Buckets

In what was expect to be a high energy, intense game, neither team disappointed. So much emotion in the early phases of this game lead to a lot of frantic play by the Grizz trying to keep up with a hot Warriors start. Draymond got an early tech, his 14th of the year and Jordan Poole got his 7th before the first half was over. Ja was rocking his new signature shoe, which is wild to think that a Memphis Grizzlies has his own Nike shoe now. We have come a long way from the Grit and Grind era in the mud. In the first half, Jordan Poole and Anthony Lamb were on fire from 3, finishing the half 3-7 and 3-3 respectfully. Any time the Grizz would get a run, they only had a 1 point lead once, the Warriors would answer with big transition 3’s and build their lead back. For the Grizz, it was all about 12. Ja finished the first half with 22 points and no one else broke double digits. Ja tried to end young Anthony Lamb’s career with a monster dunk where he literally jumped over him before missing the dunk. No doubt had he hit it, Lamb was headed for a poster and early retirement. Meanwhile, those not named Ja Morant went 11-31 in the first half as Bane struggled to get anything to fall and the rest of the team looked out of sorts on the biggest stage. Perimeter defense was a nightmare in the first half. The Warriors were flying around without the ball, slipping around and then back under screens getting open looks and making the most of them, finishing the first half 11-21 from 3. Halftime adjustments had to focus around the glass as the Warriors out rebounded one of the league’s best rebounding team 31-19.

The second half started much as the first went, with the Warriors dictating pace and urgency. Eleven seconds into the second half JJJ picked up foul number 4, Klay buried a 3 to put them up 8 and Coach Taylor Jenkins was hot. The shoddy officiating continued, albeit both ways, but a ghost foul on Jordan Poole had the Grizz fans in attendance audibly upset, and even Mark Jackson was questioning what was happening on the boradcast. NBA officiating has been bad this year but it was on center stage with the world watching on Prime Time. Ja carrying the team to keep us in it, and when he got his 30th point late in the third, no other Grizz was in double figures. The Warriors had one of their nights where they absolutely bury you with a barrage of 3’s and the Grizz could not keep pace by forcing contested shots and ugly 3’s of their own. Late in the third the Grizzlies were an abysmal 5 for 27 from beyond the arc during an 11-0 Warriors run, en route to finishing 9-39. At the end of the third Ja had 31, the next highest Grizzlies scorer was Dillon and Santi at 9 points. 9. Points. Jordan Poole picked up his 8th technical of the season and was sent to the locker room just 3 minutes into the 4th, in what could have been a big momentum swing, but it wasn’t meant to be. The NBA officials’ have had very thing skin this year and it continued in this game. Something needs to be done about the terrible officiating this season, some of the worst in recent memory. At one point during the 3rd, Jaren was called for grabbing Wiseman’s jersey while over the foul limit, and the officials let Klay Thompson shoot his free throws. Either they were feeling the Christmas spirit or this was another prime example of the ineptitude we have continuously seen this season.

Back to the Grizzlies poor performance, shooting 23% from 3 tonight continues their woes from long range on this road trip where they are shooting a tough 28%.

It’s a tough road to walk when you are a very vocal basketball team. It is a ton of fun to follow, seeing the confidence, swag, and persona this team puts off. When you win, it is a blast letting the other team know about it. However, when you lay an egg like the Grizz did at the Chase Center, it opens you up to a lot of eyes. To the point that Klay absolutely bodied Dillon who was on the receiving end of it all night long. Draymond, Klay, and the Golden State crowd were on Dillon from start to finish. The Warriors made sure to let the Grizz know they’d been listening and won in emphatic fashion.

Final score from San Fransisco, Golden State wins 123-109, improving to 13-2 at home this year. The Grizzlies went 1-3 in what was suppose to an early test for them. If it was, they failed it masterfully. In the 4 games they were only competitive in the win at Phoenix. Otherwise, there is a lot to work on the rest of the season.

