The Memphis Grizzlies got off to an extremely rough start to the season to the point that head coach Dave Joerger was reportedly on the hot seat. Lately though, they have been playing great as they have won eight of their last 10 games to bring their record to 11-8 and a lot of the success could be attributed to center Marc Gasol. Gasol's numbers aren't extremely gaudy but he has made a major impact for the team while playing huge minutes but Joerger reportedly wants to try to bring those minutes down, according to Ronald Tillery of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
For the season Gasol is averaging 34.8 minutes per game but in the last 12 games that number has spiked all the way to 38. Joerger said he would try to get Gasol's minutes down prior to their game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night but Gasol went out and played 42 minutes and scored a career high 38 points in a win so Joerger's mission was not exactly accomplished.
The problem for Joerger here is that he needs Gasol on the floor as much as possible if he wants to win and he doesn't have many options behind his star center. The Grizzlies weren't deep in the frontcourt coming into the season but they have suffered injuries there which has forced Joerger to play Gasol a ton. Brandan Wright has been out since November 9th and he was backing Gasol up, Zach Randolph has missed some time with a knee injury and Jarell Martin is still recovering from a broken foot. That leaves JaMychal Green as the only healthy backup big man.
Joerger has gone small at times to try to get his bigs rest with Jeff Green or Matt Barnes at the four but no matter what he does Gasol plays huge minutes. The best way to bring his minutes down without conceding on the court results would be to get Wright back healthy but at this point he still doesn't have a timetable for a return.
Gasol is averaging 16.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game this year and many people would likely tell you he is the best player on the Grizzlies so it is easy to see why Joerger wants him out there as much as possible. In order to make sure Gasol doesn't wear down throughout the season Joerger is going to have to find a way to bring his minutes down to a reasonable number though and while that's tough with the lack of depth in Memphis' frontcourt it is a necessity for their stars longevity.