Strides and stagnating

[jman3134]

While I haven't watch any preseason basketball, I watched a lot of Orlando summer league. I think JaMychal is the breakout player for us this year. His faceup game is fairly refined and he looks explosive from the elbow in. Defensively, he can hold his own.

Jordan Adams also looked really good this offseason. While I still believe his handle is a weakness, it is a lot less glaring this time around. Adams can attack the basket and is a lot more mobile since his days at UCLA.

Russ was a mixed bag. In certain games he looked erratic with the ball in his hands, while you can see his elite level explosiveness in others. He is still a year away in my opinion.

Also got to see Vince and CLee coach, as well as Phil Scrubb, Canadian star college player, who didn't really stand out.

[SD2042]

Jam I think has a better shot playing behind Z-Bo for backup PF minutes. It comes down to coach finding him some solid minutes to utilize his abilities to help exploit some matchup situations. Adams is the in the same boat. I have grown to the idea that Adams has the potential to be a scorer at the backcourt position. When you think about it, the last time the Grizzlies had a legit scorer in the backcourt position was O.J. Mayo before the Grizzlies forced him to take a backseat to Rudy Gay at the time. To me it's what the Grizzlies are missing a true legit scorer who can get you consistent scoring on the nightly basis. If things could work out to that Adams could get some minutes and take advantage of his opportunity, I think the results could help out the Grizzlies in the long run. As for Russ, if he can exercise better control, but maintain his consistency, he could benefit for the better with the Grizzlies.

Also another thing the Grizzlies could exploit on opponents as well is to utilize some of their players who have true athleticism and perhaps exploit some matchups to where they can utilize the up tempo style and give some opponents a run for their money.