Memphis Grizzlies: Inexperienced youth is showing in Orlando restart

The Memphis Grizzlies have yet to win a game in the restart

The Memphis Grizzlies have been such an exciting team to watch all year long. A young team overachieving early in their developmental timeline put themselves into a prime position to make the playoffs before the season was suspended. No matter what type of team you are, a four-month layoff is tough, but may even be tougher for a young team to make their first playoff appearance with their current core.

Memphis came into Orlando as the favorite to make the 8th seed in the West. After losing their first three games, the clock may be nearing midnight for our Cinderella team. What makes matters worse is that the three losses the Grizzlies have obtained have been from three non-playoff teams in the West, the Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, and San Antonio Spurs.

The Trail Blazers and Pelicans are the two teams within considerably dangerous striking distance of the Grizzlies. One could even argue that the game against the Pelicans was a must-win for Memphis.

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The Grizzlies’ schedule here on out only gets tougher with each ensuing game. The rest of their games come against the Jazz, Thunder, Raptors, Celtics, and Bucks. The game against Jazz would be Memphis’ most favorable matchup as they have been struggling of late but the rest of the play-in games will be a gauntlet especially those last three games coming against the best three teams in the East.

How did the Memphis Grizzlies get here?

We must go all the way back to February to see the origin of how things are unfolding for the Grizzlies. At the trade deadline, the Grizzlies sent Andre Iguodala to the Heat in exchange for Justise Winslow. One key piece of the trade was Jae Crowder. My first reaction seeing that trade was losing Crowder was going to hurt the Grizzlies come playoff time.

Crowder provided a hard-nosed defense and great veteran presence in the locker room. Crowder would be such an important piece for Memphis in Orlando.

Justise Winslow was going to be a big piece for the Grizzlies for the rest of the season. Winslow had turned himself into a playmaking forward with an improved jump shot. His defense has always been superb and would have been a great fit at the 3 for the Grizzlies. Unfortunately for Winslow and Memphis, Justise suffered a hip injury that is going to sideline him for the remainder of the season.

What’s going wrong?

The Grizzlies have been in each of their three games so far, but have struggled with a few things. The first would be to get key stops down the stretch. The Grizzlies lack a true lockdown defender with Winslow being injured and that shows up late in games. In the game against the Trail Blazers, there were instances down the stretch where Memphis wouldn’t be able to get any stops. Resulting from this they would be down nearly double-digit points with under two to play. The Grizzlies struggled with such stops in the Pelicans games as well even with Zion Williamson off the floor.

Second would the late-game shot selection. Jaren Jackson Jr., Dillion Brooks, and De’Anthony Melton are the main culprits. There would be possessions that I would watch where they would need a bucket or a good shot and one of these three players would just heave up a 3. In the final three to four minutes of a game, it’s so important to get good quality shots to give you a chance to win. Granted all three of those players can score and I would want the ball in their hands. Rather than taking a pull up 3, I would want them to take the 10-15 extra seconds and work for a great shot.

Third and my last critique would be that Ja Morant is playing a little too fast in crunch time. The poise and control he played with during the year almost disappear in the final parts of the last three games. There were moments in the Portland game where the Blazers would bait him on the fastbreak into going too fast and it resulted in Morant tripping, falling to the floor, and turning the ball over.

Now don’t get confused. I’m not saying he is Russell Westbrook with how he plays out of control sometimes because that isn’t the case. What impressed me most with Morant all year was his ability to attack with controlled aggression and in Orlando, he just seems like he is playing a little too fast.

The Grizzlies are obviously going through some growing pains right now. It happens to every single team with a young core. They all have to go through something like this to be able to take that next step. This Grizzlies team really reminds me of the 2008 -09 Chicago Bulls. A rookie Derrick Rose and a young Joakim Noah led the Bulls to the playoffs against the eventual champion Celtics.

There were similar growing pains for both teams and to me the mirror the same developmental path. It may be hard to watch now but this Memphis team does have a bright future.