Tag: Kyle Anderson

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Grizzlies Bounce Back, Defeating Suns 117-96

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Uncertainty hung in the air going into Saturday night’s home game against the Phoenix Suns. After a compelling win against a scary Utah Jazz team, the Grizzlies suffered a disappointing loss in Sacramento. The Grizzlies coughed up a halftime lead when the Kings clamped down on defense and clawed their way to victory.
Larry Kuzniewski

Worse than the loss, Marc Gasol suffered what appeared at the time to be a potentially season-altering injury when De’Aaron Fox came down on Gasol’s upper back area fighting for a rebound. The good energy from the win over Utah evaporated.

Fortunately, Gasol wasn’t seriously injured after all. “It was a pretty bad scare when it happened. Thankfully, everything is okay. No structural damage or anything too serious to worry about,” he told The Daily Memphian.

Doubts remained elsewhere, however, regarding the team’s rebounding, defense, and especially with Kyle Anderson. Anderson’s length, ball-handling, and IQ portended to him quickly fitting in with the Grizzlies, but he’s struggled to find his groove.

While Anderson didn’t make much headway acclimating himself to the team in this one, the Grizzlies were able to hold their own on the boards, gobbling up 39 to the Suns’ 35. The Grizzlies performed better on defense, as well, with Ayton being the only Phoenix player to score in the 20s, but the Suns’ offensive woes were more indicative of their youth, inexperience, and lack of Devin Booker tonight.

The matchup also featured another marquee rookie matchup between number one overall pick DeAndre Ayton and fourth overall pick Jaren Jackson. With Saturday night’s game, Jackson has faced off against every top-5 draft pick except Luka Doncic.

The Grizzlies built up a sizeable lead in the first half, creating a 25-point cushion behind 61 percent shooting, including 7-13 from deep.  The high shooting percentage may speak more towards the Suns’ defense than the Grizzlies offense. The Grizzlies are currently rated last in the league in offense, and it shows. The offense frequently falls stagnant, and fails to generate good or easy looks for anyone.

Grizzlies Bounce Back, Defeating Suns 117-96

Ayton, the lauded #1 overall pick for the Phoenix Suns, didn’t impose himself at all in the first quarter. He routinely passed out of the paint despite having the physical advantage against his defender, and finished with 2 points on just one shot.
Larry Kuzniewski

Ayton turned that around, however, in the second quarter, going 6-6 and scoring 6 straight on Jaren Jackson when Gasol sat. He would finish the game with 25 points on 12-13(!) shooting, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.

One thing that stood out in the first half was the Grizzlies’ offense not immediately going down in flames when Conley exited the game for rest. Shelvin Mack buoyed the team nicely and dished 4 assists as backup point guard, and Wayne Selden chipped in 10 points and 2 two assists.

Gasol, Conley, and Selden all finished the half in double digits, with five other Grizzlies scoring at least 5 points. Ayton was the only Suns player to finish the first half in double-digits with 14 points, with only 3 players notching at least 5 points.

Anderson continued to struggle finding his groove with the team. After starting, he got the hook with 7:46 remaining in the first quarter after missing a couple bunny shots near the rim, and going 0-3. He finished the half with 0 points on those three shots.

The Grizzlies maintained their advantage in the second half, keeping a healthy points margin over the Suns. Their solid lead late into the game allowed Yuta Watanabe to check in, and become the second Japanese player to play in the NBA in league history. Japanese NBA Twitter definitely paid attention to the moment. My two most viral tweets, by an enormous margin, were crappy handheld phone videos of Yuta dunking in the warmup line, and spinning to the hoop, missing, but drawing the foul. Virtually all of the RTs and favs were from Japanese basketball fans.

Grizzlies Bounce Back, Defeating Suns 117-96 (2)

Grizzlies Bounce Back, Defeating Suns 117-96 (3)

Jaren Jackson had a rough game defensively. He wasn’t able to deter Ayton, got into foul trouble early, and earned the first technical of his NBA career after receiving his 5th personal foul. It’s funny that his offense has come along more quickly than his defense.

