Grizzlies Dillon Brooks’ game fails to back up his mouth

The Grizzlies are now down 2-1 to the Lakers and in danger of the series slipping away. Dillon Brooks is a big reason why, and his game must start to back up his mouth if he wants to be a Grizzly much longer.  

The Grizzlies had a no-good, terrible, very bad night last night. They not only lost 111-101 despite a monster performance by a still-injured Ja Morant, but it wasn’t even as close as the final score suggests. There was the disastrous 35-9 first quarter, horrific shooting from deep, and of course the ejection of Dillon Brooks. Regardless of whether you believe Brooks should have been ejected, I think it’s telling how people reacted on social media when it happened.

Sure, plenty of people were in his corner and didn’t think he meant to hit LeBron James the way he did. But many others were quick to clown the Grizzlies forward thanks to his questionable comments toward James so far in this series. His arrogance has been viewed as a positive thing for the team by many, but it blew up in his and his teammates’ face Saturday night. With the Grizzlies now facing an uphill battle to win the series, it’s time to face the facts about Dillon Brooks and his potential future with Memphis.

Dillon Brooks’ game has never caught up with his mouth

Dillon Brooks has been a fan favorite pretty much since his rookie season, and it’s easy to see why. His physical presence on defense and his unwavering confidence are easy to buy into, and the Grizzlies were just beginning to rebuild. The fans needed something to latch onto, and Brooks became one of them. However, the problem with a player like him is his inability to back up his mouth with his game.

Brooks is certainly a good defensive specialist, but his Achilles heel has always been his offense. Outside of his rookie season, Brooks has never had an effective field goal percentage above 50%. He simply doesn’t have the shot-making ability to be a positive impact on the offensive end. Usually, the solution to his offensive woes would be to simply have him limit his shot attempts. But therein lies the other issue with Brooks: he plays like somebody who shoots the lights out. Despite his poor shooting throughout the season, he took the third most shots (13.6) and second most threes (six) on the team per game. Somebody has to take shots outside of Morant and Desmond Bane, but he should not be option three.

It has been even worse so far to start this series, as he has shot just 13-of-40 overall and an abysmal 5-of-20 from three-point range. For a player who is so willing to talk the talk, he has not backed any of it up this series. Luckily he won’t be suspended for Game 4, so he will have the chance to redeem himself. Without a few big games to help the team come back down 2-1, however, his days in Memphis could be nearing their end.