Walter Clayton Jr. rescued top-seeded Florida with two late 3-pointers, and the Gators rallied from nine points down late to reach the Final Four with an 84-79 victory over Texas Tech.
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Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman on firing Taylor Jenkins: 'This is in the best interest of the team'
He spoke to the media for less than three minutes and was intentionally vague about his reasoning, but Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman took ownership of the surprise coaching change, firing Taylor Jenkins just nine games before the playoffs.
"I came to the conclusion that this is in the best interest of the team, and urgency is a core principle of ours, so I decided to go on with the move," Kleiman told reporters at the Grizzlies' shootaround Saturday, before the team has a critical game against the Lakers.
Pressed for a better explanation of the reasoning behind firing the winningest coach in Memphis franchise history, Kleiman steered clear of the topic.
"In this case, I'm going to leave it that I of course gave this real thought and came to the conclusion that this is in the best interests of our team going forward," he said.
Kleiman did say several times that he did not consult the players on this move, "This decision is mine and mine only."
What shocked others around the league was less the firing and more the timing, just weeks before the playoffs, while the Grizzlies were 44-29 and tied for fourth in the West (with the Lakers, who the Grizzlies face Saturday night). A league source told NBC Sports that star guard Ja Morant has been unhappy with the team's move away from more pick-and-rolls to more of a motion-based offense, but that was something pushed by Kleiman and why he brought in assistant coach Tuomas Lisalo, who is now the interim head coach in Memphis.
Does Kleiman think firing his coach now will help the team come the playoffs?
"I'm focused on how we operate. I'm responsible for everything. I'm responsible for coaching, I'm responsible for the roster, I'm not trying to absolve myself of anything," Kleiman said. "I'm excited to see what this team can do the rest of the way, but this is the conclusion that I came to, that this is in the best interest of the team and we push forward with this group."
Kleiman and the Grizzlies enter this offseason with a lot of tough questions. Is this team really a new coach away from contending? Will there need to be roster changes? Can a core led by Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. contend?
Before all that, we have to see how the Grizzlies' coaching change plays out the rest of this season.
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3 observations after Sixers fall to their 7th consecutive loss
3 observations after Sixers fall to their 7th consecutive loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
With eight regular-season games remaining, the Sixers’ losing streak sits at seven.
Their latest loss came Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center against the Heat, who earned a 118-95 victory.
Jared Butler posted 19 points and 10 assists for the 23-51 Sixers.
All-Star Heat guard Tyler Herro had 30 points and seven assists for the Heat, who moved to 33-41.
The Sixers had eight players out with injuries. Andre Drummond (left toe sprain) will miss at least the next five games and be re-evaluated in approximately one week, according to a team official.
The Sixers will play the Raptors on Sunday night in Philadelphia. Here are observations on their defeat to the Heat:
An even 50 lineups
The Sixers added yet another unit to their ever-growing tally of starting lineups. They’re up to 50 after Butler, Quentin Grimes, Justin Edwards, Guerschon Yabusele and Adem Bona opened Saturday’s game.
A Butler-to-Bona alley-oop got the Sixers off to a bright start. Butler then drilled a jumper to give the Sixers a 5-0 lead.
Miami soon surged in front. Both the Sixers and Heat had identical first quarters shooting-wise — 55 percent from the field, 54.5 percent from three-point range — but the Heat drew more free throws.
Miami also did far greater damage on the offensive glass, scoring the night’s first 16 second-chance points. The Sixers entered Saturday ranked 24th in offensive rebounding rate and 30th rebounding rate, per Cleaning the Glass. They’re very familiar with the challenges of being undersized and undermanned.
Grimes finally held under 20
The Sixers mitigated some of their rebounding struggles with success in transition.
At halftime, they held an 18-6 advantage in fast-break points. Ricky Council IV (13 points, six rebounds, four assists) had several explosive, effective drives before the Heat’s defense could set up.
Bona (16 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks) was also eager to both start and join fast breaks. He tried to swat just about every Miami shot inside, ran the floor hard, and finished well around the rim.
The Sixers still trailed by nine points at halftime, in part because Grimes went scoreless in the second quarter after an 11-point first. Rookie Pelle Larsson played physical, solid defense against him, limiting Grimes’ chances to take comfortable jumpers or generally operate with much breathing room.
Grimes’ streak of consecutive outings with 20 or more points ended at nine games. He recorded 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting, four rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes.
Strong showing by Butler
Butler matched up at times with former Baylor teammate Davion Mitchell.
