Memphis Grizzlies Summer League: Top 5 Things to Watch | Jessica Benson Show
I got five things to watch daring Grizzly summer league Bennett and you you hit number one on the head it’s Zach e it’s Zach Ed for the for the Griz Grizzlies like I said his Mobility his fluidity and we keep talking about Zack Edy as a screener um particularly an on ball screener thinking about him in the way that we think about like a Stephen Adams and some of the things Stephen Adams was able to do Stephen Adams is a really really H really smart basketball player Stephen Adams would see oh jaw by his man or the ball primary ball handlers is by his man I don’t need to run up there and bring my dude to him what I need to do is just turn right here and Screen my man the help Defender just turn and Screen my guy now that person has a clear drive to the the basket so Zach Edy if he can do some of those types things some of those Savvy type things I think that everybody will be um put at ease a bit more than they already are the next up I want to I don’t it’s all about the next step for everybody right as as you continue to grow and progress throughout your career it’s about that next step that next step I don’t know what a Next Step looks like for GG Jackson I’m looking forward to seeing that Bennett I am too and that’s one of those where I feel like last season we got a big enough sample size if if GG didn’t have a great summer like I think we all expect him to come out and dominate just because of the the great season he had last year especially the second half of the season but if he doesn’t I feel like I’ve seen enough from GG to know what I’m getting going into the season so I’m that’s one of those where I want to see him just go out and dominate and be awesome if he doesn’t I’m not going to sit here and be super concerned about it no and I I think that this Grizzlies franchise what they do with those types of players GG Jackson I think you can do zier to this the second summer league he played in Desmond Bane certainly the second summer league they they try to um start pushing the the boundaries of what the the players feel comfortable doing and they try to in the case of both Bane and zier say hey facilitate the offense for us run the offense and I think if they do that with Gigi I’m looking forward to see what that looks like 100% seeing what that is yeah um that you make a great Point like they’re probably going to experiment with him out there right and so if it doesn’t look great it’s it’s because they’re trying things and I’m not that concerned this isn’t the the roster that he’ll be playing with next season in the in the NBA for the Grizzlies right this isn’t like close to that there’s no J out there there’s no Bane out there there’s no jiren out there but there are players out there who can can play at a high level and do some really interesting things GG is one of them I just wonder all right are they going to try and make him a facilitator are they going to give him the ball and let him do more ISO stuff are they going to do a combination of of both I think GG Jackson’s value on this team could be in the the iso sort of thing he can get his own shot and the in the isolation on offense excuse me he can get his own shot and so late in shot clocks four or five seconds left on the shot clock you can throw it to GG and I I think the Grizzlies might want to see hey how comfortable can we be just throwing the ball to GG Ling the shot clock and letting him create something the last four five seconds on on the shot clock and if he can do that in summer league again it bolds well for him continuing to do that at the in the NBA during the regular season ALS Al with G we talked some about facilitating maybe GG can be a facilitator maybe he can be someone who sets up other players off of you know one dribble or getting to the rim finding the open man on the kick out once he gets to the rim I do look forward to seeing what that looks like for Gigi cuz it’s clear Bennett he can score yeah right he can score he can score he can create his own shot how good is he at creating his own shot with this roster on the Grizzlies we’ll find out I think we’ll we’ll begin to find that out during summer league and how good of a facilitator and a shot creator for others can GG Jackson beat yeah also worth pointing out before we get to the next one uh we will have the game tonight uh we’ll be doing a 7:30 pregame you can watch it for free in the grind City media app we’ll have a 7:30 pregame and yeah get the app and and we’ll have the game streaming live at 8:00 in the grind City media app uh as well as all the Summer League games absolutely absolutely cam Spencer Jaylen Wells three-point shooting uh comes in at number three for me I feel that’s why while these two were drafted two Sharp Shooters in college you’re talking about Spencer who was about a career 42% three-point shooter I think the exact number was like 41.7 a percent shooter in college for his career he shot 44% from three last year you also talking about a guy in Wells who shot about 42% from three last year also this league the way that the game is played shooting shooting shooting Shooters matter getting people out there who can space the floor and help out J and and Brandon Clark and jiren Jackson Jr and Desmond Bane and GG when they get going downhill help having those players on the wings and in the corners so that help can’t sit in the paint constantly I think that goes a long long way which is in part why I think some fans are getting a little anxious about the luuk canar situation that’s I was about to say but if these two can go out there one of them at least one of them can go out there and look at impressive from three both in percentage and the amount of Threes they take I think that can go a long way to to helping shape this Grizzlies offense for sure um and I saw that uh yesterday that Edie and Jaylen Wells both uh locked up their long-term deals um to be with the franchise and so uh I think you definitely want to see Jaylen Wells have a nice summer league because he’s going to be part of this thing uh for multiple years um but yeah I’m with you like with the stat stat of Luke Canard uncertain which I still I’m still in the camp that I think that they’re going to get that thing done and he’s going to be a part of this team just because I’m not sure what the alternative is right now it just seems for either party yeah nothing nothing has come out that suggests that he’s going to be anything other than a Grizzly next year so I’m just going to stick with that until we hear otherwise but yeah with his status that being said with his status still