The Grizzlies have been a nuisance for the top Western Conference teams for the better portion of the last five seasons. Since acquiring Marc Gasol and drafting Mike Conley Jr. (along with the defensive dominance of the “Grindfather”) the Grizzlies have been a team with a defense-first identity.
However, with David Fizdale entering his second season with the team, there’s a makeover occurring within the Grizzlies organization. Gone are strongholds Tony Allen and Zach Randolph, and Memphis showed they want to be more of a threat from the perimeter as a team. Gasol became a deadly 3-point shooter last year.
The key to bringing this team into the modern NBA lies in the hands of Conley, who has been one of the top point guards in the NBA for a few seasons now. He is arguably the best player in the NBA to never have earn an invitation the the NBA All-Star Game. With the influx of talent out West, he’ll be fighting tooth and nail once again to try and capture a well-deserved spot among the game’s best.
With Fizdale’s help, opening up the offense might be just the adjustment he needs in order to breakthrough. In today’s NBA, the pick-and-roll is the go-to play of all teams — even Golden State uses it more during the postseason — and it can impact the game from every level with a versatile big man like Gasol. Pairing those two together therefore causes a lot of issues for a defense.
However, Conley has showcased a wrinkle in the way he attacks the pick-and-roll that has helped him become one of the best pick-and-roll scorers in the NBA. Often times, Conley will reject the screen and attack as the defense tries to set itself to stop the pick-and-roll they expected to come.
With the amount of ways to choose from — ICE, Hedge, Show, Zone, Push, Switch and Blitz to name them — it requires all five defenders to move in unison if it is going to be effective. The beauty in Conley’s choice to reject the screen is that he’s patient in setting up his attack to the rim. He doesn’t just immediately fire into the paint as the screen setter makes his way towards him. He’ll often slow down, even stand up slightly out of his stance to get his defender to relax. Then he’ll feign as if he’s moving towards the screen and go full steam ahead into the paint when his defender over plays him for the screen.
While he’s no Kyrie Irving, Conley does have an array of finishes in the lane — including the best floater in the league — that make him difficult for opposing big men to slow down. He’s fast enough to take most defenders off the dribble, so the slight hesitation that defenses go through as they try to corral a pick-and-roll is just the slither of space he needs to exploit the rotating defense.
This simple break from the norm is a good ace in the hole for the Grizzlies. It makes every pick-and-roll a dance between the defense and Conley. If the opponent shifts too early, it allows Conley to reject the screen and knife his way into the paint. But wait too long to rotate, and then you get skewered by Conley and Gasol on the pick-and-roll. Play it straight up, and Conley or Gasol will take advantage of whichever one has the greater mismatch.
The “Grit ‘n’ Grind” era is over and it’s up to Conley to help lead them into the next generation. The Grizzlies have zagged while the rest of the NBA followed the Warriors zigging. Conforming to the pace-and-space era still offers Memphis opportunities to continue to zag, and Conley rejecting ball screens is the beginning of that.
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