How a meeting helped Grizzlies restore focus
For the first time since November, the Grizzlies felt the sting of a five-game losing streak. The promise of the playoffs began slowly slipping away.
Instead of panic, the team leaned on trust and encouragement during an extended team meeting following Friday's loss to the Kings. Yes, things needed to be fixed on the court, but it would happen through a return to basics instead of drastic changes.
“We know it's coming down to the home stretch here. Games are winding down and we have a couple teams that are right behind us,” Josh Jackson said. “We just have to clean up a few things. After the talk (Friday), everybody came in here with a different mindset and more energy.”
It showed Saturday in a win over the Western Conference-leading Lakers. Instead of being plagued by a slow start or lapses, the Grizzlies played a complete game where they led the Lakers over the final three quarters. The Grizzlies also held the Lakers to just 40.9% shooting, which was their third-worst performance of the season.
It's an effort the team hopes to carry into this current three-game road trip. But it showed how a losing streak and injuries to two key rotation players — Jaren Jackson Jr. and Brandon Clarke — didn't change the Grizzlies' resolve.
The meeting was more of a cleansing than a shake-up, but it reminded them why they currently lead the race for the No. 8 seed in the West. Even if Jackson
and Clarke were healthy, they knew things would get tougher after the All-star break.
“We knew it was going to be tough going in,” Dillon Brooks said. “We made trades at the trade deadline and we knew we were going to have to reset as well. We had injuries. Just the adversity of the game. You can't go through a whole year without any adversity.”
As much as coach Taylor Jenkins preached continuity all season, the theme Friday night was about remembering their strengths and playing a full 48 minutes.
In that sense, the postgame chat served its purpose with the team's biggest win of the season Saturday. It needs to continue on the road where the Grizzlies have struggled over the past month, but Jackson was confident things would continue to get right.
“We just have to keep on the path that we are on,” he said. 'We're on a good path. Everything we've been doing and leading up to this point, we just have to keep doing.”
You can reach Evan Barnes on Twitter (@Evan_b) or by email at evan.barnes@commercialappeal.com