Well, the first Christmas Day game in franchise didn’t go as planned. The team with big game experience showed up and played the better game tonight. It was one of those nights when the Warriors rarely missed, forced their tempo on us, and kept us out of rhythm all night long. Jaren Jackson Jr. got in foul trouble early and Coach Jenkins kept him on the bench. Without JJJ this season our defense has been bend but don’t break. If JJJ is going to be the Defensive Player of the Year he has the potential to be a couple of things need to happen. First, he has to learn to play cleaner defense and not lean into people while defending. He can be an elite level defender and then nights like these happen where he leans and reaches. He is in year 4 and he has to mature as a defender past some of those reaches. Secondly, he has to be in the game, learning how to play with fouls – period. He is apparently going to foul, he hasn’t really grown past it, so Coach has to have him learn how to play with them. We desperately needed him in the second half but due to his 5 fouls, he was buried deep on the bench. Outside of that, Ja was his normal self tonight but no one else showed up, at all. So the Warriors began keying in on Ja late in the second half and he was unable to get to the basket as much because no one else was a threat. On big stages like this, we need others to show up and help out. Ja can do it all but without help from a true 3 threat leading to spacing, his cutting lanes become clogged. We talked the noise all week, giving the Warriors plenty to play off, but absolutely whiffed trying to back it up. The tweets and trash talk are fun, but when we got punched in the mouth by a good basketball team, we got awfully quiet and embarrassed. Ja said “I’m fine against the west” and the Warriors took that personally.

Good news is that this is 1 game out of 82 and Desmond will get his rhythm back this year. The Warriors are the NBA’s best team at home and trash on the road. This same lineup and game in Memphis is a completely different outcome. Best news is the Grizzlies try again Tuesday 12/27 back home against the Phoenix Suns. Just what we need to get over these road woes.

Uncle Buck

Grizzlies fans know what this means. The side eye emoji, like the bat signal in Gotham, signals that help is on the way!

Desmond Bane, the Grizzlies’ All Star caliber 3-point sniper has been out with a toe injury since November 11. After the initial injury report stated he would be reevaluated in 2-4 weeks, Bane was sidelined for an additional two weeks for the injury.

That takes us to Sunday, the day after the seven game win streak was snapped on the road in OKC, Bane lit the bat signal with a single tweet that read “👀”. Back court partner/super star Ja Morant replied with a set of eyes of this own and again with a picture of Des on the court with the team. The picture had the caption “???”

As I stated on the podcast on Wednesday, finding out that injured players are close to coming back via Grizz players’ tweets is nothing new here. I suspected that Des would be listed as doubtful against the Nuggets on Tuesday night and sit out but then be elevated to “questionable” for Fridays game in Phoenix. While I was wrong about the injury designation for the Denver game, the Grizzlies’ PR Twitter account listed Des as questionable for tomorrow’s game against the Suns. It seems that our 2nd best scorer is finally back!

Since going down with the toe injury, the Grizzlies have gone 9-7. They were 10-4 before he went down for injury. This season, Bane had taken a massive step into the All Star conversation. Scoring 24.7 PPG and shooting 46.5% from the field, 45% from 3 on 8.5 attempts per game and 91.2% from the free throw line. To say that Bane has been incredible is an understatement.

In my opinion, the most important part of getting Desmond Bane back is that, for the first time this season, we get to see the Grizzlies core players healthy. 30 games into the season the Grizzlies core of Ja, Jaren, Dillon Brooks and Desmond Bane have played ZERO minutes together. Zach Kleiman, Tayshaun Prince and the rest of the Grizz front office have done an incredible job of building a championship contender that is both talented and deep. That depth has been what has kept the Grizzlies winning games despite missing a combined 34 games by JJJ and Des.

The depth and Taylor Jenkins’ scheme are the strengths of the team but when missing key contributors like Trip and Des, the crunch time play making has fallen on Ja, exclusively. Sure, we all know that in the 4th quarter it is time to “Call 12” but with the lack of scorers Ja has been able to be held in check in crunch time. Per statmuse.com, Ja’s 4th quarter scoring this season looks like this: 32.4 FG%, 14.8 3P% and 59 FT%. In my opinion, that’s fatigue. That’s not having your running buddies with you during the course of the games. Depth is great but it is a much greater advantage when your good players play (duh).

