Why have Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies cooled off as 2024 begins?

Why have Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies cooled off as 2024 begins?

On the first episode of lock on Grizzlies in 2024 yes I am back Joe Mullen In the Flesh or The Voice or however it goes and guess who else is here with me de Michael Cole of the commercial appeal the beat writer for the Memphis Grizzlies the dynamic duo is here to

Figure out what is wrong with the Memphis Grizzlies aside from you know respiratory illness and that sort of stuff and we’re going to preview a big game in Memphis tonight against the San Antonio Spurs lock in with us it’s lockon Grizzlies you are locked on Grizzlies your daily Memphis Grizzlies

Podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every Day happy New Year to you and yours it is once again the dynamic duo of lockdown Grizzlies Jo molx and de Michael Cole with you on this edition of the show it’s a onetime thing because of the way the grizzly schedule has gone uh the next couple of games so I’ll I’ll

Have your back uh flying solo the next couple of episodes but we’re able to get in one dynamic duo show it’s been too long good to see demichel again and we’re gonna have lots of good things good as a relative term uh to discuss on this episode of lockon Grizzlies and

This episode of lockon Grizzlies is brought to you by prize picks the easiest and most exciting way of playing daily fantasy sports go to prize.com lockon NBA and use the code all lowercase locked on NBA for a first deposit match up to $100 we are free and available wherever

You get your podcast is proud members of the locked on podcast Network your team each and every day make sure you’re checking us out on YouTube as well as over on Spotify Apple literally wherever you get podcasts like comment rate review and most importantly subscribe I

Don’t know if you looked at the numbers lately Michael we are getting closer and closer to 3,000 subscribers on YouTube thank you thank you thank you to everybody that makes to Michael and I and every day or I know shows have been hit or miss over the last few days it

Was New Year’s and I think you know I talked about my anniversary last week so all those sorts of things you know I love my wife but that’s over now right we’re in the year 11 of marriage it’s no longer you know we’re not celebrating anymore uh every day moving forward give

Her you better hope she doesn’t watch this episode oh geez oh gosh she might hear me as I record right now makes me nervous she might be listening but I love you honey uh but anyway uh whether it’s to Michael myself or the two of us you’ll have an episode each and every

Day give or take a day uh through the month of January here on locked on Grizzlies and to Michael uh we’ll Jump Right In you know I hope that you had a wonderful holiday haven’t seen you in a bit um good New Year you’re young and vibrant and you probably went out and

Had fun I rang in the new year you know with my eight-year-old drinking milk and eating check um but uh everybody that watches and listens knows we live very different lives we don’t have to go down that path I I am curious since you kind of held

Down the fort last week right uh the Grizzlies are on a three-game losing streak I have watched and looked at highlights and I’ve watched a couple of the games um on my little mini vacation what is in your opinion you know whether it’s the Kings game which is the most

Recent loss obviously they had issues against the Clippers the nuggets before that the nuggets to me demichel seemed like the one that you can kind of push away the easiest like you know they were the illness going through the team that was the game jaw missed the nuggets are

Really freaking good right like I I think all that even if the team was healthy that’s a tough game to win in Denver yeah Clippers a little less excusable even though it was the second night of a back-to-back and then the Kings game at home for me that was the

Big one where I’m like what is going on what is the deal you you saw it demichel yeah uh front and center um where they just ready for their New Year’s Eve plans or or what are the Grizzlies struggling with at the moment well you start first with the uh the obvious and

That’s what you alluded to earlier it’s the illness bug going around the team a little bit we saw J miss that first game in Denver Santi uh dealing with it as well John Kar and you know J was the player that I kind of heard the most

About it you know about like I people were telling me you know when they see he was just sweating like really hard and you know uh he was telling me like he’s he’s trying to you know use like Vick Vapor Rub and all these type of you

Know uh things yeah yeah I like vix Vapor rubs but uh basically to try to get back right and um he told me even after this game against the kings that he’s still not all the way quite back yet you know just his chest he still

Feels it in his chest when he’s running short as breaths all those type of things so uh J called it a setback you know in a way like even after 25 games and then you know finally getting on the court did he had another set back with

This one so going to Denver is already hard enough as you kind of alluded to but I say the Clippers game was just as difficult being that it was the second night of a back toback and it was a travel back toback so you went into a

