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Speaker 1: What is a fellas, Because I am Dan Valley coming

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at you with another twenty twenty four twenty twenty five

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NBA season look ahead. We are onto the Memphis Grizzlies,

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which means I got to speak with Keith Parish of

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the Fast Break Breakfast podcast as well as the Grits

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and Grinds podcast, which covers the Memphis Grizzlies specifically, and

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Fast Break Breakfast covers the entire league. Follow Keith on Twitter.

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The handle will be on the screen in the YouTube

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and podcast description as well. At Fast Break Break though

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spelled exactly as it sounds, we get into all the

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things Grizzlies. The one quick note, we did record this

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right before. It was like a couple hours after we

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wrapped recording, we got the news about Gigi Jackson's foot

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broken foot and you need to have surgery. So that's not

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included in our analysis, So apply it as you will.

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It doesn't change a ton, that's I mean. It changes

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a ton for the Grizzlies, and the impact of that

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is going to be pretty significant, just because when you

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look at this team, they're kind of light on those

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wing type of players. I think this will increase even

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though he's smaller the importance of Vince Williams Junior, but

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we talk a ton about Vince Williams Junior as well

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as Gigi Jackson, so I still think you really enjoy

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the episode. And just a quick reminder, if you are

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new around these parts, please remember to subscribe. We cover

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the entire league, and we do these podcasts make sure

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that we give at least, you know, ample time to

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every single team once a year, but we do do

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these exercises where we talk about every team throughout the

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year and hit some of the trending topics. So we

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do a pretty damn good job. Grant myself. We're here,

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so if you're new, subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple ratings

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consider commenting and liking on the videos, even if you're

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If you've done all those things, consider joining our discord

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of mouth recommendations go a long way. Shout us out

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to shout us out anywhere, or if you've convinced a subscribe,

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I will send you if you tell me, I'll send

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you a Hardwood Knocks magnet mail to your address. Do

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you tell me that you've converted someone to being a

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Hardwood Knocks listener. Get at us in the comments via

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email via our discord my dms I think are open

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on Twitter slash x. I actually can't remember now that

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I'm thinking about it, so tell me that there. And

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if you want to support the show, please consider check

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out our merch store. I'm wearing a Sicko shirt right now.

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We've got ones where it's kind of simplistic on the

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front with the logos and then there's big stuff on

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the back and vice versa. So that's enough out of me. Though,

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Let's get this a little bit longer for an intro

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than normal, just because I have to do the gg

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Jackson note. Bummer for him, bummer for the Grizzlies who

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can't seem to escape the injury bug. But let's get

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to talking more about the Grizzlies in detail with Keith

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Parish of grizz and Grinds and Fast Break Breakfast. Keith,

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welcome back, Thank you so much again for coming on

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this year for our Memphis Grizzlies look Ahead always a

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great time. The most important question though.

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Speaker 2: How the heck are you doing?

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Speaker 1: Man?

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Speaker 2: I am doing fantastic. Dan, Thanks for having me. It's

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always fun coming on Hardwood Knocks talking about my favorite team.

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Speaker 1: Well, this team is interesting for me because I feel like,

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with the exception of whenever we talk about the Bulls

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on this podcast with a local expert, people are they

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don't tend to ether their teams for what happened over

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the off season. And I won't use the word ether

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for what you said, but I found your impressions of

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the Grizzlies off season fascinating to where when you went

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through you graded it for the Grizz and Grinds podcast,

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it was marked by basically relative and action aside from

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tax stuck and getting Zach Eaty, which I guess makes

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sense in a nutshell because we have so little information

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on what this core was supposed to be with Marcus Smart.

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But just what did you make of kind of the

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decision to not make a ton of changes this year

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be super aggressive during the off season.

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Speaker 2: Well, the difference between me and like i'd say, a

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Bulls podcaster, like the Bulls podcasters have legitimate grievances. I have,

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let's call them first world problems, you know, like a

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like the Grizzlies are good, and the Grizzlies are well run,

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and the Grizzlies have a competent front office. The Grizzlies

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win basketball games, so I wouldn't call it an ethering.

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I just have some mild criticisms about a trend that's

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been occurring for the Grizzlies. It's been occurring since they

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broke through in twenty twenty two. That team that was

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the we Hear Grizzlies, where you know, job was amazing

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and like Desmond Baan had to breakout and then you

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had like an awesome bench. They won fifty six games

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that year, lost in the second round to the Warriors

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in a very very close series. The Grizzlies had the

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lead in the fourth quarter of three of their four losses.

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They were ahead of the final two minutes of two

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of the four losses. Ja Moran got hurt, Steven Adams

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had COVID, Desmond Bain was hospitaled for a back thing.

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So we were on the precipice in our minds of

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greatness several years ago. We were basically this year's Thunder

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where everyone's like, whoa, the thunder are so young, they

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have their whole future ahead of us. So I'm now

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in like jaded few years later where things have not

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gone perfectly for the Grizzlies since then, and there's there

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hasn't been like one huge like mistake I think for

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the front office or anything. I think there were some

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questions asked by me and others about like the decision

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to let some of the valuable veterans go after that

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twenty twenty two season and then turn over to youth.

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They drafted a bunch of young guys, and then since

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then they've dealt with things. They had injuries, massive Steven

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Adams and Brandon Clark injuries, and then Joa Morant's off

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court stuff, John Morant getting suspended, then joh Morant getting hurt.

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Last year's to total wash. They lose a bunch of games.

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So that being said, my worrisome trend that I keep mentioning,

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it's like, hey, we continually, in my mind, don't maximize

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the roster around our three best players, those being Job Morant,

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Desmond Baine, and Jared Jackson junior. Now they did go

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out and get Marcus Smart last summer, thinking all right,

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we made a mistake not being aggressive, but also that move,

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while it was pitched that way, was actually a replacement

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of other valuable players in Dylan Brooks and Tias Jones.

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And so I kept being like, I feel like I

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keep getting this storyline fed to mean. I don't know

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who's doing it. Maybe I'm just listening to other Grizzlies analysts,

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but they're like, oh, yeah, we got this guy, and

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I'm like, yeah, but we lost these guys. Those seem

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like sideways moves. So jump all the way ahead to

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this offseason. Going into the off season, I think the

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request of everyone who followed the Grizzlies, or the expectation

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for everyone who followed the Grizzlies, was all right, we

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need a starting center. We made a decision that we

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can't wait on Steven Adams to get healthy. Let's go

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ahead and move him for a couple of second round picks.

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We need a center, and then we need more size

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and shooting. Even when our team's fully healthy, I don't

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think we have enough size and enough shooting. And there

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were a lot of avenues open to the Grizzlies, and

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many of them, if not most of them, would take

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the Grizzlies into the luxury tax for the first time.

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Just like the Core four, Big GrITT and grind Era.

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It's like, all right, it's time to pay the tax. Finally,

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all the extensions have kicked in for Bain and Jaron

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and Jaw. We've paid to keep some guys. We have

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Marcus Smart now to build on this team. Finally, the

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Grizzies are going to dip their toe into the luxury

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tax line. And this offseason, which you said I sort

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of ethered, they drafted Zach Edy, they salaried m Desire Williams.

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They have an open roster spot as we as we

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record at the end of August, they have an open

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roster spot because of luxury tax concerns. So this offseason

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they tried to fix their problems through the draft, which

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is it's risky. I mean, I'm excited about Zach Edy.

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I think it could be awesome for the Grizzlies. But

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when I just graded the off season, what did they

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do this offseason? They used their draft picks. They have

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fewer playable NBA players right now than they did last

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year when they started the season. Of course, during the season,

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they had almost no playable NBA players because everyone got hurt.

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But that's why this offseason I'm like, I think the

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Gris are gonna be good. But if you ask me

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to grade the offseason, I mean they didn't do anything.

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They drafted some guys, they used roster spots on rookies.

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We have Jalen Wells and Zach Edy. I'm not saying

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Zion Williams is good, but I think he's gonna be

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in the NBA in a couple of seasons, and as

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opposed to nothing, I do have Zion Williams, but right

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now the Grizzier sit under the tax. That was my

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very long monologue on why I'm not thrilled with the

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off season, even though I am very excited about the team.

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Speaker 1: Uh, very quickly, I think that's the nicest thing you've

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ever said to me about Zaire Williams, that you think

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he's gonna be in the league in a couple of years.

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Speaker 2: So I mean, is he not? I don't know. I

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was looking at the Nets roster and I'm like, is

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Zire even gonna play? I don't know. I think Zion

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Williams is an NBA but who knows maybe maybe maybe not.

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Speaker 1: So I've been asking people to open things up. What's

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their biggest storyline that they're tracking for their team leading

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into next season? And I pride myself on kind of

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knowing what the answer is going to be for most

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of these teams. From my guess, I have zero idea

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what you're about to tell me when I feel like

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I could maybe guess, But there's like three to five

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things that I could if I was to just ask this,

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like answer it myself. So, what is your biggest storyline

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that you're monitoring for this team entering next year?

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Speaker 2: Like could it?

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Speaker 1: It could be just the health, it could be fit

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of Zach Eaty. We really haven't seen the fit of

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Marcus Smart. With everyone, there's just so many different directions

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to go.

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Speaker 2: I think the biggest storyline is pretty simple. This is

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a keep the main thing, the main thing. The biggest

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storyline is is John Morant back? Like if John Moran

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is just that guy we briefly saw it last year.

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I mean it was almost a storybook last year when

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he first came back, he missed the first twenty five

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games that Chris is were six and nineteen. In his

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first game back, the first game Ja Morant played last year,

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he hit a buzzer beater to beat the Pelicans. He

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had thirty four points that they rallied from twenty four down.

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He's a shot at the buzzer to win. They win

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their first four games with Jah Morant and it's like WHOA,

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We're back. But then after nine games he gets injured

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out for the season. He won Western Conference Player of

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the Week the first week he played last year, so

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it looked like John Morant was back last season, but

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we only got nine games. So the main issue for

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the Grizzlies is John Morant gonna come back and be

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the all NBA caliber player that he was beforehand. There's

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no reason he shouldn't be. Still very very young, still

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very very good, but it seems like the whole league

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has forgotten about John Morant. And I listened to a

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lot of preview podcasts. I read stuff I see like

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the player rankings, and I never get upset about a

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player ranking. I know there for entertainment, but my eyebrow

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did go up very very high when it's like jam

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maris the thirtieth best player in the NBA, like, based

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on what I've seen that most of them, like like

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like that ballpark where I'm like, the guy is a

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thirty point per game scorer, the guy can't be guarded,

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the guy's a great passer, and the guy has won.

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He's won consistently. It's weird where people draw in the

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off the court stuff talking about jaw and they I

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don't know what it is, and they say things about him.

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They describe his game as like, doesn't play a winning

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style and I don't think I'm fighting a straw man here.

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Like I see people saying stuff, and I'm like, he's won.

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He's won his entire career. They were supposed to be

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awful his rookie season, and they were competitive and good.

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They would have made the playoffs if they hadn't come

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up with a fictitious bubble tournament thing where you had

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to qualify for the playoffs in the middle of the season.

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Dan they changed the rules for the playoffs.

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Speaker 1: They did it. They did it to him, p Ja Moran.

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Speaker 2: They did it to give Zion Williamson a chance of

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making the playoffs. I can't believe the league presidents or

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the whoever's involved signed off on it. If I was

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in a fantasy league and you change the rules halfway

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through to keep my team out. No, John Morant's one

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John Moran, and the playoffs has been amazing. He's even

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steped up his level of play in the playoffs. So

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the biggest storyline for the Grizzlies is basically is John

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Rant gonna play seventy games and reclaim I think his

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rightful place as being one of the top fifteen players

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in the league.

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Speaker 1: Is there, like a because he's still only twenty five,

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he's super young. Yeah, is the next step for him

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still just like, hey, he hasn't shot thirty five percent

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on spot up three since his rookie year. Let's just

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have that happen because the volume is like kind of there.

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I mean, I know last year he didn't play a

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timpl like when you look at kind of the trajectory

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of the three point attempts, like, okay, I'm okay with

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the volume now if those things could fall at and

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I'm not asking him to hit all these like complicated

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step backs, but that just kind of feels like offensively

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the last frontier for him.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, there's some formula for how good the Grizzlies are

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going to win next year. There's some like fake formula

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that I'm gonna make up. It's some combination of Jamarant

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games played times, Jamarant three point percentage, like if Ja Morant,

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maybe include Gig Jackson in there too, Like if Jaw

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and Dig can make like thirty four percent of their

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three pointers and also be healthy in play, the Grizzes

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are gonna win a lot of games in the regular season.

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If Josh You's thirty two percent for three, it's gonna

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be a little bit a little bit harder. So yeah,

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I think still that jump shot, if he could add that,

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just get to the Dearn Fox level of knocking down

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a few more jumpers, that's gonna help his game, I

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think tremendously. Maybe the other thing you always ask about

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his defense, Although Jaw has been he's been a part

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of really good defensive teams, So I think he can

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do enough there to not be a total just uh

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sieve and allow everyone to penetrate past him. I do think, yeah,

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maybe the final level for Jomran's game is just consistently

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being able to hit three pointers. We're not asking for

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the world. Thirty four percent would be great, do you

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think so?

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Speaker 1: Looking at last year and I know Desmond Bain was

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kind of already headed down this path, but like the

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extra just self creation or the extra layer of difficulty

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assigned to both him and Jaron Jackson Junior on offense,

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do you from what you saw from them last season,

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and even like kind of Jaron Jackson Junior specifically, like

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you even just look at his you know, his ISO percentage,

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like basically like tripled in terms of volume last year.