He played a high-quality game as the Sixers’ lead ball handler, running the show with confidence, hitting open teammates in the pick-and-roll, and making all four of his long-distance attempts.
Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said pregame that he plans to give Grimes more point guard reps in the final stretch of the season, since the Sixers envision him as a player who can handle some backup ball handler minutes when everyone’s healthy. That makes perfect sense. Butler looks like he might be in the future backup point guard mix, too.
After a Butler runner cut the Sixers’ deficit to 72-69, the Heat took control of the game.
Former Sixer Alec Burks drained four three-pointers late in the third quarter, including a buzzer-beater that built Miami’s lead to 21 points.
The Heat cruised to victory from there. Miami’s poised to be a play-in tournament team. The Sixers, meanwhile, were officially eliminated from postseason contention with Saturday’s loss.
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Memphis Grizzlies fired their coach, now where do they go from here?
What shocked the NBA world was not so much that coach Taylor Jenkins was fired in Memphis — things had been trending that way since last summer when Jenkins was forced to fire his assistants and replace his entire staff — but the timing. The Grizzlies are 44-29, tied for a top-four seed in the West, and have just nine games remaining in the season.
The reaction around the league was primarily "why now?" Also, "How is this making the team better heading into the playoffs?"
All of that led to the next question: Where do the Grizzlies go from here?
There's no clear answer to that question. Let's break it down.
• For its next head coach, Memphis is going to look for its Kenny Atkinson — a head coach who can come in, change the system, empower the right players, and turn a good team (the Cavaliers had been the No. 4 seed two years running) into a contender.
Good luck with that. Cleveland made the leap this season partly because of changes to its offense (more Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, more motion). Memphis already changed its offense this season at the request of the front office, moving away from one heavily reliant on pick-and-rolls to more of a motion offense. Tuomas Iisalo, the interim coach for the remainder of this season, was one of the coaches brought in to lead this new offense (it is similar to what he had run and been successful with in Europe).
• Ja Morant has been frustrated with changes in the offense, a league source told NBC Sports.
That was illustrated well by this quote from a story in The Athletic by Sam Amick, Fred Katz, and Joe Vardon. They talked about Morant's frustration with an offense taking the ball out of his hands.
One league source who has seen Morant work out with the Grizzlies recently said, “Some days he looks like he’s ready to play, and some days he looks like he doesn’t want to be there … because he hates the offense.”
• Morant also understood these changes came from executive vice president of basketball operations Zach Kleiman and the front office, through the new assistant coaches. With that, Morant had Jenkins back, even though he argued with him at points about the offense, the Athletic reports.
• Morant is the face of the Grizzlies, an electric and popular All-Star and All-NBA player, but one who has battled injuries throughout his career (plus had multiple suspensions). Morant has played in just 43 games this season (including missing the last six) but when he does he's averaging 22.3 points and 7.4 assists a game.
Morant is in the second year of a five-year, $197 million max contract. He has three years, $126.5 million remaining on that deal after this season.
• Morant also is most comfortable in the pick-and-roll, which is why it seemed drafting 7'4" Zach Edey was a good fit — a big pick setter who can be a threat rolling to the rim. Memphis' front office has shown that is not the direction it wants the offense to go.
• All this leads to a natural question: Could the Grizzlies trade Morant this offseason? Don't bet on it, for a couple of reasons. Plus, Kleiman shot this idea down around the trade deadline. From The Athletic.
“I can’t blame other ‘executives’ for fantasizing about us trading Ja,” Kleiman said at the time. “But it’s just that — fantasy. We are not trading Ja... I’m not going to give this nonsense further oxygen and look forward to getting back to basketball.”
At least two league executives, however, questioned the demand for Morant in the trade market.
There would be interest in Morant, but it might not be that robust He's an expensive point guard with a lengthy injury history who is locked in for north of $40 million a season for three more years and needs the ball in his hands (running a lot of pick-and-roll) to be effective — Morant is not exactly plug-and-play. Morant's athleticism and ability to get into the paint are unquestioned, but he doesn't fit everywhere.
• Which leads us back to the coaching search coming this offseason. Kleiman is a smart basketball mind, but he has now played the "fired the coach" card, and if the roster continues to struggle, the issue may not be the coach.
There is unquestionably talent on this roster with Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane, promising young players such as Jaylen Wells (one of the leading candidates for Rookie of the Year), Zach Edey and Scottie Pippen Jr. Whether all that talent fits together — and whether there is an Atkinson-esqe coach who can make that happen — are the big questons.
Ones that will be answered this offseason.
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This weekend's winners will head to the Final Four in San Antonio.