Different time zone and uh a Clippers team that didn’t lose much in December so that was a tough one as well and all three were tough games Kings was tough at at the end of the day those are three teams I think at the end of the year if

They’re not in the Western Conference Finals they’ll be disappointed right so it’s it’s at the end of day about three really good team but Joe we got to get into this Center position man is not good right now throw the numbers out real quick I’ll just do that

Oh jeez y numbers are scary he’s he’s yic he’s two-time MVP finals MVP I won’t I won’t go too arguably the best player on the planet let’s just keep it simple 14 rebounds pretty much played three quarters 30 minutes zubac iisa is it iisa zubac that’s right Visa something like that Visa zubar

Always makes me think of the watch 20 20 rebounds 33 minutes 15 20 20 rebounds detis demontis sabonis not even a true center right I guess you kind of call him a center played power yeah 13 points 21 rebounds so basically what you have again I I was

Out for a for the last few days of last week like we talked about um was bismack bomo injured like was he no no no no no no no did he miss any time nope so he played every game he played and got smoked by those guys that badly bismack

Jiren oh man X you name them whoever they put on the floor anybody that was a big they weren’t they weren’t bigs in those no that’s really bad and and and that’s a problem because it’s it’s a thing that one this isn’t new if you following the Grizzlies me and Joe were

Talking about this last year as we previewed the playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers uh I think correct me if I’m wrong Joe but I remember us basically pointing Anthony Davis out as being the bigger concern than even LeBron James in that series because of the fact that you knew his capabilities

On the glass and that’s I mean he was he was the more impactful player in my opinion then LeBron in that Series against the gz because of his rebound and you this is what you pointed out even more than me the Grizzlies went into the off season didn’t do a thing

About it and and now with Stephen Adams injury turned out the way it did it shows uh the reason I think it’s important and we’ll probably get to this a little bit more in the next segment is simply because the Grizzlies have to operate with a different sense of urgency because of

Where their season is as compared to everyone they can’t operate from the same lens as a bunch of other teams that are trying to be buyers or things they got to look at it like hey we got to go on a run we got to win what two out of

Three pretty much the rest of this season to get to 500 so in order to do that you can’t just say oh even though none of our centers are giving us 10 points or eight rebounds we’ll be fine because we have J jiren and Dez each scoring over 20 points per game no

Doesn’t work like that you got to address the center position or when you play these Elite teams like we’ve seen over the last three games it shows because it’s a separator and it’s not all G to be teams like the Spurs who the Grizzlies have tonight right and no

Disrespect to wanyama and papovich and the San Antonio crew you look at their numbers they’re not really that much better than the Detroit Pistons that everybody likes to make fun of right in terms of on off and point differential and all those sorts of things they just

Haven’t gone on a historic losing streak so the Grizzlies need to win this game and we’ll talk more about that later uh but as you alluded to and it kind of leads into what we’re going to talk about next there has to be a sense of urgency because if the John Moran

Suspension has taught me anything to Michael it’s that you have no idea when this is going to end right God forbid Desmond Bane blows out out his knee which in no way shape or form I want that to happen I want to stress that knock on all the pieces of wood in your

House in your car wherever you’re listening to this I just have a greater sense of urgency now than I did about what this Core Group can do and I I’m close to including Marcus Smart in that I think that he is a tradable piece he’s arguably the only guy that has real

Value that they would actually consider trading um but I’ve seen enough from Marcus Smart that I want to see him around in a playoff series I don’t want to move him now uh but other than that I I think it’s fair game and we’ll talk more about that but this front office

Led by Zack kimman and I’ve been one of the guys calling him King kimman in the past it’s time to move like it’s time to move because if you’re gonna make this run it has to start like yesterday right and I’m not sure they are on the same

Page with that which is fascinating and you hear rumors and and stories and and different things things out there from Mark Stein and others that we’re going to talk about here momentarily that is the trade likely in the new year right are they going to wait till the off

Season is this something that you know five or six weeks from the trade deadline are we actually going to see them make a move to try to address the elephant in the room which is they don’t have a functional Center that can compete at the highest levels that they

Need to be successful and when I say the highest levels they don’t need yic they don’t need embiid they need a guy that can do what Stephen did but to what you said a moment ago they didn’t address that because they thought they were going to have stepen Adams that’s the

