Larry Kuzniewski
Marc Gasol had a big night against Atlanta, his first 20-10 game of the preseason so far.
Last night was the first home preseason game for the Grizzlies, and their third game in four nights, but it felt like a “real” game (or, well, if about 6,000 more people had been there). The Grizzlies’ starters (Conley, Pondexter, Prince, Randolph, and Gasol, presumably because Tony Allen was out to rest up and Courtney Lee was out with a “personal matter”) played a lot of minutes, and mostly looked good doing it.
In other shocking news (to me, anyway) Vince Carter played last night and played 13 minutes. I was sure that Carter was going to continue to rest and recover through the rest of the preseason and only play in the last two or three games, just enough to get in some minutes before the season. But, no, there he was, last night, doing Vince Carter things in a Grizzlies jersey. He was 2–3 from three and made three free throws to finish with 9 points. Carter looked good, if a little unsure of himself in the Grizzlies’ offensive and defensive schemes, but that will only improve as he plays more.
Here are some other takeaways from last night’s game.
Game Notes
Marc Gasol had himself a night last night. He finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, and only one foul—but the most impressive thing about that stat line, and the most unusual thing for Gasol, was that 10 of his 13 rebounds were defensive rebounds. Gasol had a large (for him) percentage of defensive rebounds in the Milwaukee game, too, and one can only hope that this is a facet of his game that he’s really set on improving this year.
As Z-Bo ages and doesn’t come up with all the 50/50 balls that he used to, a Gasol who can grab the rebounds Z-Bo might be losing is an invaluable asset to the Grizzlies. (And, really, it was good to see Gasol doing Gasol things in general: my personal favorite was a pointless behind-the-back pass to Conley at the top of the key when he could have just handed it to him.)
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Another Grizzly who had himself a night (I’ve used that phrase twice now and I’m not sure what it really means) was rookie Jordan Adams. Adams played 21 minutes last night, and though he made a few rookie mistakes—including a pretty dumb foul of a shooter 28 feet from the basket in the final minute—Adams looks like a guy who’s going to be a quality rotation player at worst. So often, guys come into the league and they look like lost little puppies out on the court, scared to do anything, scared to play hard, not sure what to do, but Adams has none of that: he has excellent court awareness (as his borderline-ridiculous steal rate will tell you), he knows how to get to the rim and either score or get fouled, and he looks comfortable on the court for a guy who’s played 3 NBA preseason games.
I think Adams is going to be a very, very valuable piece of what the Grizzlies try to do over the next 5 years. The last guy with metrics as favorable as his to fall deep into the draft was Kawhi Leonard, and while I don’t feel comfortable saying Adams will be Finals MVP in his third or fourth season, I do think he’s going to be a good, good basketball player.
…all of which is why there’s no reason to start Quincy Pondexter at the 2 in a preseason game. You pretty much know what you have in Pondexter, and Adams needs every ounce of experience he can get. In three games, Dave Joerger has only started one lineup that is actually a reasonable one for the regular season: the Conley, Allen, Pondexter, Randolph, Gasol lineup of the first game. Tayshaun Prince can be a contributor to the Grizzlies this year—I may be the last person on earth who thinks that, but I still do, however small his role—but he can not be a starter. It’s that simple. So why screw around with lineups that aren’t going to be used? Why not start Adams and see what he can do with the other starters, and let him get used to playing with that group? Preseason is a time to figure out what you’ve got, and that doesn’t seem to be what Joerger is doing.
Tweet of the Night
During the last of three lengthy reviews during the final 27 seconds of “basketball time” that really took about ten minutes, Vince Carter was displeased:
VC to refs as they’re looking at the monitor: “I’m ready to go home, sir.”
— Kevin Lipe (@FlyerGrizBlog) October 12, 2014
On Deck
Only two games this week for the Grizzlies: One Tuesday night at Oklahoma City, and one Friday night against the Brazilian club Flamengo. Both of those should be interesting (although the Flamengo game will probably go about as well for the visitor as last year’s preseason exhibition against Maccabi Haifa).
A healthy Carter means we can start seeing him get “real” minutes with the main keys to the Grizzlies’ success (Conley/Gasol/Randolph) and see what kind of chemistry develops there. Maybe Adams will get a start at some point. Maybe Jarnell Stokes can get off the bench again (that would be nice). So many things are left to be learned before the season starts; one only hopes the Grizzlies are willing to experiment and learn them.
