Memphis Grizzlies: Areas of improvement to address after the break

The Memphis Grizzlies have played good basketball so far. They’ve been without Jaren Jackson Jr., but have grown as a team overall, keeping their record on par with how they finished last year.

They’ve found something special in rookies Xavier Tillman and Desmond Bane. Ja Morant and Jonas Valanciunas have been clicking all year, keeping this offense afloat. Kyle Anderson has improved beyond what anybody thought was possible.

But the Memphis Grizzlies have some serious weak spots

At some point, this team needs to see some serious improvement in certain aspects of the game. They’re good, but far from perfect. Their 16-16 record with some ugly blemishes will confirm that.

We’ve addressed the fact that this team has a huge 3-point problem, both offensively and defensively. The 3-point defense went through a slump, but looks to be bouncing back. On offense, this team has yet to hit a groove from long range. That’s something that Taylor Jenkins will be working on for the rest of the year.

That’s not the only issue though. This team has had trouble finding a core rotation of players. Having too many guys who can contribute isn’t a bad problem, but when was the last time you saw a playoff team play as many guys each game as Memphis? At some point, Jenkins has to figure out who he wants in control of this team and give them a majority of the minutes.

There’s also a big consistency problem. The Grizzlies haven’t been consistent shooting the ball, scoring the ball, or defending. Even their results on the scoreboard have been extremely streaky. Part of this is the fact that this is an extremely young squad, but streaky teams don’t fare well in a brutally tough NBA. They’ve shown how well they can play, they’ll just have to find a way to be consistent.

Here’s how that starts.