The Memphis Grizzlies have called a Thursday Press Conference. Numerous Reports from around the internet indicate that the club will announce Dave Joerger as the team’s new head coach. Joerger replaces the outgoing Lionel Hollins who was not offered an extension after his contract with Memphis expired.
Joeger was an assistant under Hollins. He takes over a team that just had their best ever playoff run, making it all the way to the Western Conference finals before being beaten by the San Antonio Spurs. The Grizzlies finished 56-26 on the season, and went on to win playoff rounds over the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder before finally falling to the Spurs.
Joeger, the team’s defensive co-ordinator last season will likely install a very similar system to his predecessor. The reality is that the Grizzlies coaching was working, and this writer believes that the reason that Hollins is not back with the club is due to a public feud with ownership and management, and specifically comments that Hollins made after the trade of swingman Rudy Gay; and his dislike of managements use of basketball analytics in helping to make their decisions. The reality though is that despite Hollins protests, the Grizzlies improved at both ends of the floor without Gay.
Joerger has been with the Grizzlies since 2007, serving as an assistant coach with the team since that time. He has worked under Grizzlies coaches Hollins, Marc Iavaroni and Johnny Davis. Prior to that Joerger was a head coach in CBA, and the NBA D-League. In 2002 and 2004 he won the CBA Championship with the Dakota Wizards. In 2005 he coached the Sioux Falls Skyforce to a CBA championship. In 2007 he won the D-League title this time back with the Wizards.
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