The struggling Memphis Grizzlies are in the midst of a four-game losing streak, and Marc Gasol is not pleased. The Grizzlies’ All-Star big man went so far as to apologize to the team’s fans after their 105-83 defeat to the Houston Rockets.
Marc Gasol: "I went to the back and stood for 20 minutes trying to figure out what to say to you guys, and all I can say is an apology. I apologize. That's not what our fans are used to seeing."
— Peter Edmiston (@peteredmiston) November 19, 2017
The Grizzlies were playing their second game without star point guard Mike Conley, who is out for at least two weeks with an Achilles problem.
However, Gasol is not making Conley’s absence an excuse for the team’s poor defense and called his teammates out for their play on that end of the court.
Gasol: "Defense doesn't work if it's 4 out of 5 guys, or 3. Most of the time it was 2. We get stops for 10-12 minutes. It's not enough. It's gonna be hard to win games consistently. You're gonna stay at .500, and that's not enough, that's not what we built here for 10 years."
— Peter Edmiston (@peteredmiston) November 19, 2017
The Grizzlies have built most of their success over the past few years on their strong defense. They've even managed to overcome injuries to Conley and others in the past, in large part due to their ability to grind out wins with their defense.
Given their lack of outstanding offensive options, which has been made worse by Conley's absence, they almost have no choice but to lean on that defense while they await Conley’s return.
It’ll be somewhat tougher to do this time around without the likes of veterans Tony Allen and Zach Randolph to set that tone. Being the team’s leader, though, Gasol is doing his best to fire up his troops and get them to rise up to the occasion despite all the adversity they're facing at the moment.