Memphis Grizzlies Breakdown: Veteran Randolph Accelerates Grizz Future

Over three years ago, the Memphis Grizzlies traded Shane Battier for Rudy Gay, a move that set in motion Memphis’ paradigm shift from a pseudo-playoff contender to a franchise rebuilding from the ground up.

A season-and-a-half later, Pau Gasol was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Grizzlies officially waved the white flag on the NBA and started over.

Most teams that completely strip the ground bare and start over take about five seasons or so before they become truly ready to challenge for conference and NBA championships. A couple of seasons to hit rock bottom, a season or two to challenge for a postseason berth, and a final season in the playoffs to understand what it takes to win the NBA’s money games. After that, if the talent, coaching, and chemistry is right, the team has built a contender.

Assuming the Gasol trade as the mark the Grizzlies truly started rebuilding, Memphis is ahead of schedule, going 20-10 in their last 30 games, 11-3 in their last 14, and situating themselves a half game out of the ravenous Western Conference’s final playoff spot.

After witnessing Memphis outplay the Phoenix Suns 125-118, there are many reasons why the Grizzlies are playing so well. At the forefront is a player who is completely changing his reputation.

Zach Randolph in his stops in Portland, New York, and Los Angeles picked up a reputation for being a selfish loser. He was a black hole on offense—Pass the ball to him on offense and you’ll never see it again—and you’d have a better chance of finding Beckett’s Godot than finding Randolph playing defense. Sure Randolph would produce, but it was at his team’s expense.

But no more.

When Randolph received the ball either on the elbow or low block (usually after a weak-side duck in or after setting and receiving a cross-lane screen), he patiently waited for double teams and made quick, precise kick-out passes that eventually found their way to open shooters. For this reason, Randolph’s zero assists are a misnomer. His passes were crisp and on point.

While he often took a split-second longer than preferred to scan a defense, Randolph also functioned as a willing ball-reverser at the top of the key.

When catching the ball deep in the post, Randolph has a quick release and usually got his shots off near the basket before Suns defenders could react. Randolph was often bothered by Amar’e Stoudemire’s athleticism, which combined with Randolph’s own lack of focus resulted in four missed layups. However, Randolph’s persistent work in establishing post position without the ball, timely duck-ins and off-ball cuts, and his powerful post attempts succeeded in plaguing Stoudemire with five personal fouls.

Randolph still looks to slip screens more than set them, but one slip and post resulted in a nifty left hook around the hoop. He also crashed the offensive glass with aplomb—three offensive rebounds, resulting in four bonus points.

Of his 22 shot attempts, only one could be classified as a questionable attempt.

Two of Randolph’s turnovers indicate a shaky handle—a post up dribble that was easily poked away for a steal and a right-handed drive off his leg out of bounds. His third came on a deflected pass to a baseline cutter, indicating Randolph’s heightened unselfishness.

Defensively, Randolph wasn’t a major factor because he can’t jump, nor is he athletic by NBA standards. He did execute some adequate shows on screen/rolls, but far too often he stayed in the paint while a ball handler found himself an open jumper. Randolph was willing to shadow the paint on baseline cuts until his teammates recovered, but he was more often than not a hair late on most of his baseline rotations.

One play, however, summed up just how far Randolph has come in such a short period of time.

After contesting a Louis Amundson missed layup, Randolph grabbed the rebound and quickly outlet passed the ball. While Randolph was the man farthest away from the basket, he hustled down court and found himself with an open lane to the basket while the Suns were ambling around. Jamaal Tinsely fed him the ball while Randolph was passing the elbow, and Randolph hardly had to break stride, beating the Suns to the basket for a layup.

When has Zach Randolph ever made quick outlet passes? When has he ever been in shape to sprint down the court, and when has he had the desire to?

All that, combined with the solid defensive play and rebound, wouldn’t have been possible so much as last season. But Randolph’s trimmed down (reports are anywhere for 18-25 pounds), is in tip top shape, and is playing winning basketball for the first time in his career, and his numbers for the game reflected it—10-22 FG, 0-1 3FG, 7-9 FT

Kudos to Randolph for beginning to figure it all out. And no small wonder that under his leadership, the Grizzlies are having a breakout season.

He gets plenty of help from a talented cast of young teammates.

Rudy Gay has a quiet temperament and a loud game—11-20 FG, 3-5 3FG, 6-8 FT, 9 REB, 0 AST, 3 TO, 1 STL, 3 BLK, 31 PTS.

