HOUSTON — The night before Thanksgiving, as members of the Memphis Grizzlies filed out of the visitor’s locker room, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane remained seated, breaking down the 20-point loss to the upstart Houston Rockets.
Bane briefly tended to the wrapping around his left ankle, a subtle reminder of the injuries that have suffocated the Grizzlies in the early part of the 2023-24 NBA season. But the overall tone and mood of the postgame conversation was optimistic. Cheerful, even. Second-year forward Jake LaRavia and rookie GG Jackson teased Jaren from across the room about getting posterized by Houston’s Jalen Green, a playful argument met with laughter.
Advertisement
“This not what you signed up for, huh,” Bane said, jokingly, toward center and in-season addition Bismack Biyombo before heading for the showers.
Bane was right. Just six months ago, Memphis, spearheaded by All-Star point guard Ja Morant, had legitimate plans of making a deep postseason run. Since then, everything has seemingly fallen apart. The first domino was Morant being handed a 25-game suspension by league commissioner Adam Silver for conduct detrimental to the NBA. Then, the Grizzlies lost starting center Steven Adams to a season-ending knee injury. Brandon Clarke continues to recover from the Achilles injury he suffered last March. Luke Kennard has been dealing with a bone bruise in his left knee. To make matters worse, Xavier Tillman and Marcus Smart, who were supposed to replace Adams and Morant in the starting lineup, have suffered injuries as well.
During last timeout Marcus Smart screaming at his teammates “it’s embarrassing, it’s embarrassing” among other things.
— Alan Horton (@WolvesRadio) November 27, 2023
These last six months have featured one blow after another for a prideful Grizzlies team that now sits at 3-13, 14th in the Western Conference. They rank 29th in points scored per 100 possessions and 19th in points allowed per 100 possessions. In other words, Memphis is a mess. But there’s no time to sit and whine over what’s happened. They are bent, no doubt about that, but not broken, yet.
“You just do,” Jackson told The Athletic about having a positive mindset. “Be a grown man about it, be a professional about it and bring positivity to everyone around you.”
Any hope the Grizzlies have to tread water until Morant returns next month rests squarely on Jackson’s and Bane’s shoulders. Defensively, they’re not as crisp as they used to be (Dillon Brooks’ departure matters) and are closer to the bottom 10 than the top. The Grizzlies can’t score to keep up with other teams, and the underlying issue for Memphis’ 29th-ranked offense is the new roles Bane and Jackson have been forced to play in Morant’s absence haven’t exactly gone smoothly.
Advertisement
“Obviously, we’re leaning on those two a lot,” head coach Taylor Jenkins said. “They’re having to carry a big load. We gotta play fast, and when we’re not playing fast, we get stuck in having to play first gear, slow basketball. We gotta have more kick aheads, play fast so we don’t have possessions where we’re leaning on stagnant actions.”
GO DEEPER
What's going on with the winless Memphis Grizzlies? Iko and Hollinger dive in
Bane, the team’s new go-to guy, has certainly improved as a playmaker and three-level scorer despite the occasional off night, averaging a career-high 24.3 points and 5.1 assists per game. The Grizzlies are scoring nearly eight more points per 100 possessions with Bane on the floor than with him on the bench, per Cleaning the Glass.
But Jackson, who is supposed to be the Robin to Bane’s Batman, is in a two-week offensive rut. He is just 34-for-111 from the field over his last seven games, including a 4-for-14 shooting performance against the Timberwolves in Sunday night’s 119-97 loss. (Bane was no better, going 5-for-16). Jackson’s 19.5 scoring average is slightly higher than his 2022-23 output and the highest of his career thus far, but his efficiency has plummeted across the board. His 47.2 effective field goal percentage is nearly 10 points lower than last season, placing him in the 3rd percentile amongst his peers. Third. He’s taking fewer shots at the rim (and shooting just 54 percent on said attempts), settling for longer midrange 2s, and has converted just 29 percent of his 3s while taking five a game.
The reality is Jackson is a strong third option who has been shoehorned into a bigger role and isn’t quite ready for it. He’s up to a 26.7 usage rate, which ranks in the top 10 percent of players — and is typically synonymous with stars. But Jackson isn’t a fantastic ball handler or playmaker, so the first month of the season has been a battle to take on that extra usage. Jackson’s fit alongside Tillman or Biyombo has been awkward, which has forced Jenkins to trot Jackson out at center for stretches, a move that only works with the kind of quality spacing the Grizzlies just don’t have right now.
Jenkins has long preached the need to keep Memphis’ offense simple while Morant is away, emphasizing playing quickly and running in transition to set up easy scoring opportunities. It’s a solid approach in theory, but the Grizzlies are just 18th in pace despite being in the top five in opponent forced turnovers per game. Memphis’ injury run-ins – and the funky lineups it has needed to trot out to compensate – have combined to lead to many low-percentage looks for Jackson. He’s taking nearly 25 percent of his shots with seven seconds or fewer remaining on the clock, not the optimal route for a player who isn’t a Tier 1 shot creator.
Opposing teams already know Memphis is devoid of playmakers or dangerous offensive weapons. They can dial up the pressure on Jackson when he gets to his sweet spots, forcing him to make a play for someone else. Jenkins has talked about the ways Jackson and Bane can still impact the Grizzlies’ half-court offense in those instances, but it’s a much tougher ask for Jackson. He doesn’t have the strongest handle and finds himself in tough spots more often than not.
“You gotta know — and he knows too — teams are double-teaming him,” Jenkins said. “When he goes into his move, they come early. We’re trying to put him on the block, put him on the elbow, put him on the 3-point line. Him continuing to play with force, we’re going to continue to challenge him to do that.”
Advertisement
“You gotta be really smart,” Jackson added. “Smart with your passes, decision making. Double teams are going to come, but you gotta be able to find the open man and make the right plays.”
Given the Grizzlies’ lack of playmaking with Morant suspended, it’s surprising the front office didn’t add more ballhandling in the offseason. Veterans such as Smart and Derrick Rose, as important as they have been for the locker room, either aren’t readily available or fail to make an impact when they are. Ziaire Williams and David Roddy, forwards who showed glimpses of being tertiary playmakers, are still only producing in spurts. Memphis has had to turn to a 5-foot-8 two-way contract guard in Jacob Gilyard to provide some semblance of a capable ballhandler, which comes with its own challenges.
Fortunately for the Grizzlies, the solutions to their offensive woes lie where the problems exist. Memphis knows its bread and butter is Bane and Jackson’s two-man game, it just hasn’t occurred as often as they’d have hoped. Bane has made 127 passes to Jackson, second-highest on the team after Smart, but only 11 assists have come from those. Alternatively, Jackson has made 114 passes to Bane, but only 10 have resulted in made baskets.
The quicker Memphis plays, the easier the team can get into its sets and get Jackson the ball in areas where he’s historically been effective. His athleticism, quickness and length give him an advantage over slower big men who can’t react as fast.
“It’s definitely something that we have to continue to grow at and do a better job of,” Bane said. “Just instilling confidence in everybody and really picking them up.”
If there’s any light at the end of the tunnel – and the Grizzlies certainly think there is – it’s the impending return of Morant. By mid-December, Memphis should get its heart and soul back on the floor, which will undoubtedly improve the offensive efficiency, giving the Grizzlies a blend of power, scoring and pace that no one on the roster can replicate. Smart money says the team will still finish near the bottom of the West, but incorporating Morant back into the lineup should be a breeze.
“I do,” Jackson said. “I think it’ll be very smooth, for sure.”
(Photo of Jaren Jackson Jr.: Justin Ford / Getty Images)
