The reason for this sentiment is mainly that without Morant, the Grizzlies played a more smooth game, and the record of 16 wins and 2 losses is the best proof. Although the Grizzlies, who had Morant before this, have achieved good results, after Morant's absence, the team's performance and chemistry are even higher than the original, which is a bit confusing. Is it that the team's original team culture is very good, allowing them to adapt to a lineup without a main player in a short period of time, or that Morant's promotion of the Grizzlies is a false proposition?
This question may need to be confirmed by the playoffs. As we all know, the playoffs are the key to testing the quality of the stars. The stronger a player's stardom, the better it will perform in the playoffs, and the overall response of the team will rise by one level than before. So when you think about these issues, you must realize that the regular season can only be a verification of the lower limit level of a star, not an upper limit!
Morant's blessing on the Grizzlies can be seen from two aspects. One is the Grizzlies with Morant, what level of team is it? And has the Grizzlies as a whole changed since Morant's absence? Before discussing these two issues, let me make it clear why I have to bring Morant with me when discussing the Grizzlies.
It's a simple truth, because all the Grizzlies' current state is brought by Morant. In the Conley era, the Grizzlies were synonymous with stability and defense. So their offense won't be very good, the defense will be steady, it's not the Grizzlies, it's the old Bears. After the selection of Morant, all the configurations of the team revolved around Morant. The technical characteristic he showed in his first season was to be fast and accurate, so from that time on, the Grizzlies have performed very differently than before. From top to bottom, from the team's tactical system to the player's style of play, that's two paths.
After the premise, let's start with the first question, the Grizzlies with Morant are probably one of the best offensive teams in the league, their offensive efficiency is more than 120, and they are in third place in the league. What is this concept? This efficiency league has only two teams that can hold them down: the Jazz and the Bucks. How fierce these two teams have been in the regular season in previous seasons, and the strength of their own player lineup structure, I believe I don't need to repeat it too much.
The team with healthy Morant is actually a feature: playing against the trend of the times makes all teams uncomfortable. As we've said before, the Grizzlies weren't really a mainstream team in the sense of the word, and their three-point ability was even just maintained at an average level. So the combination of breakout and outside shooters doesn't do anything for the Grizzlies, and they rarely use tactics that fit the magic ball distribution.
What do the Grizzlies rely on? It was a very rapid and fast attack counterattack. They are the league's favorite fast-attacking team, and In this area, Morant has a lot of say. He's a player who likes to play fast, and he's fast enough, agility and agility to support him to play all the offensive rounds. So Morant's conversion offensive efficiency is the third in the league, and if your outside attacker is not that kind of agile defensive player, you can't limit Morant at once when you follow up. He was so fast, so fast that everyone couldn't react!
As for the breakthrough offense in traditional tactics, although there is no need to combine the outside killer to create space, Morant can also do it with ease. His ability to shift speed, the ability to make an emergency stop, the stability after turning around, and the non-deformation of the shot after entering the inside line make opponents difficult to overwhelm. Some people may say that Morant will break through, then it is better to shrink the defense.
It's easy to say, but if you think about it, Morant's open three-point shooting percentage is over 34 percent, which is already enough. If the opponent is stuck in the inside line, it will be even more difficult to force out a new offensive player with a stronger form and both projection. And even if you block in advance, the actual effect is not necessarily very good, because Morant's left and right hands can directly launch an attack, and it is a homeopathic attack. He can directly attack from any direction, don't you want to come a few more people and lock the path? Nor is this realistic. So the grizzly bear with Morant is a young violent bear with sharp claws and teeth that wants to tear you apart at every turn.
How did the Grizzlies without Morant play? The main tone remains the same, but the rest of the players play against Morant's gap. It should be clear that a team's style cannot change or completely change into a new team after a brief absence of the main player. This characteristic of liking to play fast attack counter-attacks and high offensive efficiency is still retained in the rest of the Grizzlies' lineup. Including Adams, Jackson Jr., and others, they have all adapted to this pattern. That is, high confrontation, high rate, and high offense. They can even use this seemingly simple and brute force method to beat the Nets. The Nets' offensive output even failed to keep up with the Grizzlies' rhythm for a while, and finally they were taken with the rhythm.
As for whether there is an impact, it must actually exist. The Grizzlies' reliance on Morant is first of all a quick-break counterattack, followed by a positional battle run-in. So in the game where Morant did not play, the Grizzlies counterattack was not as fierce as at the beginning, and the launch effect of the position battle was not ideal. If you meet a team like the Bucks at this time, the Grizzlies will be a bit difficult to maintain. To be honest, the Bucks' counterattack ability is not bad, and the polishing of the position warfare is a little more delicate. That's one reason the Grizzlies are so bullish on Morant, who can decide on the ceiling while giving the team a different way of thinking about how to solve the problem. His personal offensive ability is the Grizzlies' main weapon when attacking strong points.
Seeing this, everyone should understand that the main point of the Grizzlies is the key to continuing to raise the ceiling. So they'll try to make sure that Morant can stay healthy and consistently healthy into the playoffs. And all of their squads except For Morant are basically bearers of the lower limit. They can keep the basics and even have a good performance in the regular season. Of course, we should also note that this performance can only last in the regular season, and if you try to do without Morant in the playoffs, the opponent will definitely find several ways to hold the rest of the lineup.