Grizzlies Coach David Fizdale Goes Off on Refs Following Loss: "I'm not going to let them treat us that way!"

The San Antonio Spurs beat up the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their series. Gregg Popovich’s side is clearly better and the outcome of this matchup seems inevitable. Perhaps that’s why Grizzlies assistant coach David Fizdale is so fired up by the unfair whistle he believes his team received.

Fizdale went on a ferocious rant during his postgame press session, ripping the officials for being unacceptably unprofessional.

Here’s the whole, unfiltered speech:

"‘It’s unfortunate that I’ve got a guy like Mike Conley, who in his whole career’s got zero technical fouls. And just cannot seem to get the proper respect from the officials that he deserves. It was a very poorly officiated basketball game. Zach Randolph, the most rugged guy in the game, had zero free throws, but somehow Kawhi Leonard had 19 free throws. First half we shot 19 shots in the paint and we had six free throws. They shot 11 times in the paint and had 23 free throws. Not a numbers guy, but that doesn’t seem to add up. Overall, 35 times we shot the ball in the paint, we had 15 free throws for the game. They shot 18 times in the paint and had 32 free throws, Kawhi shot more free throws than our whole team. Explain it to me. We don’t get the respect that these guys deserve, because Mike Conley doesn’t go crazy, he has class, and he just plays the game, but I’m not gonna let them treat us that way. I know Pop’s got pedigree, and I’m a young rookie, but they not gonna rook us! That’s unacceptable, that was unprofessional. Our guys dug in that game and earned the right to be in that game, and they did not even give us a chance. Take that for data!"

Fizdale then slammed his fist on the table and left dramatically. Guy knows how to make an exit.

It’s difficult to decide if “they not gonna rook us” or “take that for data” is the more iconic line. Time will tell.

The Spurs went 31-for-32 at the free-throw line. The Grizzlies went 13-for-15. And it truly is remarkable that Z-Bo didn’t get to the charity stripe a single time.

Fizdale surely has a fine headed his way. On the bright side, he got his money’s worth.