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Do you find that as something that will be valuable

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in the larger context of this healthy team. Like, Okay,

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now the Grizzlies are healthy, but Jaron Jackson Junior Desmond

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Bain have explored different depths of their game, not just

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because of the Jah Moran injury, but like I mean,

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Bain was injured at point, so that that shifts onus

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onto Jackson Junior. We know Marcus Smart missed a ton

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of time.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean absolutely, it should help them tremendously. The

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big question for the Grizzlies going into the last two

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seasons was the half court offense, and a lot of

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this stuff was like, all right, we figured out the

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regular season two years in a row. The Grizzlies were

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second in the West, but the question was, but how

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do we advance further in the playoffs, and you would

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look to maybe our formula of winning based on forcing

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turnovers and getting offensive rebounds is not sustainable when the

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game slows down in the postseason. So they spent a

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lot of energy trying to come up with ways to

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be better in the half court. They struck out. I

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think a few of them. Like one of the reasons

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they let like Kyle Anderson go is because his shot

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looks funny and they weren't sure that it was the

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best option for the postseason, so they brought in guys

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whose shots were more pretty, who ended up being much

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worse players. But I think they keep thinking, we have

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to fix the half court offense. And I think one

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of the silver linings to last season, besides getting the

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ninth pick and getting Zach Edy, one of the silver

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linings is Jared Jackson Junior got so many reps creating

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his own shot. Jared Jackson Junior's points per isolation was

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incredible last year and he was used. Yeah, it was

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one of the best in the league. I mean, that's

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your I believe purview. It's not me, Dan, this is

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the NBA math. You tell me the numbers I'll just

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repeat him, but the average.

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Speaker 1: Two point two points per ISO possession Keith.

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Speaker 2: Now we're talking. Yeah, I heard it was over four.

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But that's fine. Jaron creating his own shot. I think

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that should help them greatly. Desmond Baan also like he

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averaged like twenty four points per game basically and also

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became more of a creator. I mean, one of the things.

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Maybe we'll get to it, Like Marcus Smart didn't really

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work that well as like we thought maybe well, we

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thought he would work well as a as a point

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like the idea was like, oh, he'll replace Dylan Brooks

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in the starting lineup, but also replaced Tys Jones as

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a backup point guard. He was not good as a facilitator,

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But all of a sudden, Desmond Bain was like, hey,

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desib Ban is a pretty good point guard or combo

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guard for the lack of a better term, Like he

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was a good facilitator. So the hope is a lot

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of those half court concerns that you that are going

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to be a problem, maybe when you get to the playoffs,

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those are going to be fixed by having more and

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more guys who can create their own shot. When there's

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five seconds left on the shot clock. It's not going

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to be just Jahn Morant please bail us out, or

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just getting up on the rim. Maybe we'll grab the rebound.

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Jaw and Desmond and Jaren all should be able to

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create for themselves. And I think that's just going to

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make it so much easier as far as scoring for

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this team. When you get those huge clutch possessions end

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of games and in the postseason.

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Speaker 1: I think we've maybe even Gigi Jackson will take it

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upon himself to soak up some of those some of

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those reps.

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Speaker 2: I meant, I don't Gg Jackson is a big question mark.

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He absolutely is one of the best guys on the

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team at creating his own shot. Whether or not it's

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a good shot, who knows. I doubt he's going to

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be on the court in those pressure situations. He's not

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like going to be part of the closing five or anything.

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But I think eventually, you know, we I do hope

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that will be yet another avenue, another outlet for a

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guy who can get you points, you know, when the

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shot cucks running down.

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Speaker 1: So are we able to take anything away from the

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Marcus Smart experience last year again, and just to reiterate,

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I'm sure anyone who listens to your podcest so is

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the four players that were all interested in playing two

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hundred and thirty eight possessions together last year, joh j Aaron,

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Marcus Smart hasn't been so like, there's nothing to take

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away from that. And Marcus Smart had like kind of

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ubsurd shot making by his standards inside the arc, didn't

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shoot too well from three. But I kept coming back

377
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to the turnovers, just on the drives in the pick

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and roles. How big of a concern is that versus well,

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that's just a function of look at what he was

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playing within last year.

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Speaker 2: I thought, Okay, I'm trying to remember back there weren't

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that many games, Dan, let's see, I think he played.

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He played twenty games. So you mentioned the turnovers. That

384
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was one of the things where I remember, Like, you know,

385
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as a fan, you want to feel good about your team,

386
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and maybe sometimes when you feel like you feel somebody's

387
00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,200
critics I think your team, you naturally want to push back.

388
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But one of the things I was I remember last

389
00:19:04,079 --> 00:19:07,599
year being like, look at Marcus Smart's shooting percentages and

390
00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:11,480
his turnovers, that's absurd, Like the number of turnovers he

391
00:19:11,599 --> 00:19:15,039
has is outrageous. His shooting percentage is three hoo percentage.

392
00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,759
I mean, he's not a good three point shooter, but

393
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this was still on the bottom level, lower level of

394
00:19:20,279 --> 00:19:22,599
his career numbers. Again only twenty games, which a small

395
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:27,519
sample size. He did steal the ball a pretty good amount.

396
00:19:27,559 --> 00:19:30,200
I think it was two steals per game. But going

397
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back to your main question, I don't know if we

398
00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:37,319
can take that much from it. It it looked bad

399
00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:41,240
the look of him playing with Desmond bay and Jery

400
00:19:41,279 --> 00:19:45,359
Jackson Junior. The Grizzlies were bad. Like the Grizzlies last year,

401
00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:48,519
were basically the worst offense in the NBA the entire year.

402
00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,799
And when you look at the season total, you say, well, yes,

403
00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,960
they missed all their players. Desmond Baan only played half

404
00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:01,039
the season, John missed the whole season, Marcus missed three

405
00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:03,480
fourths of the season. But if you look at the

406
00:20:03,599 --> 00:20:07,640
first twenty games, first fifteen games when Jared Jackson Junior

407
00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:10,920
Doesn'tvane and Marcus Smart were all there, and we thought

408
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,559
that Grizzlies were going to be competitive. During those twenty

409
00:20:13,559 --> 00:20:18,079
five games when Jaw was out, the offense was last

410
00:20:18,079 --> 00:20:20,839
in the NBA during those games too, so like it was,

411
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,599
it was a hard watch. Now, maybe it was just

412
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a slow acclamation process because the last few games that

413
00:20:27,319 --> 00:20:31,240
Marcus played it got better. And it's hard to remember

414
00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:35,599
because the season was so bad. But Marcus's last three games,

415
00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:38,599
the Grizzlies were on a road trip. They beat the Lakers,

416
00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:41,119
they beat the Suns, they beat the Mavericks, and all

417
00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:43,000
those teams played all their guys. This wasn't in a

418
00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,160
situation where they were like resting players. No, no, no. The

419
00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,000
Grizzlies with John Moriant blew out the Lakers and then

420
00:20:49,079 --> 00:20:50,839
John Murran got hurt. That was his last game of

421
00:20:50,839 --> 00:20:52,400
the year. The next two games they beat the Suns,

422
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,160
they beat the MAVs. Marcus Mart's playing great, Vince Williams

423
00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:58,519
Junior has emerged been a big part of the lineup,

424
00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:01,480
so they started winning. So maybe you can say it

425
00:21:01,559 --> 00:21:06,279
was starting to come together. But I think overall conclusion, no,

426
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:10,359
it's hard to draw any firm conclusions about what Marcus

427
00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:10,880
did last.

428
00:21:10,799 --> 00:21:13,680
Speaker 1: Year, so it's fair to then still be hopeful about

429
00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:16,279
like what his fit will be on this team. Then

430
00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:18,319
I feel like it would be unfair to say it's

431
00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:20,400
not great. But I do feel like the whole theory

432
00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:22,759
of I will say based off what I saw from

433
00:21:22,759 --> 00:21:25,240
Marcus mart last season, and he played whatever it was

434
00:21:25,279 --> 00:21:27,559
twenty games. I did not see all twenty of those games.

435
00:21:27,559 --> 00:21:30,759
I've watched possessions for most of them. It puts more

436
00:21:30,839 --> 00:21:34,240
pressure on Desmond Vane to like be that type of playmaker.

437
00:21:34,279 --> 00:21:36,000
And you do have Vince Williams with like see how

438
00:21:36,039 --> 00:21:38,359
he factors in. Derek Rose is still floating around on

439
00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:40,440
this team right hes still on their payroll. But I

440
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:43,200
feel less confident in Marcus mart And I never felt

441
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:45,400
too confident because the turnover stuff was an issue in Boston,

442
00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:47,279
by the way, and they had a good team, like

443
00:21:47,319 --> 00:21:48,960
he wasn't dealing like they were healthy a lot of

444
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,000
the times while he was there. So I think I'm

445
00:21:51,039 --> 00:21:52,880
more I think I'm less sold to ever on the

446
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,160
idea that Marcus Martin come in and kind of steward

447
00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,319
the offense in some of their secondary lineup. So that's

448
00:21:58,319 --> 00:22:00,680
probably the thing with him. I'll be watching most and

449
00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:02,119
not just in the sense of can he do it?

450
00:22:02,279 --> 00:22:04,079
How much of an opportunity are they going to even

451
00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:05,480
give him to do it at this point?

452
00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:09,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the big question is still how he's

453
00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:12,880
gonna fit once John Morant is there. We only got

454
00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:16,359
a handful of games, you know, with with John des

455
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:20,160
Marcus and Jaren. And the thing I keep saying, like

456
00:22:20,519 --> 00:22:22,039
one of my thoughts that I had that I that

457
00:22:22,079 --> 00:22:25,680
I keep repeating now is like if Marcus is playing

458
00:22:25,839 --> 00:22:30,240
with the other presumed best players in Zach Edy, like

459
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:34,759
you basically don't want Marcus Smart to shoot any Marcus

460
00:22:34,799 --> 00:22:39,119
Smart shot is a shot that Joa Morant, Desmond Bane,

461
00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:44,160
Jared Jackson Junior or Zach Edy aren't shooting. And those

462
00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:49,839
four guys are way more efficient at scoring. So I

463
00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:51,599
think one of the big question marks for the Grizzlies

464
00:22:51,599 --> 00:22:54,880
like those are probably the presumed starters. I've been saying

465
00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:59,480
for like nine months now that Vince Williams Junior should

466
00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,400
be the starter because Vince does not shoot unless he's

467
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,920
absolutely wide open, unless he's dunking or wide open from three,

468
00:23:06,079 --> 00:23:08,319
Vince is not gonna shoot. So I think it does

469
00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:12,480
maybe makes more sense to have a lower usage defender,

470
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,200
rebounder guy in there and then maybe some second unit stuff.

471
00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,640
Marcus let it fly, brother, and then you can close

472
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,279
games with Marcus. I mean, Marcus, he is a winner

473
00:23:22,559 --> 00:23:27,079
and he makes those winning plays, right whether yeah, Jamaran

474
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:34,039
selfish guy man nine assists per game Selfish, No, yeah,

475
00:23:34,319 --> 00:23:36,759
Marcus Mart you know he's gonna come up with the

476
00:23:36,799 --> 00:23:38,920
loose ball, he's gonna make the charge, he's gonna block

477
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:40,880
a shot, get a steal, he's gonna be hit a

478
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,920
clutch three probably, and so like, I'm finally closing with Marcus.

479
00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:46,319
But right now the question is like, yeah, how does

480
00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:50,160
it fit when everybody's healthy and you mentioned it, like,

481
00:23:50,279 --> 00:23:52,359
is there still hope? Yeah, I think there is still

482
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:54,559
hope that that's gonna be the big thing. Also, it

483
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,799
better be because he did nothing this offseason. Dan, I

484
00:23:57,839 --> 00:24:01,000
think this's I mean joking aside, this soft season is

485
00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:04,920
I think maybe it's generously explained, if you don't just

486
00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:08,119
think they're trying to avoid paying the luxury tax, it's

487
00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:11,200
generously explained by saying no, no, no, no. They want to

488
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,400
see what they have because they didn't get to This

489
00:24:14,599 --> 00:24:18,359
is a this is a reaffirmation of the previous offseason.

490
00:24:18,559 --> 00:24:21,119
Where are we traded for Marcus Smart? So let's see

491
00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:23,960
what we have before we make any kind of big,

492
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:27,200
aggressive upgrade on the wing or we traded away any

493
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:29,559
future picks or anything. Let's see what it looks like

494
00:24:29,839 --> 00:24:32,400
with Marcus alongside John, Jaron and Dez.

495
00:24:32,759 --> 00:24:34,319
Speaker 1: I mean, didn't have to be a big They could

496
00:24:34,319 --> 00:24:36,680
have at least used their mid level exception that would.

497
00:24:36,599 --> 00:24:37,960
Speaker 2: We don't do that in Memphis.

498
00:24:39,599 --> 00:24:42,440
Speaker 1: We've gone almost twenty two minutes without talking about Zach Eaty,

499
00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:45,359
which is either terrible or fantastic podcasting. I don't know which.

500
00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:47,559
I have many questions about him, but the first one

501
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:49,839
is what do you think is going to be most

502
00:24:49,839 --> 00:24:51,960
noticeable or what are you most excited to watch about

503
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,200
his impact on this team? And why is it Instagram

504
00:24:55,279 --> 00:24:56,599
hype videos with John Morant?

505
00:24:57,279 --> 00:24:59,400
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know why it's Instagram hype videos.

