Once You Hit Rock Bottom, You Can Only Go Up

By Jack Sadighian

Sitting in a cramped freshman dorm room reading about the Grizzlies’ 19-game losing streak proved more enjoyable than it sounded.

Tony East wrote a story for FanSided on the meaning of the losing streak. I knew the Grizzlies struggled, but the story gave me a deeper insight as to why Memphis lost so many games in a row.

East pointed out how management clearly tried to throw games in instances such as Myke Henry playing 25 minutes against Phoenix over Ben McLemore’s nine minutes. During the losing streak, the Grizzlies signed Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Briante Weber to 10-day contracts. Whenever you are giving out 10-day contracts and giving these players up to 23.6 minutes per game (Rathan-Mayes in his five-game stretch), you are going to lose.

In addition, Mario Chalmers, Tyreke Evans, and Andrew Harrison suffered injuries. James Ennis II, a key role player, got traded to Detroit. Do I even need to go on?

I agree with East’s reasoning behind the losing streak. Memphis suffered from a losing mindset in the front office, injuries, and trades. The Grizzlies fell apart in the worst way and held a 19–51 record at the time of the article. The record sits as the second-worst in the NBA.

I wish East included more information on how the streak affects the future for Memphis. East broke down the streak itself, but he did not bring in any information on how Memphis hopes to rebound this year and in future seasons.

For example, how does the management hope to satisfy frustrated players such as Marc Gasol? I wanted to know more about what the Grizzlies’ struggles meant in the larger scope of its organization.

I gained more knowledge on the Grizzlies’ situation during its losing streak, but I still wanted questions answered. The Grizzlies are not in a great position right now, but the offseason provides opportunities to improve greatly as moves by the Grizzlies will be all the more important now.