Grizzlies Bounce Back, Defeating Suns 117-96 (4)

Garrett Temple has absolutely locked down the starting shooting guard spot. His defense has been crucial, his ball handling on point, and he finished the game with 15 points on 4-6 shooting. It appears to be for the best, as Dillon Brooks gets to come off the bench with more freedom to impose his will as a dynamic playmaker. Brooks actually ended up playing about four more minutes than Temple, but that’s partially indicative of the Grizzlies comfortable lead for most of the game.
Larry Kuzniewski

The Grizzlies bench contributed nicely in this win. Wayne Selden continued to impress. He finished with 16 points on 6-8 shooting, and provided a nice punch at the two spot. Marshon Brooks played his role perfectly as instant offense off the bench, pouring in 18 points in 19 minutes. Larry Kuzniewski

Gasol didn’t look limited in his return to action. He finished with 19 points on 8-16 shooting, and hit 3-6 from deep (including a Steph-range near buzzer-beater to end the first half). Larry Kuzniewski

Mike Conley had a solid game without having to soak up super-heavy minutes. He scored 11 points and tallied 7 assists in 28 minutes. Usually when Conley leaves the game to rest, the Grizzlies offense goes down in flames. Garrett Temple and especially Shelvin Mack were able to buoy the offense when Conley exited, and to not immediately enter a tailspin without Conley is a new development.

When I asked Conley what it’s meant to be able to go to the bench and the offense stay afloat, he said Mack, Temple, and Anderson have been huge. “[It] allows me to keep fresh legs longer.” He also noted that their play will allow him to regain his conditioning with each game as he returns to pre-injury form. J.B. Bickerstaff understood the importance of being cautious with how much the Grizzlies lean on Conley, saying “I feel bad because there’s been times where it feels like we’re wearing him down, so we’ve got to do a better job of giving him some breaks.”

The Grizzlies are now 3-2 on the season, and return to action on Tuesday when they take on the Washington Wizards at FedExForum.

Epilogue: the Grizzlies blared Kid Rock’s Bawitdaba to pump up the crowd late in the fourth, and I’ve never seen less of a reaction. Let us pray that this trash song gets retired and forgotten sooner rather than later.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Grizzlies Maul Hawks 131 – 117

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Larry Kuzniewski

Everybody poops. Just ask my 8-month-old daughter. Or the Grizzlies when they shat the bed in a 111-83 loss at the Pacers to start the season. It’s a part of life. Poop is smelly and gross, but it can also be funny and heartwarming. Need proof?

Grizzlies Maul Hawks 131 – 117

As far as Grizzlies gamebreak entertainment goes, this one is immediately in my top ten. The premise is perfect for Conley and Gasol, both fathers with young children. The video says so much about them, even though the two men barely utter a word. You see them as humans and fathers. You see their personalities. You see how they’re able to have a conversation without words.

Conley and Gasol scored 11 and 13 points, respectively, with heavy minutes in the season-opening blowout loss against the Indianapolis Pacers. The Grizzlies’ overall team offense looked flat and dysfunctional. Nobody could break down the Pacers’ defense. Grizzlies fans were quick to hit the panic button on Twitter, with some calling Gasol washed up.

That foul mood changed Friday night, when Conley and Gasol revived their high-level two-man play, proving they can still be the engine of a successful team. Conley sped all over the court, breaking down defenders off the dribble, swishing two threes, and setting up his teammates with 11 assists. Gasol didn’t appear to be limited by the back spasms he experienced earlier that morning, running the floor normally and whipping crisp passes to his teammates to the tune of 5 assists.
Larry Kuzniewski

Although they didn’t lead the way in scoring, Conley and Gasol’s two-man game set the table for the rest of the team. The Grizzlies would hope to see this pattern repeated throughout the regular season, as Conley and Gasol are aging veterans with lots of mileage, and they should conserve their energy and health as much as they’re able before the Grizzlies are (hopefully) wrestling for playoff seeding.
Larry Kuzniewski


In his first regular season game with the Grizzlies at FedExForum, Garrett Temple quickly caught fire, and that blaze raged for the rest of the night. He lit up the Grindhouse with 30 points on 10-11 shooting, and was nearly flawless from deep, hitting 5-6. He also defended and handled the ball well.

Grizzlies Maul Hawks 131 – 117 (2)

Was he 100 percent happy with his performance? In the locker room after the game, Temple said “I was actually real upset at myself for giving up that three to Taurean Prince β€” the first three he got.” When asked about Temple in his postgame presser, Coach J.B. Bickerstaff was quick to laud his defense, saying that there will be some nights where Temple won’t hit as many shots, but he’ll lock down the opponent’s best player.

Grizzlies Maul Hawks 131 – 117 (3)


Larry Kuzniewski

How did the Grizzlies’ top draft pick do in his first home game of his first NBA season? Let’s just say he’s doing a pretty good job at endearing himself to the fanbase.

