NBA Memphis Grizzlies

Consistency Why Memphis Grizzlies Are Successful

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By @fanforlife1988

Getty Images Sports -Joe Murphy

Getty Images Sports -Joe Murphy

With 30 teams in the NBA, and a Collective Bargaining Agreement that limits a team’s financial abilities in maintaining its players, the idea of consistency is nearly impossible in today’s league.

Look no further than the San Antonio Spurs, who’ve been a model for success by keeping a stable lineup that has grown together, culminating with last season’s championship. As a small market team, the Spurs have found a way to navigate past CBA limitations and an evolving free-agent system to acquire and keep their talent in plenty of ways. That’s why, as a small market team, the Memphis Grizzlies have looked to emulate the Spurs and find a way to create the stability needed from an organizational standpoint to be successful. The results? Four consecutive playoff appearances and the best record in the NBA to start this season.

You don’t have to look any further than the team’s two longest tenured players, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley, to see that the Grizzlies have grown as their two stars have as well. Zach Randolph had played for three teams in three seasons prior to joining the Grizzlies, and has found a home in Memphis as the team’s leader. This speaks volumes for an organization to display such patience in today’s league, building a culture for which dispatched players and castaways can find a permanent home.

Tony Allen signed with the Grizzlies in 2010, and is now in his fifth season with the organization. What stands out most is that Allen is the second least tenured member of the team’s starting lineup. The remaining starter, Courtney Lee, joined the Grizzlies last season, finding a home after stops in Orlando, New Jersey, Houston and Boston, before landing in Memphis.

The core of the team has developed a deep bond, which resonates throughout the organization. When Lionel Hollins was not re-signed in 2013, the team didn’t extend the breadth of its coaching search too far, as they hired Dave Joerger, a long-time assistant to step in. That is why, when Joerger flirted with the idea of leaving for the Minnesota Timerbwolves this past offseason, Grizzlies owner Robert Pera stepped in, sensing the organization’s culture was shifting in the opposite direction from the one they worked so hard to build. He tidied his relations with his coach, enabling him a sense of power he did not have before. The players, who had not been nearly as receptive early on last season to their first-year head coach, came to training camp receptive and respondent to Joerger.

At 13-2, the Grizzlies have found the pieces they need to compete at the very top of the Western Conference. They’ve found the right additions to add to the mix by bringing in veterans such as Tayshaun Prince and Vince Carter, while also adding to their young nucleus with the likes of Kosta Kuofos and Beno Udrih.

With teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Boston Celtics looking to make radical changes to compete again, it might be time to look at the Grizzlies, an organization which found itself at the bottom, and had to work with what it had. In the end, the time spent crafting the right type of ball club paid off, as the Grizzlies represent the class of the West and have found the secret to success in a league in which the odds are always going to be stacked against you.

Before this current run for the Grizzlies, the organization had tasted playoff success three times. They had not won a playoff game during that time. In the past four seasons, the Grizzlies have won three playoff series, including a trip to the Western Conference Finals. The difference between those seasons and this season would be that this team not only knows what it takes to get to the playoffs, but also won’t be satisfied enough with just being there.

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