All Around the Net, by Michael Pueschel



The Clippers are the epitome of mismanagement and mediocrity in the N.B.A. if not in all of sports. I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who’ll argue that point with me, however you might want to add the Memphis Grizzlies to that list; and that’s without me even going into their history from Vancouver to Memphis and running Jerry West out of town… If for no other reason you can add them to this list because of this.



The Grizz are in last place in the Southwest Division and are tied with the Thunder for the third worst record in the N.B.A. So what did they do to make a difference? They fired Coach Marc Ivaroni, he of the 33-90 career coaching record. O.K. no big shock there. So who’d they replace him with? Some upcoming assistant? Nope. Did they grab a high profile coach out of the college ranks? Nope. Instead they reached back into their *cough* storied past *cough* and re-hired Lionel Hollins…. wait for it…  FOR THE THIRD TIME!



That’s right. Hollins has coached the Grizzlies twice before – both on an interim basis. He led Memphis to an 18-42 record in the 1999-2000 season when he replaced Brian Hill. Hollis was also 0-4 during the 2004-2005 season as the team went from Hubie Brown to Mike Fratello. 

So what do you think? Should the Grizzlies join the Clippers in the N.B.A.’s pantheon of once and always horrible teams? What other teams (from all sports) belong there? Weigh in and let us know what you think.