Grizzlies BIG stars SHINE bright as Memphis comes back against Clippers

Grizzlies BIG stars SHINE bright as Memphis comes back against Clippers

A big win for the Memphis Grizzlies out in Los Angeles against the Clippers. A comeback victory. No, the Grizzlies do not make the NBA Cup. No Las Vegas trip for me. But better basketball for Memphis means an opportunity to build upon success. That matters a heck of a lot more even for this or especially for this NBA Cup hater. I’m Joe Mullenex. This is Lockdown Grizzlies. It’s a bonus episode. Let’s lock in. You are Locked On Grizzlies, your daily Memphis Grizzlies podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Welcome, welcome, welcome to this special bonus edition of Locked On Grizzlies. It is I, Joe Molen. Very excited to be here with you. Senior contributor over at Beiel Street Bears, co-host of this here podcast. Know Deich Cole. He is enjoying a bit of a breather. Deich has been uh busy. He had our Thanksgivingish episode of the show and he’ll also have our Monday edition of the podcast. If you’re an everydayer at this point, you know I will be sleeping on Sunday night while the Grizzlies play the Kings. But I’m happy to be here with you this last episode for November for us here at Lockdown Grizzlies. A very successful November. Very grateful for that and very thankful on this Thanksgiving weekend to be here with you. Each and every time an episode drops, hopefully you’re in every day at this point and you’re hanging out with us. Make sure that you’re liking, commenting, rating, reviewing, subscribing on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Google, YouTube. Thank you so much for being a part of making us the number one sports podcast network here at the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. We are continuing to build our tiny little corner of the internet. We like to call Lockdown Grizzlies. And we are very proud that you have made the choice to listen, watch, however you take in the show. It is not lost on Demco and I. who have lots of content opportunity, but you’ve chosen us and we are thankful for that. I’m thankful for the Grizzlies winning four of their last five games because that is a lot more fun to talk about, right? We can put the trade machine away for a while. We don’t have to wave Vince Williams Jr. for Charles Bassie. Whoever said that was an idiot, right? We don’t have to do that anymore because the Grizzlies are playing better basketball. Now, context is key. We’ll talk more about that later on in the show, but there’s no denying that the Grizzlies are playing better. And there’s no denying that the Grizzlies came back from down double digits once again. They were down by 13 at the half to the Los Angeles Clippers. And yet a really strong second half performance pushes the Grizzlies past Los Angeles. The Grizzlies win. The Grizzlies win. And context in the interest of fairness matters when it comes to the Grizzlies Clippers game because the Clippers arguably were the much more talented team. I don’t even know there’s much of an argument there. Kawhi Leonard plays in the game, plays 30 minutes, James Harden plays 40 minutes. Vikica Zubac plays almost 40 minutes. And Zubac is where I’m going to start this particular edition of the show because this is a guy who is one of the better bigs in the NBA. Certainly one of the more underrated bigs in the NBA. And you can tell that when Zack Edy rolls up on him, he is excited because Zubac is not used to being one of the smaller guys on the court, at least compared to the other bigs. But that is exactly what occurs when Zack Edy shows up whether they play in Los Angeles or they play in Memphis like they’re about to in the next several days. Zubac wants to compete with Zack Edy and Zack Edy got the best of him. Zack Edy absolutely got the best of him. 19 rebounds for Zack Edy. 19 rebounds against the Los Angeles Clippers. that it wasn’t just the fact that Edy was dominant on the glass and helped lead Memphis in that particular space. The Grizzlies won the rebounding battle 53-39 against the Clippers. It was the kinds of rebounds. It was the variety a smorgesborg if you will on this Thanksgiving weekend of rebounding whether it was being dominant not just on the defensive glass but on the offensive glass. 13 defensive rebounds, six offensive rebounds. That’s extra possessions. That’s extra opportunities to score. And it’s not just Edy getting the rebound and scoring it himself because Zach Edy only took four shots in this game. He only attempted four shots. That was the fewest of any Grizzly that played in the contest aside from John Kar. And if you are an everydayer, you know exactly of how I feel about John Kar. So John Kjar not taking a shot in 11 minutes of play, that doesn’t surprise me. But the fact that Edy was second to last in that particular statistic, a bit surprising. Edy probably needs more shots. But he was still impactful in terms of helping the Memphis Grizzlies win this game because of tapout rebounds, getting extra shooting opportunities for players like Cam Spencer. Cam Spencer, a team second best, plus 19 in single game plus minus. He and Contavius Cowwell Pope, who we’ll talk more about here in a moment, really successful in terms of how they competed in this particular contest. Cam Spencer continues to provide meaningful minutes when he’s given this opportunity with these injuries that the Grizzlies have sustained. But Zach Edy dominated Zubac on the glass in particular, and that was the most important place to be dominant. It’s not like Zubac was that impactful scoring the ball either. He was better passing, five assists. But Zack Edy won a matchup against one of the better bigs, not just in the Western Conference, but the entire NBA. That is something that should have you excited. Excited. Zack Edy looked good. You know who else looked good? Jiren Jackson Jr., the closer, the offensive weapon. That is the guy that the Grizzlies have needed. 