Fizdale ‘taking a lot of punches’ for Starting Parsons

Q (Question): You’ve made a number of changes but the two you haven’t tried yet are Z-Bo in the starting lineup and Chandler Parsons off the bench. Why the reluctance to pull that trigger?

A (Grizzlies coach David Fizdale): Right now, the Chandler thing is organizational. I’ve been taking a lot of punches for that and I’m OK with that. But that’s all of us saying let’s give it a look. This isn’t just me being stubborn. Chandler’s not my favorite. I don’t have favorites. I’m trying to win. But we see that Chandler has a ceiling. With Chandler coming back from injury, our best players protect him. You put him in the second unit and all he’s got is Z-Bo there, then he’s going to be exposed more. So, our best players are protecting him in that starting unit and allowing him to come along.

Source: Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal