In this age when individuals have ample opportunities to perform, no real talent can be hidden. Even if there will be a period of dust, an unexpected gap will be forced to be buried for a short period of time, as long as the heart is shiny enough, it will bloom sooner or later. For example, Morant, who led the team from a weak team in the league to one of the best teams in the league, instantly jumped up.
Because of the illegal gun incident, since June last year, Grizzlies star Morant has been banned from the league for 25 games, counting the long offseason, Morant has been away from the official game for almost half a year. Just when people thought that a new star would fall, he made a strong comeback, responding to all doubts and ridicule with a wave of three consecutive wins and an average of 28 points per game.
Looking at the three opponents the Grizzlies have beaten – the Pelicans, Pacers and Hawks – either a playoff-caliber team or a play-in level – none of them have a real belly, at least a much higher ranking and win rate than themselves, and the Pacers have just played the midseason Championship finals before.
And how depressed are the Grizzlies without Morant? The beginning was a wave of 6 consecutive defeats, followed by 4 consecutive defeats and 5 consecutive defeats, not to mention, the most recent loss to the Rockets with the abandoned Dillon was not only reversed, but also by Dillon, who he looked down on, played the highest scoring performance of the Rockets team, and lost and lost again. However, all these down-and-out and humiliating performances, with the return of Morant, have become more and more rare.
In the face of the Hawks, who have not performed well this season, Morant stood opposite the guard Trae Young, who is also the core of the team, and for the seventh time in his career, Yang Shaoxia scored 30+ assists and 10+ data, but Morant was unmoved, taking advantage of the opponent's shortcomings of attacking and defending weak, meticulously playing the characteristics of you being strong and you being strong, and I can also be arrogant, and once again sent an explosive performance of 30+ points.
In addition to scoring dazzlingly, he still showed the leadership temperament that can lead the whole team, and he felt average in the last quarter, so he sent assists in a row to open up the difference, and it was his five consecutive assists that helped the team open up the difference at critical moments and take away a high-brow victory away from home.
In this game, the Grizzlies not only scored 30+ points for Morant, but Bane, the big killer, scored a game-high 37 points, and he is also an old guy and old face who has been humiliated in the first 20 games of the season. This is fundamentally different from those teams who are rotten on the street and only care about their own scores.
Of course, even if the Grizzlies have won three in a row, they are still the third-to-last in the West because they owe too much money before, but it seems that the gap between them and the play-off teams is no longer as far away as it was at the beginning of the season. Looking at Morant's still-explosive physicality and tough approach to attacking the basket, there is still hope for this team this season alone. What's more, their leaders are still so trustworthy after a dark time.
Not only in basketball, but also in the five major leagues in Europe, after Greenwood, a Manchester United player who has been banned for almost two years, has been tempted to consider buying him out because of his outstanding performance;
Many people feel that because of a ban experience, everyone's talent will be exhausted, but as long as the players are young and determined enough, they have the ability to maintain their talent and wait for the day when the ban ends. After all, talent is not like ability, it is innate, not developed over a long period of time.