The Memphis Grizzlies have something in Andrew Harrison

Andrew Harrison continues to improve every game for the Memphis Grizzlies. His role next season should only increase.

I was wrong.

Pineapple probably doesn’t belong on pizza.

Oh, and Andrew Harrison is also a legitimate NBA player.

For most of the past year and a half, it has not been much of a secret that I’m not the biggest Andrew Harrison fan in the world. In fact, some may even call me a “hater”.

I can’t imagine why anyone would think that.

Let’s not get it twisted: There have been times over the last year and a half that Andrew Harrison has been legitimately terrible for the Memphis Grizzlies. During the early portion of his rookie season, the game just seemed too fast for him. He never knew when to take his shots (which considering his shooting numbers at the time, was never), his lack of foot speed and explosiveness kept him from being a consistent threat to score, and he often got lost defensively.

It is also not hyperbolic at all to say that Harrison may have had the worst individual shooting season in NBA history last year. To put it in perspective, Ricky Rubio is one of the worst, if not the worst, volume shooters in NBA history with a career field goal percentage of 38 percent. Last season, Harrison shot 33 percent and had an eFG% of 39 percent, all while playing 20 minutes a game in 72 games. Woof.

To be clear, I stand by everything that I have said about Harrison over the last year. When a player’s numbers are that bad, it is pretty easy to be skeptical about their future. Nothing about Andrew Harrison’s play last year or earlier this year suggested that he was a legitimate NBA player, much less a competent backup point guard.

Yet here we are.

Steady improvement

Harrison is slowly starting to remove all doubt of the player that he can be. Over the last six games that he has appeared in (he missed nine games due to injury), he’s averaging 17.8 points along with 5.5 assists. That is a very small sample size, but it is worth noting that those numbers are superior to Mike Conley’s career averages.

Regardless, all of his numbers have improved from last year. His shooting has climbed from the pit of despair that it inhabited last year, as he now shoots a respectable 42 percent and 34 percent from 3. His scoring has risen from 5.9 PPG to 9.3 PPG while playing close to the same amount of minutes that he did last year. Even though his turnovers have slightly increased, his assists have also increased as well.

Most importantly, there is confidence in his game now that just simply wasn’t there before. Poise and composure are two things that an NBA point guard needs, and he radiates them on the court. He still has below-average burst and explosiveness, but he is now more aware of how to use his size to his advantage.

Perhaps the loss of Mike Conley has helped Harrison grow into the floor leader that he needs to be.

The need for consistency

When you’re wrong, you’re wrong. And I was most definitely wrong.

Andrew Harrison does not look like the player he was last year. He now looks like an NBA player that you can rely on every night. It’s almost as if he was a rookie point guard who needed to make mistakes in order to grow!

The big question for Harrison going forward is consistency. Can he maintain this level of play for an extended period of time? It doesn’t necessarily mean that he has to average 18 points while playing out of his mind. But can he average a solid 11-12 points while orchestrating the second unit? Or when Mike Conley returns, will he revert back to his old shell?

The answers to these questions will have serious implications for the futures of both the Memphis Grizzlies and Andrew Harrison.