Grizzlies Maul Hawks 131 – 117 (4)

Triple-J poured in 24 points off the bench, shooting 8-12 and going 2-4 from deep. His length and quickness transformed the defense. His shooting and defensive impact come as no surprise. What does surprise me, however, is how good he looks in the post and attacking the paint. Consistently, he was able to use his size, strength, and athleticism to work his way into the paint and finished over defenders like 7’1″ Alex Len. His touch around the rim has been impressive.

Grizzlies Maul Hawks 131 – 117 (5)

Grizzlies Maul Hawks 131 – 117 (7)

Chandler Parsons got the start over Kyle Anderson, but played fewer minutes than Anderson. Parsons shot 3-6 from deep and contributed 11 points in the game. One sequence stood out to me in particular: Conley beep-beeped through the defense and jumped beneath the rim, and slung a pass to Gasol at the top of the arc. Gasol immediately swung the ball to a wide-open Parsons for a made triple. It was a rare glimpse at the power of what the three highest-paid Grizzlies can do to a defense when they’re healthy and in sync.

I wrote about this in-depth for the Flyer‘s cover story this week, but the Grizzlies basically haven’t seen and don’t know the capabilities of a healthy version of this team. I’m betting that those unknowns play out as unexpected positives. Did you know that the Grizzlies set a franchise record last night by scoring 77 points in the first half?

Larry Kuzniewski

The one down note from the home-opening win was JaMychal Green’s injury. He broke his jaw colliding with a player’s elbow while contesting a fast break dunk attempt. He hit the ground, pounded the court with his hand, hopped up, and ran straight to the locker room. He underwent a “surgical stabilization procedure” this morning.

J.B. Bickerstaff said the injury shows how selfless Green is β€” that he was the only one contesting a difficult play. And how tough do you have to be to leap up off the floor and jog to the locker room with a broken jaw?

Dillon Brooks saw limited minutes, logging just two in the first half, but got more run in the second. Even though he was (conspicuously, for Grizzlies fans) on the bench for most of the first half, Brooks was highly engaged, celebrating when Shelvin Mack hit a buzzer-beating floater, and jumping up and cheering harder than anyone else when Jackson slammed home a lob.

Andrew Harrison didn’t play at all in the home opener. And unlike Brooks, he seems disengaged, seclusive, and dissatisfied sitting on the bench. I don’t know how much to read into that, though, since their personalities are so different and perhaps that’s just how Harrison is in general. In any case, people forget how good Andrew Harrison was at the end of last season, and he’s by far the best defender among Grizzlies point guards. I hope Memphis manages to work him into the rotation again, because he brings a lot to the table when he’s playing well.

The Grizzlies de-escalated an anxious fanbase on Friday. They’ll look to build some momentum when they take on one of the West’s scariest teams, the Utah Jazz, on Monday on the road.

Burn of the night:

Grizzlies Maul Hawks 131 – 117 (6)

Categories
Cover Feature News

Out of the Blue

CREDIT: Joe Murphy/NBAE

The Memphis Grizzlies will catch you, the NBA β€” and maybe even themselves β€” off guard in 2018-19. If the team can stay healthy, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley will enjoy a supporting cast that’s the best fit for their talents they’ve ever had β€” and one that’s ideal for the pace-and-space era.

You heard it here first: Assuming the Grizzlies avoid the kinds of extraordinary injury issues that plagued the past two seasons, they will make the playoffs. If the Grizzlies are healthy in the playoffs, this season’s iteration of the team will be well-suited to upset any of the NBA’s current elite, so yes … they could win it all.

Joe Murphy/NBAE

Mike Conely and Marc Gasol

Memphis hasn’t seen Marc Gasol and Mike Conley play a meaningful stretch of games since Tony Allen and Zach Randolph’s departure fundamentally reshaped the landscape of the court by adding spacing and broadening lanes to the rim. Conley was playing the best offensive basketball of his career in the season before last year’s injury-wash. Marc Gasol started shooting threes just two seasons ago, and the Grizzlies have not been able to utilize this aspect of his game while paired with Conley at his best for any length of time.  

In his 2017-18 League Pass Watchability rankings, analyst Zach Lowe said, “Gasol and Conley work the most subtly gorgeous two-man game in the league β€” a bob-and-weave, give-and-go symphony only possible when two genius players compile a half-decade of shared knowledge.” Lowe came to this assessment when Conley and Gasol played on a team that routinely offered the league’s worst spacing. This unparallelled two-man game will fuel many wins if it’s operating on a team that can space the floor, knock down open threes, and widen driving lanes to the rim.

