flat out stupid.

 

I would agree. The obsession with statistics is disturbing. It certainly doesn't strike me like the recipe for playoff success.

 

if Lionel Hollins had Tony Parker, he'd be in the finals