506
00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:01,759
I mean I do. People are just excited about new guys.

507
00:25:01,799 --> 00:25:05,680
I'm excited about Zach edy internet phenomenon. It seems like

508
00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:08,480
he has tons of fans and I gotta say, man,

509
00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:12,200
he drives traffic. So definitely, when you're advertising this show,

510
00:25:12,279 --> 00:25:15,000
you need to use some Zach Ey art. I mean,

511
00:25:15,039 --> 00:25:17,359
I guess it's just you play college that long. I mean,

512
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:19,799
he's a college basketball player that I knew of and

513
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,240
knew what he looked like to break through to my

514
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:25,839
total ignorance of college basketball. The guy had to be

515
00:25:25,839 --> 00:25:31,119
a big deal. But what does he bring besides height,

516
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,240
which is not to be underrated. The Grizzlies need height.

517
00:25:35,039 --> 00:25:40,200
He brings hopefully unbelievable screening, which is going to be

518
00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:44,279
I think very key to getting these downhill lanes for

519
00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:46,559
ja Morant and Desimbane to get back to the basket.

520
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:48,720
The Grizzlies, I think are going to be one of

521
00:25:48,799 --> 00:25:52,440
the top paint scoring teams. Again, we're not.

522
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,400
Speaker 1: I'm sure teams have this data available, but I want

523
00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:58,400
a stat of like how much space is like generated

524
00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:00,880
by these screens, like the oh it opens up, because

525
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,680
Zach Edy will fucking probably set the record for that,

526
00:26:04,079 --> 00:26:06,079
or at least that.

527
00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:09,640
Speaker 2: First summer league game he played. I think they're playing

528
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,640
the Jazz in the Salt Lake City Summer League. Everyone

529
00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:15,200
was like hyping up. You know, he blocked a shot

530
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:19,240
or like he he dunked on Walker ketchl That's fine,

531
00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,960
But one of the first plays he set a screen

532
00:26:23,079 --> 00:26:26,920
for Scottie Pippen Junior and Scotty Pippen Junior had like

533
00:26:27,039 --> 00:26:29,240
nine yards of space in front of him, like it

534
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:34,119
was the I was like, I don't know screen space,

535
00:26:34,279 --> 00:26:39,119
generated screen assists something come up with an acronym. But yeah,

536
00:26:39,519 --> 00:26:43,839
I think the the you know, like the screens that

537
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:45,839
even Steven Adams was great at the ones where you

538
00:26:45,839 --> 00:26:47,839
spread your legs a little bit too far, but they

539
00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:51,440
don't call it like Zach Edy is so big, he's

540
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,839
going to free up everybody so much. And then beyond that,

541
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,119
just his size and rebounding inside, the way he was

542
00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:01,519
just pushing guys all. We only saw him play like

543
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:04,920
one in a third Summer League games, but the way

544
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,759
he boxed out it was Brooke low Pezzi in and

545
00:27:07,799 --> 00:27:10,400
it was Steven Adams just move like guys can't get

546
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,160
around him, like they had no hope of getting around him.

547
00:27:13,279 --> 00:27:17,359
So the rebounding, the screening, and then I think he's

548
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,480
not gonna get double teamed. Ever, he should be able

549
00:27:20,519 --> 00:27:23,240
to put the ball in the basket pretty easily, I

550
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:24,799
think a lot. I think it's gonna be a big

551
00:27:24,839 --> 00:27:27,079
mismatch for teams on the offensive end. So I think

552
00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:29,920
all of that stuff is really going to unlock a

553
00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:31,079
lot of things for the Grizzlies.

554
00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:35,720
Speaker 1: Is there when you look at some of his limitations,

555
00:27:35,759 --> 00:27:38,599
What would be your biggest concern about leaning on him,

556
00:27:38,799 --> 00:27:40,880
you know, to play such a significant role as.

557
00:27:40,759 --> 00:27:44,559
Speaker 2: A rookie, I think the only one. And I'm again

558
00:27:44,599 --> 00:27:46,960
I'm not an expert on any of the draft guys yet,

559
00:27:47,039 --> 00:27:48,480
Like I said, I don't know any of the college

560
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,920
players unless they're Zach Edie heard there. That famous the

561
00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,440
defensive issue on if he has to guard, you know,

562
00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:59,160
a perimeter player, if he gets switched out, you assume

563
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,960
that he's gonna play constantly and drop and not actually

564
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,119
get switched on to anybody the perimeter, Like what's that

565
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,400
gonna look like? How much of a scramble mode is

566
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:10,720
that gonna put the Grizzlies into and put them at disadvantages?

567
00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:14,759
Is he gonna be able to, you know, guard a

568
00:28:14,759 --> 00:28:16,920
guy like Brook Lopez who just stands on the perimeter, Like,

569
00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,400
are you gonna lose some stuff there? But I have

570
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:24,119
very few concerns about it, Like, I think it's gonna

571
00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:27,079
be totally fine, especially when you consider the rest of

572
00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:31,079
the Grizzlies players. They're very good at defense. You have

573
00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:33,920
Jerry Jackson junior freed up to be more of the

574
00:28:34,039 --> 00:28:36,519
roamer he was the year he won Defensive Player of

575
00:28:36,559 --> 00:28:39,839
the Year. You have Marcus Smart even if he's lost

576
00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,319
a step. Very good defender. Vince Williams Junior is a

577
00:28:42,319 --> 00:28:44,880
great defender. This was a team last year that was

578
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,079
in the top ten in defense despite having none of

579
00:28:47,079 --> 00:28:51,119
their regular players. They lost their grip on that in

580
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:54,680
the final few weeks of the season. But like this

581
00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:58,720
team has been good at defense every year under Taylor Jenkins,

582
00:28:58,759 --> 00:29:01,440
I think they have enough play to make up for

583
00:29:01,519 --> 00:29:03,480
that for whatever limitations Zach ed you might have on

584
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,559
the perimeter, but then in the paint he's gonna be

585
00:29:06,559 --> 00:29:09,640
this huge deterrent. And also I think his rebounding, I mean,

586
00:29:09,839 --> 00:29:12,880
end the possession with the defensive rebound, He's gonna boost

587
00:29:13,039 --> 00:29:16,079
a lot there. So because of that, I have maybe

588
00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,960
not that many concerns, you know, about maybe issues he

589
00:29:20,039 --> 00:29:22,319
has guarding ball handlers and having it to go out

590
00:29:22,319 --> 00:29:22,880
on the perimeter.

591
00:29:23,559 --> 00:29:26,839
Speaker 1: I it's funny that I share the non concern with

592
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:29,200
you because I felt so much differently about Donovan Klingen

593
00:29:29,279 --> 00:29:30,920
in Portland and then he kind of sold me in

594
00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:33,440
Summer League with Zach Edi. Look at the personnel around

595
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:36,000
the Grizzlies and I feel like they just have Jared,

596
00:29:36,079 --> 00:29:37,720
just you and Marcus Smart, Vince Williams if he's on

597
00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:39,160
the floor like they have the guys, or if you

598
00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:41,880
need to bring Zach Edy out, like I wouldn't even

599
00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:43,799
call it scramble mode. Like they're just gonna be smarter

600
00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:46,480
with their rotations and discipline enough where I would know.

601
00:29:46,559 --> 00:29:48,880
Do I want to see like Zach Edy like coming

602
00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:50,680
all the way out and guarding above the free throw

603
00:29:50,759 --> 00:29:53,119
line all the time? No, but like we've seen him

604
00:29:53,119 --> 00:29:54,680
do it a little bit, and they have the personnel

605
00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:57,640
to insulate him when teams try to force him to

606
00:29:57,640 --> 00:29:59,839
do that. And so I find myself I think higher

607
00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:01,720
on his fit that I feel like I really should

608
00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:04,640
be for a team that is this good and they're

609
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:06,480
leaning on a player who's so new, which I guess

610
00:30:06,519 --> 00:30:08,720
kind of leads me to my next question is like

611
00:30:08,799 --> 00:30:10,720
he's just gonna play a huge role for them right

612
00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:11,240
out of the gate.

613
00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:14,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would think so, I would guess that he starts.

614
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:18,039
As far as the number of minutes he plays, I

615
00:30:18,039 --> 00:30:21,079
think that's a big question mark. They they didn't even

616
00:30:21,079 --> 00:30:24,519
play Steven Adams that many minutes. They didn't play before him,

617
00:30:24,559 --> 00:30:28,759
Jonnestan Chuns didn't play that many minutes. I'm curious if

618
00:30:28,799 --> 00:30:31,200
they play him more than like twenty four minutes a game,

619
00:30:31,559 --> 00:30:33,640
I would guess it's gonna be somewhere in that twenty

620
00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:36,319
to twenty four minutes a game. I know a Purdue

621
00:30:36,359 --> 00:30:38,680
he was very healthy and he played a ton of

622
00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,319
minutes for that basketball team. I don't think they're gonna

623
00:30:41,359 --> 00:30:44,279
lean that hard in him. Also, the Grizzlies typically keep

624
00:30:44,319 --> 00:30:46,799
their minutes low for their for their team, they just

625
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:49,160
spread out the playing time. They normally played ten guys

626
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:51,000
every game, but only good.

627
00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:52,920
Speaker 1: Enough to where that's not a problem during the regular

628
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:53,480
season too.

629
00:30:53,599 --> 00:30:57,359
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so I think. I also think organizationally, it's

630
00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:00,480
just part of their It's their belief that, hey, we're

631
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,960
gonna play ten deep the whole season. We're gonna give

632
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,119
these guys experience early, even if there are growing pains,

633
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:08,519
so they're ready to contribute down the line. And I

634
00:31:08,519 --> 00:31:10,200
think it's paid off for him and a lot of

635
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:14,359
the guys who have developed under their watch. But yeah,

636
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:17,640
I think he's gonna be asked to start. And one

637
00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:19,640
of the questions if you have a question about the Grizzlies,

638
00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:21,759
you know or a concern, I think it is you

639
00:31:21,799 --> 00:31:25,160
know what happens in games? He doesn't play like Edie.

640
00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:28,160
Same situation. What happens in games that Jaron Jackson Junior

641
00:31:28,519 --> 00:31:33,240
doesn't play the big man rotation? There are competent players

642
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:35,960
on the roster. Brandon Clark coming off the Achilles injury,

643
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:37,799
he played a few games last year. If he can

644
00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:41,680
return to form totally, that's a guy you depend on

645
00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:44,599
and like. But also I don't think he can play

646
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:49,079
alongside Zach Edy unless Edie actually makes three pointers like

647
00:31:49,119 --> 00:31:52,720
he was doing in some of these workout clips. So like,

648
00:31:53,759 --> 00:31:56,240
Brandon Clark maybe not an awesome fit alongside Edie. And

649
00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:58,559
then Santi al Dama. This is the last year Santi

650
00:31:58,599 --> 00:32:00,839
al Dama's rookie deal. A lot of questions about him,

651
00:32:01,319 --> 00:32:04,039
and the question for the Grizzlies is going to be

652
00:32:04,559 --> 00:32:08,279
in in games that Jaren misses or that Zach misses

653
00:32:08,559 --> 00:32:10,839
or even when those guys are off the court. Yeah,

654
00:32:10,839 --> 00:32:13,720
what's the big man rotation gonna be? Like? And how

655
00:32:13,759 --> 00:32:14,680
effective will it be?

656
00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:16,720
Speaker 1: That was actually my like, how do you is it

657
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:20,119
just overgoing to like like I guess how I mean,

658
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:22,200
Jared Jackson is gonna play more minutes than Zach Edie,

659
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,200
But is this gonna be a situation where Okay, Zach

660
00:32:24,319 --> 00:32:26,839
Edy's off the court, So we see Jared Jackson Junior

661
00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:28,319
in Santi al Dama. Is it gonna be more of

662
00:32:28,359 --> 00:32:30,359
a hockey like we're gonna see Brandon Clark in Santia

663
00:32:30,359 --> 00:32:32,920
al Dama, Or we're just gonna see like Gigi slide

664
00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:34,680
up to the four next to Jaron Jackson Junior. Like

665
00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:36,079
if you had to guess, or if you were running

666
00:32:36,079 --> 00:32:39,640
this team, like how do you manage those secondary frontline minutes?

667
00:32:40,039 --> 00:32:43,160
Speaker 2: I think their priority is going to be to get

668
00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:46,359
a lot of Jaren and Brandon front court minutes together.

669
00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:49,519
That's always been an incredible pairing for the Grizzlies historically,

670
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:53,319
just outrageous two man net rating for those guys. It

671
00:32:53,359 --> 00:32:55,440
feels like it's always like plus fifteen per one hundred

672
00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:58,640
posessions for plus seventeen, you know, most years. So I

673
00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:00,920
think that's what they're gonna normally close with, and I

674
00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:03,559
think that's what they're gonna focus on. The issue again

675
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:05,839
comes up with like what happens when Jaren doesn't play

676
00:33:06,039 --> 00:33:10,839
every lineup, every big man combination works with Jared Jackson Junior.

677
00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:13,279
That's one of the great compliments of Jared, Like Jared's awesome.

678
00:33:13,359 --> 00:33:17,839
He's a fantastic player. It's a good defender. Whatever criticisms

679
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:20,960
people have about his rebounding, it's like, get over it.

680
00:33:21,039 --> 00:33:25,000
Like no one said, why isn't Andre Karalinko a better rebounder?

681
00:33:25,079 --> 00:33:27,759
I don't remember it. No one said it back then.

