Nuggets in the Clutch, Llamas, and Grizzlies Week | Slam N Jam

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily — Slam N’ Jam: Nuggets in the Clutch, Llamas, and Grizzlies Week

Date: December 13, 2025
Hosts: Andrew Schlecht & Alex Spears
Guest: Keith Parish (Grits and Grinds / Fastbreak Breakfast)

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Episode Overview

This high-energy episode of the Saturday Slam N’ Jam features a recap of a wild NBA week, a breakdown of the league's big stories and stats, the “Good/Bad/What” segment (where the hosts share surprising stats, troubling team trends, and odd headlines), and a deep dive into the Memphis Grizzlies’ fortunes with special guest Keith Parish. Notable topics include the NBA Cup semifinals, clutch struggles from past champions, wild stat leaderboards, Portland’s new offensive focal point, Keldon Johnson's llama aspirations, and the ever-quirky “Wheel of Fandom”—this week, spotlighting Memphis’ rollercoaster season.

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NBA Weekly Recap & Standouts

(03:14 - 08:05)

• The NBA Cup Final Four is set: Orlando Magic vs. New York Knicks (East) and Oklahoma City Thunder vs. San Antonio Spurs (West).

  • Despite losing Franz Wagner to injury, Orlando overcame Miami with Desmond Bane scoring 37.
  • Knicks handled Toronto easily for their first Vegas trip.
  • OKC crushed Phoenix by 49, marking their 16th straight win; they’re 24-1, matching the 2016 Warriors.
  • Spurs, sans Wemby (9-3 without him), booked a spot in Vegas, and Steph Castle had a standout 30-10-6 line.
  • Wembanyama’s return is possible for the semifinals.

• Eastern Conference standings are tightly packed: seeds 3 to 9 separated by a single game. The Celtics surged but fell to Milwaukee, the Magic continue to impress, and teams like Toronto, Miami, and Cleveland are in slides.

• Derrick Queen ("this guy's pretty good") had a historic 33-10-10-4 game as a rookie for the Pels.

• (Notable Quote)
  Alex: “The East playoff spots appear to be completely up for grabs.”

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The Good, The Bad, & The What

(08:13 - 25:27)

Good

• Andrew’s “Good” — Corner 3-Point Shooting

  • Best high-volume NBA corner 3 shooters so far:

    • OG Anunoby (48%)
    • Harrison Barnes (47%)
    • Noah Clowney (50%)
    • Nickeil Alexander-Walker (50%)
    • Max Christie (53%) — “The Goat right now.” (09:35)

  • “Those are your best corner three point shooters so far this season…” (09:46)

• Alex’s “Good” — Deni Avdija & Free Throws

  • Deni Avdija’s aggressive driving: Led NBA in drives per game and averaged 16.8 FTA over a five-game stretch, joining Harden, Embiid, Giannis, and Luka on a rare list.

  • (Notable Quote)
    Alex: “I think the focus should be on the way he’s using his size and strength as a big wing to get to the rim and get to the line.” (11:19)

Bad

• Andrew’s “Bad” — Clutch Struggles for Contenders

  • Brooklyn has the worst clutch net rating (minus-43.1), but shockingly, the Denver Nuggets are second-worst (minus-40.6), with woeful clutch offense/defense splits.

  • Knicks and Cavaliers join them at the bottom of the clutch standings.

  • (Notable Reaction)
    Andrew: “That’s not a team that I would have predicted to have one of the worst net ratings in the clutch.” (13:36)

• Alex’s “Bad” — The ‘Tyler Herro Problem’ in Miami

  • Miami’s losing streak coincides with Herro’s return; many blame Herro, but net ratings with him on-court are positive.

  • Blame falls on bench regression and a sharp swing in opponent 3-point shooting (“three-point variance involves a lot of luck”).

  • Miami is installing a new offense so reintegration challenges are expected.

  • (Notable Quote)
    Alex: “Maybe LeBatard is right and Hero does end up getting traded. Maybe just doesn’t fit with this new style... But I think the early returns have been better than the win-loss record might suggest.” (17:16)

What

• Andrew’s “What” — Clippers’ Oddities

  • Tyronn Lue postgame access confusion: Team claimed no media was present, but reporters dispute it.

  • Harden-Zubac duo has a -2.9 net rating, down 13 points from last season (“I don't quite understand what the difference is for those guys this season compared to last.”)

  • (Notable Moment)
    Keith Parish (as recounted by Andrew): “Hard for me to believe that the Clippers would ever want to cover anything up and lie about it.” (19:51)

• Alex’s “What” — Keldon Johnson’s Llama Ambition

  • Spurs’ Keldon Johnson says he’d buy a llama with NBA Cup winnings for his ranch (already holds goats, cows, horses, donkey, chickens).

  • Alex argues for therapy llamas on NBA benches.

  • (Notable Funny Quote)
    Alex: “What if every team had a therapy llama on staff?... You’re telling me we can’t find one more seat for a llama in a quarter zip?” (23:17)

  • Andrew: “And pay them in llamas.” (25:28)

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Memphis Grizzlies Deep Dive (w/ Keith Parish)

(32:10 - 50:21)

• The “Wheel of Fandom” randomly landed on the Grizzlies, but Keith brands it a “Twilight Zone-style curse,” as major Grizzlies news always follows his appearance (34:35).
• Zach Edey out for 4+ weeks; was crucial for the recent 7–2 run (up to 9th in West). Offense is 25th; defense up to 13th.
• Edey’s improvement: “He seemed to be moving faster… he was catching every pass thrown to him… making his hook shots… doing post moves to the left and right. All of that was a big improvement.” (35:47)
• Jaren Jackson Jr.‘s struggles:
  • “Jaren’s play has been very concerning… his scoring is way low, defensive impact is very low, offensive fouls are at career-high levels.” (37:46)
  • Jaren performs much better with Edey on court (+6.6), but -13.8 net with Edey off.
• Cedric Coward emerges:
  • Fluid mid-range game; compared jokingly to MJ/Kawhi: “He’s a Michael Jordan, Kawhi Michael Jordan type player, if you will. So yeah, Cedric’s been really fun.” (40:53)
• Unlikely Point Guards:
  • Vince Williams Jr. and Cam Spencer are holding down primary ball-handler duties out of necessity—and excelling.
  • Williams Jr.: “He’s doing sort of a throwback Rajon Rondo style—‘I’m not going to shoot at all, just get rebounds and assists.’” (41:22)
  • Cam Spencer: “He is way better than Luke Kennard… an aggressive offensive player, high in free throw and 3-point percentage, high-volume shooter, backup point guard.” (44:10)
• Team-building outlook
  • Keith: “Sell high on Edey… Zach Edey and Cedric Coward are very good… Listless Jaren and Listless Ja—I don’t know what you do with those guys. I honestly think you play this year out… try to make the play-in… build around Cedric and Zach.” (46:06)
• Outlook for the next four weeks
  • Keith is (cautiously) more optimistic than early in the season due to improved roles for Jalen Wells, healthy Vince, and favorable schedule. “The beginning of the year was a lot of people learning new rules with a new coach, a new coaching staff… They’ve lost all the good teams, beaten all the bad teams… with Ja coming back, I am more optimistic.” (48:54)

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Trivia: "Andrew vs. The Beat" — Grizzlies Edition

(50:22 - 63:28)

A lively Grizzlies trivia competition between Andrew and Keith featuring:

• Zach Edey’s monster rebounding night (last to do it: Jonas Valanciunas, 51:07)
• Franchise record-holders (Mike Miller: most games with 6+ threes, 51:52)
• Difficult stat questions, including rebounding rates, high-assist games, and “every player played college in the U.S.” trivia (Toronto Raptors as an answer—“a little cute question,” 59:01)
• On-court/off-court impact metrics (Santi Aldama as Memphis' biggest offensive swing, 61:06)
• Final challenge: Naming players with 30+ threes and 20+ blocks this year (Andrew wins with Jay Huff, 61:54)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Keldon Johnson's Llama Plan
  Alex: “If more players gave answers like Keldon Johnson did… What if every team had a therapy llama on staff?” (23:17)
• On Denver’s clutch woes
  Andrew: "That’s not a team that I would have predicted to have one of the worst net ratings in the clutch." (13:36)
• On the power (curse) of the Wheel of Fandom
  Keith: “I feel like there’s some negative Twilight Zone style curse that has now accompanied the Wheel of Fandom.” (34:56)

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Segment Timestamps

• NBA Weekly Recap & Standouts – 03:14–08:05
• Good/Bad/What Segment – 08:13–25:27
• Keldon Johnson/Llama Segment – 23:12–25:30
• Memphis Grizzlies Deep Dive: With Keith Parish – 32:10–50:21
• Trivia: Andrew vs. The Beat – Grizzlies Edition – 50:22–63:28

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Episode Tone & Takeaways

The hosts maintain their signature blend of sharp statistical insights, irreverent humor, and informal camaraderie, making for an episode that’s both informative and entertaining—ideal for NBA nerds and casual fans alike. The detailed breakdowns (e.g., clutch stats, sharp rookie spotlights, unexpected stat leaderboard oddities) are offset by light moments such as the llama dreams and the trivia face-off.

Key episode themes: The unpredictability of team fortunes (especially Memphis), how small sample sizes can mislead (Miami/Herro, Denver clutch), the rise of unheralded contributors, and that, yes, sometimes NBA players just want llamas.

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Recommended for:
Listeners seeking a fast, stats-savvy, fun wrap-up of NBA storylines, and fans of the ever-turbulent Memphis Grizzlies.

Transcript

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[Michelle Bernstein]

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[Michelle Bernstein]

Your rheumatologist about Cosenty.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Hey Andrew Schleicht here. This Tuesday at 8:30 Eastern it's the Emirates NBA cup championship game on Prime. This year's quest for the cup has delivered incredible moments and jaw dropping highlights and they've been building toward this. The final two teams. I am so pumped for the NBA cup here at the NBA Daily. We will be there live in person ready to take in the cup, ready to respect the cup. And what's been really fun is that the players have been very motivated this year to win this thing and they have. Multiple teams have expressed this and you can see it through the competition and I cannot wait to see it live in Las Vegas. The Emirates NBA Cup Championship Game live from Las Vegas Tuesday night at 8:30 Eastern on Prime Eastern. And if you're not a Prime member, that's not a problem. Sign up for a 30 day free trial to get started today. The Emirates NBA Cup Championship Game this Tuesday at 8:30 Eastern only on Prime. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com amazonprime for details. Welcome to the Saturday Slam and Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. On today's show, we're talking to Keith Parrish about the Memphis Grizzlies. We're doing our good, bad and what, and we'll end the show like we always do with some trivia. But before we get to any of that, Al, tell me what happened in the NBA this week.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Andrew Our top story this week is the NBA Cup. We have made it to the semifinals which will be played tomorrow in Las Vegas. Our final four features the Orlando Magic and New York Knicks in the east and the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio spurs in the West. The Magic made it to Vegas despite losing Franz Wagner to a high ankle sprain earlier in the week on a play that sure looked a lot worse than a high ankle sprain. Even without Franz, the Magic were able to defeat the Miami Heat 117 to 108, led by Desmond Baines 37 points. The Magic will be meeting the Knicks in Las Vegas, who went on the road to Toron and easily handled the Raptors, leading by 20 points for most of the second half. This is the Knicks third consecutive appearance in the NBA cup quarterfinals, but their first trip to Vegas.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Let's go.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

