Memphis Grizzlies: JaMychal out ‘several weeks;’ how do they get through without him?
The Memphis Grizzlies won 101-93 on Wednesday night, but lost forward JaMychal Green for several weeks with a left ankle sprain.
Before the preseason even started, the Memphis Grizzlies had planned to release stretch forward Jarell Martin when the preseason had finished, but we all knew if the front office had a mind at all, they would keep him. The Grizzlies made the right cuts, and it’s good that Martin is still here.
Early in the first quarter of Wednesday’s game, starting power forward JaMychal Green went down and rolled his ankle. If you watched Gordon Hayward’s injury, you have every reason to be scared for Green. He didn’t return to the game, and the MRI results came back in:
Sources: Memphis starter JaMychal Green’s MRI on left ankle sprain returned clean, no damage, and he will likely be sidelined several weeks.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 19, 2017
Although Green will be out for several weeks, the Grizzlies have a healthy Chandler Parsons, and Jarell Martin ready to step in and make an impact
I know, you’re ready to shoot this article down because it has Parsons playing a huge role in the absence of Green, but I guarantee he will. Without the scoring, Parsons has made an impact on this team by making the right plays, moving within the offense and getting the ball up when he can. Although, I’m not sure who starts Saturday against Golden State at FedEx Forum, but either way, the Grizzlies will be fine with these two in their lineup.
Jarell Martin:
Martin, in my opinion, would be perfect for the starting unit, because he and Green have similar skill-sets. Their habits are similar, and they both aren’t afraid to battle for a rebound. Martin can bring a bigger scoring threat than Green. Like the normal starting power forward, Martin can guard some guards at his size with his fast feet. In addition, he can take guys off the dribble for a mid-range jumper. He’s a very talented forward the Grizzlies have sleeping on their roster who will come in for the coming weeks.
Chandler Parsons:
Cancun, no; smart basketball player, yes.
Parsons is perfect for stretching the floor on any unit, but I just wouldn’t like him with the starting unit. I like Mario Chalmers, Dillon Brooks, Tyreke Evans, Parsons and Wright on the floor for two reasons: Chandler can run the floor as a stretch-4 and space the floor. Wednesday night, the bench had a lot of “swing-swing” passes that resulted in a lot of misses from three. You know who set a lot of those up? You guessed it. Chalmers and Parsons set others, along with themselves, up for smart shots from deep. The bench fired 16 shots from deep, and the starters shot the same amount with better luck.
The shots will fall with Parsons on the bench. Why switch it up for a few weeks? Parsons is comfortable coming in with the second unit, and I think that it’s something that should not be touched.
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Closing Remarks
Also of note, the Grizzlies take on the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night. Flashback to their December 10, 2016 match-up, Martin had a great game, going 5-10 from the field and scoring 13 points. I understand, completely different team, but give me Martin in the starting five and let Parsons roll with the second unit. No knock on Parsons; I just think that at this time, he’s meshing well with the second unit.
Get well soon, JaMychal Green. We have help, but utilimately we need you.