Utah Jazz - Memphis Grizzlies Game Thread.

[nuraman00]

5 PM PST
6 PM MST

Looking forward to this. It's been a while since I could watch a whole game.

 

[nuraman00]

@MHSL82 put in a word to Hardy, and has convined him to give Ochai Agbaji his second start.

 

[nuraman00]

Agbaji with a foul.

 

[nuraman00]

4 - 12, 8:19 left in the first, coming out of a timeout.

 

[nuraman00]

Agbaji with a 3-pointer.

"See, I was right, Hardy!" @MHSL82 reverberates to the head coach, AND to Zanik.

 

[nuraman00]

Reasonable offense in the first.

Unreasonable defense in the first if winning is desired.

24 - 38, end of the first.

 

[nuraman00]

24 - 46, 10:15 left in the second.

 

[MHSL82]

We lost a f’ing game because Markannen needs to rest for the f’ing All Star Game. We could have gone 30-30 into the break.

 

[nuraman00]

I've seen Toscano-Anderson, and Damian Jones for a few years.

* Toscano-Anderson: I like what be brings. He's a vocal defensive leader off the court, and on the court, he knows how to play.

I am not sure he is good enough to play every day, but I would play him in about 77% of the games, and when I play him, give him good minutes.

* Jones: He finished last year strong, and is probably looking for the right situation where he can build off of that.

He is old, at 27 years old. But I think there's still some team out there, where he can play for two years with a consistent role.

Both of these guys bring more toughness, than what the team had at the beginning of the year.

I don't think Beasley nor Vanderbilt's loss will be felt.


However, the key is, this needs to be a healthy roster. With Markkanen out, and Sexton getting hurt 4 minutes into the game, it was too much to ask for other players to be productive enough on offense.

I am glad they made the game close. However, you know the rule. "It's not a comeback until the trailing team takes the lead."

So this does not earn any comeback points.


Also, not sure I've seen a turnover differential like 23 to 4 before. So basically, where one team had 22+ turnovers, and the other had 4 or less turnovers.

 

[nuraman00]

Lastly, Vanderbilt's departure opens up more minutes for Kessler.

He looked really good. A game like today, while it's just one game, has me thinking he could be a top 2 rookie of this season again. Taking into account that Chet Holgren hasn't played a game yet, so in terms of the draft class as a whole, Kessler's "best players from that draft class" ranking could still shift a little, in the future.

A game like today, against a good team, and having a good performance like this, continues to build on the excitement I have towards him.

 

[nuraman00]

Agbaji:

A game like today captures what he's about. An ok offensive player, but 39 minutes with 1 rebound, and one of the worst +/- from the starting lineup, suggests he's in that 10th - 11th best player on the Jazz, slot.

So not an everyday player.

That might be ok though, because we don't want him look like he's not even a NBA player.