In the West, Oklahoma City continued their dominant run, beating the Phoenix Suns by 49 points while setting a franchise record with their 16th consecutive win. OKC also tied the 2016 warriors for the best 25 game start to a season at 24 1. OKC's next test will be the San Antonio spurs, who continue to be to win without Victor Wembanyama. They have gone 93 in his absence and beat the Los Angeles Lakers 132 to 119 to get to Vegas, led by Steph Castle's 3010 and 6 line. The Thunder spurs game on Saturday will be their first meeting of the season, with a chance that it will also be the return of Victor Wembanyama. Now elsewhere in the NBA, the east standings are an absolute mess with the number three seed and the number nine seed separated by only one game. The Celtics were the hot team in the east over the last couple weeks, going 50 and rocketing up the standings to the third spot. But a disappointing loss to Milwaukee without Giannis on Thursday night has stalled that ascent, putting them even with the magic at 15 and 10. Now the magic have responded in a big way after their 46 start, going 114 in their next 15 despite having to deal with yet another injury to a star player. On the flip side, the Raptors have majorly cooled off since their fast start, losing four straight and and six of their last seven, with two of those losses being to Charlotte during that stretch. Another team that has cooled off is the Miami Heat, who have lost five of six, which included giving the Sacramento Kings their only win in the last two weeks. The Cavs, another East team that is stumbling at the moment, dropping five of their last seven and still dealing with Darius Garland's ongoing toe issue outside of Detroit. New York the East playoff spots appear to be completely up for grabs now in the West. Let's head to the bottom of the standings where Derrick Queen is forcing NBA Podcast, including ours, to do a segment where they reiterate how much they hate the trade but have but you gotta admit that this guy's pretty good. In a close loss to the Spurs, Derrick Queen put up a 30 point triple double, going for 33, 10 and 10 with four blocks. He's the 13th rookie to post a 30 point triple double. If he gets another one, which seems likely at this point, he'll tie Blake Griffin Michael Jordan for the second most 30 point triple doubles as a rookie. I don't know if he's going to catch Oscar Robertson, however, who had 1730 point triple doubles as a rookie. The Pels got their fourth win of the season this week in a game against the Blazers, which saw the return of Jordan Poole, who's been out since early November. The loss for the Blazers was a particularly low point of their season. After a promising start, the Blazers have fallen off a cliff due at a combination of injuries and lack of depth, going 3 and 11 in their last 14. The Blazers defense, which we were once so excited about in the preseason, is Now a bottom 10 defense for cleaning the glass. And speaking of being in the bottom 10, let's get an update on the Land of the Lost. Looking at the teams with a bottom 10 offense and defense per Clean the Glass, there are currently six teams in the land of the loss, but both Portland and Chicago are one spot away. They're knocking on the door to get us back up to eight teams. Now we have lost a couple teams. Memphis's defense brought them out of it and the Clippers offense has been better as of late, allowing them to escape. Also, don't look now, but I think the next team to escape the land of the loss might just be the Indiana Pacers, who have had the 11th best offense and 12th best defense in the last two weeks during which they went 4 2. Now if you care more about good teams and don't obsess over the bad Teams like me. I will update you on the teams that have a top 10 offensive defense. Currently we have five per clean the glass. Houston, OKC, Minnesota, Detroit and Toronto. Who is still holding on.

[Mrs. Claus / Elf / Drew Ski]

Wow.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Despite their recent swoon. And those were the top stories this weekend.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Wow. The early season. Toronto is doing some heavy lifting right now.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

I know.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Seriously.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Okay, Andrew, it is time to share something we like this week, something we didn't like this week and something that left us confused in a segment we like to call Good Bad. What. So Andrew, what is your good this week?

[Andrew Schlecht]

My good is, I thought, hey, let's, let's take a look at the best corner three point shooters in the NBA this week. It's a very valuable shot and listen who's doing it best this season. So I, I had to separate this out somehow. So it's players that have at least two attempts per game and have shot at least a a significant amount of corner threes. Apologies to Doug McDermott who has not missed a corner three so far this season but did not make the cut. Also apologies to Tamani Kamara who has been absolute buns from the corners so far this season at 24. Okay. Starting with OG Anunoby who's shooting 48% from the corner so far this season. He's not only like impacting their defense at a crazy degree, but he's hitting those corner threes. Another guy who is in Vegas, Harrison Barnes has been cooking from the corner so far this season at 47%. Noah Clowney, who I think is a one of the lone bright spots for the Brooklyn Nets so far this season is shooting 50% from the corners. Much more of a perimeter based player. Nikhil Alexander Walker. You think this weirdo Timberwolves team could use a guy like this who's shooting 50% from the corners this season. He's been unbelievable. And then maybe the best high volume corner three point shooter in the NBA this year at a blistering 53% is Max Christie. Another little bright spot down in Dallas. He's been really, really good for the Dallas Mavericks. Those are your, those are your best corner three point shooters so far this season. OG Anunoby, Harrison Barnes, Noah Clowney, Nikhil Alexander Walker and the Goat right now. Max Christie.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Well, you mentioned to Moni Kamara being a disappointment. Let's, let's talk about something good about the Blazers because I mentioned how the Blazers season seems to be slipping away.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