up in the air you do want to see one of these guys emerge as a three I’ll throw in J laravia too right like you want to see one of these guys emerge as a 3. in summer league because we were one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the League last year you know it’s it’s you look at Desmond Bane and he’s one of the best three-point Shooters in the world and so when you hear the Grizzlies were one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the League last year it doesn’t make a lot of sense but they were so they took they took a lot of them took a lot so but they they only shot 34% last year which is 29th in the NBA if if I read everything correctly um but they made 13 of them per game which was 12th in the ba so if you can turn you’re getting the attempts up if you can turn those attempts into make that goes a long way in in opening up this this offense I think cam Spencer and Jaylen Wells for let’s say Canard comes back we’re both banking on Canard coming back right but he’s not gonna be here forever that’s right they there’s got to be somebody behind him coming up in through the ranks and one of these two if not both of these two could serve as your Sharpshooters of the future we were talking pre-show about this guy benett number four for me is Scotty Pippen Jr Y how can he um run the team can he solidify himself as a a clear backup point guard for this team it starts in summer league again he go out there and average 15 20 assists it’s like okay cool he did that in summer league he’s probably got the chops to to continue to play meaningful minutes for the Grizzlies during the regular season but if he goes out there and is playing terrible he’s going out there and having Bunches of turnovers the offense doesn’t really look like it’s flowing well with him in charge at the helm then it’s like oh boy this might be a a g-league thing and The Grizzlies may have to try and figure out some more depth at that position I think you have you have J you have Dereck Rose how healthy he is and will he play that’s that’s up in the air but you also have Marcus Smart somebody who I think that when he was brought in here the Griz is like great he’ll play with JN in the starting lineup he’ll be your your primary Defender and then when Jah goes out he’ll run the the backup point guard show and then J comes back in he goes out and so they start games they start halves and they end together but outside of that they’re not really on the court a whole bunch together but if you have Scotti Pippen Jr there as your backup well now it is okay Marcus don’t worry about playing backup you are a perimeter player you are a wing player with us and your primary role is going to be to defend the other team’s best perimeter option I think Scotti Pippen Jr can can help uh the Grizzlies coaches in front office figure out what they need to do from that backup point guard spot with how well he plays in summer league it’s actually the storyline I care about the most going into summer league because it’s a position that’s so important for this team and you there are going to be nights that you’re going to look up if if Scotti Pippen is in fact that third point guard on this team there’s going to be Knights that he might even be the starter because you know J’s going to miss a handful of games he’s a superstar in this league Superstars Miss games right um Marcus Smart again he’s going to play on the floor with whoever this other point guard is so you’re going to be staggering minutes there um you know Desmond Bane will be a facilitator at times like he’s a guy that’s that’s logged minutes at that position too and then D Rose one of my favorite players of all time again I just I don’t think you can rely on him to be a guy that’s going to play consistently uh for a full season we just we just hav seen it uh in the past few years yeah one of the great Whata ifs for sure um last one before we get to a break you brought him up Jake laravia just he’s he’s the only one of his uh draft class for the Grizzlies playing right I think Rody is gone who else was from that that laravia uh was AER there was Vince part of that one was that was it Vince V yeah so Vince isn’t playing Rody’s gone laravia still here playing he when when laravia looks comfortable laravia does some things that make you go oh I see why the Grizzlies took him but he doesn’t look comfortable a whole lot or let me say this he doesn’t consistently look comfortable out there on the court he gets lost sometimes on defens assignments he gets beat in transition every now and then he offensively he still doesn’t seem to have a clear role with the with the team or at the very least he’s not comtable in his offensive role with the team I I want to see what he looks like if he can be be comfortable this is he’s going into his third season this is kind of a make or break year for most players in the league season number three you had that one season to adjust had that second season to try and figure everything out this third season um you should hit the ground running larab has also been dealing with some some injuries also throughout the past season maybe couple of Seasons if I remember correctly uh it’s time it’s time and if he can you’re you’re thinking about him as a as a shooting weapon I I haven’t seen enough of him doing anything to to signify to me that Jake laravia could be a legitimate option for you as far as it pertains to like a three-point threat yeah and I would say I would say this is a huge summer league for him but we don’t even know how much he’s going to play necessarily like I could see this being one of those situations where he plays like a game or two and really yeah I I just don’t know if just because he’s been with the team for a minute um I don’t know if he’s a guy that’s going to play this entire stretch of Summer League in Utah and Vegas but we’ll see um I do think it’s important uh for this team the way he’s going to be able to play for this team is going to be like you said three-point shooting which we hadn’t seen consistently although he did play well towards the end of last season he had a nice stretch of games towards the end of last season hopefully he’s able to build on that I think rebounding too just because of his position he can play in under four rebounding is important for Jake I think if he’s going to be able to get minutes for the Grizzlies this year the Jessica Benson show with CJ HT live every weekday at 8:00 a.m.
CJ gives Bennett his top 5 things to watch as the Memphis Grizzlies tip off their Summer League play. Zach Edey, GG Jackson, a whole lot more…
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