Grizz Jump Out to Huge Lead Early, Fall to Aggressive Magic.

Colin Rafferty –

Your Memphis Grizzlies lost yesterday afternoon to the Orlando Magic 111-118 in Berlin, Germnay.

Despite being up as much as 20 in the 1st half, the Grizzlies failed to score more than 44 in the remaining 2 quarters: 12 in the third.

12, how on Earth do you score 12 points in a quarter.

That is coaching, we have seen it many times this year, get out to an early lead, come out of the half and lay an absolute dud.

What happens inside that locker room at half, anything? Too much? Not enough? What are they even looking at or addressing, because I am not seeing anything in these second halves that would lend me to understanding how this keeps happening.

Other than lack of “feeling” for the game, which you get through experience.

Euro experience isn’t NBA experience, I’m sorry.

I will not accept John Konchar on the floor with 5 minutes left, and why did the last few minutes not feature any of Jaren Jackson Jr., who had 23 pts in the first half.

He was the aggressor and by the time the third quarter started he wasn’t found much. Jaren finished with 30 pts. Sanit and Cedric helped scoring 18 and 17, respectfully.

Other than that, the Grizzlies were cold as ice in the second half.

Shooting 57% from the field, 60 from three-point land, and 100% from the charity stripe in the first half, helped get the Grizz to a 67-58 halftime lead.

They had already given up 16 pts on 10 turnovers; they would finish with 16 turnovers for 24 pts. That, again, is coaching. How, how do you continue to lose games late. Well guys on the floor that have no business on the floor is a big reason.

Every time there has been a game like this, we can all look back at the 5-6-minute mark, maybe even as low as the 3-minute mark, either nothing is done or the guys that are moving the needle are taken out.

I can’t stand to watch it at times, you know at the 7-minute mark there is a new squad, no matter what. Guys could be hitting 75% of their shots and be up by 15, but hey the time is halfway through a quarter, get them out.

Makes zero sense, and the fans are getting increasingly restless as they continue to see the same result after getting the hopes up that they can pull it out.

At times the veteran presence of KCP is just not there, we have a lot of young guys and no true leader, in terms of time spent in the NBA, Ja is the leader, but they want to explore options of moving him.

Well, when the team is playing non-traditional shooting guards, like Cam Spencer or Vince Williams, these are the results you will get.

Jaylen and Cam were literal nobodies yesterday and had plenty of good looks, the shots didn’t fall.

What looked like it was going to be a fun, tough game, quickly turned to ashes in our mouths as they couldn’t stop the Magic and had no answer for offense when they were getting runs put on them.

Jock should’ve played more minutes, in my opinion, they were getting gashed downlow and had no presence to either get the ball out of the paint or create the switch that better suits them.

They let the Magic play their game, after coming out like a bat out of hell.

Paolo Banchero led the way for the Magic with 26 pts, 13 reb, and 4 assists. Anthony Black added 21 pts, 6 reb, 7 assists, Black had an emphatic dunk that got the Magic feeling like this was their game, albeit was with 4 guys trailing on him, but the image will remain.

Hometown boy Franz Wagner added 18 pts, 9 reb, and 2 assists.

It was a German affair as the whole city was being the Wagner brothers, quiet in the first half but loud and proud in the second.

Former Grizzlies player Desmond Bane finished his night with 13 pts, 4 reb, and 5 assists. His shot wasn’t falling like we all know it can, but he was aggresive and talking smack.

Just like he did when he was with us.

The Grizzlies now fall to 17-23 on the season, and currently holding the 10th spot over the Clippers, who have the same record.

One more game with the Magic in London, and they will back state side. The next game will be on Monday at 11:00 AM CST and found on Prime Video.

They better figure out how to take care of the ball. The one thing I have noticed about this team is that when they are on a run, they soon start turning the ball over, which leads to fastbreak points for the other team.

I haven’t seen a lack of discipline so bad since I was playing basketball in 5th grade for Grace St. Luke’s. My teams were bad, we had maybe enough players for 2-3 substitutions, and the other teams felt more connected.

Time after time we would struggle to score points, and in games we were in, we inevitably lost. Sure, that was a lack of talent and skill, but this is the NBA we are talking about, how can you get beat multiple times down the court.

Once or twice, I can understand, guys out of position, poor pass, yadda yadda; but this is something entirely different. It seems like they just sit in their mistake, rather than get their ass back and try to make a play.

They need Ja, whether you like it or not, they need him.

He creates for others; he scores when we need a bucket and holds these dudes accountable when they are on the court. We haven’t seen that because our coach wants us to act like they are all the same talent, THEY AREN’T.

This isn’t the Euro league, this isn’t pick-up basketball on a black top, this is the NBA, you put your best players on the floor and let the game play out. You don’t stick to a gameplan when it isn’t working.

It is insanity on the court.

Doing the same thing repeatedly, expecting a different result. Well, how about we stop trying to buck the trend, which isn’t working, and do what every other team in the league does.

They look good at times, sure, but they cannot finish and they don’t have a true point guard. Things will get stagnant, they will throw the ball into the stands looking for someone who has already moved, and when they don’t get their 1st or 2nd look they panic.

There are no true sets I see them run, he just lets them “feel it out.” That is not what good coaches do. They strangle you with their best talent and best sets.

The Grizzlies seem to act like their shit don’t stink. It does.

You see every former player face off against this team like they were wronged, they come out with a passion and intensity. I cannot say the same for this group.

Edey brings that intensity, but he isn’t much help when the medical staff routinely fouls up the progression of guys coming off an injury.

At this point, the Grizzlies just need to cut bait on this coach and scrap the season, I think that could go a long way into fixing the problems with Ja, that and getting Dr. James Andrew’s group to become the medical staff.

Side Note: This weekend marks the rerelease of the Lord of the Rings trilogy extended editions in theaters; Friday the Fellowship, Saturday ‘The Two Towers’, and Sunday will have ‘The Return of the King’ playing throughout the nation.

Hopefully it will mark the return of our king.