SI's Grizzlies Mid-Season Report Card

[SD2042]

http://nba.si.com/2014/01/24/nba-midsea ... -lakers/3/

Memphis Grizzlies: C-minus

20-20, No. 9 in West

This has been a dizzying free fall for the Grizzlies, who have plummeted from a franchise-best 56 wins last year to .500 this year, and from a dazzling trip to the conference finals to fourth place in the Southwest Division. The major extenuating factor, of course, is a knee injury that sidelined Marc Gasol for nearly two months. The Spanish big man is the Grizzlies’ centerpiece on both sides of the ball, and his absence made for a Memphis team that bears little resemblance to last year’s group. In 2012-13, the Grizzlies’ grit-and-grind defense ranked second. This season, Memphis is 17th in points allowed per possession, buried near the unimpressive likes of Cleveland and Orlando. Gasol, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, will surely help pick things up on that end now that he has returned, but he is tasked with a major excavation effort