'No One Was On The Same Page' With Grizzlies Before Firing Taylor Jenkins

[RealGM Wiretap]

The Memphis Grizzlies' front office felt like Taylor Jenkins had "lost the locker room" this season following an offseason reconstruction of his coaching staff and their struggles in the second half. The internal perception was that the players, most importantly Ja Morant, had tuned him out.

"That team has lost all of [its] swagger," a rival Western Conference player told ESPN.

"You could just tell no one was on the same page," one team source said.

The Grizzlies also fired Noah LaRoche along with Jenkins while elevating Tuomas Iisalo. Memphis hired LaRoche almost two months before hiring Iisalo. The Grizzlies had planned to build their assistant coaching staff around LaRoche. 

Jenkins went along with the front office request to overhaul the coaching staff to "be a good partner."

"Taylor shouldn't have allowed that to happen," said a source.

"Players aren't stupid," another source said. "They know where this is heading when you fire five assistants after the season."

Via Ramona Shelburne, Tim MacMahon, Michael C. Wright/ESPN

[God Squad]

So initially I was confused on the firing. But this quote makes sense and I'm sure we've all noticed it, without saying it.

"That team has lost all of [its] swagger," a rival Western Conference player told ESPN.


"You could just tell no one was on the same page," one team source said.

But I still wonder if it's due to injuries and inconsistencies in their lineups.

[NoStatsGuy]

they had success with dillon brooks, now brooks is on the rockets.

yes coaches surely play a role aswell.but im gonna have to say it... hate him or love him, clown him, tell him to learn chinese but that guy gets the team on the same page and hes leading by example. hes the kind of guy that embodies what the grizzleys and rockets wanna be in terms of mentality and mindset.

i have seen first hand my team losing its identity. the knicks for example might be better on paper now but all the intangibles, chemistry and identity are changed or gone. and thats what pushes teams over the hump.
KAT could be shooting 60/50/100.. if the results arent better, the results arent better.

i think the grizzleys are going through the same. they lost their identity and chemistry by losing some key players like smart and broooks. these guys have an insane impact on the locker room, that you dont see in the statsheet or advanced metrics

[TimeisIllmatic]

they had success with dillon brooks, now brooks is on the rockets.

yes coaches surely play a role aswell.but im gonna have to say it... hate him or love him, clown him, tell him to learn chinese but that guy gets the team on the same page and hes leading by example. hes the kind of guy that embodies what the grizzleys and rockets wanna be in terms of mentality and mindset.

i have seen first hand my team losing its identity. the knicks for example might be better on paper now but all the intangibles, chemistry and identity are changed or gone. and thats what pushes teams over the hump.
KAT could be shooting 60/50/100.. if the results arent better, the results arent better.

i think the grizzleys are going through the same. they lost their identity and chemistry by losing some key players like smart and broooks. these guys have an insane impact on the locker room, that you dont see in the statsheet or advanced metrics

Gotta agree with ya here. Smart and Brooks brought the grit to the locker room. I get why they traded Smart but things are not looking good long term for Memphis as far as making deep playoff runs, imo.

[Rebound Mound]

My thoughts: star players do not like to run, play defense, be on the lines for stealing balls, share the ball with players that earn 10 times less than them and show all the thing they could be doing better (3 point shooting, effort, running back on defense) so they show their dis-appreciation and force the franchise to make a move.
This Grizzlies team is selling its soul to the same devil that provoked Morant to dance around some night club with a gun (twice) and got suspended.

One thing is to lose the lockeroom. A different one is lose it to a no one who has won nothing basketball-related and whose 90% of his power is jumping high.

[TheCage4]

The last time the Grizzlies had an identity was when we had Gasol, Randolph, Conley, etc. That was the "Grit N' Grind" era, and it was beautiful. Those days are long gone.