Only logical reason that any of this makes sense they don’t have Stephen Adams that backfired they have to move on to plan B how soon they do that we’re gonna talk about next here on lock Don Grizzlies very excited to do so because that means to Michael probably gonna

Talk about trades a little bit and you know how I love discussing trade your specialty oh yeah I’m a big fan big fan of trade discussions but before we get to that this episode of lock on Grizzlies is brought to you by the good folks over at prize picks I love prize

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Match up to $100 go to prize picks.com lockon NBA again use the code locked on NBA for a first deposit match up to $100 prize picks daily fantasy sports Made Easy when we come back here on lockon Grizzlies we are talking the urgency of now when it comes to making a

Trade stick with us on lockon Grizzlies welcome back to lockon Grizzlies I am Joe mullenax joined by demichel Cole the Commercial Appeal there in Memphis Tennessee he is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for that publication he does phenomenal work over there I did my best to uh repost or retweet whatever the

Heck we call it on X um everything you did while I was away I I love reading to Michael stuff he’s in my opinion the best out there combining the beat writer aspects when he does his analysis and all the different works that the Michael

Does if you’re not following him on X to do the same thing see when new Pieces come out at the Michael C uh you’re making a mistake I’m Joe Mullen X follow me on X if you want uh it’s a poor choice but by all means do so Joe Mullen

X um you’ll get mad at me every once in a while but you know I’m good for interaction I’m good for the engagement over on social media uh speaking of engaging right it appears the Grizzlies are engaging at least dipping their toes in the proverbial water when it comes to

Trade discussions to Michael perhaps trying to address the issue that we alluded to earlier on in the program about how there is no functional Center to play at the level that the Grizzlies need in order to actually make a run getting back into the playin so there’s

Been rumors from Mark Stein and others talking about uh Pascal cakam which would be super cool uh super unlikely because that would have to involve a lot uh for the Memphis Grizzlies to acquire him um you know stuff around the Chicago Bulls and Andre Drummond have been

Brought up you know some of it has a little bit of smoke to it like Mark Stein is pretty in tune so I I would imagine if he hears something you know he he he would uh not be full of it so to speak um but I’m curious as somebody

Who watches this team so much you see them in person you travel on the road several times to watch them in different venues different Arenas uh what is your sense of urgency regarding this team like is there a disconnect between the front office where they’re still kind of

Comfortable thinking things are going to come around uh or are they you know able to look at the schedule like you and I do and say we’re running out of time if we’re actually going to do this and we need to try to fix this problem because

It’s a pretty massive problem I don’t want anyone to think you know that we’re belittling it whether it’s Kelly oin whether it’s Clint capella Andre Drummond you know there’s all sorts of different ways that we could go and maybe I’ll do this later on this week on

One of my solo shows uh there there’s lots of different angles that you can take in terms of what type of guy you want to fill that void but the void is there and how quickly do they fill it do you think they feel that sense of urgency too up in the front

Office uh uh not to the same level you know Zack Zack kimman always has this this way he likes to operate from the perspective of the Grizzlies want to be kind of like cautiously aggressive you know they don’t want to hamper the future too much uh By putting you know

Too much attention on on this this season or the current or whatever the case may be so I don’t think their urgency matches the fan base the fan base probably sees that wow you got J jarn and Dez playing really well you got Marcus smk uh kind of I mean he’s

Guarding those bigger Wings you know very well so far like it’s they they came back against New Orleans because of Marcus Smart don’t get it twisted the second time it was Marcus Smart did you see did you see him guard sabonis phenomenal job against tonus he he he’s

Showing it but uh you got those poor guys and it feels like the center position is that one position that’s kind of uh the leakage right now so I I don’t know if they have the same urgency as the fan base but there is some urgency like I expect them to kind of

Move you know some pieces around and and and see what’s out there but it it probably won’t happen right now and that was a thing that I kind of was alluding to you remember earlier in this season we were talking about trades and and I was like December trades are dominant

Doesn’t it’s it’s very rare and we saw this there was only one trade this December and it was a big one and Jo while we on the topic of that let’s let’s I want to get your opinion on this too let’s get jump into the Joe TR real

Quick because uh a lot of the people in the fan base saw uh the the trade that we’re talking about we’re referencing here was OG anobi being traded to the New York Knicks and the Knicks gave up Emanuel quickley who was a six-man of the Year candidate last season and they also gave

