After the end of the series with the Timberwolves, the Grizzlies reached the Western Conference semifinals for the first time in seven years.
What's more, the Grizzlies are the second youngest team in history to win a single-round series, behind the 2011 Thunder.
The average age of the Thunder's first-round 4-1 win over the Nuggets was 24.4 years, while the average age of the Grizzlies was only 24.6 years.
If it's only a core rotation for the Grizzlies series, it might be younger than the Thunder at the time.
In the first round of the series, the five players the Grizzlies played the most were Bain, 23, Morant, 22, Dillon, 26, Clark, 25, and Jackson Jr., 22.
The oldest in the rotation is Kyle Anderson, who is only 28 years old.
Although the Grizzlies and Timberwolves play hard to score, a team like the Grizzlies can create any miracle, not to mention that they will stack buff every time they play the Warriors.
The last time the Grizzlies reached the Western Conference Semifinals was in 2015 against the Warriors. However, they were eliminated by their opponents in three consecutive wins under the situation of 2-1 lead.
Of course, such stories are a bit old, as Kerr said today: "You look at the Grizzlies lineup this year, and I suspect that no one has played for that Grizzlies in 2015." And our 4 main players in 2015 are still in the squad. So, this is a new team, a new era. ”
This sentence suddenly pulled people to the era of the rise of black and white bears and warriors. The Grizzlies were at the end of their peak, while the Warriors were rising stars.
So Curry also lamented that today's Grizzlies and the Warriors of that year have a lot of similarities, "We played the Spurs in the second round in 2013, and although we played well, we still failed to advance to the next round." The next year in the playoffs against the Clippers, seven games lost, and then the 2015 championship journey. ”
"We've learned a lot in the three-year playoffs and I'm sure they're going through the process as well, but we don't want them to learn too much."
Now, the Warriors and the Grizzlies have switched positions, with the Warriors being the more mature team and the Grizzlies being the young impactors.
While Kerr doesn't agree that the Warriors and Grizzlies are a feud, there's actually more story between the two teams than ever imagined. You must remember that last season's playoffs Grizzlies and Warriors met, and the Grizzlies eliminated the Warriors 117-112.
In the regular season this season, the Grizzlies and Warriors were also full of gunpowder, and in the end, the Grizzlies won 3 of the 4 meetings. Of course, in those four games, the Warriors never put together a trio of Curry, Green, and Thompson.
But in addition to the last few on-court encounters, the reason why the Grizzlies have been so energetic every time they play the Warriors is more of a personal grudge off the court.
In 2019, the Warriors dynasty ended, in order to make room for Russell, the Warriors sent Iguodala to Memphis, but Iguodala made it clear that he refused to play for the Grizzlies, and finally successfully switched to the Heat.
When Iguodala was traded to the Grizzlies, he didn't even report to the team. According to Dillon Brooks, "The first time I saw Iguodala that season, not at training camp, on ESPN. Iguodala on the show wears and shoes and talks in front of the camera. ”
At the time, Iguodala was leading the Grizzlies' highest salary of $17 million, but he was selling himself to teams with championship-winning abilities on a nationwide live show.
'A guy on our squad doesn't want to come to our team and I can't wait for the team to trade him so we can play against him and show him what the real Memphis looks like.' Dillon Brooks responded to Iguodala's approach at the time.
The Grizzlies can sanction Iguodala because the league has a Morningn clause, and the league has the right to impose financial penalties and bans on players who refuse to play for their new owners after being traded, but the Grizzlies did not.
But the affair eventually turned into a feud between the Grizzlies and the Warriors. Morant supported Dillon Brooks, while Curry posted pictures of Iguodala holding an FMVP and exhorted the younger generation to be respectful.
Three years on, the Grizzlies remember what happened. After the Grizzlies beat the Warriors by 28 points this season, after they were completely seated in second place in the West, Dillon responded again: "We've grown a lot, we all have this vision, and he Iguodala doesn't. ”
Obviously, for a young and vigorous team, such a grudge duel has also attracted a lot of attention in this series.
Of course, the game of grievances will only look good when the two sides are evenly matched. Compared to the more mature warriors, which young people will the Grizzlies stand up?
The leader of the Grizzlies' team is naturally Morant. But in the first round against the Timberwolves, Morant didn't do well.