The return of the Conley/Gasol two-man game, and the fate of the “win now” Grizzlies, mainly rests in Conley’s hands. His value can’t be overstated for Memphis: He’s an elite NBA point guard who can carry the team with his scoring and facilitate the offense as a floor general. The Grizzlies have no replacement for what Conley brings to the team, and they will not contend if he can’t play or if he’s seriously limited. Speaking of which, there’s a frightening stat that shows guards under a certain height experience a tremendous statistical drop off after a certain age, and Conley is a candidate to fit that pattern.

On his fantastic Patreon page, writer Matt Hrdlicka calculated a list of guards 6’3″ or under, age 29 or older, who were as good as Conley was in 2016-17. The list is only five people long, including Conley, and features Chris Paul, 2016-17 Kyle Lowry, and Chauncey Billups and Steve Nash. The majority of smaller guards not on this list experienced drop-offs in explosiveness and quickness, two things Conley will need in order to get to the rim, set up his teammates, and play at a level where it’s still reasonable for the Grizzlies to win.

Conley’s time in the league and the energy he’s had to expend for the Grizzlies to win stands out on Hrdlicka’s list, so the odds β€” and time β€” wouldn’t appear to be on Conley’s side. Which is to say, it may be now or never for these Grizzlies. The hope is that a healthier team, and new ball-handling and play-making personnel, will alleviate Conley’s burden and prolong his ability to play in the league. Speaking of new guys …

Joe Murphy/NBAE

Kyle Anderson

Kyle Anderson may end up being the biggest Grizzlies non-draft acquisition since Zach Randolph. Like Randolph, he’s contractually locked in to spend his prime years with Memphis. Anderson likely won’t have the same cultural impact as ZBo β€” nor the potent, ride-that-horse type of scoring, but he will be able to defend multiple positions against the best teams in the NBA, take over some ball-handling and facilitation responsibilities, and stick around for a while.

Anderson probably won’t be awarded accolades like Tony Allen got as the league’s best one-on-one defender, but he will be a better and more versatile overall team defender. It’s a role that’s better suited for combatting the pace-and-space Curry-Thompson-Durants and CP3-Harden team-ball that now dominates the league instead.

Plus, unlike Allen, who was often a liability on offense, Anderson can keep the offense running. Also, with Anderson potentially in the starting lineup, Conley won’t have to hit the gas as often, and can play off the ball. I can’t wait to see how Anderson looks in an expanded role.

Joe Murphy/NBAE

Chandler Parsons

Another development this season that may take many by surprise is Chandler Parsons. Ever since the ill-considered #Chancun Instagram, we’ve grown accustomed to Parsons maintaining a relatively clean PR presence. He’s now sharing Instagram videos of innovative workouts and gym shootarounds. But he kicked things up a notch this year by writing a “letter to Memphis” in the Players’ Tribune. Chandler basically tried to bury the hatchet with frustrated Grizzlies fans and detailed the impressive efforts he’s made to rehab his body. He says he woke up early and spent most of his days rehabbing and fortifying his body with a litany of exercises. He flew to Germany so doctors could inject his knees with enormous needles, using the same treatment that revived Eric Gordon’s career. Parsons certainly makes the case that this year will be different, and if training camp and preseason have been any indication, he might be telling the truth. He’s running the court well, knocking down threes, and even played both nights in a pre-season back-to-back.

Parsons wants to prove that he still has it, and he appears to be on track to becoming a reliable wing that can provide scoring and playmaking off the bench. If his health and ability return to near what the Grizzlies signed him to be, the Grizzlies could start either Parsons or Anderson, depending on the defense and shooting necessitated by the opponent. So, Kyle Anderson may be the biggest acquisition since Zbo … unless it’s year-three Chandler Parsons pulling an Eric Gordon. If that’s the case, look for Conley and Gasol’s efficiency and production to spike in ways not unlike the success seen by other stars around the league who are teaming up in threes and fours.

The Grizzlies also appear to be on the verge of starting their best shooting guard since Courtney Lee. Garrett Temple, the likely starter, is a reliable veteran and a classic 3-and-D player. He will also help the Grizzlies reclaim their strong defensive identity.

Don’t sleep on Wayne Selden, though. He’s another player that could catch people off guard this season. Analysts pinned him for a potential big breakout season at the beginning of last year, but he was sidelined due to the same quad-injury that plagued Kawhi Leonard. Selden’s sample size from when he was healthy with the Grizzlies is tiny, but he shot very well from three and packed a lot of athleticism and rim-attacking ability into the two spot. It’s another small sample size, but Selden thrived when he was given the opportunity in a preseason game against the Pacers, scoring 16 points and dishing nine assists in 27 minutes of play. Selden could provide more of a scoring punch in the starting lineup, or serve as a backup point guard behind Conley.

