Chapter 71: Rifts And Vows
If Greg Oden didn’t get injured, the Grizzlies and Trail Blazers game would have been a spotlight battle.
However, Oden’s season-ending injury made the Trail Blazers seem like that fringe team lingering outside the national spotlight once again.
Before the game, the entire Grizzlies team thought it would be an easy fight—after all, the Trail Blazers had a dismal record last season, their number 1 draft pick from tanking couldn’t play yet, so how could the team be any different from last year?
In the end, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge both exploded, combining for 64 points, forcing the Grizzlies into a hard-fought battle.
In the first half, Roy, this skilled combo guard, truly taught Xu Ling a lesson.
Roy had a unique game rhythm, whether shooting off the dribble or making drive-and-kick decisions, he was always composed, repeatedly hitting high-difficulty shots under Xu Ling’s defense.
As the game entered the second half, Xu Ling gradually noticed flaws in Roy’s defensive habits—his lateral movement lacked urgency, his defensive focus was scattered, and he often slacked off.
Seizing this, Xu Ling began frequently using screens to cut or directly accelerating to drive, scoring repeatedly in front of Roy.
Facing this rookie’s sudden counterattack, Roy seemed somewhat unprepared, his mentality gradually becoming impatient, with several forced shots missing, instead fueling the Grizzlies’ fast break momentum.
Although Aldridge was still struggling in the paint, trying to salvage the situation with precise mid-range shots, the Trail Blazers’ offensive rhythm was already chaotic.
Ultimately, with Roy’s mentality unbalanced and the team disorganized on both ends, the Trail Blazers collapsed in the fourth quarter, helplessly swallowing the loss.
Xu Ling contributed 24 points and 8 rebounds throughout the game, somewhat dimmed in the first half under Roy’s dominant performance, but he quickly adjusted in the second half, completely turning the tide.
After the game, Roy sighed helplessly: “Greg Oden reminded me long ago to be careful of Eli. But as you saw, as soon as you give him a sliver of opportunity, he pounces without hesitation, landing consecutive heavy blows. Memphis really got a gem.”
The Grizzlies then rode the momentum of their opener to secure three straight wins to start the new season. However, good times didn’t last; as the sample of games increased, each team’s coaching staff began deeply studying the Grizzlies’ system. They soon discovered a fatal weakness: the Grizzlies’ point guard simply couldn’t run the SSOL system.
Although Xu Ling could play point guard, his SSOL offense was equally clunky. Once the fast break failed, he quickly switched back to his most familiar mode: frequently calling for pick and rolls, using his individual ability to create mismatches for isolation plays. At first, when he kept scoring on mismatches, opponents often chose double team, and Xu Ling could pass to open teammates.
However, the subsequent opponents—especially the Kings, Clippers, and Pistons—all adopted similar strategies: resolutely no double team.
No matter how fierce Xu Ling was in isolation plays, they were willing to leave him one-on-one, tightly choking off other players’ passing lanes. Without teammate firepower support, Xu Ling’s individual offense could still score, but it was hard to spread the advantage across the team, unable to generate enough marginal benefit.
Adding insult to injury, Xu Ling didn’t find his scoring touch every night. In the game against the Kings after two straight losses, he faced Ron Artest for the first time in his career and was limited by his tough defense, shooting 8-for-21.
Even worse, the highly anticipated secondary scorer Rudy Gay completely lost his way.
When Xu Ling was chained by Artest’s iron defense and most needed someone to step up and share the scoring pressure, Gay delivered an inefficient 6-for-20, 15-point performance. Not only was his shooting ice-cold on offense, his black-hole defensive awareness made the Grizzlies’ small forward position an obvious liability on defense.
Gay repeatedly lost his man in off-ball screens, leaving his assignment open; he hesitated on help defense timing, neither effectively using isolation to relieve Xu Ling’s defensive pressure nor rotating fast enough, giving the Kings’ shooters tons of open looks from outside.
Gay’s plus-minus was a game-worst -23, intuitively showing the huge struggles the team faced on both offense and defense when he was on the floor.
When Xu Ling’s only strong point was contained and Gay failed to play as a wing scorer, Pau Gasol struggled more in the run and gun system. He wasn’t suited to the far higher possessions than other teams, hated the frequent and mechanical pick and roll coordination. He craved post-ups to finish offense in his best way, but possession stayed stuck with the outside players. Thus, this All-Star big man seemed marginalized by the system, silently “withering” on the court.
Xu Ling also began to tire of this system that didn’t seem to fit the team.
SSOL didn’t work for this team without a good point guard; the team’s playstyle had to change.
Xu Ling returned to the locker room full of anger, planning to tell Mark Cuban his thoughts.
But unexpectedly, before Xu Ling even entered the locker room, he heard Gasol yelling at Iavaroni inside: “Mark, how much more time do we have to waste in this system that’s completely unsuitable for us?”
