Overview: It’s fair to say that the Memphis Grizzlies depend heavily on center Marc Gasol. Gasol’s stats don’t look overly impressive: Gasol averaged 14.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and one block in 59 games last season.
Those stats don’t tell the whole story, though. It’s pretty simple. Memphis was 10-13 without Gasol last season and 40-19 with him. Gasol has the ability to be a rim protector when needed and is probably the second best passing center in basketball behind Chicago’s Joakim Noah. The combination of he and Zach Randolph leaves other post players bruised. Randolph had a very nice 2013-14 season as well, averaging 17.4 points (highest since 2010-11), 10.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists (career-high).
This team depends on its physicality inside, but don’t sleep on point guard Mike Conley. Conley is perhaps the most underrated guard in all of basketball. Conley averaged a career-high 17.2 points to go with six assists and 2.9 rebounds per game. The team could use one more scoring punch and that could be why the team brought in future Hall of Fame wing Vince Carter.
This team is as tough as they come and that was proven when Memphis pushed Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder to a Game 7 in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs last season.
Record Last Season: 50-32
Key Additions: Guard/Forward Vince Carter, Guard Jordan Adams, Forward Jarnell Stokes
Key Losses: Forward Ed Davis, Forward Mike Miller, Forward James Johnson
How They Did Against the Wolves: The two teams split the four-game season series in 2013-14.
Of the current Grizzlies, Conley led the way, averaging 17.5 points and 6.3 assists in four games. The Wolves did a decent job containing Randolph, who averaged 16.8 points and 8.3 rebounds against Minnesota. Gasol, a friend and teammate of Ricky Rubio (Spanish National Team), played in three games against the Wolves and averaged 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds.
The Grizzlies did a pretty solid job of shutting down members of the 2014-15 Wolves last season. Ricky Rubio averaged 9.5 points and was held to 5.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds – both well below his season averages. He did have 11 steals in four games, though.
Kevin Martin was also held in check as well, scoring just 48 points in the four-game series. Nikola Pekovic played in one game and scored 19 points and hauled in five rebounds. Rookie Gorgui Dieng did a nice job on the glass, hauling in 9.7 rebounds per game in three contests against Memphis.
Projection: On paper, this team doesn’t look all that special. But one thing that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet is toughness, and that’s certainly something that this Grizzlies team has. That’s why this team almost advanced to the second round in last year’s NBA Playoffs.
There are still questions on the offensive end of the ball. Who is going to score for Memphis? Conley, Randolph and Gasol are all above-average scorers, but can they take over the game in crunchtime?
That’s likely why the team brought in veteran Vince Carter, but who knows how much left he has in the tank at 37. Carter has established himself as a 3-point shooter, having made an average of 1.9 over the last two seasons with Dallas. That should help a bit, but it will take more than Carter. The Grizzlies finished 27th in the league in scoring, putting up just 96.1 points per game.
At the end of the day, it will come down to whether or not the team can remain a top-3 defense, something it was last season allowing just 94.6 points per game. We saw just how things can unravel last season when Gasol went down. If something happens to either Randolph (33) or Gasol (29), the Grizzlies could be looking at the lottery next season. If the two can stay relatively healthy throughout the season and clinch a playoff spot (any playoff spot), this is a team that could make a run to the Western Conference Finals.