Having options for backup point guard is another overlooked development that will make this team more successful than most have predicted this season. The Marc & Mike Grizzlies have frequently suffered from not having a backup primary ball-handler that can facilitate the offense. By adding a veteran backup point guard like Shelvin Mack, and ball-handlers like Kyle Anderson, Conley won’t have to shoulder the floor general burden alone.

JaMychal Green is another player who could surprise people with his effort and production this season. It’ll be a contract year for the power forward, and he should see better looks more often from deep with the makeup and health of this year’s roster. Green’s steady ability to defend the four and space the floor gives rookie Jaren Jackson Jr. plenty of time to adapt to the NBA, which is nice, because overextended young big men tend to get injured.

Joe Murphy/NBAE

Jaren Jackson Jr.

Speaking of Jaren Jackson Jr., I think it’s possible he may go down as the best player to ever wear a Grizzlies uniform. His youth, size, quickness, ability to guard the perimeter, block rate, 3-point percentage, and FT percentage made Jackson’s ceiling β€” and unicorn potential β€” stand out in the recent draft class. The Commercial Appeal‘s Peter Edmiston, one of my favorite number-crunching analysts covering the Grizzlies, had Luka Doncic and Jaren Jackson Jr. on a tier far above everyone else, and I think he’ll end up being right in his assessment.

Jackson can defend the perimeter, protect the rim, space the floor, hit threes, and sink free throws. Many big men aren’t able to remain on the court late in games due to poor free throw shooting and difficulty guarding the perimeter. Jackson will have no such issues. But Grizzlies fans will need to be patient with Jackson, as foul problems should be expected for a 19-year-old rookie big man. If Jackson had one serious knock on his NBA potential going into the draft, it was his ability to score in the paint and the post, but that aspect of his game has steadily improved with each game he’s played. Don’t forget to thank the tanking gods for Triple-J.

One of the most difficult reads an NBA team’s front office and head coach have to make is whether their team should try to win now or rebuild for the future. How much of your future are you willing to compromise to try to win at this moment? Should the rotation lean on its stars and veterans if mid-level playoff success is not a forgone conclusion? How do you walk the line between winning games and developing players further down the bench so your team becomes deeper and ultimately better equipped to compete in the playoffs?

The call was easy to make last season. With Conley going down early, Parsons not healthy for most of the season, and Gasol being the only star besides Tyreke Evans on a team with no consistency or identity, it was clear that the season was a wash.

To anti-tankers: I say Jaren Jackson Jr. is better than losing in the first round of the playoffs and getting some broke-ass project like Michael Porter Jr.

Injuries have kept the Grizzlies from finding and refining their next identity. Memphis has been wandering in the wilderness, to an extent, ever since Grit ‘n Grind reached the true end of its road in a four-game sweep by the Spurs in the 2013 Western Conference Finals.

The Grizzlies finally moved on from that anachronistic blueprint in 2017, when they shipped off ZBo and TA, but the team had barely scratched the surface of its new identity last year (beating the Warriors and Rockets in the first couple weeks of the season) before Conley went down.

The Grizzlies were lauded for having some of the best locker-room chemistry in the league before falling on hard times. And in that nadir season, what was the worst thing that happened? Marc Gasol got fussy? That pales in comparison to the days of punching teammates in the face over gambling debts while on the team plane, or the well-documented feuds that have plagued other teams in the league. Another bonus from last year’s disastrous tank-a-thon season was Dillon Brooks, who grew into a solid rotation player and gives the team yet another weapon.

The Grizzlies have a mature locker room that isn’t driven by ego, and additions such as Garrett Temple and Anderson can only fortify the status quo. The Grizzlies team chemistry up and down the roster should prove to be an advantage as new players gel and find their roles.

On the Grizzlies’ Media Day, Conley said he and Gasol had signed their recent contracts with the intention of retiring as Grizzlies. When pressed about his plans in the year before his player option, Gasol was less forthcoming, saying that it was hard for him to make guarantees when he didn’t know what the future would look like.

It would’ve been nice if he’d given a more comforting response, but I think Gasol appreciates better than most how much the unknown governs the game β€” and players’ careers. The Grizzlies could get bitten by the injury bug again, and Gasol might find himself wanting to join another team to contend for a title while he still has gas left in the tank.

In a worst-case scenario, this could be Conley and Gasol’s last season playing together in Memphis. But it could also be a beginning that brings a return of high-level playoff action to FedExForum. I think most of the litany of unknowns going into the season will reveal themselves as unexpected positives. And I believe that you should be more excited for NBA basketball in Memphis than ever before.