In the 13 games the Memphis Grizzlies have been without Marc Gasol they are 4-9, with an offense scoring a point per possession (25th in the league in that stretch) and the defense giving up 107 points per 100 possessions (26th in the league). They have fallen to 11-15, 13th best in the West.
That’s a sign of how much they need him back to have any hope of making the playoffs.
So any news he is coming back earlier than expected (it was supposed to be six weeks at least and that was less than a month ago) would be welcomed. With that we bring you well connected Memphis Radio host Chris Vernon.
https://twitter.com/ChrisVernonShow/statuses/414912974201950209
Players always tend to be optimistic about their recovery times and want to rush back, the doctors are more cautious. I’m not sure you can split the difference.
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Still, Memphis needs their defensive anchor and the fulcrum of their offense back. This is a guy who has played through pain before. He averages 16 points and 7.1 rebounds a game, but his impact on the Grizzlies is bigger than that.
Right now they are just three games back of Denver for the last playoff spot in the West, but they have to leap five teams to get it. No easy task, the Western Conference is unforgiving in punishing slumps. Memphis needs to turn things around sooner rather than later.
Gasol helps that a lot.
