It's a new era of Memphis Grizzlies basketball, one which will be led by first-year head coach Taylor Jenkins.
The slow paced offensive days are over for the Grizzles, as Jenkins says Memphis is “going to play fast” next season.
“We’re going to play fast. Pace and space. Hopefully, put a lot of points on the board,” Jenkins told Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com. “Some people only focus on the offensive end of the floor, but we want to be a great defensive unit, too. Why? Because we’re connected and unselfish and we have each other’s back. Even with things we do off the court, we break bread together. We spend time and we do fun activities together. Building those relationships is critical to our success overall. And the last thing, which we can all appreciate, is just be better every single day. Can we compete and grow together? Can we get better every single day?
“That’s going to be emblematic of what our style is going to be as we progressively get better day in and day out. From an Xs and Os standpoint, hopefully you’ll see we’re going to be a high-energy basketball team. It’s a change of style, but hopefully we generate some excitement in the crowd. Defensively, do the same thing. The threes and dunks are one thing. But the blocked shots and great rotations make it really hard on the opposition to get what they want. That’s what really gets the coach’s blood boiling.”
Mike Conley and Marc Gasol are gone. The new faces of the Grizzlies franchise are point guard Ja Morant and power forward Jaren Jackson Jr.
Both youngsters can get up and down the floor quickly. Taylor Jenkins is looking forward to coaching Morant and Jackson Jr. and putting them in positions to succeed.
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