The Grizzlies lost to the Chicago Bulls, 92-88, Tuesday night in their second preseason game. With this one broadcast by NBATV, we weren’t restricted to the box score to try to learn something from the game.
With Mike Conley getting a night off and the team playing against a much better defense than in Game 1 against Real Madrid, the Grizzlies’ starting-lineup offense wasn’t clicking quite as nicely. But in a game where Lionel Hollins decided to play out the string with bench players and non-roster free agents from the middle of the third quarter on, there were a few things to take away:
Tony Wroten’s debut: After getting a “DNP” in the first preseason game, rookie point guard Tony Wroten made his preseason debut and showcased his raw talent — with a strong emphasis on both of those words. Wroten did a lot of stuff. Some of it was bad — he shot poorly (2-7) despite taking all but one attempt in the paint, he had 3 turnovers. But a lot of it was good: In 19 minutes, Wroten routinely got into the paint, drew three shooting fouls, had 4 rebounds (2 offensive), 2 steals, and dished 4 assists. He should have had at least five, but one first-half drive ended in a slick shuffle pass that resulted in a missed lay-up by Hamed Haddadi. For a teenager making his debut in an NBA uniform, on the road, against lots of veteran, high-level players, I thought it was pretty impressive.