682
00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:32,839
Speaker 1: No U. But he didn't play for tm USA, that's right.

683
00:33:32,799 --> 00:33:35,400
Speaker 2: That's right, I didn't. I didn't see Joel Embiid owning

684
00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:40,319
the glass in the Olympics. Anyways, Uh, what happens when

685
00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:42,119
Jared comes off? And that is the huge question mark.

686
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:45,400
I do think they will try to you know, they'll

687
00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:47,960
start Edie, start Jaren. One of them will come off.

688
00:33:48,559 --> 00:33:50,799
If if Brandon comes off, I mean, excuse me. If

689
00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:52,640
Jared comes off first, then I think Santy is the

690
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:55,839
guy to play alongside you know, Edie. But if it's

691
00:33:55,839 --> 00:33:58,400
the other ways, I just think you're focused on Jared

692
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:02,279
with Santy, Jaren with Brandon, and then it still is

693
00:34:02,279 --> 00:34:04,000
a question mark. And that's one of the issues maybe

694
00:34:04,039 --> 00:34:06,599
I have with the roster. It's still like it feels

695
00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:09,760
one big short or one useful big I know they

696
00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:13,599
signed Jay Huff, who was awesome in Summer League. I

697
00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:16,079
believe he's twenty seven year old guy on a two way.

698
00:34:16,639 --> 00:34:20,159
Maybe Jay Huff is the answer, but it did seem like,

699
00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:22,559
all right, if Jared's in foul trouble or if Edie

700
00:34:22,559 --> 00:34:25,199
and Jared missed some games, it's a question mark, like

701
00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:27,920
maybe they do that they sized down with Gigi at

702
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:32,039
the four, j Claaravia at the four, Vince Williams Junior,

703
00:34:32,159 --> 00:34:34,880
or Marcus Smart at the four, And that goes back

704
00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,440
to the overall lack of size for this team. Outside

705
00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:42,119
of Gig Jackson, there aren't wings with size really, and

706
00:34:42,199 --> 00:34:45,199
it seems like the NBA, the good teams have wings

707
00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:50,599
with size, So that is I think a valid question mark.

708
00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:53,119
Speaker 1: Well, you mentioned two guys I wanted to talk about.

709
00:34:53,199 --> 00:34:55,639
Let's start with Gigi. What sort of stood out to

710
00:34:55,679 --> 00:34:57,800
you the most about what he did for the grizz

711
00:34:57,880 --> 00:34:58,440
last season.

712
00:34:59,679 --> 00:35:03,599
Speaker 2: I mean, the number of ways that he can score

713
00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:09,119
is incredible, and part of that is when you factor

714
00:35:09,159 --> 00:35:11,599
in his age he was the youngest player in the

715
00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:14,159
NBA last year. Also when you factor in his size,

716
00:35:14,519 --> 00:35:17,079
you know, like six' eight, six ' nine, the fact

717
00:35:17,079 --> 00:35:19,559
that he made threes but also could create his own

718
00:35:19,639 --> 00:35:22,159
jump shot and then he'd get to the basket. I mean,

719
00:35:22,159 --> 00:35:25,280
I know it's summer league, but he had a play

720
00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:27,880
against the Pelicans in Summer League this year. It was

721
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:31,480
like a euro step from half court, like like it

722
00:35:31,519 --> 00:35:34,760
will not not in a transition opportunity. It was like

723
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:37,519
into the game, I'm dribbling it out near half court.

724
00:35:37,559 --> 00:35:40,039
It was Ja Moran esque where it's like he picks

725
00:35:40,119 --> 00:35:42,480
up his dribble to three point line and then euros

726
00:35:42,519 --> 00:35:44,519
towards the bucket for just a layup and you're like,

727
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:49,400
who can do that? And not to be rhetorical, it's like, okay, uh,

728
00:35:49,599 --> 00:35:54,239
Yannis can uh, Lebron can uh. It was it's like

729
00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:56,440
this list of guys and you're like, and by the way,

730
00:35:56,480 --> 00:36:00,519
that guy is nineteen. He's still younger than everyone else's

731
00:36:00,519 --> 00:36:02,880
playing in summer league, and so I think just the

732
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:06,519
way he can score at every level. A lot of

733
00:36:06,519 --> 00:36:08,639
it was garbage time for the NBA season, like he

734
00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:11,400
scored forty four points in the last game of the

735
00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:14,719
regular season. But he did have some big games back

736
00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:17,400
when it sort of mattered. He had the big game

737
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:19,679
on T and T. He had great games against the

738
00:36:19,719 --> 00:36:22,400
Warriors and Knicks, and it's like he was coming off

739
00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:24,440
the bench and all of a sudden, there's this eighteen

740
00:36:24,519 --> 00:36:27,679
year old who could score twenty points, who also has

741
00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:30,280
the athleticism in the size we are like, whoa, that's

742
00:36:30,639 --> 00:36:33,400
prototypical And so all of that I think is the

743
00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:35,199
most exciting stuff about gg right now.

744
00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:37,719
Speaker 1: And do you think what he does in watching him?

745
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,400
I would believe that it does. The way he scores

746
00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:44,079
like translates to play finishing to where I don't worry about, well,

747
00:36:44,079 --> 00:36:46,719
how does Gig Jackson fit if you're gonna play him

748
00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:48,960
with John Moran and Desmond Ban and Jared Jackson Junior

749
00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:50,920
a ton of minutes, that just seems like something where

750
00:36:51,159 --> 00:36:53,079
even his full floor motor or willingness to like kind

751
00:36:53,079 --> 00:36:55,400
of move away from the ball, it feels like he

752
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:58,239
should fit into their full strength And I hate that

753
00:36:58,239 --> 00:36:59,719
I have to use his caveat with this team every

754
00:36:59,719 --> 00:37:01,679
single time, but the full strength offense, it feels like

755
00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:03,000
he will be a pretty clean fit.

756
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:07,199
Speaker 2: For I think. So the concern is does he shoot

757
00:37:07,199 --> 00:37:10,519
too much? Like the concern is can he seamously fit

758
00:37:10,559 --> 00:37:12,800
into a lower usage roll? That's gonna be I think

759
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:15,519
one of the big challenges for him, Like they're gonna

760
00:37:15,559 --> 00:37:18,679
ask him to like Hey, buddy, we need you to

761
00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:22,960
defend and rebound. And that was the challenge they actually

762
00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:24,920
gave him at Summer League this year. They're like, we

763
00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:27,880
know you can score, we want you to defend and rebound.

764
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:30,679
He did a great job rebounding in Summer League. He

765
00:37:30,679 --> 00:37:32,639
got a lot of offensive rebounds. It's one of those

766
00:37:32,679 --> 00:37:34,840
things where when you watch Summer League, you're like, oh,

767
00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:37,079
that guy's getting a lot of offensive rebounds because he's

768
00:37:37,119 --> 00:37:40,840
just physically better and different and bigger than everyone else.

769
00:37:41,239 --> 00:37:46,360
And fair criticism, but also awesome criticism for a nineteen

770
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:48,679
year old who's still younger than everybody in the Summer League.

771
00:37:48,719 --> 00:37:52,440
We're like, yeah, gg Jackson looks physically different than everyone

772
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:55,119
else out there. That's why he's averaging three offensive rebounds

773
00:37:55,119 --> 00:37:57,719
per game in Summer League. So I think he will

774
00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,199
accept the challenge. There were some clips of him on

775
00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:03,280
social media of just standing in the corner, like what

776
00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:06,159
she's supposed to do. He's standing in the corner facing

777
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:08,840
and some I was like, yeah, Gigi has to do this.

778
00:38:09,039 --> 00:38:10,639
You know, they're asking him to go stand in the

779
00:38:10,679 --> 00:38:13,480
corner and and like I believe he responded to it

780
00:38:13,519 --> 00:38:15,360
with something like just play a role, play my role,

781
00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:17,639
and that's if he plays his role. Yes, I do

782
00:38:17,719 --> 00:38:19,920
think the fit is seamless. It's another guy that the

783
00:38:20,199 --> 00:38:23,719
defense has to worry about that has to honor his shot,

784
00:38:24,119 --> 00:38:26,039
whether they or not the shot is real. I think

785
00:38:26,039 --> 00:38:29,639
that's a question. His range is outrageous, but also he

786
00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:32,639
sometimes takes outrageous in a bad way shots where you're like,

787
00:38:32,679 --> 00:38:35,320
you shot that six feet behind the line. I don't

788
00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:38,639
know if that was your shot, sir, Like you know

789
00:38:38,679 --> 00:38:40,480
that that's that's going to be the whole thing for

790
00:38:40,559 --> 00:38:42,639
this whole year where it's like, guys, we have Zach

791
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:46,559
Edy posting up whoever it is you know inside like

792
00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:49,400
and also by the way, Ja Morant and Desmond Bay

793
00:38:49,639 --> 00:38:53,760
are on your team. So it's a good problem to

794
00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:56,079
have now for the Grizzlies where you have guys who

795
00:38:56,079 --> 00:38:58,679
can score and and getting them to fit in with

796
00:38:58,719 --> 00:38:59,440
the better players.

797
00:39:00,239 --> 00:39:03,079
Speaker 1: Would set out to you the most about Vince Williams

798
00:39:03,079 --> 00:39:05,159
and why is it the flamboyants on his wrist whenever

799
00:39:05,159 --> 00:39:06,800
he throws a pass. I think it's my favorite. I

800
00:39:07,079 --> 00:39:10,360
every time I watch him throw a pass, it's like exaggerated,

801
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:12,840
and I worry about his wrists and shoulders do we

802
00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:14,199
have Do.

803
00:39:14,199 --> 00:39:17,440
Speaker 2: We have the tracking data that measures the speed of

804
00:39:17,639 --> 00:39:19,079
passes in the NBA?

805
00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:19,320
Speaker 1: Do?

806
00:39:20,119 --> 00:39:25,079
Speaker 2: I not even joking. I texted people early on when

807
00:39:25,159 --> 00:39:27,760
Vince Williams Junior started playing for the Grizzlies, when he

808
00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:32,840
finally got into rotation, I was like, his passes moved faster, right,

809
00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:38,960
like he whips those balls across the court. Like, I'm

810
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:41,679
not even joking. I think Vince Williams Junior's passes moved

811
00:39:41,679 --> 00:39:46,119
faster than most players. What stands out the most, He's awesome, Dan,

812
00:39:46,719 --> 00:39:49,559
He's incredible. I don't know if everybody out there has

813
00:39:49,559 --> 00:39:54,480
watched Vince Williams Junior play. He is the best glue guy.

814
00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:57,800
I mean maybe best, maybe like Drew Holliday is the

815
00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:02,440
best glue guy. But he is as far as a unspectacular,

816
00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:08,360
under the radar, unknown guy. He's so good at defense.

817
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:15,000
He had a stretch where it was like successive games

818
00:40:15,039 --> 00:40:17,400
I'm forgetting because it's August in the season a song ago.

819
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:21,320
He had successive games where like he guarded Kevin Durant.

820
00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:23,440
He was the team's primary defender on Kevin Durant, and

821
00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:26,360
he did a passable job. And then he's guarding Kyrie Irving,

822
00:40:26,519 --> 00:40:28,639
and Kyrie Irving got a technical foul. He got so

823
00:40:28,679 --> 00:40:31,320
frustrated he shoved him and then like he's guarded. I

824
00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:33,440
can't remember the next one. He's like, he's like guarding Lebron.

825
00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:36,400
He's having he guarded Steph Curry. There's a famous clip

826
00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:39,119
from last year. Actually the NBA Social team put it

827
00:40:39,119 --> 00:40:43,119
out earlier this week where it was like Handles Weekend

828
00:40:43,159 --> 00:40:47,519
the NBA and Steph Curry did this spectacular thing where

829
00:40:47,559 --> 00:40:50,880
he basically carried Vince Williams Junior all around the court

830
00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:53,639
before making a layup, and it's like a big spectacular

831
00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:57,960
Steph Curry play. Vince Williams Junior's defense on this play

832
00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:02,760
is so amazing, Like, yeah, STEP's gonna beat you sometimes.

833
00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:05,519
But also in that clip, there's a photo of Vince

834
00:41:05,519 --> 00:41:08,519
Williams Junior and he's just grinning ear to ear The

835
00:41:08,559 --> 00:41:12,199
man might be a little bit off kilter. He's a

836
00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:16,440
he's a tiny bit nuts and like he loves playing defense.

837
00:41:16,719 --> 00:41:20,599
He loves guarding the other guy. Also, so you include that,

838
00:41:20,679 --> 00:41:23,679
you're like, WHOA, this guy's an elite primary defender. This

839
00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:25,239
might this guy might be a better one on one

840
00:41:25,239 --> 00:41:27,880
defender on the perimeter than Marcus Smart. This guy might

841
00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:31,519
be our best perimeter defender. And then you add into that,

842
00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:34,599
this guy might be our best rebounder period, which is.

843
00:41:34,599 --> 00:41:37,280
Speaker 1: Wild six four and just I even so, I looked

844
00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:40,880
because you're a stats I looked this up for you.

845
00:41:41,679 --> 00:41:44,519
Of anyone who is six four or shorter and who

846
00:41:44,559 --> 00:41:47,000
have ever matched his block and steel rates in a

847
00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:50,119
single season. Yeah, nobody has ever had as high of

848
00:41:50,199 --> 00:41:51,920
a defensive rebounding percentage as him.

