By Michael Wallace
Grind City Media
NEW ORLEANS – Grizzlies’ coach David Fizdale has placed a premium on veteran leadership as Memphis continues to rely heavily on young players to get the team through a tough stretch of injuries.
That means Marc Gasol’s voice and actions now resonate as powerfully as they ever have in his nine seasons as the Grizzlies’ franchise center. With scoring and assists leader Mike Conley out with a back injury for about six weeks and Zach Randolph away from the team following the death of his mother, Fizdale has challenged Gasol and Tony Allen to help steer the Grizzlies’ young supporting cast through arguably the most demanding stretch on the regular-season schedule.
“This takes patience, and I’m not a very patient guy,” said Gasol, who was named team captain entering the season. “But what Coach is asking of me is to communicate more with the guys, be more encouraging on the bench, or in timeouts or in practices. And that’s what I’m trying to do. I’ve always been a guy who goes out and leads by example. But I understand in this position, you have to do more.”
Gasol and Allen lead an undermanned Grizzlies’ team into Monday’s game against the Pelicans looking to win their third consecutive game to open December, a month in which they will play a season-high 17 games in 31 days. Some roster help arrived Monday, when the Grizzlies officially signed veteran combo guard Toney Douglas under a league injury exception that allowed the team to add a 16th player.
Douglas’ addition gives Memphis some needed depth at guard, where Allen, free-agent pickup Troy Daniels and rookies Andrew Harrison and Wade Baldwin IV were the only healthy options. Gasol spoke of the challenges of keeping a team together despite missing six key rotation players because of injuries or absences in recent days.
HEALTH REPORT
Consider them now the ‘Nasty Nine Plus-1.’ Well, that doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as the original nickname Fizdale gave his team a week ago when it was down to only nine healthy players. Douglas’ signing gives Memphis 10 available players against the Pelicans. But the Grizzlies are still without Conley (back), Randolph (bereavement), Vince Carter (hip), James Ennis (calf), Chandler Parsons (knee) and Brandan Wright (ankle). Randolph could be back as early as Tuesday’s home game against Philadelphia. Parsons and Ennis have been doing light shooting drills and individual workouts in recent days, but both, in addition to Carter, are expected to miss at least another week.
NUMBERS WATCH
10. That’s the number of points the Grizzlies limited superstar Anthony Davis to in their 89-83 victory over the Pelicans on Nov. 2 at FedExForum. That’s 21 points below the current season average for Davis, who enters Monday’s game as the NBA’s scoring leader at 31.8 points a game. But Memphis held Davis to his lowest point total of the season after a 3-for-13 effort from the field that also included five turnovers and five fouls. It was a team-wide effort, but credit JaMychal Green for delivering the best two-way performance of his career as Davis’ primary defender. Green also finished the night with a team-high 21 points on 9-for-12 shooting along with six rebounds in 31 minutes.
KEEP AN EYE ON
Wade Baldwin IV. The struggling rookie point guard got a major confidence boost from the win over the Lakers on Saturday, when Baldwin dished a career-high nine assists, scored seven points, snagged three steals and had just two turnovers in 20 minutes off the bench. Building on that effort, if given the same opportunity, will be essential for Baldwin, who is shooting just 32.7 percent from the field and had fallen almost completely out of the rotation after losing the backup job to Harrison. But Baldwin got a reprieve when Conley was injured a week ago and has averaged 20.6 minutes the past three games. What remains to be seen entering Monday’s game against New Orleans is whether the Douglas signing will impact Baldwin’s developmental minutes over the next several games until some injured players return.
GRIZZ-TAKE
Troy Daniels on shooting 52 percent (13-for-25) on threes the past three games – I’m not out there trying to jack up just any shot. I feel like I can make every shot that I take, and Coach is giving me the green light. My teammates are wanting me to shoot the ball and, obviously, I need to shot it.
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