Grizzlies Poor Outing Prompts Early Players-Only Meeting

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Memphis Grizzlies were so disappointed in their play Monday night they called a players-only meeting in the locker room after the game to discuss the damage.

When it was over, they all left for the showers together.

They may have come into the season thinking they were good enough to challenge the better teams in the Western Conference, but it sure hasn't looked like it so far, hitting bottom with an 89-72 loss in Orlando in which they never led and hardly challenged.

"It's never too early to have a team meeting,'' said point guard Mike Conley. "The issues that we have as a team, being held accountable individually, we have to accept as a team.''

The Grizzlies (4-7) were held under 100 points for just the third time this season. They had 10 turnovers in the first quarter when they shot just 25 percent from the field, digging a hole from which they couldn't escape.

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"We should be further along at this point in the season. We're still working the kinks out, and it's kind of late in the game to still be doing that,'' said Memphis star Rudy Gay, who managed just nine points, 14 below his average. "That (meeting) is for us to talk about. Obviously, we are not playing well right now.''

While the Magic were quick to credit an improved defense, the Grizzlies were buying none of that. Zach Randolph, normally their second leading scorer, scored just nine points. He and Gay combined to make only 8-of-32 shots. O.J. Mayo was the only one of their top seven players who had fewer than two turnovers.

"Everyone here seemed to think this was going to be our season, and we bought into that, I guess,'' Mayo said. "We need to get back to playing like we have a chip on our shoulders, like underdogs again, scratching and clawing. Those are the kind of things we talked about.''

Although they cut the Magic's lead to five points in the third quarter, they never got closer than 11 in the fourth. Center Marc Gasol led with just 14 points.

"I wouldn't say we have any issues,'' Randolph said. "It was just a tough night.''

Memphis had a big win early this season, beating the Mavericks in Dallas in its second game. But back-to-back losses at home last week may have dented the Grizzlies' confidence. And they came out flat Monday night.

"We're a better team than this. We want to be a playoff team,'' said Mayo. "But to do that, we have to talk about some things, get us back on the right track. We weren't there tonight.''