849
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:54,719
Speaker 2: That's what I'm talking about. It was this thing where

850
00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:57,920
it's like you watch him and I would say, for

851
00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:00,599
a while there, I was like, you know, I get

852
00:42:00,599 --> 00:42:02,599
into the stats and I'm talking about the Grizzlies, and

853
00:42:02,639 --> 00:42:04,679
for a while there, we're bad at rebounding. It starts

854
00:42:04,719 --> 00:42:07,800
with Jaren but like Dylan Brooks was a horrible rebounder,

855
00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:10,920
Desnen Bain is not a naturally good rebounder. John Morant

856
00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:14,119
gets rebounds, but they're all the uncontested, just you know,

857
00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:18,159
useless rebounds. None of these guys have motors. And I

858
00:42:18,199 --> 00:42:20,159
remember being a thing where I'm like, guys, I think

859
00:42:20,239 --> 00:42:24,079
Luke Canard per possession might be like our third best rebounder.

860
00:42:24,159 --> 00:42:27,119
You know or something. But then Vince showed up, and

861
00:42:27,159 --> 00:42:30,039
there's no caveats. It's no longer like for guys six

862
00:42:30,159 --> 00:42:32,480
four or smaller or based on the number of minutes.

863
00:42:32,679 --> 00:42:36,400
It was just no, he's our best rebounder. And there

864
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:37,880
was a while there where he was leading the team

865
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:39,840
in rebounds per game where it was like he's average

866
00:42:39,880 --> 00:42:42,199
like six per game. So all right, he's the best

867
00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:44,519
preimier defender on the team. He's the best rebounder on

868
00:42:44,559 --> 00:42:47,880
the team. He's he throws these fast passes. He's a

869
00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:52,119
useful playmaker, like he can actually pass, and he's and

870
00:42:52,199 --> 00:42:58,079
like getting that a guy who just passes, rebounds and defends.

871
00:42:58,119 --> 00:43:00,000
And oh, by the way, he hit thirty seven percent

872
00:43:00,039 --> 00:43:03,360
of his threes last year. And it's like this is

873
00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:06,239
made in a lab. If you need to have your

874
00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:09,840
fifth starter, the guy to fit alongside two all stars

875
00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:13,320
and a near all star shooter in Desmond Vane, Vince

876
00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:16,719
Williams Jr. Is the guy. So I am over the

877
00:43:16,719 --> 00:43:19,880
moon with Vince Williams Jr. He also specifically fits the

878
00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:23,199
genre of player I enjoyed the most, just like the

879
00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:28,880
hustle guy, the guy yeah like fully turned up but

880
00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:32,960
also getting steels, getting blocks. He also draws offensive fouls.

881
00:43:33,039 --> 00:43:36,239
He is a listen. I don't always love this. I

882
00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:38,639
think a lot of themba's offensive foul rules are wrong,

883
00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:43,360
but hey, it's a it's a fallen world we live in, Dan,

884
00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:46,840
and he's just playing by the rules as written. There

885
00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:48,440
was a game I think it was against the Pistons.

886
00:43:48,719 --> 00:43:53,199
He drew four away from the play offensive fouls not charges,

887
00:43:54,840 --> 00:43:57,199
just like hey, I got Kate cunning him to run

888
00:43:57,280 --> 00:43:59,599
into me and fell over, and hey, maybe it's the

889
00:44:00,039 --> 00:44:02,679
Maybe it's a dark art that let Marcus smart developed

890
00:44:02,679 --> 00:44:06,760
in him. But like he picks up also these just

891
00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:10,280
like those are turnovers. He forces offensive fouls all the time.

892
00:44:10,679 --> 00:44:15,159
Like you better set the best most stationary screen around

893
00:44:15,199 --> 00:44:17,400
Vince Williams Junior, or he's gonna get it out. He's

894
00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:19,159
gonna be a foul called on you because he's gonna fall over,

895
00:44:19,199 --> 00:44:21,800
he's gonna slip, he's gonna throw his legs out. So yeah,

896
00:44:21,840 --> 00:44:24,800
I love Vince Williams Junior. I think he's incredible. And

897
00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:27,639
as we record on August thirtieth, Dan, it's his birthday,

898
00:44:27,639 --> 00:44:30,199
Happy birthday, Happy birthday. Vince just turned twenty four.

899
00:44:30,599 --> 00:44:34,199
Speaker 1: Oh so he's he's like ten years older than Gigi

900
00:44:34,280 --> 00:44:37,880
Jackson though, So that's right, that's right. What is like,

901
00:44:38,320 --> 00:44:40,519
I guess the area of development you'll be monitoring. I

902
00:44:40,519 --> 00:44:43,239
feel like the low hanging fruit is probably the turnovers,

903
00:44:43,280 --> 00:44:45,320
which a lot of those happened where he didn't run

904
00:44:45,840 --> 00:44:47,960
in pure volume a ton of pick and rolls last year,

905
00:44:47,960 --> 00:44:49,760
but he did turn the pall over on thirty percent

906
00:44:50,159 --> 00:44:52,159
of his pick and rolls. And when you watch it's

907
00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:55,159
kind of like you mentioned, the like the the hustle,

908
00:44:55,239 --> 00:44:57,840
that motor, it almost betrays him in those situations where

909
00:44:57,840 --> 00:45:00,239
things might need to slow down, and so to that

910
00:45:00,239 --> 00:45:02,119
feels like a low hanging fruit area. But I'm also

911
00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:04,920
and I'm talking myself out of my own suggestion, is well,

912
00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:07,440
doesn't that matter as much when like John Desmond Bane

913
00:45:07,480 --> 00:45:09,599
and if Marcus Martin all those guys are healthy, how

914
00:45:09,679 --> 00:45:12,400
much playmaking or the Grizzlies going to need to rely

915
00:45:12,519 --> 00:45:12,960
on him for?

916
00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:17,599
Speaker 2: Yeah, the weakest part of his game is the turnovers,

917
00:45:17,719 --> 00:45:19,119
and I do think a lot of it was him

918
00:45:19,159 --> 00:45:22,239
being asked to do too much, Like his handle is

919
00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:26,079
not there for a guy who maybe had the ball's

920
00:45:26,119 --> 00:45:28,599
hands that much. Last year. There were several, you know,

921
00:45:28,679 --> 00:45:33,280
like dribble off his foot situations. Also like the weakness

922
00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:34,719
in his game and the reason he's not an All

923
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:36,360
star of a lot of stuff I was raving about,

924
00:45:36,719 --> 00:45:40,920
like his finishing not great, finishing off the dribble not great.

925
00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:44,320
His shooting, he can't create his own shot. That's why

926
00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:46,880
he is going to be his whole career a lower

927
00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:48,480
usage guy. He's going to be a glue guy his

928
00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:51,920
whole career. Maybe the style of like a James Posey,

929
00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:55,559
you know, like you hope maybe if the shooting keeps improving,

930
00:45:55,599 --> 00:45:58,960
he will rise to that level. But I'm less worried

931
00:45:58,960 --> 00:46:03,119
about the turn when he gets alongside a fully healthy team.

932
00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:04,599
But that is something I think he does need to

933
00:46:04,599 --> 00:46:08,079
work on. Continue working on the handle, continue working on

934
00:46:08,119 --> 00:46:08,920
the shooting.

935
00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:12,840
Speaker 1: Because people like the rank things though, I need your rank.

936
00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:15,480
Who you're higher on long term? Gig Jackson or Vince Williams.

937
00:46:15,480 --> 00:46:17,400
I think Vince Williams better right now, but like Gigi

938
00:46:17,519 --> 00:46:19,679
Jackson has that youth appeal. He's only fourteen.

939
00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:23,480
Speaker 2: I mean, when you put it, who are you higher on?

940
00:46:24,599 --> 00:46:27,440
A safer bet for me is Vince because like if

941
00:46:28,119 --> 00:46:32,519
if the playoffs started now, this week. I think Vince

942
00:46:32,559 --> 00:46:35,880
Williams Junior can give useful minutes basically to every team

943
00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:38,199
in the NBA in the playoffs. I think he's a

944
00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:40,840
postseason player. I think he's that good. I think his

945
00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:44,480
defense plus rebounding, plus hustle plus passing means he can

946
00:46:44,519 --> 00:46:47,519
play in a playoff rotation anywhere. Maybe not like on

947
00:46:47,639 --> 00:46:50,079
the Celtics or something if but like, I don't know,

948
00:46:50,159 --> 00:46:51,719
he'd be the eighth best guy in the Celtics. I'm

949
00:46:51,719 --> 00:46:54,800
pretty sure like he would. He's that good in my mind,

950
00:46:55,000 --> 00:46:57,199
maybe I'm oving my skis on him. He's that good,

951
00:46:57,400 --> 00:47:00,719
But like, who are you higher on? G has the

952
00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:06,159
higher ceiling because the NBA is about scoring and with

953
00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:12,639
his size, athleticism, the range he has on his jump shot,

954
00:47:12,679 --> 00:47:16,960
his ability to score, like those things are all tantalizing.

955
00:47:17,039 --> 00:47:19,079
Vince Williams Junior is never going to be an All

956
00:47:19,119 --> 00:47:21,239
Star and I don't think he has the potential to

957
00:47:21,239 --> 00:47:25,679
be an All Star. Gigi does have the potential to

958
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:30,480
one day be an All Star. But to answer your question,

959
00:47:30,559 --> 00:47:33,159
I'll take Vince. Maybe I'm more of a A bird

960
00:47:33,199 --> 00:47:35,320
in the hand is worth more than two in the bush.

961
00:47:35,519 --> 00:47:38,519
I'm like, this is here and now, it's here and

962
00:47:38,599 --> 00:47:42,920
real right now, I'll take it. But like Gigi's upside,

963
00:47:43,199 --> 00:47:45,119
it is so tantalizing. It's one of the reasons I

964
00:47:45,159 --> 00:47:46,760
don't think either of those guys are like, you know,

965
00:47:46,880 --> 00:47:49,599
they're not movable. You're not going to trade either one

966
00:47:49,599 --> 00:47:51,559
of those guys. The team is so high on both of.

967
00:47:51,519 --> 00:47:55,119
Speaker 1: Them they don't to bring anyone back of consequence anyway.

968
00:47:55,239 --> 00:47:58,920
So that's exactly so this is I know it could

969
00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:02,079
be ascribed to just the injuries, the availability, but the

970
00:48:02,119 --> 00:48:05,239
Grizzlies went from sixth in average offensive possession time in

971
00:48:05,239 --> 00:48:08,159
twenty two to twenty three to twenty third last year.

972
00:48:08,239 --> 00:48:12,000
Was there anything other than just the constant revolving door

973
00:48:12,039 --> 00:48:15,840
of lineups in there that contributed to that? And does

974
00:48:15,880 --> 00:48:18,360
this team even you know, we've talked about rebounding where

975
00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:21,440
we think Vince Williams is still their second best rebounder, Like,

976
00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:24,880
do they have you know, enough of that rebounding juice

977
00:48:24,920 --> 00:48:26,960
to end possessions and then continue to get out in

978
00:48:26,960 --> 00:48:29,199
transition or even hit the offensive glass hard enough to

979
00:48:29,239 --> 00:48:32,840
get back to some of their roots you say average

980
00:48:32,880 --> 00:48:36,039
possession time, Yeah, so it's like it's not factoring in

981
00:48:36,159 --> 00:48:40,039
just transition like it'll impredictable has them, and I prefer it.

982
00:48:40,239 --> 00:48:42,639
I mean, I like transition frequency, but I prefer face

983
00:48:42,960 --> 00:48:45,559
because pace, to me, is too dependent on the other team.

984
00:48:45,599 --> 00:48:47,679
And so if you're looking at the average offensive possession time,

985
00:48:48,000 --> 00:48:50,719
you can just see who in general is faster, like

986
00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:54,000
even after mates like Indie will just run after makes anyway,

987
00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:55,880
and that that they'll see that a little bit better.

988
00:48:55,920 --> 00:48:58,679
Speaker 2: I mean, I think this, I'll be honest with the

989
00:48:58,719 --> 00:49:01,320
listener of stat I've ever followed.

990
00:49:02,719 --> 00:49:04,400
Speaker 1: I do that matters, though, Keith.

991
00:49:04,519 --> 00:49:07,679
Speaker 2: I mean, I like time of possession in a football game.

992
00:49:07,880 --> 00:49:09,519
Is this back to that time where they were like,

993
00:49:09,519 --> 00:49:11,960
did you know Klay Thompson only dribbled the ball six

994
00:49:12,079 --> 00:49:15,880
times in a sixty one point And I'm like, I

995
00:49:15,880 --> 00:49:18,119
don't know, we tracked? Does that matter? Who can like

996
00:49:18,239 --> 00:49:21,239
six dribbles? It feels low, but maybe not. I don't know.

997
00:49:22,119 --> 00:49:23,960
Speaker 1: Well, if you're worrying about their half court offense, I

998
00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:26,119
would say, like the speed at which they're operating on

999
00:49:26,159 --> 00:49:28,239
offense does I would.

1000
00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:32,199
Speaker 2: Say very quite obviously. The way it translates to me,

1001
00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:35,679
it's like this team was good in transition because they

1002
00:49:35,719 --> 00:49:38,039
forced a bunch of turnovers, and they had Ja Morant

1003
00:49:38,119 --> 00:49:42,760
getting towards the basket immediately with Desmond Bain, who also

1004
00:49:42,840 --> 00:49:45,159
was good in transition. With Desmond Bane only playing I

1005
00:49:45,199 --> 00:49:48,320
think maybe thirty nine games with no Ja Morant, all

1006
00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:51,639
that is easily why they would dribble the ball up

1007
00:49:51,679 --> 00:49:54,599
and be like, no one can get a shot, let's

1008
00:49:54,679 --> 00:49:57,079
dribble the ball for a few more seconds. So I

1009
00:49:57,119 --> 00:50:00,159
don't I don't find myself worried about this st I

1010
00:50:00,239 --> 00:50:03,239
just found out about once the team.

