and a pedestrian alley-oop with elbows bent over the rim
All as part of what is currently a 30 point beating of the Lakers at LA
Ja Morant is a human pogo stick - and I'm sure glad he plays for the Grizzlies
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and a pedestrian alley-oop with elbows bent over the rim
All as part of what is currently a 30 point beating of the Lakers at LA
Definitely. They have the look of a team that's going to be at the top of the division for years. Morant, JJJ, Bane, Melton, Brooks, Zaire, Konchar, and Brandon Clarke are all going to be playing together for a long time.
My ongoing battle with patience got me again here, but my opinion on Zaire has done a 180 since summer league. He’s still got a lot of work to do, clearly, but he’s shown me a lot in the last week about why the Grizz thought so highly of him throughout the draft process. Love the fact that he’s able to patiently find ways to fit in every night rather than trying to force things.
This team is going to be a tough out for anyone because while there are obviously teams out there with a little more talent at the top, the Grizz have 15 guys that can flat out play. The fact that they’re nearly all under 25 years of age is incredible too. There’s reason to be excited
This team is going to be a tough out for anyone because while there are obviously teams out there with a little more talent at the top, the Grizz have 15 guys that can flat out play. The fact that they’re nearly all under 25 years of age is incredible too. There’s reason to be excited
You know Williams has come along well when they start running plays for him. He still needs to bulk up but overall he is ahead of schedule.
My positives about the Grizzlies:
- They are the second youngest team in the NBA. Even their "old dogs," Steven Adams and Slomo, are only 28.
- They have hit on their high draft picks (Ja and JJJ), but they've also hit on their late picks (Brooks, Bane, Clarke, Tillman) and their FA signings (Melton, Konchar, Tyus Jones).
- Zaire Williams has the look of a guy who could blossom into a future star, adding to a core of Bane/Brooks/Morant/JJJ that we all expect to be together for years.
- Taylor Jenkins has turned out to be a tremendous coach and the player development staff has done a great job.
- Kendrick Perkins called Ja "Jordanesque" the other day. While I wouldn't go that far, he's definitely taking the leap into being one of the top five players in the league.
- Every button Zach Kleiman has pushed has worked out. Every draft pick, every trade, every FA signing. I doubted the JV/Adams trade and I doubted trading up to get Williams when he would've probably been there at their original pick, but he's demonstrated that he knows what he's doing.
The sky is the limit for this bunch. They've won 9 in a row and 19 of 23 and it's not scrubs they've beaten. Utah, Phoenix, the Lakers (twice), Charlotte, Brooklyn, and Cleveland are all mixed in there. And they did it with several guys not playing for various reasons.
They’ve beaten Golden State, the Cavs twice, the Heat, the 76ers, and the Clippers twice.
All that was lost with the swap of JV and Adams was scoring which you can spread out over the roster. Adams is a good rebounder (I think he’s leading the NBA in offensive rebounds) and is a much better low post defender than JV.
All that was lost with the swap of JV and Adams was scoring which you can spread out over the roster. Adams is a good rebounder (I think he’s leading the NBA in offensive rebounds) and is a much better low post defender than JV.
Also Adams is a really funny guy. He’s got that dry sense of humor that’s great. The 30 second mark where he talks about Randolph punching him is hilarious.
JV was a liability in pick and roll defense and Utah exploited it nonstop in the playoffs last year. Adams definitely fixes that. My biggest worry with the trade was that the Grizz had a tendency of getting stagnant on offense last year. Brooks is the ultimate ball hog and when he started dominating the ball and forcing shots, everyone else liked to stand around and watch. With JV, if the offense got stagnant, they would draw up a play for him in the post and he would usually score and break the dry spell. I felt like that would be a big loss for the Grizzlies, but to your point, others have stepped up the scoring, namely Bane and Morant. Adams seems reborn as the rebounder and defensive presence at the rim that he was for years in OKC. And he almost never loses a jump ball.
JJJ is still inconsistent and picks up too many stupid fouls. But he's getting better and we're starting to get a glimpse of what he can be.
Love Adams as a personality, but I struggle at times with him on the court. Good rebounder and truly one of the better passing big men in the league. However, he gets caught way too far away from the basket at least a few times each game, and man his touch around the basket leaves a lot to be desired. It’s kinda like he just pushes the ball towards the rim and hopes for the best rather than actually shooting it.
I think the Grizz team is going to give a lot of people fits for years to come, but now that we’re seeing the emergence of Bane, I wonder if an athletic, defensive rebounder at the 5 isn’t the missing piece for championship considerations. A guy like Jarrett Allen comes to mind
I think the Grizz team is going to give a lot of people fits for years to come, but now that we’re seeing the emergence of Bane, I wonder if an athletic, defensive rebounder at the 5 isn’t the missing piece for championship considerations. A guy like Jarrett Allen comes to mind
I'd love for the Grizz to go get Allen. He'd be a game changer. But the Grizz aren't going to be able to go get him and pay everyone else, too. I think they envision JJJ as that athletic, rebounding 5. We're getting a preview of it now with Adams out for a few games.
Yep, the Grizzlies are having a tough time with the Mavericks without Desmond Bane, Dillon Brooks, Tyus Jones, Brandon Clarke and Kyle Anderson. 60+ points out against a full strength lineup is tough for any team.
Just don't seem to match up well with them. They beat up on the grizzlies in memphis a week or so back. Memphis did win early in the season that I forgot about... thought they were winless, but it's actually 3-1 counting tonight.
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