New coach, new general manager and new optimism at the start of this season provided confidence that the Grizzlies could surpass last year's 22-win season.
Guess who's back at the bottom again? This year's 22-win ride off the cliff was a lot different than 2006-07 when the majority owner (Michael Heisley) tried to sell the team (the deal fell through), the head coach (Mike Fratello) was fired early in the season and the team president (Jerry West) was halfway out the door.
No, this season was more like growing pains with a first-time coach (Marc Iavaroni) and a once-burned general manager (Chris Wallace, previously of the Celtics). They decided on Feb. 1 to basically blow up the team.
On that day, franchise player and All-Star forward Pau Gasol was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie (who never reported), the rights for Marc Gasol (Pau's younger brother), and 2008 and 2010 first-round draft picks. Brown represented cap space for the Grizzlies at the end of this season.
Now, the Grizzlies go to work. They hope they get lucky in the lottery (unlike last year) and now they have money to spend on the free agent market. Their priority, as it was a year ago, is to get a nasty inside physical presence with an attitude. There are way too many nice guys on the Grizzlies team, including the coach. The attitude has to change or the losing tune will play on again next season.
SEASON HIGHLIGHT: On Dec. 19 in an 88-85 victory over the Spurs, Rudy Gay announced to the rest of the league that he might be the league's Most Improved Player. After the Grizzlies blew a 23-point lead, Gay hit a game-winning three-pointer over Tim Duncan. The play wasn't even set up for Gay, but first option Mike Miller was guarded. Gay fired from 27 feet. "You've always got questions when you take a shot like that, but it felt good, and that's all you can say," Gay said.
TURNING POINT: When the Grizzlies hit a stretch in December when they lost 12 of 14 games, it didn't seem like that even with a healthy Pau Gasol that nothing was getting done. Gasol was struggling to adapt to the new running offense, he wasn't getting enough touches and it became clear to management that they needed to start fresh. That meant Gasol, as the player with the most trade value, would be dealt.
