Offense could change under Bickerstaff
By the numbers, the Grizzlies didn't have an especially promising preseason. Not offensively, not defensively, not rebounding, not in any area did they look completely ready for the season ahead.
But that, as always, is the rub of preseason — how much can you glean from that handful of games in less-competitive environments? How much of the lackluster preseason is really reflective of what the Grizzlies will be?
Here are some of those numbers. The Grizzlies ranked 27th of 30 teams in preseason net rating; that is, points scored minus points al- lowed per 100 possessions. The Grizzlies were 22nd offensively and 26th defensively. They were last in rebounding percentage, and 24th in turnover percentage. Rough stuff, to be sure.
Remember, though, that preseason is a time of building, especially for the Grizzlies and J.B. Bickerstaff, who is running his first preseason as a head coach. This is a team with an overhauled roster full of new faces adapting to a new situation. And even though the team is still led by the longest-serving pair of teammates in the NBA, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley, they're leading a different sort of offense.
Conley's individual numbers were strong, a welcome sign after missing so much of last season. He put up nearly 17 points per game on 54.5 percent shooting, shot well from outside and was more of a scorer than a playmaker. What was surprising, though, was how he did it. Throughout his career Conley has been running pick-and-rolls, especially with Gasol as the screener. In every season as a pro, Conley's largest source of offense, both his own and creating for others, has come from the pick-and-roll.
But not this preseason. Not even
close. It was just 14.8 percent compared to 41.5 percent last season.
This preseason, albeit in only four games, has seen an astonishing dropoff in pick-and-roll frequency from Conley. And it's not just Conley (though he is the biggest example), it's the whole team, down to 8.6 percent from 18.7 percent last season.
The Grizzlies are trying to incorporate a new motion offense with a lot of read-and-react principles. It's an offense that, at its best, is virtually impossible to truly scout because it changes on the fly. Bickerstaff described it by saying, "For example, this guy in this spot has these three options. When that guy in that spot does this option, this guy in this other spot reacts by doing that option. It appears to be random, but it's things we're able to teach."
The difficulty in building that offense comes in making sure everyone remains on the same page, something that hasn't happened often enough for the Grizzlies in preseason. Bickerstaff said the offense fans have seen in preseason is the one they'll see in the regular season.
"With only having the five games of preseason and the two weeks surrounding it, we're still at the base of what we're going to do," Bickerstaff said. "As the season goes on, we'll get better at what we do, then we'll start to sprinkle some different things in, and adapt as needed. We'd like to try to put our foundation in and then make adjustments from there."
The biggest victim of the new offense has been Gasol, who took fewer shots per game this preseason than any since 2012 – and missed plenty of the ones he did take. He shot just 27 percent from the field and 8 percent from 3-point range. Those are alarming numbers, but context is important. Teammates, apart from Conley, are struggling to get the ball to Gasol in his usual spots. Gasol has been slipping screens, cutting to the basket, putting himself in good situations only to find that a pass either arrived too late or didn't arrive at all. With time, that will improve. Meanwhile, in an effort to facilitate more teammate involvement, Gasol and Conley have run very few actions between themselves. That will change in the regular season. Their two-man chemistry remains unmatched, but trying to extend similar chemistry in reading and reacting across all five players on the floor is much harder. With time, that, too, will improve. Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, in a hyper-competitive Western Conference, time and patience are luxuries they're unlikely to be able to afford. How quickly they can find their rotations and develop the needed chemistry to make their offense flow will determine whether they can buck the odds to make the playoffs.