And things may not be looking good for Portland right now, but it's not all bad because Denny Abdia is having a crazy season and he did something these last couple weeks that is truly incredible. This week saw the end of a five game stretch where Denny got to the line 16.8 times per game, 16.8 free throw attempts per game over a five game stretch. Now, going back two decades, here is the full list of players who have done that who have had a five game stretch where they averaged at least 16.8 free throws per game. James Harden, Joel Embiid, Giannis Anadokounmpo and Luca. That's it. That is the complete list. And now Denny Abdia.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Denny Abdia.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Seeing his name on that list is pretty wild and a big part of it is how aggressive he's been as a driver. Everyone probably has heard this by now, but he's leading the league in drives per game, which is the first time since the 1920 season that SGA has not led the league in that stat. And he's got a pretty. He's got two drives per game lead on the guys who are number two and three. Now, I know it's popular to freak out about free throws right now. Every third post on NBA Reddit is a quote unquote highlight of someone getting fouled and then having the exact same conversation over and over again in the comments. But in the case of Denny, I think the focus should be on the way he is using his size and strength as a big wing to get to the rim and get to the line. Watching some of these recent Blazer games, it does sometimes feel like Portland's only offense is give the ball to Denny and let him barrel his way to the rim. But with all their injuries and the overall lack of shooting on this team, it might be their best option right now. So I get it. No one likes watching free throws. But I think you have to admire a player going all in on his strengths and turning his aggressiveness up to 10. Pretty impressive. Now Andrew, what is your bad this week?

[Andrew Schlecht]

So the clutch. The team in the clutch that has the worst net rating so far this season as of Dec. 12 is the Brooklyn Nets at a minus 43.1. Is that a surprise? No. But who's the second worst team in the net so far this season? Yes, please guess.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

I'm guessing. I mean you're only going to talk about if it's like a good teams. I'm going to guess because I've watched a few of these ends. The Minnesota Timberwolves.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That's a great guess. That's incorrect though. It is. It is actually the Denver Nuggets are the second worst team in the clutch this season at a minus 40.6 in nine games. They have a 143 defensive rating and a 102 offensive rating in the clutch so far this season. Now, listen, it's not anything to be like crazy concerned about because the Nuggets are obviously a good team that has a ton of playoff experience. And this is a very limited sample size, but I'll tell you this, this limited sample, real bad, really, really bad.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Are they playing, I wonder how many of those games are against bad teams. Like close games against bad teams.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Listen, it's got to be several because that's, that's kind of their MO Is losing to bad teams in horrific ways. But yeah, I just, I came across that and was like, wow, that's not a team that I would have predicted to have one of the worst net ratings in the clutch. Like the Knicks are another one. They're a minus 18.3 in the clutch.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Now. They had, they were one of the lowest in total clutch time, though. I remember that.

[Andrew Schlecht]

They are. Yeah, they've only had, they've had eight games in the clutch. The Cleveland Cavaliers are also bad in the clutch, a minus 11.9. They've had 14 games for clutch time. So it's, it's, it's not good, it's not good for those teams in the clutch so far this season, which actually could signal a, a bad to good in that there's nowhere to go but up for teams like the Denver Nuggets and the Knicks in clutch time because both those teams have very good, reliable players for the clutch. You know, the Minnesota Timberwolves are actually positive in the clutch. They're 11th in the league at a plus 7.8.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Although if you look at their record, they're 6 and 5 in those games.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

So that's probably more than what I'm thinking about.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Sure.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Well, the Lakers 8. 0 in their clutch games.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, that's because they don't. It's because they don't. They don't.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

They only win their, their close games or they get blown out. That's the only way it happens. My bad. This week is about Tyler Hero. Or is it Andrew? Or is it. Here's the deal. I saw the Dan LeBatard clip going around talking about how this recent stretch for the Heat was basically a worst case scenario for Tyler Herro because the team was playing so well early part of the season. Everyone's talking about him and then they start to stumble right as Tyler Herro gets back in the mix, and this isn't a new idea, of course. Going back to their Finals run, there's always been this question of whether the Heat are better without Hero, even though we all agree he's a good player. So in the interest of fairness, I wanted to dig a little deeper, try to figure out just how responsible is Tyler Herro for this recent stretch of poor play. First thing to point out is that Hero has not played in all these recent games. He only played in two games during their current four game losing streak. Since returning, the Heat are 3 and 3 in the games he's played. It's not that bad. And per PVP stats, the Heat have actually had a plus four net rating in the 191 minutes that Tyler Herro has been on the court. And they've actually been an even more impressive plus 7 net rating in the 122 minutes that Hero has shared the court with Bam Adebayo. Now these are small samples, but it's hard to point the finger at Hero based on his minutes so far. So what has changed for the Heat? Well first the bench hasn't been nearly as productive as they were earlier in the season. They were scoring before this recent stretch 45 points per game, which was the third highest bench production in the league. They're now down to 35 points per game in these last six games, which is kind of middle of the road. But more importantly, I think a lot of this is just bad shooting luck and regression to the mean because before this recent stretch where The Heat lost 5 of 6 Heat opponents were shooting 31% on above the break threes, second lowest mark in the league and 35% from the corner, sixth worst in the league during the current six game stretch. Opponents are now shooting 41% on above the break threes and 44% from the corners. They are getting lit up from three in a way that they haven't been all season. And while you could certainly make the case that Hero probably isn't helping their defense, three point variance involves a lot of luck. So I absolutely think there's something to be said about Miami installing this new offense with minimal pick and rolls and now trying to reintegrate a player who last year used over 35 picks per 100 possessions per Cooper Moorhead on NBA.com maybe Levitard is right and Hero does end up getting traded. Maybe just doesn't fit with this this new style. But I think the early returns for Hero's reintegration have been better than the recent win loss record might suggest and it's largely being influenced by some regression to the mean for opponents three point shooting. So I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, yeah, it's, he's only played six games too. It's like just, we just give this a little bit of time like any six game sample that you get. And that's the problem with like some of these beginning of season stat, especially with guys coming back from injury. Like any six game stretch is not really going to matter to most teams, you know. Yeah, it's like it's the first sample that you get. It's like, oh, this must be like the way it's going to be the rest of the way, you know, kind of thing.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

And I also think as good as this, their start to the season was, I don't think anyone was looking at this Miami team as like, oh they're dominant, they're going to be a contender. Oh, like they're, they're absolutely the kind of team that could lose four games in a row. Like it's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. So, so that's, that's my bad this week. But is it that bad? Andrew, what is your what this week?

