Despite the explosive first-half exploits of top overall pick Blake Griffin, the Memphis Grizzlies summer squad beat the Los Angeles Clippers team 85-68 to move to 3-0 so far during their five-game Las Vegas Summer League run.
My player-by-player notes:
DeMarre Carroll: Let’s start with the good news. Late-first-round pick Carroll continues to impress, registering 16 points (7-9 shooting) and 3 rebounds in 32 minutes. Carroll seems to play with a relentless pace, consistent intensity, and defensive mindset reminiscent of James Posey and Shane Battier during the Grizzlies’ 50-win season. Only seconds into the game, Carroll was already hitting the floor going after a loose ball. And he made those kinds of plays throughout the game, saving a ball to a teammate while falling out of bounds, swooping from out of the frame to pick off a pass, disrupting the Clippers offensive with quick, aggressive defensive rotations, getting offensive rebounds and contested putback buckets, etc.
Carroll scored many of his points in transition (in one case on a breakaway after his own steal). And what seems to make Carroll so effective in the open court isn’t his pure speed. It’s that while everyone else on the court is running, he’s racing.
What makes Carroll more promising is that there seems to be enough skill to go with his effort. After a couple of early misses (including a Shane Battier Memorial Baseline Jumper — gotta hit those!), Carroll found his stroke, hitting a pull-up jumper in transition and even a floater off the dribble. And his ball-handling again looked solid. If this summer-league is any indication, the Grizzlies search for a good back-up small forward is over, to say the least. More than that, one hopes that the intensity Carroll brings to the game (in conjunction with holdover Marc Gasol, who will enjoy having him around) will rub off on teammates.
