Earlier this week, the Memphis Grizzlies made the shocking decision to fire their head coach, Taylor Jenkins. Jenkins had coached the Grizzlies since 2019 and led the team out of a rebuilding era into playoff contention. This season, Memphis holds a 44-29 record and is the current fourth seed in the Western Conference. With only nine games left in the regular season, the team has very little time to adjust and acclimate to a new coach before a playoff series in a tough conference. Many have questions about this stunning move and the new direction of the organization.
Firing Taylor Jenkins
Jenkins has had multiple successful seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies. In 2022, the young team made a surprising surge to the two seed in the Western Conference. They beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs, before falling to the Golden State Warriors in the conference semifinals. The next year, they were the two seed again but were defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. Last year, the team was decimated by injuries and suspensions, but this year, the Memphis Grizzlies aimed to bounce back. However, many fans began to find flaws in Jenkins’ coaching.
For those who had been following the Memphis Grizzlies, a notable change was evident in the team’s play style. In past seasons, Ja Morant was the number one option. However, this year, the team has been led by Jaren Jackson Jr. The Grizzlies run the lowest number of pick-and-rolls in the NBA. This is odd because the pick-and-roll is not only the most common form of NBA offense, but it is also a great way to get an athletic guard like Morant downhill and toward the basket. Instead, the offense became more methodical, emphasizing Jackson Jr. and deemphasizing Morant.
The Memphis Grizzlies are a deep team full of talent beyond the duo of Morant and Jackson Jr. so, this firing could be because of how Morant’s production has dipped this season. He’s averaging 22.3 points per game, down from his averages of 27.4 and 26.2 in previous seasons. With Morant’s production down, some fans worried that Jenkins’ style could affect the rest of the team as well. But even if that were the case, the timing of this decision is perplexing.
The Memphis Grizzlies’ Direction
There are nine games left on the Memphis Grizzlies’ schedule, and it is not an easy path. The Grizzlies play the Lakers, the Celtics, the Pistons, the Timberwolves, and the Nuggets. In a Western Conference only separated by a few games, Memphis is at risk of dropping in the standings. The Grizzlies are tied with the Lakers for the fourth seed, and the Clippers, Warriors, and Timberwolves are within striking distance. Tuomas Iisalo has been named the interim head coach, and he will have a tall task ahead of him. He has experience coaching the Paris basketball team but is being thrown into the fire in the NBA.
After only a couple of weeks as the head coach, Iisalo and the Memphis Grizzlies will likely be in a playoff series. This does not give him much time to implement a scheme change, which makes the decision more shocking. If Memphis fired Jenkins in the offseason, it would be more widely accepted, but the timing puts Iisalo and the team in a tough position with playoffs fast approaching and their seeding not definite.
Final Thoughts
The Memphis Grizzlies’ firing Jenkins with less than ten games to go in the regular season was a stunning move. Fans criticized his schemes around Jackson Jr. instead of Morant, but the timing puts them in a difficult spot. The playoffs are looming, and if the Memphis Grizzlies want to make any noise and keep their seeding, Iisalo and the team will have to adjust and adjust fast.
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