24 points on 13 shots, three for five from beyond the arc. And that’s an important stat. That means that Jiren was extremely effective, six for eight on his two-point shots. And Jiren also attempted four free throws. You would like that to be a little bit higher. Jaylen Wells, for example, going eight for eight from the charity stripe. For a perimeterbased wing player, you’d like to see your perimeter-based big dribble and get to the rim and draw a little more contact. But you can’t control the officiating. You can’t control the whistle that Jiren gets, which we’ve talked about here on Lockdown Grizzlies a lot. Not the best whistle comparatively speaking across the NBA, but the aggression of Jiren, the way that he was engaged, that is what you want to see as he continues to get more comfortable in the schemes of Tumasel because clearly the team is getting more comfortable in those schemes. This is why we always say, “Call me at Christmas.” Right? I always preface these conversations. I think Vince Williams Jr. is the one exception and I’ll eat that. I’ll I’ll take that L. Call me at Christmas. We have to see how these things look. And as we get close to the calendar turn into December, the Grizzlies are playing better. Now, who they’re playing matters on that front, but the Grizzlies are winning these games. And they are putting themselves in a position to be in the playin competition while they are without John Morance, while they are without Tai Jerome, who has not played a minute of regular season basketball so far for the Memphis Grizzlies. When your other offensive weapons and catalystes are not playing, you need the guy that you pay almost like a max player to participate and compete at that level. And that’s exactly what Jiren did. Now, somebody in the comments or on X is going to let me know that Jiren only had two rebounds in the game. And I am well aware that the almost seven foot Jiren Jackson Jr. only had two rebounds in the game. I am going to once again tell you that I do not care. Do I wish that number was higher? Yeah, of course I do. Jiren Jackson Jr. is not that kind of player. Never has been, never will be. And you know what? If you’re an advocate for Zack Edy, this is a perfect place where you can say, uh, between Edy and Jiren, the starting front court, they averaged 10.5 rebounds. Edy is that glass eater. Edy is that dominant force rebounding. Edy is the guy that is going to make Jiren that much more impactful. Now, I talked about this earlier this week and I talked about it on social media. The extremely flawed nature of the stars of the Memphis Grizzlies. Jiren Jackson Jr., we talked about his rebounding, a little bit predictable in his offense. Still only two assists. Wish he’d keep his eyes up on his drives, but an offensively impactful game. And Jiren is still a very good defender. John Morant not getting to the rim the way that he once did. One of the worst three-point shooters in the NBA so far this season. Again, small sample size. Hopefully that number progresses to the mean in Jaw is closer to you know around 30 31%. Eventually that means he’s got to make some threes eventually. The flawed nature of the Grizzlies stars in particular. Does it make sense to have max contract players when you are looking at a situation where they are not capa not able to be as impactful unless they have a role player like Zack Edi on the floor with them and first off I think it’s fair to say Zack Edi is more than a role player. I don’t I’m not going to go as far as to say he’s the most impactful grizzly ever as I saw a couple folks say on social media. Let’s have some nuance in our Zack Edy conversation. But I do think Edy in terms of the role that he plays, he will eventually, because they haven’t played together at all this season, that’s important to understand. Eventually will create room for John Mor and make Jaw’s life easier, much like Steven Adams and Yonas Valentunis before him before him did. And he clearly is able to negate the weakness of Jiren as a rebounder. And we can talk more as the days and weeks march along about whether or not paying J and Jiren the amount that they’re paid when they’re so dependent on Zack Edit who eventually is going to have to get paid. Right? Still a couple years away from that, but something to keep in mind. Does it make sense to have those guys in that spot? It’s a conversation for another day. But as of now, Zack Edy is on a rookie contract and Zack Edy allows for Jiren and Jaw to be the best versions of themselves. Is that ideal? No, but John Jiren are not ideal superstars or stars for the Memphis Grizzlies. Trying to build a roster around those flaws makes sense. And I think Edy next to Jiren is perhaps the best example of that currently on the Grizzlies roster. So kudos to the Grizzlies comeback victory in Los Angeles. No NBA Cup, no trip to Vegas for me, but those of you that are everyday know I hate the NBA Cup, so that doesn’t really break my heart. The win is far more important than any uh phony fake tournament. When we come back here on Lockdown with terrible courts, by the way, just awful, god-awful eyesore courts. When we come back here on this special episode of Lockdown Grizzlies, making the most of the opportunity ahead of Memphis heading into Sacramento. Stick around here on Lockdown Grizzlies. This episode of Lockdown Grizzlies is brought to you by Door Dash. 