Marc Gasol Talks Losing Season, Goals, And Future

In a Q&A with the Commercial Appeal, veteran center Marc Gasol discussed an array of topics, including the Grizzlies‘ poor season, his goals for the rest of the year and looking ahead beyond 2017/18. Gasol is in his 10th NBA season and despite his usually solid numbers, it has not translated into team success.

Gasol has only been part of one other losing season in Memphis, his rookie season, when the team went 24-58. Currently, the Grizzlies own an 18-47 record, so Gasol could be part of his worst Memphis team to date. The 33-year-old has been candid about his frustrations with the team and their performance but he is also taking positives out of the experience.

The Commercial Appeal’s piece is well worth a full read but we’ve pulled a few of Gasol’s’ more memorable quotes. Let’s check them out…

On how quickly the Grizzlies fell out of contention:

I don’t know. There’s a process to everything. I think we lived on credit for a little too long, forgot the small details of things.

“Obviously, we had pretty talented players on both ends of the floor who fed off each other and complemented each other. There was one non-negotiable rule: We competed. No matter who the other team was, we always competed and did our job. Now, it’s not the same.

“We’re trying to figure out our strengths and weaknesses to try to put something together that’s somewhat stable.”

On Gasol’s goal for the rest of the season:

“I mean, win a game, right? Win some games. Winning puts a stamp on it and reassures you. It sends a message that the things you’re trying to do, the consequences are winning.

“So, I think winning, finding consistency, trying to build on something, finding something solid you can have a foundation to build on for whatever you’re trying to do next year. Because at this point, if you don’t find that consistency, it’s going to be really hard. You’re going to start from zero and you don’t want to start from zero again.”

On trying to stay in the present and not worry about the losses building up and look to the future:

We’ll talk about it after the season. That’s when you do it. During the season, you put everything on hold and not allow your mind to go there. But, obviously, there are a lot of things we need to figure out as a franchise.

“Right now, there’s nothing we can do about that. We have to build momentum going into the off-season and get clear ideas about what guys – and myself – need to work on for the future.”

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