Up a starting you know wing and RJ Barrett and I said to a Grizzlies fan that the Grizzlies couldn’t have match that offer never in a million years and that’s what I want to no that’s all I want want you to say from a player standpoint because you you could throw

All the picks at them but that’s that’s where the Grizzlies what would what would that even have looked like for Memphis it would have had to have been Marcus Smart and it would have had to be luke Canard Luke Canard maybe ter of roll between the Knicks and the Griz

Rwise that makes not I mean RJ Barrett was the number three pick in the 2019 draft you had Zion one jaw two and Barett three and quickley is an upside guy like they’re bringing him to Toronto to start and his career probably takes off after this like and we we’ll find

Out on Wednesday more than likely right when when the Grizzlies take on the Raptors you get to see that we’re gonna see it up close exactly so I I think that that trade was a win-win for both teams and I think that Memphis and that was a wonderful segue partner the

Grizzlies have a chance to do the same thing right I’ll use the Utah Jazz for an example and I want to stress like if you want Andre Drummond you can talk me into Andre Drummond if you want Clint capella you can talk to me to Clint

Capella I’m at the stage where they just need an upgrade at the center spot but I’m using Utah because Utah is a team that clearly doesn’t really necessarily care about this season right the Bulls I know know where you’re going with this show yeah I’m going Kelly o I don’t like

It I don’t like and it’s okay I want to stress I’m I’m cool with the Drummond capella because you want somebody that can fill that Adams void olenick doesn’t do that so I’m I’m with you there that’s the problem right but my my what I’m trying

To say is I’m just using that from a sense of realism yeah you could throw John Kar Jake laravia in a first round pick at the Utah Jazz I think that works MoneyWise Memphis doesn’t go over the cap they still have that trade exception kind of room that they can work with and

That’s a trade that could theoretically happen right but I got one for you yeah please how about this name go Pat oh from Indiana from he used to be in Indiana that’s where he was drafted and speaking of that I got a quick story right there uh on on draft night that

Was my uh that was my year I was interning out of college at Sports Illustrated 2019 and no one no one went to his table I went up there to talk to him he could barely like speak English and and look what he’s now we’re talking about him potentially being a piece for

The Grizzlies but always get into these conversations to me you always got to start with the teams that have incredible depth and that’s a team that now with Wendell carner back they have him they’re financially tied to him even though he hasn’t played well yet uh you

Got Mo Wagner uh who you know is the brother of one of their Stars exactly and you got Goa who is a great defender he’s graded out uh the the advance uh analytics grade him as one of the top defensive centers in the game right now

Uh and that’s a guy who you could get for cheap and again you could move a couple of those pieces that you mentioned but sure the point is that we’re on the same page as an upgrade should be a priority for this team in the next four to six weeks it needs to

Happen and whether it’s googa whether it’s olic and again talk to us in the comments especially on YouTube like let us know what you do you just want to see an upgrade period does it need to be something in particular like a googa or an Andre Drummond someone who can be

That Defender be that rebounder that stepen adamses kind of guy uh where are you at with this because I I’m of the mindset to Michel they just need somebody because bis MC bambo ain’t it Xavier Tillman ain’t it Stephen Adams ain’t walking through that door Brandon

Clark could be right in the next six to eight weeks walking through that door but by then it might be too late and the season May essentially be over and you just hold him out just to make sure he’s 100% for the start of next season there

There’s so many different ways this can go what what what is our audience think I’m interested to see that uh in our comments section on lockon Grizzly we’ll revisit this I’m sure down the road uh lockon has launched the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel on

YouTube lockon sports today is here for you 247 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts are locked on like to Michael and myself I’ve been told we’ve been on this show or on this channel a few times to Michael uh plus our national shows

Covering every league go to locked on sports today on YouTube and subscribe to the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel this episode of lockdown Grizzlies is brought to you by FanDuel W it’s that time of year de Michel things are getting hot with the NFL playoffs obviously the NBA in Full

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FanDuel official partner of the NFL when we come back here on lock on Grizzlies we will close out the show previewing a very interesting contest for Memphis between them in the Spurs must wins in January yeah I think we’re there we’ll be back welcome back to lock down Grizzlies I am

Joe Mullen X flying not solo it’s the dynamic duo riding once more the Michael Cole of Commercial Appeal there in Memphis Tennessee he’s a Memphis gries beat writer for that publication I I did have somebody in the comments on YouTube to Michael make it sound like I like