Gay hit a dizzying number of short jumpers after gaining separation with an explosive first step and long strides. He tickled the nets from the outside, has mastered a left-to-right spin move, and is finally discovering how to play in a halfcourt offense.

On the down side, Gay missed two layups and had difficulty getting all the way to the basket, preferring to pull-up and elevate than continue to assault the rim. Gay’s also a terrible passer and is lucky that only two of his poor passes resulted in turnovers.

Defensively, Gay relies totally on gambling and ambushing passing lanes to stop his man, but his athleticism makes him a valuable shot-blocker at the rim.

OJ Mayo missed three right-handed layups, fell in love with his jumper (or was timid after missing the three layups), and—like Gay—only plays defense by gambling. Like Gay, Mayo can put the ball in the cup. He shot the Suns out of their zone—5-11 3FG—beat them on a one-on-three break, and has the handle, athleticism, and pull-up jumper that makes him a fearsome scorer.

Both Gay and Mayo do most of their work either spotting up or on wing screen/rolls leading into isolations. Because of the ground they cover on their drives, each can consistently blow past nearly anybody one-on-one, and because of the firepower in Memphis’ starting lineup, doubling either of the pair is a risky proposition.

In fact, either of the Grizzlies wing tandem could drop 40 on a given night in the blink of an eye.

Marc Gaso l had a terrific floor game—5-10 FG, 9-10 FT, 7 REB, 4 AST, 0 TO, 2BLK, 19 PTS. He made terrific interior passes—what else is new—and has terrific floor vision. He’s clever at using angles and leverage to make up for a lack of athleticism, and he has a soft touch around the basket. He pump fakes too much, sometimes when it’s unnecessary, hinting at a touch of insecurity in his leaping ability near the hoop, but he’s perfectly cast as a facilitating fourth option on a team with talented scorers.

Mike Conley is the supposed weak link among the Grizzlies starting unit—2-7 FG, 1-2 3FG, 5 REB, 9 AST, 3 TO, 5 PTS, and didn’t distinguish himself against the Suns. The majority of his assists came on simple perimeter passes across the Suns’ zone, and he wasn’t able to break down the Suns defense from the inside out.

His defense on Nash was poor at the onset, though he had a spectacular sequence in the fourth quarter when his high hands deflected a Nash pass for a turnover on one possession, stripped a Nash dribble on a screen/roll the next possession, and contested a Nash drive and forced a pass out of bounds several possessions later.

Conley’s most important attribute will be that defense and his ability to knock down wide open threes (he’s shooting at over 40 percent from downtown). It’s also a plus that Conley isn’t shot happy. In time though, the Grizzlies will need to acquire a classic pass-first point guard who reads defenses better than Conley. In turn, Conley would make a solid backup.

Jamaal Tinsley isn’t as selfish with the ball as he was in his first go around in the NBA, but his defense is just as non-existent. He’s just a stop gap until the Grizzlies acquire another point guard, probably this offseason.

Sam Young has a very convincing ball fake and can create his own pull up jump shot—a definite keeper.

DeMarre Carroll has a non-stop motor, was very effective applying full court pressure to Phoenix’s backups, made accurate entry passes, and sank a pair of elbow jumpers. He also may have the worst hands in the league after Eddy Curry. He’s another keeper as a rotation specialist based on his energy alone.

Steven Hunter offers limited skills and wasn’t looking after a screen/roll resulting in a turnover, but he and Carroll comprised a very energetic frontline that helped when the Grizzlies applied full-court pressure.

Hasheem Thabeet was a disaster. He was shoved around under the basket, was late on his help, and didn’t provide any deterrent to the Suns, as they attacked him at will. While he blocked a shot—he was directly over Amundson after Amundson grabbed an offensive board away from Thabeet—he also allowed seven points because of his poor defense. He’s the longest of long-term projects.

Lionel Hollins earned a lot of respect by his players for not caving in to Allen Iverson’s demands to start. As a result, the Grizzlies play hard for him and execute their screens, cuts, and duck-ins diligently. In turn, he puts the players in their best place to succeed. He’s as deserving a candidate for Coach of the Year as any other head man in the league.

While the Grizzlies lack of defense will probably be their ultimate undoing in their quest for the final playoff spot in the West, they’re already much farther along than many expected they’d be.

If Fat Zach can turn around his ways and become a winning player, then the Grizz can certainly complete their transformation into the unlikeliest of playoff teams.