Memphis Grizzlies: It’s Time To Start Building Around Jaren Jackson Jr.
By Chris Kern
The Memphis Grizzlies have been hesitant to unleash Jaren Jackson Jr. leaning on the veterans instead. With the losses piling up it’s time to unleash the beast.
The Memphis Grizzlies got off to such a good start to the season so it’s very disappointing to see how the past two months have unfolded but Jaren Jackson Jr. has been one of the very few bright spots.
This team has continued to run their offense through Mike Conley and Marc Gasol and while it was effective for the past decade, it just isn’t getting it done anymore.
They are still very good players but Gasol has been struggling recently and it’s a completely different game of basketball than it was five years ago. No matter how much this team tries to slow down the pace, they aren’t good enough offensively to compete.
We’ve all heard the Gasol trade rumors and he has as well and it seems as if it may be on his mind. His lack of effort and attitude leads us to believe he is already thinking about what’s next for his basketball career and where that may be.
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The most frustrating thing is the lack of effort that is on full display at times, it’s not everybody but it has become contagious it seems like. We aren’t going to blame anybody in particular but that is something the veterans need to take care of.
That may have been part of the reason Garrett Temple and Omri Casspi had their postgame altercation in the locker room after a loss. The players are frustrated and it’s time to admit defeat. Chris Wallace tried to help out the team by trading for Justin Holiday but it didn’t help.
Holiday hasn’t played well since coming over even though he has played a bit better since being inserted into the starting lineup. They messed up by trading two second round picks to get him and it’s time to just move on and look towards the future.
The future of this team all starts with Jackson Jr. He has been every bit as good as you would expect out of a 19-year-old. He has been inconsistent at times and struggled to stay out of foul trouble but he is still learning.
In just over half of a season he has shown us all that he is the future in Memphis and this team needs to start building around him.