If the coaching staff reintegrates Des the same way they handled Ja and Jaren Jackson Jr. then I believe that Bane will start in Phoenix but I do not expect him to play more than 25 minutes for a few games while he gets his sea legs back. He averaged 33.5 MPG before the injury.

The whole league better watch out. The Grizz are tied for 1st in the West and are just now getting healthy. The last 52 games of this season are going to be FUN!!

Ps: thank you Santa for granting me my Christmas wish!

Buckets

Memphis, Tennessee. A city full of heart, grit, grind, and blue collar people. A relatively small market when it comes to NBA cities but the Mid-South has a passion for basketball rivaled by few areas. Founded on the bluffs of the Mississippi River in 1819, the city has seen its share of peaks and valleys, successes and heartbreaks. Memphis has a rough reputation, there is no denying that. It has seen its share of pain over the years that has lead to some of that reputation. From the Civil War, to the Civil Rights violations committed, and ultimately Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder. Memphis has a checkered past, but there is something that has helped build bridges and mend some of that pain. Basketball.

When the Grizzlies came to Memphis in 2001, I was 14 and an average NBA fan. I had liked several teams and players growing up like most kids, but had really gravitated towards one individually – Bryant “Big Country” Reeves. I could relate to the big lumbering, buzz cut wearing center from Oklahoma State on so many levels. When he was drafted by the then Vancouver Grizzlies in 1995, I was all in. I got a reversible Grizzlies jersey that I rarely took off, watched every time I could when the Grizzlies would play, and locked in. Then when the move to Memphis happened in 2001, I was beyond ecstatic.

The early years in Memphis were rough, definitely more lows than highs. Crowds were light, the teams weren’t very good, and interest was waning. Tickets were seemingly being given away to increase the crowds at home games. Early indicators looked like the team wouldn’t last in this basketball rich city after winning just 23 and 28 games in the first couple of years. There was some prosperity over the years though, including 3 consecutive playoff appearances from 2003-2006 before more of the struggles of a small market that haunted them early on resurfaced. That would all change in 2011. A new era began and success beyond our wildest dreams was just beyond the horizon.

2011 was the beginning of the Grit and Grind era and the birth of the core 4. Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, and Tony Allen would begin what was the most successful stretch in franchise history. They lead the team all the way to the Western Conference finals after the 2012-13 season, just 4 games from the NBA Finals, but ended with a loss to the Spurs. Would have done the same the following season, if not more, if it wasn’t for some super star biased officiating to keep the newly crowned MVP Kevin Durant in the playoffs, but I digress. Coach Lionel Hollins and those teams embodied what the city had been about all along. Underdogs, forgotten, and castaways like Zach Randolph (ZBo) and TA had found new homes in a town as gritty as they were. ZBo once famously said “I love this city and they love me back. It’s a blue-collar town. I’m a blue-collar player, a hard worker. It’s the same way with the town. Nothing has been given easy to me, and nothing has been given easy to this town. It’s a fit.” The city was abuzz with life about those teams. I lived in Memphis from 2010-2015, during the peak of these teams. I saw the triple overtime game against the Thunder in the playoffs, the first ever Western Conference finals game in Memphis, ZBo body slam Blake Griffin, Kobe’s final game in Memphis chating “KO-BE” when he left the floor, and so many big wins in the Forum. The atmosphere was always like nothing I had ever experienced. The city was electric from October to May watching the Beale Street Bruins take the NBA by storm.

Memphis has hosted games on MLK day in honor of the hero who tragically lost his life at the infamous Lorraine Hotel since 2003. These games have historically been massive for the city of Memphis, bringing prime time spotlights to the city, showcasing a lot of the progress made. It was and remains a bright spot for the city to celebrate what it has become out of tragedy. Even when the team was not good, the game was a big deal. Now, here we are in 2022 with a new kind of spotlight by the NBA. A prime time Christmas Day game.

