A big step a year, young Ja Morant and the Grizzlies, or the league's biggest "surprise"
The 2021-2022 NBA preseason continued today, with the Memphis Grizzlies losing 87-91 to the Atlanta Hawks in the absence of Ja Morant, missing out on a three-game winning streak in preseason. However, this Young Guard still showed unparalleled impact. In the playoffs last season, the young Grizzlies beat the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs to catch the last train in the playoffs, in the case of most of the media not optimistic.
Facing the Utah Jazz, the first in the West, the youngsters of the Grizzlies did not have the slightest nervousness and cowardice, and the first game won over the Jazz in Salt Lake City, which broke out a lot of cold. Although they were eventually eliminated due to the gap in hard power, the Grizzlies' performance deserved everyone's respect. As the core of the Grizzlies, Morant has shown maturity and excellent strength that does not match his age. This season, Morant is very hopeful of ushering in a bigger leap forward, and the Grizzlies have a great possibility of rising to the west and reviving the team's predatory style.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" >1. Excellent offensive ability, scoring and organizing with both hands. </h1>
As the best rookie winner for the 2019-2020 season, Morant's scoring ability has been outstanding over the past two seasons. Although so far in his career, the regular season average of 18.1 points per game is not very good in the league, but to know that this Grizzlies team under the leadership of Coach Zakri Kreman, the most advocating team basketball, the data between the players may not be so beautiful, the no-ball cooperation on the court, a large number of passing positions and other data can not reflect the things, still make the team full of competitiveness.
Moreover, Morant shot 48.1% from the field, already among the top defenders. Speaking of last season's playoff playoffs, Morant contributed a luxurious number of 35 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals to defeat the Warriors, and in the 5 games with the Jazz, he averaged 30.2 points and 8.2 assists per game. The strong performance in the playoffs has made the outside world unanimously optimistic about Morant's future, and his scoring ability is underestimated too much. First of all, Morant has a very strong fast attack ability, after the offensive and defensive conversion, he can quickly carry the ball, a dragon through the entire field, like a rugby quarterback, touchdown score. You can also stand at the front of the team, quickly pull away from the player who defends you, directly complete a long-distance pass with the teammates in the backcourt, and finally complete the powerful dunk ending.
In addition, Morant's ability to hold the ball, as the best among young players, Morant's physical talent is quite good, although it seems to be thin, but the ability to fight and fight is outstanding, and the advantage of fast breakthrough speed is also used by him to the fullest, therefore, Morant's impact on the basket has reached the top level of the NBA, enough lethality, so that he can cause multiple fouls of opponents, so as to get more free throw opportunities. In the playoffs, the scene of repeatedly challenging Gobert made the Grizzlies fans boil with blood. Of course, Morant's shooting also has a certain accuracy, even in the playoffs, it can still guarantee his high shooting rate.
Morant, who is only 22 years old, has a calmness that is completely inconsistent with his age in scoring.
Another point is Morant's organizational ability. When organizing the team's attack, Morant's passing vision is very broad, which is the biggest advantage he has since entering the league. He averaged 7.3 assists per game in his career, and his passing ability is evident. Coach Kleiman himself is more advocating team tactics, and Morant's organizational ability is even more successful.
In addition, due to the strong breakthrough killing ability, the split after the breakthrough can allow the empty teammates to get more shooting opportunities, which is also the key factor for Morant to lead the team in the playoffs. And the new season, as Morante has become more stable, is definitely the best news for the Grizzlies.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" >2. </h1>
Unlike the excellent performance on the offensive end, Morant played more generally on the defensive end. However, the Grizzlies are, after all, an established team with deep defensive roots. Even the older generation of Grizzlies players such as Gasol Jr., Zach Randolph, Tony Allen, mike Conley and others have left or chosen to retire. However, the team's defensive training team is still there, and the young Grizzlies can quickly integrate into the new defensive system.
And Morant is also a direct beneficiary. Although Morant has a fairly good confrontation ability, he still has a lot of difficulty in defending against the big one players in the same position. Therefore, the Grizzlies' team defense has to shift more of its defensive focus to Morant, and indeed in the previous two years of games, it has proved that this defensive method is very effective. Of course, Morant's attitude is also very positive, which also provides him with enough spiritual support on the defensive end, and at the same time, the 22-year-old allows Morant to have enough capital to continuously improve his defensive ability in the future.
On the other hand, it is Morant's distinctive leadership ability, although his personal ability may not be as good as that of zion Williamson in the same class, but Morant has shown his leadership style in the Grizzlies. Although he is only 22 years old, he has shown a very mature and sophisticated style of the court.
When the team needs him, he can stand up at key moments, rush into the inner line again and again, fight with the muscles of a number of internal players in the opponent, score a wonderful "2+1", and also be able to take out his own tomahawk dunk when the morale of the team is low to improve morale. In the rookie season, on the inside of different opponents, completed wonderful individual dunks. In the second year, he constantly challenged Gobert in 5 big games in the playoffs. Such courage and spirit have detonated the home atmosphere of the entire Grizzlies again and again, and the new generation of "Bear King" must be Morant. This season, third-year Morant is very hopeful to continue to grow, and the young Grizzlies will surely bring more surprises on the basis of last season.