Memphis Grizzlies Fire Coach Taylor Jenkins

[shi-woo]

Interesting, he's low key over achieved every year since taking over, especially given Ja's train-wreck of a career so far. Every player under him has maximized their talents, but i'm never sure how much of that is because of the coach and his system/leadership.

If he lost the locker room like others have said, it does't matter how late into the season, let the guy go. We've seen how bad it can get, and it seems they like the guys under him if this thread is to be believed. If their ast. coach was the one running the offense, than this honestly changes nothing outside of rotations and timeouts.

[Capn'O]

The Thunder fired Taylor Jenkins.

If you guys wouldn't mind firing Daignault I'd really like for the Knicks to replace Thibs with him.

[TheNewEra]

Jenkins has been horrible. But most do not watch the Grizz.

still don’t see reasons listed. Missing your best player and still one of the best teams out west while having multiple injuries to deal with

[ItsDanger]

He was gone after this season unless they made the Finals. The way he manages the roster is idiotic. OKC cooking them repeatedly was final straw.

If getting cooked by OKC was the final straw half the coaches in the NBA would be fired.

Memphis fans reasons for the Jenkins firing (itt) doesn’t really make sense to me if they are looking to replace him with Lisalo.

If the criticisms are rotation related isn’t that largely as result of Lisalo’s offensive system? So the Grizz are going to fire Jenkins because of his rotations only to replace him with the guy who suggested those rotations? Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. It has to be something else.

Jenkins has a schizophrenic style. It changes constantly, reacting to the opposition instead of imposing your style on them. Overly relying on transition instead of refining half court offense is a weakness.

[Backcountry]

Someone posted yesterday (game thread?) the Grizzlies record against the other winning teams. It wasn't good. Losing records against most. So maybe, despite their record, they aren't as good as they seem by reading stats and standings. And Jenkins is the resulting casualty.

[ItsDanger]

He was gone after this season unless they made the Finals. The way he manages the roster is idiotic. OKC cooking them repeatedly was final straw.

okc is cooking the whole league

Memphis is a good team with deep talent. 0-4 vs a key potential playoff matchup and being dominated is a massive red flag.

[gottamakeit]

I have a good source that tells me that Taylor Jenkins does not watch enough of "the town". Valid reason. Look no further.

[Mamba Mentality]

Only a scandal would warrant this kind of response. Wreckless speculation on my part but there is absolutely no other reason you fire one of the better coaches in the league a month before the playoffs.

[druggas]

All head coaches can be fired. Even the greatest ones have, but not usually heading into the playoffs. Somethings fishy here.

[zeebneeb]

One thing I know for sure, is that several head coaching seats just got hot as hell.

Jenkins is gonna be snapped up real damn fast.

[SK21209]

Jenkins always felt a little Scott Brooks-ish to me. Good at establishing a culture and bringing a young team to the 50ish win level, but ultimately not a great tactician and the culture stuff wears off. I was not impressed with him in that 2023 series against the Lakers.

[jokeboy86]

The timing is actually the only thing that’s shocking. I wonder did ownership/management come to the realization that a lot of people had in that Memphis has had a high basement for all these years but not really much of a ceiling besides making the 2nd round. The bigger issue imo right now is Ja is injury prone so he probably is not suited to be the franchise player anymore and as good as Bane but more importantly JJJ is they still are not #1’s on a contender.

The expectations of these newer owners have kind of become unreasonable and unrealistic. I’m not saying they should turn into Reinsdorf but going towards the other extreme isn’t the solution either. I think the parity they see and the lack of super teams nowadays has them all thinking that it should be easier to become a contender nowadays.

[ConSarnit]

If getting cooked by OKC was the final straw half the coaches in the NBA would be fired.

Memphis fans reasons for the Jenkins firing (itt) doesn’t really make sense to me if they are looking to replace him with Lisalo.

If the criticisms are rotation related isn’t that largely as result of Lisalo’s offensive system? So the Grizz are going to fire Jenkins because of his rotations only to replace him with the guy who suggested those rotations? Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. It has to be something else.

Jenkins has a schizophrenic style. It changes constantly, reacting to the opposition instead of imposing your style on them. Overly relying on transition instead of refining half court offense is a weakness.

I am definitely no expert on MEM but if the plan is to hire Lisalo then how is that a solution to their half court woes? The system they have in place is largely due to Lisalo (very few pnr possessions or screening). If offensive style of play is a problem then why hire the guy who designed that system?

(obviously this is all moot if there are other reasons for firing Jenkins or they go a different direction than Lisalo)

[maverick_41]

He looked chubby recently. Fat coach sets a bad example to the players

[ItsDanger]

Memphis fans reasons for the Jenkins firing (itt) doesn’t really make sense to me if they are looking to replace him with Lisalo.

If the criticisms are rotation related isn’t that largely as result of Lisalo’s offensive system? So the Grizz are going to fire Jenkins because of his rotations only to replace him with the guy who suggested those rotations? Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. It has to be something else.

Jenkins has a schizophrenic style. It changes constantly, reacting to the opposition instead of imposing your style on them. Overly relying on transition instead of refining half court offense is a weakness.

I am definitely no expert on MEM but if the plan is to hire Lisalo then how is that a solution to their half court woes? The system they have in place is largely due to Lisalo (very few pnr possessions or screening). If offensive style of play is a problem then why hire the guy who designed that system?

(obviously this is all moot if there are other reasons for firing Jenkins or they go a different direction than Lisalo)

I'm just stating what I see on the court. I have no idea who's influencing what on sidelines, but the head coach is ultimately responsible regardless.

[dWadeOwnzYou]

This move had to be personal. You're 5th in the west without Ja for most of the game and still in good position to move up.

[Mrakar]

This cant be basketball related. Its amazing Jenkins get fired and guys like Doc Rivers get a job whenever they want...

[Backcountry]

Someone posted yesterday (game thread?) the Grizzlies record against the other winning teams. It wasn't good. Losing records against most. So maybe, despite their record, they aren't as good as they seem by reading stats and standings. And Jenkins is the resulting casualty.

Here it is. Not as bad as I remembered, but not great:

Grizzlies vs Western Conference playoff contenders

Thunder 0-4
Rockets 1-3
Nuggets 1-1 (Has not faced the Nuggets with Jokic this season)
Lakers 1-2
Clippers 0-3 (Clippers sweep series)
Warriors 1-2
Timberwolves 2-0 (Grizzlies win the season series)
Mavericks 2-1 (Only game they played against Luka was the game they lost)
Kings 1-2 (Kings win season series)
Suns 4-0

[jokeboy86]

Only a scandal would warrant this kind of response. Wreckless speculation on my part but there is absolutely no other reason you fire one of the better coaches in the league a month before the playoffs.

You do if you don’t think ur team is going to do much in the playoffs even when healthy, ur going to fire a coach anyway and ur gonna lose the guy you want and have had ur eye on. If it’s true that they have their eyes on someone then it wouldn’t surprise me if they have a silent deal already made and just waiting for the team to play their final playoff game to officially announce it cause obviously you can’t bring him in now.

I also wonder is Ja’s current injury worst then they thought and they’ve decided to shut him down for the season or bring him back as slow as humanly possible.

[heatwillbeback]

Only a scandal would warrant this kind of response. Wreckless speculation on my part but there is absolutely no other reason you fire one of the better coaches in the league a month before the playoffs.

This is how I feel as well. Giving off Ime Udoka in Boston vibes.