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Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late push. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. What are you waiting for? Go and head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the National Basketball Association. Closing out this bonus edition of Lockdown Grizzlies. I am Joe Mullenex, your host for this episode. The Michael Cole will be back with you for our Monday edition of the show, but I wanted to make sure I had a chance to hop in and be excited, right? I feel like I’m the negative Nancy sometimes, the Debbie Downer. The Grizzlies are playing well. I believe I mentioned earlier in the show, winning four of their last five games. Four of their last five games. Considering the fact that at the darkest moments of the season so far, the Memphis Grizzlies were losing four games in a row, five games in a row. They were 1-9 over a 10-ame stretch from Halloween until November 18th. So for about two and a half weeks there, it was pretty dark and dreary. But since that November 18th loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the Grizzlies, again, four of their last five, they have won. Context matters. Who have they beaten over these last five games? Sacramento Kings, not a good basketball team. The opponent for the Grizzlies coming up Sunday. Dallas Mavericks, not a good basketball team, but still a win. They lost to the Denver Nuggets, very good basketball team that just lost to the San Antonio Spurs without Victor Wimyama. That seems significant. The New Orleans Pelicans, bad basketball team, and the Grizzlies needed overtime to win that game. And then you have the Los Angeles Clippers. Again, not the best basketball team right now, but Kawhi Leonard played and was extremely effective. James Harden played almost 40 minutes. Zubac, as we talked about earlier, played almost 40 minutes. The the Clippers were pretty much at full tilt. And I think that that is the game to be the most excited about building on this momentum because the schedule’s still pretty light for Memphis. The Kings bad basketball team. It’s at Sacramento, but that’s a game the way the Grizzlies are currently playing, they should win. That would put them at 9 and 12, right? And obviously 9 and 12, that sounds a heck of a lot better than 8 and 13. From there, the Grizzlies have a game with the pretty impressive San Antonio Spurs. They may well be for real this season, and it might be a challenge for the Grizzlies to be able to overcome that. So again, if we’re talking about being unbiased and fair, wins and losses, that sort of thing, the Sacramento the San Antonio game probably not going to be for the Grizzlies. The Grizzlies have an opportunity against Sacramento to continue to build the right way of playing, their right way of playing. A bad Kings team, not as bad as the Grizzlies at this moment, or excuse me, not as good as the Grizzlies at this moment. It’s not like the Grizzlies are elite by any stretch of the imagination, but as of this recording, Memphis is at the number 10 spot in the playin tournament if the season ended today, which obviously 20 games in. About a quarter of the way through, the season does not end today. But the Grizzlies have a chance to continue to build right after that San Antonio game. That’s going to be a test. After that, they’ve got the Clippers at home after a couple of days off. It’s been reported that John Marant is going to be re-evaluated next week once the Grizzlies return from this road trip. Could Jaw be back in the mix by that Clippers game? Maybe, probably not. Hopefully, you get good injury news on the Morant front. And then you go from the Clippers to the Trailblazers that are also in the playin mix with you currently, the Utah Jazz that are also in the playin mix currently. The Grizzlies go back out to Los Angeles for a game against the Clippers on the 15th of December. You’re picking up what I’m putting down. The Grizzlies have a chance, this continued stretch where they play multiple teams with losing records over the next six or seven games because Washington comes after Minnesota at at Minnesota on the 17th until they play the Thunder again on the 22nd of December. The Grizzlies play a bunch of teams with losing record. Sacramento, the Clippers, the Trailblazers, the Jazz, the Clippers again. And then you’ve got Washington at home, one of potentially the worst team in the NBA. So if the Grizzlies rattle off one, two, three, four, five wins there and they only lose a couple, now you’re looking at a team that is back to around 500, maybe 11 and 13. And if that is possible, as awesome as that would be, 11 and 13, 12 and 13, 12 and 14. Again, you’re around 500 without Ty Jerome. You’re around 500 without John Morant. Making the most of that opportunity is extremely significant. But how do they do that? They continue to build around and through Zack Edy. Zach Edy is an impactful Grizzly. As Demco and I said on our most recent episode that we were together, we both agree the most significant Grizzly right now is Zack Edy. Maybe we jumped the gun a little bit on Cedric Coward. Got to remember he is a rookie and he looks very different on the road than he does at home. His shooting numbers are down when he’s at home or excuse me when he’s on the road compared to when he’s at home. got to remember said is a rookie. Still playing well, still should continue to start. Zack Edy is the most significant Grizzly. After that, it’s Jiren Jackson Jr. right now until John Mor returns. The way that the Grizzlies won the game against the Clippers is you had Zack Edy being dominant on the glass. You had Jiren getting into his offensive rhythm. You had a