[Andrew Schlecht]

Oh man. So the Los Angeles Clippers, they've been alone.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Andrew, leave them alone.

[Andrew Schlecht]

No, can't do it. I have a couple things on the Clippers yesterday. Taron Lou didn't talk to reporters after the game and Justin Russo on who covers the Clippers reached out to them and asked like why Taran Lou wasn't made available to the media after the game and he said that the Clipper said that Lou was made available post game but no one was in the interview room and there was no traveling media that night. Which is becoming an issue across the league is that there's not many media traveling in general right now. Just kind of the state of journalism. But friend of the show, friend of mine Kelly Eco said that couldn't be further from the truth. I went there immediately after the final buzzer. At least four people were in the interview room, including a member of Rockets PR designated to transcribe lose postgame presser and we were told that he wouldn't be speaking and left. So wow.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

I can't. Lies.

[Andrew Schlecht]

You know what, hard for me to believe that the Clippers would ever want to cover anything up and lie about it.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Just interesting.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, just couldn't believe it. Also this confused me. The two man duo of Harden and Zubots last season were a plus 10 together in a ton of minutes, 106 defense, 117 offense this season in 661 minutes. So it's not like. It's just like this tiny sample. There's a lot there. They're a minus 2.9 together. And I. Harden's been good this season. Zubots has had a little bit of a step back. He's been a little bit better lately. But you know, I think that whenever you're trying to like, find the reasons why things aren't going well for the Clippers, I don't think that that's where you'd first look. But that combo has not been as effective. I mean, the swing is 13 points for 100 possessions for those two, which is a lot. Now, the Clippers have looked better lately. They're still, they're still not winning games, but they are at least playing closer games. But I would just, that's a number that I'm going to monitor. Like is, does that duo get better? Because if that, if that duo doesn't get any better, that's, that was kind of their bread and butter last year. That was one of the reasons why they were a good team at all. And this year they are losing the minutes that those two are playing. So it's just, it's just been really, really strange. That's why it's my. What it's like, I don't, I don't quite understand what the difference is for those guys this season compared to last.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Yeah, they're such a confusing team because you watch that game against the Rockets. Rockets, really good team, great net rating and they go in and play them so close and then they just find a way to lose at the end.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Don't even inbound the ball. Don't even inbound the ball. It's just like what. It's. They're very, they're not. Not only are they bad, but they are confusing.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

It was just, it was just such a bizarre ending because first, like Kawhi gets called for that push off, which, like, I, I guess, but also like we've seen Shea do that same move a lot and never get called. And it wasn't like an especially egregious push off. So it's just like bad luck that the refs call that on you. And then, yeah, you have that inbounds where no one comes to get the ball and Nicholas Batum just steps on the line and gives it over. They didn't even have a chance to win it. And they, I mean, I don't know if they should have won that game, but they should have at least had a chance to tie it and send it over time.

[Andrew Schlecht]

You should at least get a possession. Can you. Can we get. Can we get a possession?

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

It was just brutal because they hung with them the whole time. There were stretches that game where they looked like the better team and then they just find some way to lose. Yeah, my what this week is a story I was sent by a listener. Andrew Neuron 0 on Blue sky sent me a story from Pounding the Rock about spurs forward Keldon Johnson. Now, Neuron Zero wanted me to make this the top story this week. I couldn't do that, but I can put it as my what now? Ever since the NBA cup was put in place, you've heard some fans bemoan the fact that players need more money to be incentivized to play regular season games. But I think those fans would not be nearly as upset if more players gave answers like Kelton Johnson did.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

When Cassidy Hubbard asked him what would he do with the NBA cup winnings if the spurs went all the way, Kelton Johnson said that he'd spend the money on a llama, of course, which would live on his ranch outside San Antonio, where He currently has 11 goats, four cows, two horses, a donkey and six chickens. Now, I don't know what your opinion is on llamas, Andrew, but I'm a big fan. I'm assuming they do this other places, but I'm also aware that this next sentence is going to sound extremely Portland, but when I was in school, our administrators rented out therapy llamas for finals week. So in between exams you could go out to the parking lot and there were just these two big ass llamas walking around that you could pet them, you could feed them, you talk to them. They were great. Just beautiful, goofy looking guys just hanging out in the parking lot. And I think if we could get more players to commit to spending their NBA cup money on things like llamas, we could really take the NBA cup to the next level. What if, what if every team had a therapy llama on staff? Every team's already got like 16 coaches on the bench. You're telling me we can't find one more seat for a llama in a quarter zip? Andrew, come on, we can do this. Llamas are great. And I'm just, I'm just excited that there's an NBA player who is so commit, first of all, so committed to animals, has this big ranch, but willing to diversify and bring in a llama to this group.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, let's go. It's, it's, it is funny though, like the whole money aspect of the cup because guys are super motivated. Like I've talked to the Thunder guys about it a lot and they all want to win and the money is part of the reason they want to win. And it's so hilarious to me. That's like some of the analysis behind like why, like oh, we, if you only paid the guys a million bucks if they won the All Star game, like guys wouldn't play hard for that. Like they look, they already have all this money, they're getting half of that and they're like, yeah, let's go, let's go get it. And now we're talking about one game. Listen, NBA, it's not that complicated. We don't need to do all these weird versions of the All Star Game. You are, the blueprint is being handed to you through this NBA cup right now. Just pay the guys to win and I'll bet you they'll go play.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

And pay them in llamas.

