NBA Award Watch: Fiz is rocking in Memphis
By John Buhler
Coach of the Year: David Fizdale
There has been a lot great coaching across the NBA the first month of the season. So naturally, 2016-17 NBA Coach of the Year is going to exchange hands multiple times on the NBA Award Watch.
One guy that has to be commended for the fine job he is doing this season is first-year head coach David Fizdale for the Memphis Grizzlies. Fizdale was brought in to Memphis to do two things: 1.) Teach the Grizzlies how to use the three-point shot to enter modern basketball offensively. 2.) Keep it tight defensively.
Fizdale comes for the Erik Spoelstra tree with the Miami Heat of three-and-d. Memphis is 9-5 through its first 14 games by playing great defense and introducing the three-point shot to the Mississippi River Delta.
The Grizzlies are second in points allowed per game at 96.5 and fourth in defensive efficiency at 102.8. Memphis isn’t terrible at the three ball (.343), despite missing small forward Chandler Parsons for most of the season.
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Parting ways with former head coach Dave Joerger was controversial, but Fizdale is rocking in Memphis. If this veteran team isn’t wrecked by injuries, the new-look Grizzlies could make some serious noise in the Western Conference Playoffs.