1011
00:50:04,119 --> 00:50:06,559
Speaker 1: The speed at which the like is the offense gonna

1012
00:50:06,559 --> 00:50:08,320
get back to its roots of like being able to

1013
00:50:08,360 --> 00:50:10,320
capitalize on those faster paced.

1014
00:50:10,400 --> 00:50:12,599
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think one hundred percent. I mean

1015
00:50:12,639 --> 00:50:16,639
I think that they're you're gonna have Edie getting those rebounds.

1016
00:50:16,800 --> 00:50:19,239
You're gonna get it to your ball handlers. They were

1017
00:50:19,320 --> 00:50:22,159
one of the first teams that I think fully implemented,

1018
00:50:22,519 --> 00:50:26,000
This was like five seasons ago, fully implemented just get

1019
00:50:26,000 --> 00:50:28,639
the ball across half court. I don't care who gets

1020
00:50:28,639 --> 00:50:31,039
the rebound. You know, like this is not give it

1021
00:50:31,079 --> 00:50:33,800
to jog passage to the point guard. They are big

1022
00:50:33,840 --> 00:50:37,280
on getting the defensive rebound and just going and pushing

1023
00:50:37,320 --> 00:50:39,599
it up. And I think they're gonna get back to

1024
00:50:39,639 --> 00:50:41,320
that once they have more talent. I mean they've we

1025
00:50:41,360 --> 00:50:44,079
haven't talked about it, but like last year they played

1026
00:50:44,159 --> 00:50:47,360
thirty three players. I think they had. They had something

1027
00:50:47,440 --> 00:50:50,000
like twenty players score one hundred and fifty points for them,

1028
00:50:50,159 --> 00:50:54,039
which seems impossible. Like they had fifty one different starting lineups.

1029
00:50:54,079 --> 00:50:56,360
Speaker 1: So I number still whenever I see it, the fifty

1030
00:50:56,400 --> 00:50:56,840
one start.

1031
00:50:57,119 --> 00:51:01,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, fifty one different starting lineups. I don't think it, Matt.

1032
00:51:01,559 --> 00:51:03,400
I don't think a lot of those stats matter. And

1033
00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:06,960
I think once you get back to be it the

1034
00:51:07,039 --> 00:51:11,199
more archaic pace or this new fangled average possession time,

1035
00:51:11,519 --> 00:51:14,000
I think that Grizzlies are going to be getting good

1036
00:51:14,039 --> 00:51:16,360
looks early in the shot clock a lot of the

1037
00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:18,239
time once they get their guys back.

1038
00:51:19,199 --> 00:51:21,519
Speaker 1: Are you ready to enter the cookie cutter portion of

1039
00:51:21,559 --> 00:51:22,199
the podcast?

1040
00:51:22,639 --> 00:51:23,639
Speaker 2: Yeah? Sure.

1041
00:51:23,679 --> 00:51:26,719
Speaker 1: Are there any strengths or just elements of this team

1042
00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:28,920
that we haven't discussed that you also just think they're

1043
00:51:28,920 --> 00:51:31,280
not receiving enough attention on a national level.

1044
00:51:32,400 --> 00:51:35,280
Speaker 2: I think on the national level, the thing we hit

1045
00:51:35,320 --> 00:51:38,440
on early on about how the extra reps that Desmond

1046
00:51:38,480 --> 00:51:41,039
Band and Jaron Jackson Junior got, as like the number

1047
00:51:41,039 --> 00:51:45,000
one like top on the scouting report for the other

1048
00:51:45,039 --> 00:51:47,480
team on who they have to stop. I think putting

1049
00:51:47,480 --> 00:51:50,000
those two guys alongside John Moran, it's going to be

1050
00:51:50,039 --> 00:51:52,519
a handful. And I just think the depth that Grizzlies

1051
00:51:52,519 --> 00:51:55,039
have right now, even if they've kind of punted on

1052
00:51:55,079 --> 00:51:57,719
the last five minute on their roster, like the depth

1053
00:51:57,800 --> 00:52:00,360
is spectacular when you compare to other teams. I feel

1054
00:52:00,360 --> 00:52:02,199
like a lot of other teams in the West their

1055
00:52:02,199 --> 00:52:05,800
depth has gotten worse. And you think about the Grizzlies

1056
00:52:06,199 --> 00:52:08,920
being able to have joh Dez and Jaren and Zach

1057
00:52:09,039 --> 00:52:11,599
Edy and Marcus Smart and also have Vince Williams junior,

1058
00:52:11,639 --> 00:52:14,639
also have Brandon Clark. We haven't mentioned Luke Canard still

1059
00:52:14,639 --> 00:52:17,960
a very useful player, Gig Jackson if he does continue

1060
00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:21,559
on this trajectory, this development path, like that is a

1061
00:52:21,800 --> 00:52:24,719
really good top nine, even if you do have some

1062
00:52:24,840 --> 00:52:27,519
question marks about their size, about maybe the overall fit,

1063
00:52:27,800 --> 00:52:30,320
but I think there's enough good veteran players that they

1064
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:32,480
will figure it out. So I feel like the fact

1065
00:52:32,480 --> 00:52:36,440
that the Grizzlies, you know, having those two dominant regular

1066
00:52:36,480 --> 00:52:40,400
seasons and now basically all the guys are back. You know,

1067
00:52:40,440 --> 00:52:43,519
there are questions like is Marcus smart, Vince Williams Junior

1068
00:52:43,519 --> 00:52:46,639
and Zach Edy? Is that better than Dylan Brooks, Steven

1069
00:52:46,679 --> 00:52:49,519
Adams and Tyas Jones, Like that's kind of the trade

1070
00:52:49,519 --> 00:52:52,159
off there. But I think with the development you've seen

1071
00:52:52,199 --> 00:52:54,480
from John and Dez and Jaren, this is gonna be

1072
00:52:54,480 --> 00:52:57,400
one of the better teams in the West. And I

1073
00:52:57,440 --> 00:52:59,920
am a little bit quizzical when they aren't mentioned as so.

1074
00:53:00,039 --> 00:53:04,280
Speaker 1: Much aside from the hell factor, What is the biggest

1075
00:53:04,280 --> 00:53:06,119
concern you have for this roster?

1076
00:53:08,360 --> 00:53:10,199
Speaker 2: I guess I would go back to that fit thing,

1077
00:53:10,519 --> 00:53:12,920
just knowing, like like last year, I felt like that

1078
00:53:13,119 --> 00:53:15,639
even when the guys were available that we knew were

1079
00:53:15,639 --> 00:53:18,280
gonna be available, it seemed like they were less than

1080
00:53:18,360 --> 00:53:20,639
the some of their parts. And that was very weird

1081
00:53:21,079 --> 00:53:24,599
because the first four seasons under Tiller Jingens, they always

1082
00:53:24,599 --> 00:53:26,480
seemed more than the sum of their parts. It was

1083
00:53:26,559 --> 00:53:28,400
just like, it doesn't matter who plays that the team

1084
00:53:28,480 --> 00:53:30,360
is really really good, and so maybe it was just

1085
00:53:30,360 --> 00:53:33,559
an aberration from last year. They were horrible at home

1086
00:53:33,639 --> 00:53:35,840
last year, which just felt strange, like I couldn't win

1087
00:53:35,880 --> 00:53:40,280
home games. They had some weird just shooting numbers, even

1088
00:53:40,320 --> 00:53:43,159
when the team was healthy. And again, if it's twenty games,

1089
00:53:43,199 --> 00:53:45,320
maybe the other team made too many threes. Your threes

1090
00:53:45,320 --> 00:53:48,599
didn't go in. Maybe the question mark is the shooting.

1091
00:53:48,920 --> 00:53:52,159
Speaker 1: Like I know, I was gonna gobble up that low

1092
00:53:52,159 --> 00:53:54,239
hanging fruit and just wonder if there was enough shooting

1093
00:53:54,280 --> 00:53:54,920
on this Like.

1094
00:53:55,360 --> 00:53:59,920
Speaker 2: That is a concern unaddressed by the Luke Cannard sign.

1095
00:54:00,159 --> 00:54:02,280
I mean, it's funny. I was a person who kept

1096
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:04,280
being like, I feel like they should move on from

1097
00:54:04,360 --> 00:54:06,039
Luke Canard or bring in a guy who's just going

1098
00:54:06,079 --> 00:54:09,159
to play more minutes. Like obviously Luke Canard's one of

1099
00:54:09,159 --> 00:54:14,400
the best three point shooters in the world, but if

1100
00:54:14,440 --> 00:54:17,599
the team's fully healthy, he's gonna play like ten minutes

1101
00:54:17,639 --> 00:54:20,239
a game or fifteen minutes a game. Cause you have

1102
00:54:21,119 --> 00:54:24,000
I consider Vince Williams Junior regard, you have four better

1103
00:54:24,079 --> 00:54:30,360
guards than Luke in Jaw and Dez and Marcus Smart

1104
00:54:30,360 --> 00:54:32,639
and Mince Williams Junior. So like, I'm like, you just

1105
00:54:32,679 --> 00:54:34,440
need a I feel like you need a three or

1106
00:54:34,480 --> 00:54:36,480
a four who could make some threes.

1107
00:54:36,519 --> 00:54:39,599
Speaker 1: Now they shot, by the way, that's the downside of

1108
00:54:39,639 --> 00:54:41,559
not I know they don't use it to Like would

1109
00:54:41,599 --> 00:54:43,320
you have rather had if let's just say the tax

1110
00:54:43,400 --> 00:54:44,719
was the hard way. It was the hard line, like

1111
00:54:44,719 --> 00:54:46,400
we're not gonna go into this or stay into this.

1112
00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:48,800
Would you rather have Luke Canard or like you could

1113
00:54:48,840 --> 00:54:51,480
have given that same money, Like he ended up with

1114
00:54:51,519 --> 00:54:54,800
what eleven million, That's more than Simoney Fontecio got in Detroit.

1115
00:54:54,960 --> 00:54:57,400
It's more than Naji Marshall got from Dallas. And now

1116
00:54:57,400 --> 00:54:59,679
maybe those players didn't necessarily want to go there, but like,

1117
00:55:00,119 --> 00:55:02,039
those are two players who to me would have fit

1118
00:55:02,480 --> 00:55:04,480
what the Grizzlies need. I mean, maybe Naji Marshall's not

1119
00:55:04,519 --> 00:55:07,079
super high volume from three, but positionally feels like he

1120
00:55:07,119 --> 00:55:09,360
fits more of a like Simoi Fontechio had been perfect

1121
00:55:09,400 --> 00:55:10,079
for this for this tea.

1122
00:55:10,159 --> 00:55:11,679
Speaker 2: Yeah, it would have been. It would have been interesting.

1123
00:55:11,719 --> 00:55:14,280
And that's one of the things where you know, I

1124
00:55:14,320 --> 00:55:16,639
don't think I finished this thought earlier, as my brain

1125
00:55:16,719 --> 00:55:21,280
led me astray. The the dreams coming into the off

1126
00:55:21,320 --> 00:55:24,840
season was to get a starting center and then to

1127
00:55:24,920 --> 00:55:28,280
get a three slash four who could shoot and score,

1128
00:55:28,599 --> 00:55:31,679
because it does seem like maybe Marcus Smart's best role

1129
00:55:31,760 --> 00:55:33,519
is coming off the bench. I mean, maybe Ivins Williams

1130
00:55:33,599 --> 00:55:36,000
Junior can fully handle being like the small forward. But

1131
00:55:36,239 --> 00:55:37,639
like you said, he's six foot four, he's got a

1132
00:55:37,639 --> 00:55:40,079
good wing span. But all those guys are smaller, and

1133
00:55:40,119 --> 00:55:43,000
like you need guys to guard, if it's Luca or

1134
00:55:43,079 --> 00:55:47,239
kd or Jason Tatum or whoever, like it seems like

1135
00:55:47,280 --> 00:55:49,639
you need more size. I don't know if small ball

1136
00:55:49,960 --> 00:55:52,079
like Zach Edy and four guards might be a thing.

1137
00:55:52,119 --> 00:55:56,280
They run a lot, you know that it sounds it

1138
00:55:56,320 --> 00:55:59,639
sounds fun on paper, and maybe that's the zag. You know,

1139
00:55:59,760 --> 00:56:01,960
four or you know, the rest of the league doing

1140
00:56:01,960 --> 00:56:04,679
one thing. Let's let's play small ball and have it

1141
00:56:04,760 --> 00:56:08,239
just a big center in there. I don't know, but

1142
00:56:08,320 --> 00:56:11,320
it does seem like just getting I mean a guy

1143
00:56:11,360 --> 00:56:14,000
I mentioned who seems like totally available. It's just like

1144
00:56:14,119 --> 00:56:17,519
Dorian Finney Smith who on a bad team looks kind

1145
00:56:17,519 --> 00:56:20,360
of horrible, but on a good team he's just useful.

1146
00:56:20,400 --> 00:56:23,440
He's a defender. He makes thirty four percent of his threes,

1147
00:56:23,519 --> 00:56:25,599
and that's kind of all I feel like the Grizzlies need.

