The Grizzlies are on a winning streak for the first time this season after defeating the hapless Charlotte Bobcats. Charlotte has been ass for basically its entire existence and has only made the playoffs 3 times in the last 15 years. In all of those they have lost in the first round.
I’m not sure what the best stats are to show who the he best players in this franchise’s history are but I’m going to use the Value over Replacement Stat. According to this stat these are the best players in franchise history (a real who’s who of players):
The Grizzlies, propelled by a last second layup by God Morant, won 119-117.
So, let’s talk about the good guys:
Ja Morant already shows the potential to be the greatest player in franchise history and every game he seems to be getting better. Last night he had an awesome game with 23 points, 11 assists, and a steal. The bigger thing was that he was very efficient scoring, shooting 10-15 from the field. That the shit I do like. I mean he’s just so awesome and hope is oozing out of all my orifices.
Jaren Jackson is back. He hit a setback three in the corner that nearly made me fall off my couch. The rebounding stats need to go up a little, but he is doing great and is back on track to be awesome.
A huge shout out to Marko Guduric. Finally, we are seeing the reason he is in the NBA, he can shoot the absolute shit out of the basketball. He scored 17 points in 19 minutes of action. He was a cool 4-6 from three last night. I want this guy to be so damn good because I have a strong affinity for white lefthanded people.
Jonas Valančiūnas, my freaking guy, continues to eat rebounds. He had 18 points and 13 grown man rebounds. He is awesome and was physically assaulting Cody Zeller when they were matched up on each other. He is an absolute joy to watch.
I have to come clean on something, when I saw a picture of Solomon Hill in preseason, I thought he was an assist coach, or a guy that wondered in from the YMCA, or possibly a custodian for the FedEx Forum. I was wrong. This man just hit big three pointers and is a winner. He was a team best +18 in terms of plus/minus.
As good as Ja has been Brandon Clarke has been shadowed. In Clarke’s last four games he is shooting 68% from the field, 57% from three, while grabbing 7 rebounds and scoring 14.5 points in 21 minutes of play per game. Basically, he is awesome and makes impactful plays every game while being incredibly efficient. Also, he was 6-9 last night.
Dillon played fine and made some tough shots.
The other guys.
Jar Crowder played 31 minutes and shot 1-5. That’s it.
Tyus Jones shot 0-3 in 18 minutes, he basically did nothing.
Kyle Anderson did fine with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
In terms of team trends, we are starting to shoot threes at a more efficient clip. The last five games we are shooting 41% from three. That number will go down but it’s a positive that we are trending up in that category. Assist are good we have been in the low 30’s the last three games. Holy shit we only shot 9 free throws last night.
Here’s a neat article about Taylor Jenkins
NBA Player of the Night:
James Harden 47 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assits in a win.
Welp onto Mike Conley’s return on Friday night. If they play a video I will ugly cry.
Joey Puckflap Thoughts 