Make fun of you like I’m not being serious in all my praise I am being dead serious in my praise what what did they say what did they say it was just something like like I’m on to you Joe the way you talk or something like that

No I I I truly enjoyed the Michael’s work and you know I’ve had some changes in my own writing stuff that nobody cares about Fair that’s fair um but you know demichel is one of the reasons I’m still doing this man as I enjoy talking to you guys obviously people don’t know

Joe you you were like my first interview when I when I got the job right yeah absolutely I reached out to you and you know I I I’m a big demichel Cole fan I’ve been one of the earliest Memphis demichel Cole fans so uh that aren’t your family members because obviously

They’ve liked you longer than me um uh but no I I I’m happy to be with you here and happy in 2024 to keep building the show we’ve mentioned we’re almost at 3,000 subscribers on YouTube hopefully we hit that number this month and um you know keep spreading the good news that

Is locked on Grizzlies we appreciate it hopefully there’s good news to talk about on our next episode uh the Grizzlies play the Spurs and hopefully Memphis is uh feeling a little bit better in terms of the illness that’s been going around and hopefully the injury report stays low uh obviously

Just a recently dropped um heading into the game against the Spurs demichel what are some of your keys for this game because I’m I’m nervous whenever you say it’s a must-win because I do think it’s a must-win they have to string together games like this the Raptors on Wednesday

Night to find ways to get back into the playin conversation realistically we can’t keep saying they’re five or six games out with 50 to go eventually it’s going to be five or six games out with 40 to go and then 30 and then all crap you know it’s slipping away they got to

Start putting some wins together how did they do it against the Spurs tonight well it starts with identifying who on the Spurs can be those different difference makers that could change this game if you look at the games that the Spurs have won this season it’s been

Games where like Devon vasel goes off and you know makes like seven eight three-pointers or wama arguably his best game of the season came against the Suns of when when they beat well I think they beat Phoenix twice but uh those games against the Suns he was he was really

Really dominant so that’s kind of where you got to start and those two guys really stand out to me you know i’ I’ve said in the past like Devon Vel he’s you talk about his trajectory of where heel Hooper he’s a Hooper he’s a Hooper and

He he takes some wild shots he’s Hooper all the way like you’re going to see him just he’s a chugger like but he shoots he shoots officially but with all that being said I think him he’s a guy that you really have to watch looking forward to who the Grizzlies assign that match

Up to and then of course wiama uh Memphis really loves to score in the paint I’ve been wanting to see how this is going to work out you know how is San Antonio gonna use him are they goingon to use him from a RoR perspective where

He’s gonna be able to be out on the perimeter L because if that’s the case then you could do what teams are doing to the Grizzlies and jiren Jackson Jr the Grizzlies have kind of put jiren and I asked Taylor about this I think a lot of people kind of seen it

Now the last couple days when I asked them about the way that they’re using jiren Jackson Jr and they’re basically you know we talked about it Joe they put him on the herb Jones or the PA Watson saw the the team the opposing team’s worst Wing shooter and when those teams

Have quote unquote worst Wing shooters that are actually decent Shooters uh jiren is nowhere near the rim and he has to close out and it takes away the shot blocking ability that he has so teams can kind of flip that around and do that on wi Yama as well if the Spurs use

Deploy him that but I think what they’re going to do is basically say hey we know J wants to go in the paint we’re going to have wiim there waiting on him and I can’t wait to see that but to win this game Griz just got to take care of the

Basketball I I think the rebounding issues of those fast few games should be in the P you know wiam is a very good rebounder but it’s more you know just natural skill at this point for him uh while those other guys zubok uh you know joic and sabonis are just purely best

Rebounders in the league uh so that’s where it starts for me uh San Antonio is capable of turning the ball over you turn them over they play that lineup where for some reason I I just can’t make sense of it they don’t start Trey Jones who is the natural point guard

Instead they got Jeremy so zosan playing all out of position and it looks ugly so you’re not going to get super quality halfcourt possessions uh from them uh guard up and I think the Grizzles will be fine this should be a game where they’re fine and I’m with you on

Turnovers you know I talk about that aot lot you have to protect possessions especially when your offense is still struggling uh to put points on the board consistently you have to have as many opportunities for that as possible that’s offensive rebounding and that’s limiting turnovers and it and it’s bad