Iavaroni was stunned for a moment, trying to calm the Spaniard: “Pau, we’re building a modern basketball”
“Modern basketball? Or just replaying your old dream here?” Gasol interrupted him bluntly, emotions rising, “I don’t deny SSOL succeeded in Phoenix, but that was built on Steve Nash and a specific group of players! Look at us! Look at me! I’m a big man who needs post touches, not a post endlessly setting useless screens outside the three-point line! Besides Eli, no one can shoot after pick and rolls, no one, fucking no one!”
“We need to stick to the system, need time to gel!” Iavaroni raised his voice too.
“Time? We don’t lack time, we lack a playstyle that actually fits us!” Gasol waved his hand almost pointing at all the bigs, “I’m fed up running from baseline to three-point line like a guard every possession just to set a screen no one uses! We’re sprinting back and forth all game, sacrificing all tactical depth for speed. This isn’t basketball, it’s wasting talent!”
The two went back and forth, the argument quickly escalating.
Iavaroni accused Gasol of “resisting change” and “unwilling to sacrifice for the team.”
Gasol countered Iavaroni almost roaring about “forcing it” and “out of touch with reality.”
Every man in professional sports has some machismo deep down; they firmly believe they’re the best unless proven otherwise, never easily admitting defeat.
For Mark Iavaroni, the SSOL system was the core of his coaching philosophy, even the reason for his existence in Memphis. He didn’t know what he’d have left in Memphis without this system.
At that moment, he flashed back to that frustrating conversation with general manager Jerry West, who just repeated “maximize the current lineup” and “that’s your challenge,” without giving him a point guard to execute the tactics. A deep sense of powerlessness enveloped him, but pride kept him from admitting it in front of the players.
Therefore, Gasol’s insistence on denying it all undoubtedly touched his reverse scale.
“I’ve had enough! I’ve had enough of your endless complaining!” Iavaroni lost control, voice trembling with anger, “You keep saying it’s for the team, so why don’t you do what’s best for everyone right now and call Jerry? You’ve wanted to be traded forever! Admit it, you’ve never truly wanted to play for Memphis! That’s why the fans never really liked you!”
This sentence stabbed like a sharp knife right into Gasol’s most vulnerable spot.
The Spaniard’s face instantly paled, lips parting but no sound coming out, years of suppressed grievances and anger completely ignited by this one sentence.
Just as the Spaniard was about to completely break, possibly reacting even more intensely.
“Enough!”
Xu Ling’s voice came from the locker room door.
Then, Xu Ling pushed the door open, slamming it shut behind him, the huge bang startling everyone.
“I’ve heard enough of your nonsense!”
Xu Ling strode between the two, first looking at Gasol, tone stern but still measured: “Pau, if you’re this uncomfortable with the system, you should have spoken up after the first loss, not waited until three straight losses to throw a tantrum here!”
Without waiting for Gasol’s response, Xu Ling whipped around to Iavaroni, voice suddenly rising, even hoarse: “And you, Coach! The one who should call Jerry West is you! He hired you, he knew what you wanted to do, but he didn’t give you a point guard to execute your tactics! That’s management’s failure, but even more your dilemma! We all know it!”
“And no matter what, that’s no excuse to insult Pau! Without him, this team would still be a joke in professional sports! A disgrace! Steve Francis wouldn’t even wear this team’s jersey! Pau changed all that, even if just for a few short years, he truly changed this team!”
Xu Ling stared piercingly, unquestionably at Iavaroni: “You must apologize to him for what you just said!”
Iavaroni’s heart jolted. Every word Xu Ling said hit his pain points—he’d already given feedback to West, but only got “not the time yet,” even tasked with developing Xu Ling’s combo guard potential through it. He wasn’t blind to the issues; he was powerless.
Xu Ling’s glare and Gasol’s pale face flashing before him, he realized his outburst might be the worst way a coach could vent. He’d not only hurt one of the team’s cores but exposed the coaching staff’s dilemma.
At this moment, facing Xu Ling’s pressure, Iavaroni opened his mouth, all excuses and grievances stuck in his throat.
Sticking to the system was right, but denying the players’ pain might be wrong.
To stabilize the locker room, Iavaroni had to step back.
Iavaroni took a deep breath, gaze painfully turning to Gasol, voice heavy with weary honesty: “Pau. I’m sorry for what I said to you, that was my mistake, I’m sorry.”
Gasol pursed his lips, emotions not fully settled, but eventually nodded lightly.
The locker room fell into an exhausted silence, the earlier fierce confrontation seeming to drain all the oxygen from the room.
Xu Ling’s gaze swept over the silent teammates, finally settling on Iavaroni and Gasol.
“As for tonight’s loss, the responsibility is mine. I couldn’t crack Ron Artest’s defense, my offensive performance was subpar.”
Xu Ling straightforwardly took the blame for the loss, slightly easing the suffocating tension in the locker room.
“But!” Xu Ling suddenly raised his voice, “The losing streak ends here.”
“I guarantee you, there won’t be a four-game losing streak.”
After saying that, Xu Ling said no more, just grabbed a towel and turned toward the showers.
Assistant coach Dave Joerger hurriedly checked the next opponent’s, which happened to be another struggling team—the New Jersey Nets.
