5 replacements for Dave Joerger with Memphis Grizzlies
By John Buhler
5. Mike D’Antoni
Does Memphis have the roster to field a team that Mike D’Antoni can win with at this time? Absolutely not. In all honesty, there isn’t a team less ready to play pace and space than the sluggish Grit ‘n’ Grind Grizzlies. However, who’s to say that Memphis will have the same feel to it in a few months?
D’Antoni solidified a league-wide reputation as the primary architect for the pace and space era of the NBA. He first put together the blueprints for this up-tempo offensive style that has now transformed the Association back when he was the head coach of the Phoenix Suns a decade ago.
D’Antoni has yet to recreate the magic he had with those dynamic Steve Nash-led Suns teams in his two most recent head coaching stops: the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers. That being said, those teams reeked of dysfunction back then just like they do now.
Since D’Antoni had spent the second half of last season as the top offensive assistant for Brett Brown’s pitiful Philadelphia 76ers team, he’s probably not entirely against joining a team that could undergo a massive rebuild. Frankly, outside of what Sean Marks and Kenny Atkinson have to do with the Brooklyn Nets, there was no rebuild more drastic than what the 76ers went through under former general manager Sam Hinkie.
In short, if the Grizzlies want to become a more progressive team in the modern age of basketball, shoot three-pointers like the rest of the league, and are willing to rebuild their roster to play in this up-tempo manner, it wouldn’t be all that crazy to bring in the Godfather of Pace and Space and hire D’Antoni as their next head coach.
Next: 4. Kevin McHale