Turnovers right there’s a difference between trying to make a play on a skip pass to an open shooter in the corner and somebody deflects it and an offensive illegal screen right like there’s a difference in those types of turnovers so the right kinds of turnovers when they need to be made as

Opposed to sloppy play lack of execution not doing the things that you’re supposed to do uh I’m excited because the the only guy that you know the Grizzlies have been playing uh that you know could technically be on the roster is Jake laravia that’s on a g-league assignment he’s with the Memphis hustle

He is the only guy right GG Jackson’s a two-way player Jacob Hilliard two-way player Adams and Clark remain out but we’re gonna get another game of Luke Canard and Marcus Smart and all these guys getting run together for me a key to this game to Michel is continuing to

Figure out those lineups and those matchups and you know I’ve been saying all along call me at MLK Day right we’re two weeks away from that now we’ve got what six or seven games really to kind of get a Vibe for what this team is capable of with this group of players

How that is deployed by Jenkins is going to be fascinating because Vince Williams Jr is a great example of that like Z Williams just shouldn’t play anymore right like he shouldn’t play David Rody I think you could argue has been pushed out by Vince he’s your 10th or 11th guy

And I think I think Vince Williams Jr played only like seven minutes or something like that against the Kings No it got out of hand against Sacramento and maybe he decided to just kind of get him some some rest I don’t know you I’ll be honest that was a game I caught

Highlights of yeah I I I it’s it’s a tough spot he’s shown enough to me he needs to be a guy if he I’m not saying he plays in front of Marcus Smart because that was always silly right Marcus Smart should be that guy he shouldn’t play in

Front of Luke Canard but he should play in front of zire Williams and David Rody like he has shown this season that he is capable of giving more to this team it’s John Morant and it’s Vince Williams Jr in terms of guys that have the best plus minuses according to cleaning the glass

On the roster you got to have Vince Williams in the mix if you want to compete at this stage yeah I I’m with you and uh locked on viewers make sure you go check out the story that I wrote this morning about Vince Williams uh because

Uh it kind of gets into you know his mentality a little bit he’s a little quiet guy he’s quiet right and and this was kind of one of those opportunities where he opened up a little bit so go check it out but go check it out the

Thing about V Vince Williams is he’s impactful I know someone pointed out to me like uh the shooting is kind of tailed off six of 30 in his last four or five games but the impact is still when he’s on the floor defensively it’s massive you you did you see how he was

Guarding Paul George gantic effort abolutely you don’t you don’t gotta make a shot if you got Paul George shooting one of 10 correct like I please but um he he has been a terrific f for them and I’m Whi you just in it I I’ll twist it

Up a little bit here that continuity I feel like for me it’s more about the rotations because right now what I noticed more than anything is that last game was like a track me against and it wasn’t just because the Kings like to get up and down the gges like

Get up down back and forth it was because when johnar went out of the game I was interested to see I was like would Derrick roseby pushed out of the rotation or and and Desmond ban will continue to play that secondary you know uh ball handler point guard role because

Clearly Marcus Smart is pretty much just a wing now the whole point guard thing is not a thing right now unless they need him to be but I was it was interesting to see what they go Derrick Rose they go bang they went d Rose and the difference you know we talk about

Downhill Dez and and all that but at the end of the day they have to play a little bit slower when it’s Dez because Dez plays defense and he guards Brandon Ingram and you know uh all these other quality guys whereas with Derrick Rose he still he pushes the tempo similarly

To J you know he doesn’t go all the way Coast to Coast you know like J but he push he gets you from you know uh the opposing side all the way up to the three-point line on your side and with 18 seconds on the shot clock and that is

A difference that’s a huge difference for the Grizzlies so basically it feels like for 48 minutes they have that Tempo that they want right now it’s about putting the right pieces and mixing and matching together we talked about how lately Dez and jiren have been playing together really well J playing with the

Bench has worked out well now you get J with the bench and you got luk Canard playing so now you’re talking about spacing more santi’s been kind of scuffling a little bit as of late see if he can find it uh you know and get out of this but you’re basically putting jaw

Around shooters you’re putting Dez back in a natural shooting guard position When J goes out of the game you have Derrick Rose so I just want to see how that continues to work out because they got something there they got something if for the first time this year to me it