On Christmas Day , the NBA always has a slate of games with the premier teams that people want to watch. Teams like the Lakers, Warriors, Celtics, Bulls, and Heat have historically been featured on Christmas Day. A day when the world slows down and watches the best of the best play basketball and the NBA highlights their must watch teams. This year, the Memphis Grizzlies are one of those teams for the first time since the tradition began in the 1947-48 season. The Grizz play at the Golden State Warriors in the coveted 8 pm slot. Words cannot express the gravity of what that means, and it has been developing since those early days of the Grit and Grind era in 2011. It is an arrival of sorts for a young team, ahead of schedule, full of swagger and fire. Gone are the days of $5 lower bowl seats and in its place is a must watch team with as superstar with unlimited potential. The Grizzlies are no longer an after thought in the Western Conference but are now a polarizing team thanks to their confidence and no nonsense style of play, often featured in ESPN’s main content. Ja is a human highlight reel, Desmond Bane competed in the NBA 3 point contest last year, Jaren Jackson, Jr. is a defensive player of the year candidate, Stephen Adams is a great interview, and Dillon Brooks is an absolute menace on the defensive side of the ball – all making the Grizz must watch TV.

Nowadays you can’t go anywhere in Memphis without seeing shirts, hats, and other Grizzlies gear. The Zach Randolph lead teams made a lasting impact on the city through philanthropy and spending time in the worst neighborhoods., giving their time and resources to help with the healing. The current team carries on those traditions and bring the same intensity on the court as the Core 4 teams. Ja is the superstar those teams needed to get them over the edge. The future seems so bright for this young Grizzlies team, and it bleeds over into the city. Efforts are being made to fight violent crime in the city, jobs are being brought by projects like the largest private investment in the state of Tennessee’s history by the Ford Motor company, and the gentrification of areas like Cooper Young, Overton Square, and downtown are just the beginning of what seems to be a rebirth of sorts. Is basketball the sole reason? Definitely not, but the uniting of the city around this team is undeniable, which leads to long needed healing.

So when you slow down with your family this weekend and the celebrations are drawing to a close, tune in on Sunday to ABC at 8 pm eastern. You will see a rematch of an intense playoff series last year between the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors. It is a stamp of approval by the NBA. We made it. We have joined the blue bloods that traditionally play these games, even if it is just this year, because this year we were a part of it. We have arrived on the scene ahead of schedule with a team of young, confident, and supremely talented players. Watch them play and I hope ESPN has some bits planned to credit the Grit and Grind teams to building what you will see on Christmas Day. It has been a long process, one full of striving, failures, victories, and all heart. Just like the city and the people they represent, this team is tough and ready to make a statement on prime time. I hope you will watch alongside us and see what we have been watching develop over the years. You will see high flying dunks by Ja Morant, hopefully some deep 3’s from Desmond Bane, aggressive defense by Dillon Brooks, and fun basketball regardless. Memphis brings a magic you can only get from an underdog team, who doesn’t know they are suppose to compete with the blue bloods. The orginal voice of the Grizzlies was the late great Don Poier, who came with the team from Vancouver in 2001, and he caught a passion for the city and the love they showed this new basketball team. He had a saying when something special would happen and that was “only in the movies and Memphis.” This team has something special going. It is the culmination of a lot of hard years, tough times, setbacks, and “almost.” Our time to shine is here. Grind on Memphis.

Buckets

A clash of the Western conference’s top 2 teams late Tuesday night on TNT showcased 2 of the game’s best players as well. The reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and phenom Ja Morant both showed last night why they are considered two of the best at their respective positions. The Joker finished with his second consecutive triple double, 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 13 assists, while Ja had 35 points and 10 rebounds. Jokic had amazing assist after assist, including an incredible no look, between the legs, touch pass to a cutting Bruce Brown for a 2 hand emphatic dunk, which set the tone for the Nuggets early. He is truly a second point guard and one of my favorite players to watch in the NBA. Denver jumped out early to a 2 touchdown lead and never let Memphis get back in the game, winning 105-91. Coach Malone had a great game plan to frustrate the Grizzlies as evident by Ja’s 7 turnovers and the Grizz had 3 technical fouls. Memphis was once again forced into a long range attack and finished a meager 19.6% (5-26) from beyond the arc.