[Andrew Schlecht]

And pay them in llamas. Another team that should, that could use some therapy. Llamas right now is the Memphis Grizzlies and we're going to talk to Keith Parish about them right after this quick break. Hey, Andrew Schlecht here. This Tuesday at 8:30 Eastern it's the Emirates NBA Cup Championship game on Prime. This year's quest for the cup has delivered incredible moments and jaw dropping highlights and they've been building toward this, the final two teams. I am so pumped for the NBA cup here at the NBA Daily. We will be there live in person, ready to take in the cup, ready to respect the cup. And what's been really fun is that the players have been very motivated this year to win this thing and they have. Multiple teams have expressed this and you can see it through the competition and I cannot wait to see it live in Las Vegas. The Emirates NBA Cup Championship game live from Las Vegas, Tuesday night at 8:30 Eastern on Prime. And if you're not a Prime member, that's not a problem. Sign up for a 30 day free trial to get started today. The Emirates NBA Cup Championship game this Tuesday at 8:30 Eastern only on Prime. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com amazonprime for details. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robinhood Prediction Markets. It's not you against the house, it's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter. Robinhood Prediction Markets changes the game. It's people moving the action so when momentum shifts, you can move with it. I always knew the game, but I never had a dynamic way to apply the knowledge. Now I can actually take part. Live in a market powered by people, you're no longer just a spectator. Play by play, you decide. Trade every play with Robinhood now available across the U.S. download the Robinhood app now to begin Future and cleared Swaps Trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Events contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives llc, a registered Futures Commission merchant and swap firm.

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[Mrs. Claus / Elf / Drew Ski]

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[Mrs. Claus / Elf / Drew Ski]

Guys, thanks for helping me carry my Christmas tree.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Zoe. This thing weighs a ton. Drew Ski lift with your legs man. Santa.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Santa, did you get my letter?

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

He's talking you britches.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I'm not.

[Mrs. Claus / Elf / Drew Ski]

Of course he did.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Right Santa, you know my elf Drew Ski here.

[Keith Parish]

He handles the nice list.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

And elf. I'm six' three. What everyone wants is iPhone 17 and at T Mobile. You can get it on them. That center stage front camera is amazing for group selfies. Right Mrs. Claus?

[Mrs. Claus / Elf / Drew Ski]

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[Keith Parish]

Keep your old phone or give it as a gift.

[Mrs. Claus / Elf / Drew Ski]

And the best part, you can. You can make the switch to T Mobile from your phone in just 15 minutes.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Nice.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

My side of the tree is slipping.

[Keith Parish]

Kimber. The holidays are better. AT T Mobile switch in just 15 minutes and get iPhone 17 on us with no trade in needed. And now T Mobile is available in.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

US cellular stores with 34 monthly bill.

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[Keith Parish]

And $35 device connection charge.

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Credit and imbalance due if you pay off earlier. Cancel financing limit 256 gigs $830 eligible port in a new line $100 plus a month plan with auto pay plus taxes fees required. Check out 15 minutes or less per line. Visit t mobile.com if you love to.

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[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Lounge access is subject to change. See capital1.com for details. All right Andrew, it is time for the wheel of Fandom the weekly segment where we spin a wheel. It lands on a team and we become fans of that team for the next week. And last week, the wheel landed on the Memphis Grizzlies. Now, they only had two games this week, but they won them both over the Clippers and Blazers. The Grizzlies have been on a nice run as of late, winning seven of their last nine, getting up all the way to the ninth seed in the West. Unfortunately, as seems to always be the case with Memphis, nothing good lasts that long. Because we learned on Thursday that Zach Edie, a big reason for their recent improvements, will be sidelined for at least four weeks with a stress reaction in his ankle per cleaning the glass. The 11 and 13 Grizzlies have the 25th ranked offense and the 13th ranked defense. Andrew, if the Grizzlies are our favorite team, who is our guest?

[Andrew Schlecht]

It is our friend Keith Parish from the Grits and Grinds podcast. Also from Fast Breakfast, one of the the most fun NBA podcasts out there. Keith, welcome to the show.

[Keith Parish]

Thank you. Also, I think I don't want to do the Wheel of Fandom anymore.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Why not?

[Keith Parish]

Am I.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

What's my problem?

[Keith Parish]

Am I misremembering this? Every time we have a Wheel of Fandom, something horrific happens.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

I do remember that.

[Keith Parish]

Like, I'm not making this up. Did you, like, you guys asked me early in the week.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah.

[Keith Parish]

To come on the show.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah.

[Keith Parish]

And I was like, yeah, sure, of course. Love to love the show. Happy to help. And then Zach 80 gets hurt. Wait. And I feel like the last time, was it like the Desmond Bain trade or something? It was like, you guys, you guys asked me to come on and then something happens after I'm already agreed to come on. Like, this is breaking news. You're. I'm here to talk about Zach Edie on your show. I haven't even recorded my own show about Zach Edie getting hurt. Also, I don't think I'm going to. Do you guys. Do you guys experience this? There's not traffic for bad news in podcasting. Like, like there's breaking news. A trade rumor is amazing for traffic and actually trades amazing for traffic, saying Zach Edie is out for four weeks. No one clicks on that.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah.