strong bench performance, right? The starters for the Clippers pretty much outplayed the Grizzly starters, but it was the bench for Memphis. Santi Alama continuing his efficient offensive campaign. Jock Landale. Much better role for Jock. 12 points, six rebounds. This is where he belongs as a reserve. That’s what I said all along. People called me a Jock Landale hater. I just didn’t want him to start. He’s an end of rotation guy when this team is healthy. And 16 minutes, 12 points, six rebounds against the Clippers. Go dominate reserve bigs. I’m great with Landale in that space. Contavius Cwell Pope having a bit of a renaissance after his move to the bench. He was the leader in single game plus minus for Memphis against the Clippers. The Grizzlies were 19 points better with KCP on the court than they were with him off of it. That doesn’t mean KCP should be the starter and replace Cedric Coward again. It just means that this might be the best use of KCP in this current Grizzly scheme, this current Grizzly setup. Building upon that, letting him have that opportunity to take those heat check threes, building his confidence. Contavius Cowwell Pope has been a starter for a majority of his career. for the vast majority of his career in this reserve role let him have opportunity to take some ownership on that bench especially with Tai Jerome out for this foreseeable future KCP Santi Alama being the leaders of that reserve group they look like they are getting comfortable they look like they’re starting to understand the spots and the spaces and where they’re supposed to be in the isello scheme and that matters that comfort level matters because The Grizzlies have a chance here to win more than they lose over the next couple of weeks, just like they’ve done these last week and a half. Winners of four of their last five could easily become winners of eight of their last 10. And if that does indeed become the case, we are we’ve been talking about hovering around 500 until the team is healthy. If the team is ever healthy, hovering around 500, hovering around 500, then go on a run once you have Jaw and Jiren and Edy and everybody out there together. Will that ever be the case? Very fair question to ask now given how the season has played out for the Grizzlies to this point. Eight and 12 is not where the Grizzlies wanted to be, but at the same time they appear to be finding their rhythm. They appear to be finding themselves. Zack Edy has been absolutely that impactful for this team. And because of that impact and because of the opportunity that Memphis has in front of them, the playin looks realistic once again. Now, it’s still competitive in the Western Conference. The Jazz only a game back of the Grizzlies. The Clippers obviously do not want to be a play-in team. They plan on going on a run at some point in their own way, I would imagine. But the Grizzlies have a chance to continue to hover around this space. They need to make the most of it through the process of Zack Edy being dominant on the glass, working through him, getting Jiren opportunities in his spots to get into a rhythm early in games, allowing for him to be your closer and continue to ride a bench that is finding comfort as well. The bench of the Grizzlies outplayed the Clippers bench. The depth of the Grizzlies was on display against Los Angeles. continue to allow for that to be a focal point and continue to let these younger players compete and make mistakes and learn from those mistakes against these teams that Memphis is better than so that when they do play the teams that the Grizzlies are not as good as, they are better prepared thanks to the reps that they’re getting now in more advantageous situations. Thank you so much for being with me on this episode of Lockdown Grizzlies. It is much appreciated. Make sure that you’re making Lockown Fantasy Basketball your next listen. Love that show. If you haven’t checked it out with Josh Lloyd, he does a phenomenal job getting you ready each and every day for winning your league, winning a daily fantasy situation, all while making you a smarter NBA fan. Find Locked On Fantasy Basketball on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Part of the number one sports podcast network, the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Make sure you’re liking, commenting, rating, reviewing, subscribing, wherever you get podcasts, Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Google, YouTube. Become an everydayer. Be a part of your make us a part, excuse me, of your everyday NBA and Memphis Grizzlies content consumption. Each and every time an episode drops, a bonus episode here and there. Obviously, every day during the week, Michael Cole will be with you on our Monday edition of the show talking about Grizzlies Kings, looking ahead to continuing to build on the positive vibes. Obviously a very important game for the Grizzlies beating the Clippers. Another important win, a chance for a winnable game, a game that should be won by Memphis. Hopefully that’s what Demich is breaking down on our next edition of the show. Thank you so much for being with me on this episode of Lockdown Grizzlies. We will catch you next time. Remember, we’re free and available wherever you get podcasts. Become an everydayer. We’ll catch you then. See you next time. Bye.

Jaren Jackson Jr. and Zach Edey may well complete each other as basketball players. On this bonus edition of Locked on Grizzlies Host Joe Mullinax breaks down their collective games leading Memphis back to a big win over the Los Angeles Clippers, plus how the Grizzlies keep building positive momentum heading to Sacramento.

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