The Memphis Grizzlies may be one of the most confusing teams in the league this season. They have a strong starting five but have high injury risk and little depth.
Additionally, they have several new moving parts. Chandler Parsons has joined the team from Dallas and David Fizdale is the new head coach after Dave Joerger was fired.
The relationship between Fizdale and Parsons will undoubtedly be important as the Grizzlies hope to become contenders. So far, everything is going more than swimmingly.
Fizdale is going out of his way to praise his small forward, comparing him favorable to LeBron James whom he coached in Miami.
Following from Tim MacMahon of ESPN:
“When I said I want to play him like LeBron, I do,” Fizdale said. “I really do want to use him, because there’s not many guys in the league at that size that have that skill set, and there’s no reason why I should put a cap on his abilities because his name isn’t LeBron James. I just see the same skill set. He’s not a high flyer like LeBron obviously, but he can pass it, he can shoot the 3, he’s huge, he can post guys and he moves great without the basketball, so I can move him around in a lot of different spots. I do not want to put a ceiling on him. I want to see how far we can go with him and put him in a role that is positionless. … I think all it takes is a coach showing that he has the confidence in a guy to do it and develop him according to the system and then it can take place.”
If you squint, you can kind of see what Fizdale is talking about.
Talent has never been the question for Chandler Parsons. He does have a very versatile and well-rounded skill set. He’s not close to LeBron, obviously, but there are certain similarities. The issue is that he seems to be unable to remain healthy.
If Parsons stays on the court, Fizdale can use him in unique ways that see him put up high production. But that’s a pretty huge “if.”