Just like in OKC, our boys in Beale Street Blue struggled to be competitive on the road. A slow start against a great Denver team, the Grizz trailed 35-14 at the end of the 1st quarter, lead to an insurmountable lead the Nuggets would never give up. I know it is early in the season still, Memphis is still 19-11, but these road struggles will be concerning as the season goes forward. A rough 6-9 start on the road has been compounded by the lack of Desmond Bane’s 3 shooting ability. Having Bane on the outside opens the lane for JJJ, Adams, and Ja to slash and create. Without him, teams have been clogging the paint and limiting one of the NBA’s best teams in the paint to minimal output. Here’s hoping Christmas comes early and Desmond Bane returns sooner than anticipated as he *might* have indicated on Twitter.

Regardless, the Grizz have to dial in their focus on the road. You cannot beat good basketball teams on the road giving up 35 points in the first quarter, especially when you scrape together 14. You have to show up ready to play and keep the home crowd out of it. Come playoff time, you have to play games on the road and if you want your season to extend into the summer months, road wins are a must. The bad news is we are 4-7 on the road against the Western Conference this year, including losing the last 3 in a row. Good news is that it isn’t even Christmas yet and the Grizz are still tied for first with the Nuggets in the Western Conference, so there is time to figure it out. We have yet to be fully healthy and have our true starting 5 of Ja, Desmond, Dillon, JJJ and Adams together on the floor for meaningful basketball. I truly believe our best basketball is still ahead of us, but the sledding doesn’t get any easier. A 10 pm eastern tip on Friday night at Phoenix will be another opportunity to right the ship before one of the most meaningful match ups in Grizz history, a prime time Christmas day match up against Golden State at Oracle Arena. More on that game tomorrow but in the mean time, keep grindin’.

After a huge statement win against Giannis and the second place Bucks, the Bruins in Blue started a 4 game road tilt in OKC with an absolute egg. The Thunder were without their best players SGA and Josh Giddey but it didn’t matter as they got hot early and continued to pour it on a lackadaisical Grizzlies team. Missed shots, no rotation on defense, skip passes leading to corner threes, and a 28% FG first half lead to commanding Thunder lead at the break. The Thunder started in zone defense and felt no need to get away from it as the Grizz kept putting up ill advised 3’s and not attacking with the usual fire we have been accustom to this season. The Thunder meanwhile were burying 3’s with ease led by a strong effort from Isaiah Joe and Luguentz Dort. Coming into the home tilt, the Thunder were averaging 11.5 three point makes per game but in the first half alone they hit a season high 11 3’s leading to a 21 point deficit at halftime. It was escalated by Ja getting two techs right before half from referee Ray Acosta, who dismissed him from the game for talking with a fan. Ja was obviously discussing something with a fan in the front row, not facing Acosta whatsoever, but he took offense to something he said and ended Ja’s night with 43.2 seconds left in the first half. Reports during the second half indicated he was talking to Memphis fans on the sideline and Ja said they could get it going but would need a break from the officials, with more colorful language of course. Whatever was said, Acosta felt Ja would do better to watch than participate, forcing Ja to leave with only 6 points. The Thunder bench had 43 of their 64 first half points, embarrassing the Grizzlies almost every time down the floor.

In the second half, the Thunder continued their hot shooting and buried the Grizz in an onslaught throughout most of the final 24 minutes. Missed lay ups continued, as did lazy defense, leading to a lot of wide open looks for a Thunder team that only shot 34% from 3 coming in, but elevated that to 42.2% when the Grizz only shot 26.7% on a lot of forced 3’s due to that zone defense. The biggest difference from this game and the Bucks game was the Thunder being able to get the boys from Beale off their rhythm early and keeping one of the best defensive teams in the NBA on the run. Anytime the Grizzlies made a short run, the Thunder would pour in transition 3’s and rebuild any lead they lost. Credit the Grizzlies for chipping away to get the game within 6 but it would not matter as the home team got the win 115-109, ending a 7 game win streak for the Grizz.