1148
00:56:25,800 --> 00:56:27,760
He didn't have to start even and you mentioned like

1149
00:56:27,800 --> 00:56:30,280
the the Naji Marshalls or like you know, whoever, it

1150
00:56:30,360 --> 00:56:33,000
is even like a I wanted PJ Washington last years

1151
00:56:33,000 --> 00:56:35,280
traded line. The MAVs went out before the.

1152
00:56:35,239 --> 00:56:37,440
Speaker 1: Pelicans got into mind wanted them to sign Ervonte Green.

1153
00:56:37,519 --> 00:56:40,559
Speaker 2: Another underside, Javonte Green is so old and it's fine,

1154
00:56:40,639 --> 00:56:42,280
but like that's you know, those are the kind of

1155
00:56:42,280 --> 00:56:43,039
guys where it's like.

1156
00:56:43,400 --> 00:56:46,360
Speaker 1: You have just senior old Jackson. You don't learn at

1157
00:56:46,519 --> 00:56:48,519
I'm just going to continue to deage him and.

1158
00:56:48,519 --> 00:56:52,639
Speaker 2: Maybe and like the the thing, the thing the front

1159
00:56:52,639 --> 00:56:55,559
office has done and so for for several years as

1160
00:56:55,559 --> 00:56:58,039
a podcaster about the Grizzlies, I go into the offseason

1161
00:56:58,159 --> 00:57:00,880
and I'm like, we have the full mid level exception.

1162
00:57:01,559 --> 00:57:05,159
Here are the guys we could get, and then we

1163
00:57:05,199 --> 00:57:06,920
don't get any of them. And then the next year,

1164
00:57:06,920 --> 00:57:09,039
I'm like, all right, we have the full mid level exception.

1165
00:57:09,440 --> 00:57:11,280
I really think we're gonna sign one of these guys.

1166
00:57:11,559 --> 00:57:13,719
And then and then we signed Derrick Rose and I

1167
00:57:13,800 --> 00:57:17,119
was like, oh, well, that's kind of shocking because we

1168
00:57:17,159 --> 00:57:21,320
actually had things we needed. I don't I don't think maybe.

1169
00:57:21,440 --> 00:57:24,679
I mean, some teams sign the og guy good for

1170
00:57:24,719 --> 00:57:27,039
the locker room. How do I judge if it was

1171
00:57:27,079 --> 00:57:28,679
good for the locker room in a year you lost

1172
00:57:28,679 --> 00:57:34,679
fifty five games? No idea, But this year, we clearly

1173
00:57:34,760 --> 00:57:37,679
had room on the roster because like Utah Watson Abi

1174
00:57:38,159 --> 00:57:41,559
did to the Grizzlies, this massive solid and retired from

1175
00:57:41,599 --> 00:57:44,960
the NBA, he had a player option. We were going

1176
00:57:44,960 --> 00:57:46,719
to be up against the tax and it was like,

1177
00:57:47,199 --> 00:57:50,000
all right, we got Utah, we don't have any roster spots.

1178
00:57:50,039 --> 00:57:51,960
And then it's like he's gonna move to Japan and

1179
00:57:52,519 --> 00:57:54,519
leave the NBA and that was like, whoa, we did

1180
00:57:54,599 --> 00:57:56,800
us as solid. We have a roster spot we can

1181
00:57:56,840 --> 00:57:58,960
work with. Now here's all the guys we can sign.

1182
00:57:59,159 --> 00:58:01,960
But this year I was not Charlie Brown going up

1183
00:58:01,960 --> 00:58:04,679
to Lucy holding the football. I said, after I named

1184
00:58:04,679 --> 00:58:07,519
all those names, just so you know, I probably wasted

1185
00:58:07,559 --> 00:58:10,679
my breath. They're not going to sign and like they

1186
00:58:10,679 --> 00:58:14,360
didn't sign anyone, and honestly, actually they got me again.

1187
00:58:14,400 --> 00:58:16,280
They listened with the football with me. Again. I'm like,

1188
00:58:16,280 --> 00:58:19,960
they're really not gonna sign anybody this year and may.

1189
00:58:20,119 --> 00:58:23,400
But again the pushback or the thing you can say

1190
00:58:23,440 --> 00:58:26,400
the front office has done, like they're using a roster

1191
00:58:26,440 --> 00:58:30,159
spot on Jalen Wells. They brought in Cam Spencer to

1192
00:58:30,400 --> 00:58:32,719
be the cheap Luke Kenak replacement. Eventually that he's on

1193
00:58:32,760 --> 00:58:36,360
a two way. The thing they have done is they've

1194
00:58:36,400 --> 00:58:38,159
carried young guys at the end of their roster. I

1195
00:58:38,199 --> 00:58:41,719
think it hurt him in the season they lost to

1196
00:58:41,760 --> 00:58:45,039
the Lakers in the playoffs, and I don't know what

1197
00:58:45,039 --> 00:58:46,960
we say about last year. Maybe didn't hurt him. But

1198
00:58:47,079 --> 00:58:50,719
what that has done is it has allowed them to

1199
00:58:50,880 --> 00:58:55,280
actually hit on like one out of three or four

1200
00:58:55,320 --> 00:58:57,840
of those guys. Like you say, oh, they're still paying

1201
00:58:57,920 --> 00:59:00,000
Kennedy Chandler. That's why we had to spend a second

1202
00:59:00,079 --> 00:59:02,559
on pick just salary dump Desire Williams and while we

1203
00:59:02,559 --> 00:59:07,480
had to stretch mom at Ada quite but they picked

1204
00:59:08,360 --> 00:59:10,719
Vince Williams junior at the end of the second round

1205
00:59:10,840 --> 00:59:13,000
and now they have been s Williams junior. They picked

1206
00:59:13,679 --> 00:59:18,639
Gigi Jackson with the forty fifth pick, and so maybe that's,

1207
00:59:19,079 --> 00:59:21,000
you know, maybe this is one way to do it.

1208
00:59:21,679 --> 00:59:24,599
You're going to strike out on several Maybe you're not

1209
00:59:24,639 --> 00:59:27,239
gonna have the depth you absolutely need if you filled

1210
00:59:27,280 --> 00:59:29,199
up the back end of your roster, if you paid

1211
00:59:29,199 --> 00:59:32,000
for a Kelly Oubre or a Caleb Martin or a

1212
00:59:32,159 --> 00:59:35,280
Jalen Smith or a Buddy Healed or a d Anthony

1213
00:59:35,320 --> 00:59:37,840
Melton or a Kyle Anderson. Like, those are the guys

1214
00:59:37,880 --> 00:59:40,679
you could have signed. Maybe the bridges were burned with

1215
00:59:40,719 --> 00:59:43,800
two of those names, but like you could have signed

1216
00:59:43,840 --> 00:59:46,480
guys to come in and help you and to compliment

1217
00:59:46,519 --> 00:59:50,440
your squad. I I tend to favor that approach. My

1218
00:59:50,599 --> 00:59:55,000
thought was in twenty twenty two, we're closer than we think.

1219
00:59:55,079 --> 00:59:58,000
We don't know how long windows stay open. We should

1220
00:59:58,039 --> 01:00:00,079
basically be all in for the next few seasons. And

1221
01:00:00,440 --> 01:00:04,199
I don't understand restocking the back end of your roster

1222
01:00:04,280 --> 01:00:07,880
with young guys who might not help you. But if one,

1223
01:00:08,920 --> 01:00:11,840
if like Jalen Wells or Cam Spencer, becomes a useful

1224
01:00:11,920 --> 01:00:15,119
NBA player, maybe that extends your title window. That's what

1225
01:00:15,159 --> 01:00:18,119
they're banking on. And again that's that's the generous reading

1226
01:00:18,559 --> 01:00:22,360
of not spending money. I mean my dream you can

1227
01:00:22,440 --> 01:00:23,960
have in my mind. You can have your cake and

1228
01:00:23,960 --> 01:00:26,840
eat it too. You could have done lots of these things.

1229
01:00:27,000 --> 01:00:29,440
You could have kept Zira Williams salary. You had bird

1230
01:00:29,480 --> 01:00:32,199
rights on Luke Canard, you can pay him whatever you want.

1231
01:00:32,400 --> 01:00:34,760
You could have picked up his expensive player option. Could

1232
01:00:34,800 --> 01:00:38,639
have been way in the tax now instead of sending

1233
01:00:38,719 --> 01:00:42,400
the nets Zaire and a second rounder for Dakite, who

1234
01:00:42,400 --> 01:00:46,400
we're gonna stretch now. Maybe I can send the nets

1235
01:00:47,239 --> 01:00:50,920
Canards X amount of dollars, Zira Williams X amount of

1236
01:00:50,960 --> 01:00:53,199
dollars and send them a first round pick and two

1237
01:00:53,400 --> 01:00:57,920
you know, seconds or something for Cam Johnson, or less

1238
01:00:57,920 --> 01:00:59,800
than that for a Dori and Finny Smith. I could

1239
01:00:59,800 --> 01:01:02,119
still I'll have guys I'm developing. I could go into

1240
01:01:02,119 --> 01:01:04,440
the tax. Maybe we're gonna stay Withay from the first apron,

1241
01:01:04,519 --> 01:01:07,320
but like you could have matched the salaries to go

1242
01:01:07,440 --> 01:01:11,039
over into the luxury tax. But I don't know if

1243
01:01:11,400 --> 01:01:13,119
they will ever do that. Maybe they will when the

1244
01:01:13,199 --> 01:01:15,920
right opportunity presents itself. Maybe they want to see how

1245
01:01:15,920 --> 01:01:18,760
good Marcus Smart is this season. Maybe they want to

1246
01:01:18,760 --> 01:01:21,679
see how it all works together, and then they'll try

1247
01:01:21,719 --> 01:01:24,079
to cobble some salaries together. But one of the problems

1248
01:01:24,159 --> 01:01:26,079
is when you're so focused on staying out of the tax,

1249
01:01:26,320 --> 01:01:28,639
you know, you lose those matching salaries, You lose those

1250
01:01:28,679 --> 01:01:33,679
avenues where you could bring on more money. You know,

1251
01:01:33,960 --> 01:01:36,440
if once you lose that salary slot and you're over

1252
01:01:36,480 --> 01:01:38,679
the cap, there's nothing really you can do. They do

1253
01:01:38,760 --> 01:01:41,039
still have the MLA, they do still have the Steven

1254
01:01:41,079 --> 01:01:43,519
Adams traded player exception, they can bring in some money

1255
01:01:43,559 --> 01:01:46,440
and go into the tax. Whether or not they will

1256
01:01:46,800 --> 01:01:48,880
to improve this team, that's gonna be a big question.

1257
01:01:49,920 --> 01:01:52,199
Speaker 1: What does the top ten rotation look like at full

1258
01:01:52,199 --> 01:01:54,039
strength for this team?

1259
01:01:54,400 --> 01:02:01,119
Speaker 2: I think, I mean definitely presume starters is Jamarant, Desmond Band,

1260
01:02:01,199 --> 01:02:05,760
Marcus Smart, Jenreon Jackson Junior, Zach Edy. Maybe Vince Williams

1261
01:02:05,800 --> 01:02:08,360
Junior starts, but who cares? That's your And then so

1262
01:02:08,480 --> 01:02:12,840
Vince that that's your top six, Brandon Clark, and then

1263
01:02:12,880 --> 01:02:20,280
I would say Santi Aldama, Luke Canard, did I do enough?

1264
01:02:22,360 --> 01:02:25,920
Let's see, Uh, maybe Gigi's your tenth man. Yeah, so

1265
01:02:25,920 --> 01:02:30,480
I guess jesus your tenth man. The one question I

1266
01:02:30,519 --> 01:02:33,440
have also, we don't we forget this or we ignore this?

1267
01:02:33,440 --> 01:02:36,280
As Grizzlies fans. The Chrismis had like one fully healthy

1268
01:02:36,280 --> 01:02:39,679
game last year, one where everyone was here where like

1269
01:02:39,760 --> 01:02:45,039
Luke Carnard was available, and they got annihilated. They lost

1270
01:02:45,079 --> 01:02:47,320
by like thirty at home to the Kings. That doesn't

1271
01:02:47,360 --> 01:02:50,559
matter that the King's good team. Things happened, But in

1272
01:02:50,639 --> 01:02:54,239
that game, like Derreck Rose played a lot of minutes

1273
01:02:55,679 --> 01:02:59,000
and that was like a, Hey, why is Derreck Rose

1274
01:02:59,039 --> 01:03:02,239
playing when fully healthy? Like would we do the depth chart?

1275
01:03:02,360 --> 01:03:05,159
I think it makes sense to just have, like your

1276
01:03:05,199 --> 01:03:09,159
second unit is Luke, Caernard and Vince. Those guys could

1277
01:03:09,199 --> 01:03:13,639
dribble and then Gigi, Santi and Brandon And maybe you

1278
01:03:13,679 --> 01:03:15,360
don't play all five of those bench guys at the

1279
01:03:15,400 --> 01:03:17,320
same time. Maybe you know the way they do it.

1280
01:03:17,320 --> 01:03:19,679
They stagger John Dez, So like Dez will be the

1281
01:03:19,679 --> 01:03:22,280
ball handler for the second unit along Luke and Vince.

1282
01:03:22,320 --> 01:03:24,719
That's plenty of ball handling, but that is I think

1283
01:03:24,719 --> 01:03:30,280
your top ten. Apologies to Jake Larrabias stands and apologies

1284
01:03:30,320 --> 01:03:30,920
to Derrick Rose.

