Dave Joerger replaces Lionel Hollins as Memphis Grizzlies’ coach

Dave Joerger isn’t a household name, but nobody around the Grizzlies coaching search is surprised the minor-league-coach-turned-NBA-assistant has earned the promotion to the team’s vacant head coaching gig.

The man credited with building a Grizzlies defense that ranked second in the league this season has been considered a front-runner for the position since shortly after Lionel Hollins’ contract was not renewed. In fact, talk of his promotion began even before Hollins and the Grizzlies parted ways, as the team confusingly allowed Hollins to interview with several other teams for vacancies.

The Grizzlies decided to part ways with Hollins on June 10 when the franchise decided to decline their option to renew his contract following a series of negotiations. This led the team to allow Hollins to speak with other NBA teams about their coaching vacancies despite his contract not actually ending until June 30 -- though Hollins has yet to receive any other offers.

Hollins was at the helm for three straight seasons of Memphis’ playoff appearances, compiling a 196-155 record with the Grizzlies, including an 18-17 postseason record to go with this year’s appearance in the Western Conference Finals.

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Alvin Gentry will reportedly interview with the Memphis Grizzlies, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports that the coach most recently with the Phoenix Suns will meet with Memphis brass in Washington D.C. Friday.

Gentry was fired by the Phoenix Suns -- well, they mutually parted ways -- in January, after his squad lost 13 of 15 games. They had been 13-25 when he left the squad, but were an even worse 12-29 under Lindsay Hunter. He’s rarely had much chance to figure things out with teams: although he’s coached in parts of 12 NBA seasons with four teams, he’s only managed to be in charge of a squad for a full season four times, taking over three times in the middle of the season, being replaced three times in the middle of the season, and coaching through two lockouts. His teams have only ended up in the playoffs twice, and only finished over .500 in a full season once.

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Joerger has long been considered a potential successor to Hollins, but the storm really started brewing about two weeks ago when USA Today’s Sam Amick reported a Joerger promotion could be on the table. Now that Hollins is out, Amick and ESPN’s Marc Stein both continued to indicate Joerger was near the top of the Grizzlies’ list of replacements:

Joerger’s name isn’t known amongst most casual league fans, but there’s a lot to like about him. Only 39, he made his name in basketball’s minor leagues, winning titles in the IBA, the CBA and the D-League. He was twice named the CBA’s coach of the year, and after winning the 2007 D-League title with Dakota, he was called up to be an assistant with the Grizzlies.

The news comes after weeks of rumors that Hollins and the Grizzlies’ front office weren’t seeing eye-to-eye. The Grizzlies had given Hollins permission to speak to other teams about head coaching openings, sparking speculation that the two sides could be heading toward a divorce. Hollins had restated his desire to stay in Memphis, but the team is now ready to move on without the man that led them to a 56-26 record this past season.

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That would seem that the Grizzlies have a bit of a ‘Lionel Hollins problem’ -- something Tom Ziller wrote about in detail earlier this week -- but the veteran coach still insists that his first option is to continue coaching in Memphis. Via Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo! Sports:

Hollins is reportedly a candidate with the Brooklyn Nets and rumors swirled on Monday that he’s interested in taking over for Vinny Del Negro as the Los Angeles Clippers’ head coach, but it would seem as though the comments the coach made to Wojnarowski would indicate Memphis is his first option.

Having received the Memphis Grizzlies’ permission to speak with other teams, Lionel Hollins reached out to the Los Angeles Clippers through his representatives to gauge interest in filling the team’s head coaching vacancy, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.

With the relationship between Memphis and Hollins seemingly deteriorating each day as new ownership seeks to impart its influence, it appears possible -- if not likely -- he finds a job elsewhere. It’s already been reported that the Brooklyn Nets want to speak with Hollins, and now he’s being connected to another quality gig the same day.

What looks bad is when the Grizzlies likely fail to reach the Western Conference Finals in 2014, or when the team can’t hit 56 wins again. By letting Hollins go now, like this, the Memphis regime is opening itself up to heaps of second-guessing at precisely the franchise’s modern peak.

And if Memphis fails to win 56 or fails to get back to the West Finals, the new management will hear it loud and clear from every fan and every writer who rode for Hollins.

While Hollins has maintained his preference is to remain with the Grizzlies, the two sides have been unable to reach an agreement after several days of discussions. The sides have not seriously discussed finances and are in disagreement over “major philosophical differences”, Wojnarowski reports.

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