Thankfully that one is behind and the road trip continues. The Grizzlies fall to 19-10, including a rough 6-8 on the road. The Grizzlies seemed to be flat footed all night and behind on every pass, shot, or rebound. Minimal assists, no communication, and lack of effort, all of which are very uncharacteristic for this Memphis team, lead to a lackluster follow up to an NBA rattling win. There are no kind words to be said. We looked lazy, uninterested, and out of sorts all night. Taylor Jenkins called multiple timeouts and tried to get his guys in check. However, this one was on the players as they look unmotivated to play in what should have been an easy win to start an otherwise tough road trip. Slow, lazy, and soft would be the best way to describe the effort we saw tonight. The Block Panther was no where to be found, Dillon Brooks was a step behind all night on the defensive side, and no organization on offense lead to an uglier loss than the final score indicated. We will have to get act together to find any success during this road trip with games at Denver, Phoenix and Golden State looming. Coach Jenkins will have a lot of coaching points before the Grizzlies lace them up again on Tuesday in Denver against the Nuggets at 9 pm CT, in what will be a significantly tougher game.

Sports have always been a special place for me and many others. Growing up in my small town in Mississippi, sports were a huge part of our rural life. Everyone wanted to know your name, your church, and who you rooted for on Saturdays – each answer determined how the relationship would go. For me, I looked forward to ball game nights, practices, and the opportunity to play with my friends more than anything else. I longed for Saturdays with my Grandad watching Alabama football (back then) while listening to Eli Gold on his old radio/cassette/record player. Sports gave me the chance to prove myself, meet new people, and learn a plethora of life lessons. They gave me a chance to grow both physically and emotionally, to learn to lean on my teammates l, and step up when it was my turn to make a big play. Each season stretched me differently and surrounded me with different friends I wouldn’t have made otherwise. In those formative days I developed a love for all things sports that would only grow as I did. Now that my playing days are long behind me, talking shop keeps that fire alive and open up new ways I can still use sports to grow.

Sports have a way of connecting people across cultures and communities in ways few other things can. Fall Saturdays at my house growing up were special. Momma would make gameday foods like sausage balls or nachos, Grandad would record the game but you better only talk during commercials, and we would all circle around to root for our team. Sports debates are great icebreakers when meeting new people as well. Asking someone who they follow can break through walls and open up friendly conversations. I love to talk about the teams I love amongst friends who share that passion. I equally love to defend my opinions on how the Memphis Grizzlies would’ve won the NBA Title in 2014 had ZBo not been unjustly suspended for game 7, my alma mater the Mississippi State Bulldogs, and Chicago Cubs with those on the other side. Sports connect passionate people, probably more so when they disagree. My closest friends root for the bitter rival of most of my favorite teams and some of our best conversations are when we are adamantly defending our chosen team.

A dream of mine has always been talking about sports outside of my circles. My family has always joked/leaned about my ability to recall obscure stats, facts, and stories about different players and teams over the years. I often get calls from my mom or dad on fall Sundays asking “Hey where did so-so play college ball at?” or “Whatever happened to that first baseman from the Braves?” Even though my math skills aren’t the best – insert Mississippi education joke here – sports stats are second nature to me. I’m sure you can relate if you are a diehard sports fan.
Back a few weeks ago the Two Bucks Sports Podcast was launched as a way to chase that dream. My good buddy Drew Gann, aka Uncle Buck, and I decided to share our sports takes with the world. Not that they are better than anyone else’s, we just typically have spirited debates and have been told we could entertain a few of y’all with those. We hope our antics generate a laugh or bring up a nostalgic moment for you as it has us.

So this blog is born out of that love for sports. It will be published alongside our podcast with articles from myself and Drew. This will serve as a way to touch breaking news, game breakdowns, and anything hot in the sports world. Once a week podcasts are slow to breaking news, so this will help us connect faster and with more people. We hope it sparks conversations and when you think we are wrong – let us know in the comment section! I guarantee we will have an opinion on it and would enjoy the debate. Please give us a follow and share with your friends.