1285
01:03:32,280 --> 01:03:35,159
Speaker 1: So obviously this will be the some extent matchup dependent.

1286
01:03:35,239 --> 01:03:36,800
But what do you think winds up being their most

1287
01:03:36,880 --> 01:03:37,880
used crunch time unit.

1288
01:03:40,400 --> 01:03:42,440
Speaker 2: I have no idea. I mean that that's one of

1289
01:03:42,480 --> 01:03:46,039
the fun things. Where does Zach eaty close games? I

1290
01:03:46,079 --> 01:03:49,480
don't know. I would guess Brandon Clark is your four

1291
01:03:49,559 --> 01:03:54,280
or five, and then I would guess it's Jomrant doesn't

1292
01:03:54,280 --> 01:03:56,920
have been Marcus Smart, Brandon Clark and Jena Jackson Jr.

1293
01:03:56,960 --> 01:03:59,880
I would guess that's your that's your closing five, And

1294
01:04:00,360 --> 01:04:03,400
like I get excited thinking about that. Frankly, I mean,

1295
01:04:03,400 --> 01:04:06,119
I not a lot of teams can put five better

1296
01:04:06,159 --> 01:04:09,159
guys on the court at the same time. Does Vince

1297
01:04:09,159 --> 01:04:12,719
Williams Junior step into that lineup? Sometimes? For Brandon Clark,

1298
01:04:12,719 --> 01:04:15,199
you're a little bit small there, but like, I mean,

1299
01:04:15,280 --> 01:04:20,119
good luck scoring on that. And maybe Marcus sometimes isn't closing.

1300
01:04:20,480 --> 01:04:21,440
I mean it's gonna be.

1301
01:04:21,960 --> 01:04:23,519
Speaker 1: They have at It feels like there are just three

1302
01:04:23,639 --> 01:04:26,119
you would say, three locks for the crunch time unit,

1303
01:04:26,159 --> 01:04:28,079
and then there might be some finagling from there.

1304
01:04:28,159 --> 01:04:31,159
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, I mean obviously Jaw, des and Jered are

1305
01:04:31,159 --> 01:04:34,360
gonna play when they're when they're available, and then I

1306
01:04:34,400 --> 01:04:40,199
would say Marcus, Marcus Smart, Zach Edy, Vince Williams Junior,

1307
01:04:40,239 --> 01:04:42,519
and Brandon Clark would be the other four guys you're

1308
01:04:42,559 --> 01:04:44,400
picking for the final two spots.

1309
01:04:45,079 --> 01:04:47,559
Speaker 1: Is there a funky, weird, offbeat lineup you would like

1310
01:04:47,599 --> 01:04:48,360
to see them try?

1311
01:04:49,400 --> 01:04:53,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you gotta give me like I might

1312
01:04:53,440 --> 01:04:57,679
even do one without jaw Like Marcus Smart, Jaron Jackson Junior,

1313
01:04:57,719 --> 01:05:00,840
and Vince Williams Junior have to play together. That that

1314
01:05:01,039 --> 01:05:05,119
has to play together, and give me that with Desmond

1315
01:05:05,119 --> 01:05:09,320
Bane and then I'm deciding who my other like maybe

1316
01:05:09,400 --> 01:05:14,079
a Brandon Clark, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart, Vince Wims Junior,

1317
01:05:14,119 --> 01:05:16,960
Brandon Clark, Jared Jackson Jr. That's it, get out of town.

1318
01:05:17,719 --> 01:05:19,719
That's gonna have it. That's gonna have a seventy five

1319
01:05:19,800 --> 01:05:22,599
defensive rating right Therena, it's gonna be. It's gonna be,

1320
01:05:22,639 --> 01:05:25,639
it's gonna be unstoppable. They'll score. Now. I think you

1321
01:05:25,719 --> 01:05:28,280
got you got des and Jared to score that. No,

1322
01:05:28,400 --> 01:05:31,760
that that one, I'm calling it now, cleaning the glass.

1323
01:05:31,800 --> 01:05:34,800
That's that's a plus twenty net rating. No problem.

1324
01:05:35,320 --> 01:05:37,719
Speaker 1: I'd like to see them throw out like the five

1325
01:05:38,199 --> 01:05:41,440
guard lineup. Yeah, Marcus Martin, Vince Williams, just defend up

1326
01:05:41,559 --> 01:05:45,639
like they always those two, Desmond Bane, John Moran and

1327
01:05:45,639 --> 01:05:47,360
then I mean, I don't consider him a guard, but

1328
01:05:47,360 --> 01:05:49,199
we I can't say the wing lineup because the Grizzlies

1329
01:05:49,199 --> 01:05:50,920
don't have enough of those. But let's throw Gig Jackson

1330
01:05:50,920 --> 01:05:54,960
in there. Forget that w Keith. What's the average offensive

1331
01:05:54,960 --> 01:05:57,159
possession time for that unit if they're on important?

1332
01:05:59,239 --> 01:06:04,960
Speaker 2: Uh? What is this measured in h seconds? No? Uh?

1333
01:06:05,079 --> 01:06:09,000
I mean you said guards. I was thinking Jamaran Luke Canard,

1334
01:06:09,440 --> 01:06:15,599
Desmond Bane, Vince Williams Junior, Marcus Smart, Marcus Marcus at

1335
01:06:15,639 --> 01:06:16,000
the five.

1336
01:06:16,960 --> 01:06:18,559
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say I would. I think I'd just

1337
01:06:18,679 --> 01:06:20,559
rather see g. I know, Luke Canard all right.

1338
01:06:20,559 --> 01:06:24,480
Speaker 2: Gg's taller. Yeah, Okay, I could. I mean, they have

1339
01:06:24,719 --> 01:06:28,320
so many options they could. They're reminiscent if you did

1340
01:06:28,320 --> 01:06:33,079
something like like jaw, Luke and Dez together, Luke Canard,

1341
01:06:33,079 --> 01:06:38,079
Desn't Bane together. Those three their their lifetime. I believe

1342
01:06:38,159 --> 01:06:40,760
net rating is somewhere in the plus forty five per

1343
01:06:40,920 --> 01:06:45,679
unter possessions. That's like that was regular season and playoffs combined.

1344
01:06:46,800 --> 01:06:49,639
Those three are a big reason or that number I

1345
01:06:49,679 --> 01:06:51,519
think is a big reason whether like we're keeping Luke

1346
01:06:51,519 --> 01:06:54,719
Canard no matter what, and so like if those three

1347
01:06:54,760 --> 01:06:58,519
play together, then if you have like Marcus Smart at

1348
01:06:58,559 --> 01:07:01,880
the four, Jared at the five, that's reminiscent of like

1349
01:07:01,960 --> 01:07:08,440
those early nineties Suns teams they had like Kevin Johnston,

1350
01:07:08,599 --> 01:07:11,639
like Rex Chapman playing the four, like Kevin Johnson, Rex Chapman,

1351
01:07:12,639 --> 01:07:16,119
Steve Nash West person maybe was playing the four. It's

1352
01:07:16,159 --> 01:07:19,119
like it's similar to that where I feel like they

1353
01:07:19,159 --> 01:07:22,119
have a lot of small ball things they can try

1354
01:07:23,039 --> 01:07:27,760
whether or not they score enough, because like whether they

1355
01:07:27,760 --> 01:07:29,440
score enough to make up for the fact they've will

1356
01:07:29,480 --> 01:07:31,519
have like maybe a one twenty defensive rating. You know

1357
01:07:32,159 --> 01:07:33,119
who knows.

1358
01:07:33,559 --> 01:07:35,840
Speaker 1: Okay, as we record this on August the thirtieth, they're

1359
01:07:35,880 --> 01:07:38,119
over under is at forty seven and a half. Are

1360
01:07:38,119 --> 01:07:39,760
you taking the over the under? And where do you

1361
01:07:39,760 --> 01:07:42,119
see them stacking up relatives to the rest of the West.

1362
01:07:42,639 --> 01:07:44,599
Speaker 2: That's a real good number. I think the West it's

1363
01:07:44,639 --> 01:07:47,400
gonna be so hard. I'm I'm gonna probably end up

1364
01:07:47,440 --> 01:07:51,840
taking unders for most teams just because I mean unders

1365
01:07:52,199 --> 01:07:57,519
normally hit more because they're bet less. Also with thirteen

1366
01:07:57,599 --> 01:08:01,960
teams probably pretty good. And then the Jazz, who are

1367
01:08:01,960 --> 01:08:05,960
gonna probably win games in November and December. Uh, It's

1368
01:08:06,000 --> 01:08:10,079
it's hard, I do think personally it is like as

1369
01:08:10,119 --> 01:08:12,320
far as like a power rankings, I'd put the Grizzlies

1370
01:08:12,440 --> 01:08:15,559
is like maybe the I think I'm so sick of

1371
01:08:15,559 --> 01:08:18,359
saying when healthy, but if healthy, I think they're like

1372
01:08:18,760 --> 01:08:21,399
the third or fourth best team in the West. They're

1373
01:08:21,399 --> 01:08:25,960
definitely I think in that tier alongside like I have

1374
01:08:26,039 --> 01:08:29,640
them trailing the Thunder. I think the Timberwolves are better

1375
01:08:29,720 --> 01:08:32,560
until proven otherwise the Nuggets are better until proven otherwise.

1376
01:08:32,600 --> 01:08:35,640
But like, I'm not that scared of the Nuggets anymore.

1377
01:08:36,399 --> 01:08:39,560
You shouldn't be, but yeah, like I'm scared, I'm scared

1378
01:08:39,560 --> 01:08:40,039
of Jokic.

1379
01:08:40,159 --> 01:08:42,800
Speaker 1: But like, I think it's fair to say that three

1380
01:08:42,880 --> 01:08:45,800
of the four teams between Dallas, Denver, Minnesota and okayse

1381
01:08:45,920 --> 01:08:48,520
will probably be better than them. But you just say

1382
01:08:48,520 --> 01:08:50,399
that the Grizzlies wouldn't be in the top four. They're

1383
01:08:50,399 --> 01:08:52,680
going to be healthy, just goes a bridge. I think

1384
01:08:52,680 --> 01:08:54,640
they're firmly in the top six, though I don't use.

1385
01:08:56,039 --> 01:08:59,680
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, Like Luca never loses to John Morant, so

1386
01:08:59,720 --> 01:09:02,880
that's a problem for us. He's something like ten in

1387
01:09:02,960 --> 01:09:07,600
one lifetime against a Jummerant, but his his winning percentage

1388
01:09:07,640 --> 01:09:11,359
is much worse against bens Swim Junior. The Yeah, So,

1389
01:09:11,439 --> 01:09:14,039
like I they're definitely in my mind, Like I don't

1390
01:09:14,079 --> 01:09:16,119
look at any team in the West, like the Mavericks

1391
01:09:16,159 --> 01:09:18,199
and the Terminals and the Nuggets, and I'm like, whoa,

1392
01:09:18,479 --> 01:09:21,039
they are head and shoulders above us. Maybe I will

1393
01:09:21,319 --> 01:09:23,439
once the season starts that I'm like, guys, we're still

1394
01:09:23,439 --> 01:09:26,560
giving up like a twenty eight percent offics of rebound rate.

1395
01:09:26,760 --> 01:09:28,680
Like I thought we were gonna clean the glass little

1396
01:09:28,680 --> 01:09:30,800
bit better. So maybe I'll change my tune once I

1397
01:09:30,840 --> 01:09:33,560
see it all together. But I do think, you know,

1398
01:09:33,680 --> 01:09:36,119
top six in the West is clearly where they should be.

1399
01:09:37,479 --> 01:09:40,359
Whether or not that translates to the wins, I'd probably

1400
01:09:40,399 --> 01:09:42,920
take the over. But like, what in fifty games is

1401
01:09:42,960 --> 01:09:46,439
gonna be a lot for any team in the West.

1402
01:09:46,920 --> 01:09:49,399
And I think there's gonna be this huge clump next

1403
01:09:49,479 --> 01:09:53,000
year of like there are nine teams between forty five

1404
01:09:53,039 --> 01:09:55,039
and fifty one wins, you know, Like I think that's

1405
01:09:55,039 --> 01:09:59,119
what's gonna be. And taking the over on that, it's

1406
01:09:59,159 --> 01:10:01,239
like it's kind of a coin flip. So I'm kind

1407
01:10:01,279 --> 01:10:04,720
of weaseling out. I'll say over, I think my team's amazing.

1408
01:10:05,159 --> 01:10:07,199
I have them a slide over at forty eight wins.

1409
01:10:07,319 --> 01:10:09,880
Speaker 1: They lost fifteen pounds of weight body fat with a

1410
01:10:09,960 --> 01:10:12,760
gain muscle. Yeah, that's that's the season. Keith. This as

1411
01:10:12,760 --> 01:10:14,479
great as always. We were able very quickly just to

1412
01:10:14,479 --> 01:10:16,039
tell our listeners where they can find you and all

1413
01:10:16,039 --> 01:10:16,399
your work.

1414
01:10:16,760 --> 01:10:19,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, Grizzlies fans or anybody who wants to know about

1415
01:10:19,279 --> 01:10:24,279
the Grizzlies, listen to Grits and Grinds. Go subscribe on YouTube.

1416
01:10:24,399 --> 01:10:28,199
Also subscribe to the Fast Break Breakfast podcast where Dave

1417
01:10:28,239 --> 01:10:29,920
Defour and I cover the Holy

1418
01:10:30,880 --> 01:10:32,319
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, Keith, I'll talk to you too,