Feels like with the Grizzlies 48 minutes they can throw out a lineup where you have at least a couple offensive options where it’s not oh jiren’s got to score or or this is gonna be ugly now you can say oh you got Dez and uh jiren playing

Together you got you know uh Derrick Rose setting them up and you got J plan in a lineup with Luke Canard and you know when they when they go into that rotation in Santi Al dama whatever case may be so you got multiple options and uh that should B well for them going

Forward you’ve got San Antonio tonight you’ve got the Raptors tomorrow night right in a home home back to back which is nice if you’re gonna have a back toback having it in the friendly confines of FedEx forum supposedly friendly right they’re still two and 12

At home um but it it’s good for travel purposes right then they go to Long Angeles on Friday they’re at Phoenix on Sunday they’re at Dallas on Tuesday so what’s the point I’m trying to make here if you include Memphis they’re going to be in four different cities in less than

A week not a ton of time for practice so when they have the opportunities it’s shoot arounds right as you know all too well about and it’s game game time to kind of get this figured out that the NBA schedule is Relentless they have to find these fits within games and that’s

A challenge for coaching so Taylor Jenkins is going to continue to be pushed in that way thank you so much for checking out this episode of Locked on Grizzlies locked on remember has launched the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel on YouTube locked on sports today is here for you 247

Covering the top sports stories of the day with the local Experts of lockon plus our national shows covering every league go to lockon sports today on YouTube and subscribe to the first ever National Sports 247 streaming channel uh the next time we’re on it’s going to be

Me solo because demichel has day job covering the Memphis Grizzlies for the Commercial Appeal so he’ll be grinding over the next couple of days there in uh in in that role demichel what are some things that you’re looking for over these next couple of games because I’ll

Talk about the Spurs game I’ll preview the Raptors the new look Raptors as we mentioned a moment ago but uh since it’ll be me by myself the next couple of shows what are some things you’re looking for over the next couple of days for Memphis well you’re gonna get Darko

Uh back in the building right Darko rovic that’s going to be fun uh you know former Grizzlies assist uh that Raptors team has some Talent over there Pascal seak Scotty Barnes is a future star like he’s he’s butting he’s on he’s on the cust of that uh they’re going to build around him

Quickly we’ll see how he I just feel like there’s a leap for him in that role Joe that’s that’s just my I feel like he’s gonna take a leap going from a six-man rle to they’re giving him the keys over there to the point guard position that Raptors game can be a

Little bit tricky on the second night of back toback but I just want to see one you know J he continues to get over this illness uh we saw he really didn’t he wasn’t as effective in the paint uh in the last couple games and things like

That just want to see how he continues to work his way back from that more than anything these are two games you better win and I think you you were you were alluding to that earlier and you you threw the next three out there the western conference is so tough and at

The end of the day the Grizzlies aren’t goingon to get by just by beating the Spurs the Jazz and the Blazers for the rest of the season you gotta when you go on this next road trip you got La Phoenix and Dallas you’re probably going

To have to win two or three of those um I mean you you win one then you’re keeping the pace that you’re at right now and you’re not GNA move the needle in terms of getting to the top tier of the conference and potentially cracking

The play in you gotta win those type of games Joe massively important and you’ll get to see it front and center from your seat there on press row as a beat rider for the Grizzlies for the Commercial Appeal there in Memphis but also of course of lockdown Grizzlies and I look

Forward to talking with you again in aou couple of days about these games and looking ahead to that West Coast Swing again thank you so much for making us a part of your NBA and Grizzlies content consumption whether you’re an every dayer with us each and every time an

Episode drops or whether it’s your first time here maybe you’re somewhere in between hopefully you stick with us to Michel and I on lock on Grizzlies as the season grinds forth for de Michel Cole I am Joe mullenax stay locked in wherever you get your podcast on YouTube can’t

Wait to talk to you again go Grizzlies stay locked in

What is eating the Memphis Grizzlies? Is it simply the fact that the Grizzlies have played three of the Western Conference’s best? Or maybe the illness that has impacted Ja Morant and others for an extended period? Perhaps it’s something more…something “big”? Hosts Joe Mullinax and Damichael Cole break down the recent Memphis down turn, whether NBA trade rumors regarding the Grizzlies are on a time limit, and preview Memphis-San Antonio with Victor Wembanyama in town on this episode of Locked on Grizzlies!

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