Atmosphere of Winning

There's really nothing I can say about Hubie Brown's sudden retirement that hasn't already been said in the Commercial Appeal. And I'm not surprised at the outcome of the last two Grizzlies games. Lionel Hollins was clearly out-coached by Don Nelson in the second half of the Dallas game, which is why Hollins looks to be quickly replaced as head coach by Mike Fratello. If there's a better candidate out there, I can't imagine who it is, and that includes Phil Jackson. Fratello assisted Brown for years in Atlanta and had equivocal success. He was knocked out of the playoffs with the Cavaliers repeatedly by Michael Jordan's Bulls, understandable defeats. What sucks is that there's going to be a long adjustment period after the new coach takes over, and the extra losses are going to be hard to deal with when the playoff race starts.

I guess we've just become used to winning in Memphis. For two years we endured losing seasons easily, enjoying Pau Gasol's development, J-Will's flashes of brilliance, and The Stro Show. Now we've tasted fifty wins and domination over conference rivals like the Rockets, Warriors, and Blazers, so struggling to beat the Mavericks at home leaves people looking for answers. Clearly, injuries are playing a part. As Hubie pointed out in yesterday's press conference, last year we had no major injuries to deal with until the end of March. This year, Gasol, Posey, Swift, and Cardinal have all missed a significant amount of court time due to injuries, and it's not even December.

Personally, I've taken a step back and thought about how bad this team was when it came to Memphis in 2001. I've seen every televised Grizzlies game since, including the numerous losses, so I can endure more. It's about basketball, people. Winning is the goal, but enjoy the game.