[Keith Parish]

They're like, I know, brother. I don't want to hear you tell me they're out.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

So take our audio.

[Keith Parish]

I feel like your Wheel of Fandom, which I. I understand you rigged so I can come on more frequently. I get that part of it. But I do feel like there's Some negative Twilight Zone style curse that has now accompanied the Wheel of fandom. I don't want the Wheel to pick me anymore.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Yeah, well, it's funny you say that because I actually remember the. One of the rare instances where I remember the Wheel lining up with something crazy was when Jaw got suspended by the team. It was that week.

[Keith Parish]

And I remember something I knew it was something horrible happened when I was on this show.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

And I remember going on, I saw a post about the show on the Grizzlies subreddit and they were all saying, this is obviously rigged. They clearly pick the Grizzlies because they want to talk about Job. But it was just a random thing. And so maybe you're right. Maybe you're onto something here.

[Andrew Schlecht]

The Wheel has. The Wheel has power.

[Keith Parish]

The Wheel has power. And I fear it.

[Andrew Schlecht]

You should. Well, Keith, things were looking better for the Grizz until we got the news about Zach Edie. During this stretch, what stood out to you about Edie's play compared to what he looked like as a rookie?

[Keith Parish]

A couple of things stood out. One, he seemed to be moving faster. I don't have my sports radar to actually know it's not the NFL games where they give me the miles per hour. I feel like he was literally moving faster, quicker to react. I don't know if that was just in my head. Also, he was catching every pass thrown to him, which was a big difference from last year. Also, he was making his hook shots. Also he was doing post moves going both to the left and to the right. All of that was a big improvement. And I know there's a lot of big Edie fans who were saying last year, oh, he's just doing it. And these are all the reasons why it's not working out. The best I know when Eastlo took over last year, he kept praising Zach Edie's impact. But to me, who was maybe more of an Ed skeptic, in the however many games he played this year, 11 games I think he played, he seemed like he's moving faster, he's scoring the ball when he gets it. It might just be that his teammates are looking for him constantly or were looking for him constantly. It so happened to line up that he didn't end up playing with John Morant except for a few minutes. So Edie has looked much better. And also there's the contrast of how the Grizzes were playing this year to start the year. And then when Edie started playing, they started winning some games. And of course there's a Direct correlation between the strength of opponent, which is what Grizzlies fans were trying to like parse out like how much of this is we got to play bad teams versus the good teams early in the year. But yeah, Edie seemed quicker, more confident and maybe his teammates were just prioritizing him more and all that seemed like a change.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

So the, the injury obviously has huge ramifications for the Grizzlies, but specifically Jaren Jackson Jr. Because those two went on the court together have been a plus 6.6 this season compared to a minus 13.8 when it's just Triple J without Zach Edie. There's been a lot of discussion about Triple J's play this season. How worrying has it been? Or is this just a case of Triple J needing Edie to succeed? Given the other options on the Grizzlies.

[Keith Parish]

Roster, Jaren's play has been very concerning. I think you look at the priority the franchise placed on locking him up with that renegotiate and extension and some have argued, I have argued that it seems like that was a long term goal to make moves that maybe were harmful to certain seasons because they were still prioritizing this one off season we have to keep Jaren and then for them to move off of Desmond Bain also in the off season. Focus on Jaw and Jaren to do all of that and then to have Jaren come out this year and have his scoring be way low. His defensive impact has been very low, not up to his normal standards. So all that highly concerning. I'm not totally sure what it's all about, but like Jaren not scoring like we've seen and not defending and causing havoc on defense like we've seen. Also his offensive fouls are at career high levels. Like what's going on? Maybe he should change the jersey number back to 13. Number eight hasn't worked out so far.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, it's been really weird. Something that's actually been a bright spot has been Cedric Coward, the, the rookie for the Grizzlies. He's already getting big minutes for the team, has had some really big nights. What's. What's been like some of the best things about his game and does he remind you of anybody like that you have a comp that when you, when you watch him.

[Keith Parish]

Oh, I, I don't have a comp that immediately comes to mind. The things that popped out, I mean noticeably when he started getting heavier run early in the season. You just could see like oh, that guy's one of our best players. And then There was many games where you're like, hey, this rookie is our best player in this game. I think the fact that he's so fluid in getting to his mid range shot, which I'm going to go and make the comp Michael Jordan esque for such a coward. Those nice 15, 17 footers and he goes up and makes them. I mean, I know, I think Cedric himself wants to comp himself to Kawhi Leonard. There's, there's a body similarity, there's a wingspan similarity, but like Cedric Howard is a great rebounder. He's making those hustle effort plays. He's just a fluid player where he's making the right pass, he's attacking closeouts when he needs to. And so you've seen this like bright spot in the grizzly season so far where all of a sudden this guy has been super promising. He also started the season on an unbelievable heater from the three point line. It was kind of funny because he comically could make nothing in the preseason. And this is a guy who barely played Division 1 basketball, didn't play summer league because he was recovering from a shoulder issue he suffered last winter. And then when the regular season started he's like, oh, I'm good. I am now Jimmy Butler with the three pointer and it, there's another comp for you. I yeah, he's a Michael Jordan, Kawhi Michael Jordan type player, if you will. So yeah, Cedric's been really fun. He's really good.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

So the Grizzlies have played most of this season without any players who are normally categorized as point guards. And interestingly, it's been Vince Williams Jr. Who has been playing that role for much of this stretch, averaging over five assists per game. And I say interesting because he had that breakout season two years ago. Then he fell out of the rotation for large stretches last season and now he's back in a big way. The efficiency hasn't been good, but he has been useful as a playmaker. What are your current thoughts on Vince Williams Jr. As part of this rotation going forward?

