Parsons lost but mindset found
They flew down the court, Tony Allen, JaMychal Green and Vince Carter, all three now starters for the Grizzlies, and some would say it was about time.
Allen flipped the ball to Green. Green flipped the ball to Carter. Carter rose up and threw down a backwarddunk.
FedExForum exploded in happiness. All was right with the basketball universe again. Amazing, what playing with five healthy, connected players can do.
The Memphis Grizzlies snapped their five-game losing streak by defeating the Milwaukee Bucks Monday night, 113-93.
The key to this one? It came in the form of a press release, sent out at 6:31 p.m., which began, “Grizzlies forward Chandler Parsons has been diagnosed with a partial tear of the meniscus in his left knee. Parsons will be out indefinitely.”
So Parsons was dressed in street clothes. Carter was thrust into the starting lineup. Nothing that happened after that was much of a surprise.
OK, Carter going 8 for 8 from the field and 6 for 6 from the 3-point line for 24 points, that was a surprise.
But it wasn’t a surprise that the Grizzlies won the game. It wasn’t a surprise that they played like a massive weight was off their shoulders. It wasn’t a surprise that Marc Gasol was re-engaged, or that the ball zipped from player to player, or that the Grizzlies guarded like crazy, or that everyone on the team seemed to play with a sense of freedom and joy.
“I’m not going to put all that on Chandler,” said Grizzlies head coach David Fizdale. “We came with a different mindset tonight.”
They came with a different mindset because the lineup finally made sense again. Sometimes, it’s exactly as simple as it looks.
To be clear, this has nothing to do with Parsons the player, the healthy player, who would have been a tremendous asset to the cause. That’s why the Grizzlies gave him $94 million. That’s why they kept trying to work him into the lineup. A healthy Parsons really would have raised the ceiling for the team.
But that Parsons hasn’t been anywhere in evidence this season. The guy the Grizzlies kept sending out as a starter simply couldn’t play.
The Grizzlies may as well have been playing four-on-five when Parsons was on the court. Fizdale admitted as much Sunday, when he explained that he
While the Grizzlies appeared recognizable again by their play in snapping a five-game losing streak, the start was a bit foreign.
Venerable veteran Vince Carter took the floor with the first unit, making up yet another starting lineup combination for Coach David Fizdale this season.
Memphis has used roughly 20 sets of starters. Monday night’s group was a first and will ride together for the remaining 15 regular-season games.
Fizdale promised he’ll lock in on a starting unit following the news that Chandler Parsons could require seasonending knee surgery.
Parsons has a partially torn meniscus in his left knee. The Grizzlies’ big free-agent acquisition spent most of this season rehabbing a right knee that’s been operated on twice in less than a Who: Memphis vs. Chicago Bulls When, where: 7 p.m., Today, United Center TV, radio: Fox Sports Southeast; WMFS 92.9 FM/680 AM year.
Whether Parsons undergoes a third surgery in three years or not, he won’t play again this season.
Unintentionally, the Grizzlies may stumble into an addition-by-subtraction situation because Parsons — signed to a four-year, $94 million — didn’t produce statistically, routinely struggled with mobility and his presence on the court limited playing time for role players on the wing.
“It was nice to see us play well,” said Fizdale, who hopes to start a winning streak Wednesday when they face the Chicago Bulls in United Center. “I’m not going to put that all on Chandler and him being out. We came with a different mindset.”
The Grizzlies’ win over the Milwaukee Bucks featured a squad playing freely and with a clear 10-man rotation. Carter, 40, gives the Grizzlies starting unit a version of what the franchise hoped it have in Parsons.
Carter is a high-IQ playmaker who can make open 3-pointers and still beat defenders off the dribble.
His credible long-range shooting allows the Grizzlies to maintain spacing so that Mike Conley can play without a crowd around him.
“For me, I just wanted to get out there and hold the fort down. That’s all,” Carter said after scoring a team-high 24 points without missing a shot on eight attempts. “I just want to do my job. I don’t really get into anything else than doing my job. Coach said ‘You’re in the
couldn’t put Parsons with the second unit, because there would be nowhere to hide the guy, and “our best players are protecting him.”
Have you ever heard of such a reason for starting a player? Because he’s so ineffective, he needs the other starters for support?
Ultimately, this wore on everyone, the other players, the coaches and the fans. Indeed, it’s why the fans have been so grumpy of late. It wasn’t some mythical devotion to the Grizzlies’ old way of playing the game.
The fans thought Fizdale shouldn’t have been starting an injured Parsons, and shouldn’t have benched Allen and Green for Andrew Harrison and Brandan Wright. And you know what? The fans were right. Because there it was Monday, the obvious lineup — Gasol, Allen, Green, Carter and Mike Conley — with entirely predictable results.
Said Conley: “There was a different energy from the beginning of the game. In warmups, we had a different, positive vibe going.”
Said Carter: “We just played together. We played hard, we played carefree out there. It was just a different vibe.”
Said Fizdale: “We got after it tonight. It was almost like I didn’t recognize us. I haven’t seen that from us for a while.”
None of the Grizzlies were referring to the absence of Parsons, specifically. But that new, positive vibe wasn’t a coincidence.
It’s easier to play with five guys who can contribute. Of course it is.
None of which means that Griz fans should be rejoicing over the new injury to Parsons, whose health is a key to the future of the team.
The Grizzlies will be paying him a max contract for the next three seasons. They need him to get well. Parsons’ last two seasons ended with surgery to his right knee, and now he has a torn meniscus in his left.
So as nice as it felt to have the Grizzlies back, it was an organizational gutpunch, too. The franchise spent $94 million on a player who improved the team by going away.
But in the meantime, at least the old spirit returned, and a team that looked like the Griz. There was Z-Bo, doing damage in the post. There was Tony Allen, doing Tony Allen things. And there was Vince Carter, who had his own problems with injury, remember, which gives some hope that Parsons can recover, too.
No, it’s not going to be enough to win a title this season. It was never going to be. But it’s what the Grizzlies have at the moment, and it will have to be enough.
“I’m not changing this lineup,” said Fizdale. “I’m superstitious right now. I wouldn’t change this lineup for nothing.”
And the people said: Good.