In the series against the Timberwolves, Morant played badly most of the time, except for the G5 fourth quarter's pull-bar superstar shine.
In this series, Morant averaged 21.5 points, 8.7 rebounds and 10.5 assists per game, but shot only 38.6% from the field, 4-of-15 from outside the three-point line, and averaged 4.2 turnovers per game.
If Morant were left alone, the Grizzlies would clearly fall behind. Fortunately, after the first round of the series, the Grizzlies found someone to support the "waist king", which was Desmond Bain.
This season, Morant is the NBA's fastest improving player, but he is willing to give the trophy to teammate Bain.
"Good brother, I've put the trophy in your kitchen." Killer, you deserve it. After being named the NBA's fastest improving player for the 2021-22 season, Ja-Morant posted this on social media and @Bane.
Back in the regular season, when Morant was injured, he gave Bane a stand. When asked who was the fastest improving player of the season, Morant retweeted and wrote: "Desmond Bain. ”
Faster than the fastest improving player is his teammates. This sentence sounds a bit awkward, but it is realistic.
This season, Morant averaged 27.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game, improving his scoring average by 8.3 points per game and shooting a career-high 49.3 percent from the field.
In addition, the Grizzlies played the best record in team history of 56 wins and 26 losses, and the improvement was also one of the fastest teams in the league.
With such a performance, it is normal for Morant to be selected as the fastest improving player. But compared to Morant's flowing style of play, Bane's growth is even more amazing.
In his rookie season, Bain averaged just 9.2 points per game, but this season, he has averaged 18.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, shooting three three-pointers per game with a 43.6 percent shooting percentage.
Comparing the data, you will find that Bain's average scores and assists data this year have improved more than Morant.
So Morant put the trophy directly in the kitchen of Bane's house, which was a sincere compliment.
If anyone questions that there's some moisture in the regular season stats, the Grizzlies' playoff performance says it all.
As a playoff rookie, Bain is one of the most consistent and outstanding performances of the Grizzlies in this series: Not only is he averaging a team-high 23.5 points per game, but he also shoots a true shooting rate of 65%, shooting 49.5% from the field and 48.2% from three-point range.
Throughout the series, Bane shot a total of 27 three-pointers, beating Edwards, Thompson, Curry, ranking first in the league, becoming the "three-point king" so far in this year's playoffs.
In this series, Bain's playing time, total points, total goals, total three points, cumulative plus or minus all led the team, and the three shooting rates were 49.5%, 48.2%, 90%, And Bain played a "180 club" series.
Even more frightening is his influence on the court, when Bane was on the first round, the Grizzlies beat the Timberwolves by 14.4 points per 100 rounds, Bane was not present, and the Grizzlies lost 23.2 points per 100 rounds.
So when the Grizzlies won the Timberwolves in the first round, Morant praised Bane this way: "He's the MVP of this series because he hits key balls again and again. ”
If you look at Bane's picture, it's clear that his arm span isn't long. According to statistics, Bane, who is 1 meter 98 tall, has an arm span that is two centimeters shorter than his height, only 1 meter 96.
In this static talented league, the arm span is shorter than height, and it is easy to be labeled. He was expected to be picked by the Suns (No. 10) or pistons (No. 16), but the draft pick went all the way down.
"I think I'm old and have a short arm span." They weren't sure if my tricks would work out in the NBA. That's how Bane described it.
Before entering the NBA, Bain's resume was indeed not amazing. He was the 30th pick in the first round of 2020, and he was 22 years old when he was drafted because he played college for four years in one go, which is enough to see that he is not a "gifted" type of player.
Even before his sophomore year, Bane himself didn't feel like he could play in the NBA until his coach gave him confidence: "I never really thought that way, and when Jamie Jixon told me I really had a chance to play in the NBA, it shocked me a little bit. ”
But during his four-year college career, Bane stuck to the habit of practicing in the morning and going to the gym at night.
He has changed from a strong man in high school to a strong body now, step by step to train himself into a backcourt player who can defend three positions, plus a three-point hand, Bane is often jokingly called "Meat Curry" by fans.
Now, Bane of "Meat Curry" is about to meet the real Curry. The grudge between the two teams is also destined to have a different excitement in this series.
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