The Memphis Grizzlies have not been fully whole this season. Over the past few months, they’ve had to go several stretches without their best players and are currently still a few weeks away from the return of border-line All-Star guard Desmond Bane.
Yet, somehow, the Grizzlies are cruising through the West with an impressive 17-9 record through 25 games.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to attribute that record, at least in part, to Ja Morant. He’s been a leading MVP candidate this season and absolutely unstoppable under the rim. In fact, his points in the paint rival some of the league’s top big men.
Speaking in an interview with ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, he got real on his dominating paint presence and what separates him from his peers.
How does a 6-foot-2 point guard whose self-described weight is “175 soaking wet” rank right up there with the NBA’s best big men in paint scoring?
“Because motherf—ers can’t stay in front of me,” Ja Morant told ESPN after pondering the question for about as long as it takes him to get from the 3-point line to the rim with a clear lane.
How does one of the league’s smallest players consistently dominate in the paint? “Because motherf—ers can’t stay in front of me,” Ja Morant says with a laugh, but it’s a lot more than that. ESPN story: https://t.co/OaGSzGGEuP
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 12, 2022
The key for Ja, however, is recognizing how to respond in key situations.
“I can’t just rely on dunking every single play, so I have to have different types of finishes to be able to get my shot off,” Morant said, “whether it’s high off the glass, same leg/same hand, reverse, hanging in the air forever.”
No matter how you personally feel about Ja’s tactics, you can’t argue with the results. With averages of 27.7 points, 7.8 assists, and 6.6 rebounds per game, it’s clear that the Grizzlies star is going to keep his team relevant.
How Far Can The Grizzlies Go In The West?
While Memphis may not have the depth of New Orleans or the championship pedigree of Golden State, they do have a team full of talented competitors who can hang with any team in the league. They proved it by going toe-to-toe against the Warriors in last year’s Western Conference Semi-Finals.
“I have a lot of respect for every single guy on that team in terms of how they’re built as a group, individual talent,” saud Steph Curry after Game 6. “They have a lot of energy, a lot of potential in terms of winning at the highest level. They were the higher seed for a reason, they had an amazing regular season and dominated over the course of the 82 games… There’s definitely respect, there’s definitely an understanding that they made us better, I’m sure we’ve made them better. Who knows what happens down the road, but they’ll be here for a long time just because they have a lot going on for them. Definitely respect.”
Only time will tell how this season plays out for the Grizzlies, but you can be sure that nobody is going to take them lightly going forward. With Ja Morant at the helm of this deep and talented squad, the Grizzlies have arrived and they should be feared.
Now, all they have to do is close the deal and win a title to prove themselves as the real deal.
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