Griz fans expect results

Anne Truett, Memphis

On June 20 the San Antonio Spurs were narrowly defeated by the Miami Heat in the seventh game of the NBA Finals.

The Spurs had swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the semifinals, with two of the four games being lost in overtime. What Grizzlies fans have suspected all along is confirmed. The Griz were a whisper away from being world champions. The new owners didn’t renew the contract of Lionel Hollins, the coach who inspired this team and this city.

When addressing the recent coaching changes in the National Basketball Association, Erik Spoelstra, coach of the Miami Heat, expressed it best when he said, “I think it’s a terrible state for the profession right now. For true success in the NBA, you must have consistency of culture.”

Coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs said, “The change, change, change thing really doesn’t work (and) you can see that in a lot of organizations.”

Jason Levien, the newly hired CEO of the Grizzlies, insinuated on talk radio that the decision not to renew Hollins’ contract was not about money or philosophical differences. He says he talked with people inside the organization. Did he talk with the players, who by all accounts loved and respected their straighttalking coach? We are left to surmise that it was a young ego (his) run amok.

Tuesday it was announced that Griz brass will hire Hollins’ assistant David Joerger to be the next head coach, just as we all knew they would. The astute basketball fans of Memphis weren’t fooled by the smoke and mirrors of the past few weeks. The gauntlet has been thrown down and we are expecting big-time results!

The only 2013-2014 scenario that might make us supporters halfway forget about losing our beloved coach would be another 57-plus-game winning season , making the NBA playoffs and advancing to the Conference finals.