Has been doing a great job with the Grizzlies(although he has a great amount of talent). Are the Grizz doing well bc of his coaching or just bc of the talent pool? I saw an article suggesting he get consideration for COY. I tried looking up info on this coach out of curiosity and I was having a hard time. Does anyone know anything about where he came from and furthermore does he really deserve consideration for COY? (In my opinion that award starts and ends with Adelman but I am curious what others think and whether anyone has info on this guy)
If he wins COY he should give half of it to Zach Randolph. As far as Hollins he is a former NBA player and assistant with the Griz, he evidently made an impression on the owner Michael Heisley when he was an assistant there. When they fired Iavaroni, Heisley said he was the first guy he considered for the head coaching job despite having no head coaching experience. I saw Hollins interviewed on NBA TV when he got the job and he struck me as a positive people oriented person that would be a good motivator for a team facing a lot of losses before turning it around, I'm sure Heisley hired him over others because of his comfort level with him, Hollins personality and his low salary.
Hollins had previous head coaching experience two times with the Grizzlies and had a terrible record. He was probably hired because of familiarity and low salary. I was very surprised when they announced the hire. I'll always have a soft spot for Lionel Hollins as a member of the 1976 Blazers championship team that took down the much-ballyhooed 76ers. He, Bill Walton, Maurice Lucas, Johnny Davis, Bob Gross, Larry Steele, etc. That was the first NBA Finals where I watched every game and cared about the outcome.
memphis is giving us a scare, there at 7th place! http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Cnf.html they have a pocibility to go to 5th place... and they could make some noise in the playoffs
Hollins should get some credit for Zach Randolph playing team ball for the first time in his 8 year career.
Unbiasly I would still put Adelman in front of him for COTY since Hollins has much much better talent (starting line up, only Brooks>Conley) and a full roster to work with and so far the teams have identical records.
Whoops - 10th now! You've GOT to give some credit to the coaching - he's clearly figured out how to use the players he has in the best possible way(s). I think Mayo and M Gasol are probably the unsung heroes here. Those guys are flat out winners who do the small things on the court to get the 'right' result. Randolph has matured somewhat, but is still a bit selfish offensively. The beauty of Mayo and Gasol is that they work around that. Gay is the enigma in their lineup too - an athlete who can score and grab the headlines, but who might well be the 4th most important player on the team! Props to the coaching for making them competitive - but I don't think they'll hang in the playoff hunt too long. Their February schedule isn't favourable, March is worse, and of their 8 April games, 6 are against teams who currently have better records than them. They should be pleased to finish around .500
That was a REALLY tough loss to the Hornets without Chris Paul. Blowing such a big lead like that to a short-handed team could sting for a while. Plus they have the Lakers and Cavs next up. The Grizzlies just need to put this one behind them and keep plugging. The Thunder have blown some games recently and they bounced back strong. The Grizzlies can do the same.
