Geoff Calkins: Injury changes everything for Grizzlies.
Let’s begin with the off icia l, tea m-approved quote from Griz general manager Chris Wallace. As painful as that may be.
“This morning at Campbell Clinic, Marc (Gasol) underwent a thorough evaluation by team physicians. During the course of this evaluation, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a fracture in his right foot.” So there it is. Told you it was painful. Broken foot, broken dreams.
Or maybe that’s too dramatic for a season that wasn’t inspiring particularly glorious dreams even before Tuesday’s news. But now even those muted dreams are gone.
The Grizzlies will not track down the Los Angeles Clippers to finish fourth i n the Western Conference.
They will not hold off Dallas and Houston for fifth place.
They may well miss the playoffs for the first time in six seasons.
Broken foot, broken team.
But before we delve any further into what, exactly, this may mean for the Grizzlies present and future, let’s address the accusations — they are out there, all over the Internet — that head coach Dave Joerger is to blame.
Joerger knew Gasol was questionable with a sore foot before the Portland game. So Joerger — so the theory goes — should have told Gasol to take a seat. If he had done that, Gasol would have been restored to full health during the All-Star break. Maybe, maybe not. Do we know what the Grizzlies tea m doctors told Joerger about Gasol’s injury before the Portland game? Do we know what they said about the risks that it would get worse? Indeed, do we even know when the fracture happened? Was it structurally inevitable?
As you may remember, Marc’s brother, Pau, suffered a broken foot when he was with the Grizzlies. He had surgery to repair the break in 2006.
“I had a fracture of my fifth metatarsal,” Pau said. “I started to show some signs two years prior to the fracture and I was able to hold out for almost two years. Fractures happen.” Yeah, we know. Which is not to completely absolve Joerger or the Grizzlies organization. No question, the timing looks bad. The San Antonio Spurs extend the careers of players by giving them rest days even when they’re healthy. That certainly looks like the more sensible course.
But I don’t know how anyone can responsibly flay Joerger if they have no idea what he was told by t he medica l sta ff. What if he was told there was no risk of further injury? Should he really be
blamed at that point? Is the coach really in a position to be making medical — not rest, but medical — decisions about his players? Isn’t that an organizational issue?
In the meantime, the Grizzlies are left to try to salvage what remains of the season, with the playoffs very much in doubt. The team has a 4½-game lead over ninth-place Portland with 30 games to play. Could they hold on? Sure. The Grizzlies held on to make the playoffs in 2011 even though Rudy Gay missed 23 games with a bum shoulder. They held on to make the playoffs in 2012 even though Zach Randolph missed 38 games with a bum knee. They held on to make the playoffs in 2014 even though Gasol missed 23 games with a bum knee of his own. The franchise has survived serious injuries before.
But this iteration of the Grizzlies seems more vulnerable than any of its playoff predecessors. And is making the playoffs as an eighth seed really much of a goal this Golden State year? Indeed, there’s an argument the Grizzlies would be better off to go ahead, miss the playoffs and surrender the firstround pick they owe as a result of the 2013 trade with Cleveland — the pick is protected so the Grizzlies won’t give it up this year if they make the playoffs — and be done with that unfortunate deal once and for all.
The one thing Wallace should not do is make any trades to get better this yea r, exclusively. This year is effectively shot. If the Grizzlies can trade any of their pending unrestricted free agents for players who will help them in the future, they should feel even more liberated to do that now.
Send Jeff Green packing for whatever the market will yield? No question. Ship Courtney Lee for a collection of future beads?
If they’re available, why not?
That’s what one broken foot has done to the season. It has changed the present and the future, too.