The Weekly Grind, December 20th, 2022
Weekly Player Power Rankings plus my top thoughts and statistical discoveries
Now that we’ve got a few weeks of rankings in the bag, I’ve added each player’s prior week ranking in parenthesis to give you a visual of their week-over-week improvement or regression.
Player Power Rankings 12/20/22
Tyus Jones (5)
This week Tyus proved why his re-signing this off-season was a critical move for the Grizzlies. So far this season, Jones has failed to elevate the inexperienced bench unit, but his production with the starters has been impressive. Though Morant is obviously an All-NBA player, the starting lineup as a whole does not suffer as much as you would think in his absence with Tyus at the helm. With Morant out, Tyus started against the Hawks and then earned additional minutes following Ja’s ejection against OKC.
Jones was 47% from three for the week along with 15 assists.
Dillon Brooks (3)
Brooks had an efficient shooting week with over half his shots coming from three, where he was 46% on the week. This earned him an eFG% of 59% - more than ten points above his season average. Brooks also had an impressive outing against Milwaukee on the defensive end by immobilizing Kris Middleton.
Ja Morant (2)
Morant netted a triple-double against Bucks, though much of that was in garbage time and had some Westbrookian stat padding vibes. Oh well. It might be worth noting that Morant was two of eleven from three on the week. He also had a varied shot selection and was next to last on the team in “Rim or 3 Frequency.” Tyus was the only Grizz whose average 2-point shot was further away from the rim.
Jaren Jackson Jr. (1)
Trip had an impressive 8 blocks against Hawks. He played shortened minutes in the Bucks blowout due to (surprise) foul trouble. Jaren is still filling it up on the offensive end and scored 15 or more points against ATL and OKC.
Steven Adams (7)
Stevo’s defense on Giannis was tuff. The Greek Freak only scored three points on 26 partial possessions where Adams was the primary defender. This equates to 16% from the field. For the week, Steven earned seven blocks and probably a thousand screen assists. Does he get double credit for this one?
Santi Aldama (6)
Aldama was third in points with 37 across the three games. On his way to that amount, he accumulated the most points at the free throw line on the team with 15 successful conversions.
Brandon Clarke (4)
Would you believe that BC has scored in double figures in his past 8 games? He is doing this on nearly 80% shooting from the floor. He averaged 12 and 6 shooting 93% last week. He is much more active on defense and is providing a level of versatility that makes Memphis tough on that side of the ball.
John Konchar (8)
Jitty deserves a deep dive article on why he is such a +/- king. He obviously does all the small things (cue Blink-182) including defensive rebounding, which, as you know, ends opponents offensive possessions. Konchar was third on the team with a total of plus-47 in 64 total minutes.
Kennedy Chandler (10)
Chandler had a very fun week. He played over 20 minutes against ATL and accumulated 8 points, 7 assists, and 6 boards in that contest.
David Roddy (9)
Roddy has failed to be a sniper this season by any measure, but is now showing an increase in athleticism by getting more attempts at the rim through various methods. He is demonstrating good court feel by dashing ahead of the break or penetrating off of kickouts. On a few occasions, he even has successfully converted on fancy fadeaways.
Ziaire Williams - It’s good that Ziaire is able to work himself back into the lineup. The second year player has yet to find an offensive stroke, but is looking more like himself on the defensive end.
Xavier Tillman - Tillman was given solid minutes against ATL and the Bucks, but drew a DNP against OKC.
Jake LaRavia - Jake is going to be spending a lot of time in Southaven over the next few weeks as he works his way back into form.
Kenneth Lofton Jr. - Four minutes of gametime.
Efficiency Landscape:
The Grizzlies have destroyed their opponents in the month of December. Granted, their schedule has been a little on the softer side - which is about to change.
NBA Power Rankings:
Memphis is shooting up power rankings across the internet and garnering a significant amount of love and attention, especially with the recent struggles of the previously invincible Celtics.
What I’m reading this week:
Joe Mullinax, former Site Manager of Grizzly Bear Blues, has now joined the ranks of us Substackers.
Go check him out.
What I’m Listening to:
Russillo and Windy
Find someone who loves you as much and Brian Windhorst loves Ja Morant. There are some good nuggets in this episode including lite praise from Windy. He said he could picture Morant as Finals MVP as well as NBA champion. I also found Russillo’s story about Chandler Parsons particularly amusing.