[Keith Parish]

I feel somewhat relieved that my infatuation with him two years ago wasn't totally off base. He did look so promising the year the Grizzlies were horrible a couple of years ago. The Ja Morant suspension season, probably the wheel of fandom landed on me several times that year and everything went horribly for the Grizzlies. So he, he looked so good last a couple years ago as a primary defensive stopper. He was guarding Steph Curry and Luka Doncic And Kevin Durant, like this guy was the person they had to put on the team, other team's best player. But he also was making good passes and offensive rebounds and he's getting deflection steals. And so like he showed that. And then last year he just wasn't very good. Maybe there was health issues. He never totally got right. And now being thrust into this starting point guard role, we're seeing that again. Yeah, he can't really shoot the basketball, but he's doing sort of a throwback Rajan Rondo style. I'm not going to shoot the basketball at all, but I'm just going to get rebounds and assists. And he also specifically understands where his bread is buttered with Zach Eaty and he just makes it a priority to get the big man the basketball. And so they run so many pick and rolls. He's always finding him on post ups and he's just focusing. He's also really good at passing in a crisp manner. This is also where I need someone to track the velocity of Vince Williams's passes. I've said this for a couple of years, I feel like they're faster than other people's passes. And he had the 17 assist game where most of the assists were to three point shooters. And you could say, I don't know, it's not like a super valuable. He didn't find a cutting guy for a dunk or a layup. Like we might think of some kind of like super assist. But I do think there's extreme value in how quickly Vince can zip the ball across the court to an open shooter. Hits him right in the shooting pocket. So he's been really good at this role that honestly it's, it's unique and new for him. He's not really a point guard and now having the ball in his hands, he has been one of the reasons also I think replacing let's say John Morant's defense with Vince Williams Jr's defense where all of a sudden you're starting Vince at the one and then you got Jalen Wells and Cedric Coward and then Jaren and Zach Edie, that's who they've been starting that I think regardless of opponent that would have lifted the defense. But yeah, Vince has been, he's a weird, unique player. But yeah, he's, he's been, he's done a great job with what's been asked of him.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, it's been kind of weird. Like he and Cam Spencer have taken over like point guard duties for the Grizzlies and Have been pretty good. That's. I mean, if you told me that that was going to happen this season, I've been like, man, this is going to be a disaster. But Cam has also been a little bright spot for them.

[Keith Parish]

Cam Spencer's been awesome. I mean, the Spencer brothers are sort of taking over the NBA, but Cam.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Spencer kind of are.

[Keith Parish]

I want to say I don't have the stat pulled up exactly, but the guy's averaging 15 points and five assists in the Grizz's last 10 games. This is a. I think he's a 53rd pick. It was a late second round pick last year. Went on a two way. They gave him a standard contract this off season and he. I think the initial thought was he needs to replace Luke Kennard. Like they got rid of Luke Canard off the bench. Can. This guy can be a cheaper Luke Canard replacement. He is way better than Luke Canard. Like, way better. He is an aggressive offensive player. He is top 10 in the NBA in free throw percentage and 3 point percentage. He's a high volume shooter. And like you said, he's been playing backup point guard. He's been second on the team in assist, you know, over the last ten games or so. Yeah, Cam. Cam and Vince. And also Jalen Wells's resurgence, all of it has coincided with Zach Edie's play. And that's why the Grizzlies have been winning basketball games of late.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Yeah, that.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That draft is looking really good for the Grizzlies and like.

[Keith Parish]

Yeah.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Has kept them afloat at times this season. Okay, last question. Let's go a little bit more big picture. What do you think feels like the most likely path forward, like team building wise for the Grizzlies? And how does that differ from what you would want them to do moving forward?

[Keith Parish]

From what I want them to do based on win in history? Based on right now.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, right now.

[Keith Parish]

Okay, but like not before they traded. Based on before they traded Desmond Bain.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Oh, no.

[Keith Parish]

Based on before.

[Andrew Schlecht]

We're talking. We're talking right now.

[Keith Parish]

Right now. Right now. We're under.500. Zach Edie has foot issues and John Morant seems like he doesn't like playing basketball.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yes.

[Keith Parish]

Is that, Is that the. Right now.

[Andrew Schlecht]

This is the time.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

That's right now.

[Keith Parish]

I mean, cover your ears, Grizzlies fans. Sell high on Edie. Sell high on edie. We got 10 games of Zach Edie being Shaquille O', Neal, Dwight Howard out there.

[Andrew Schlecht]

This is not the answer.

[Keith Parish]

Cash in on Edie. Let's go. Zach eating Cedric Coward are very good. I think if you play the game you would say those are your untouchables that you build around Listless Jaren and Listless Jaw. I don't know what you do with those guys. Jaren's still very young still. I mean he's an awesome player. There's an awesome playing player in there. A multiple all defensive guy, a two time All Star. We've seen him score 20 points, 22 points per game in multiple seasons. His extension is not crushing. It's not like the seventy million dollar a season variety. So he just signed for a long time. You assume that's a huge building block. So I think going forward you, you probably play out this year and you're, you're still probably going to make the play in. I don't know. Like the Clippers are going to have to make a huge turnaround at some point. Maybe they will. But I think even with the Zach Edie injury news, the Grizzlies are probably going to hang around 10th, 9th, maybe they fall to 11th. But I do think they're gonna get, they're gonna probably play, I'd say even play the year out. There's, there's no one on the squad that I think you would sell. This is not a Dallas Mavericks. We need to sell Anthony Davis this year to use our draft pick. The Grizzles have their own draft pick. But I don't. Who are you cashing out on? I mean there's no one. The, if a market develops for John Moran, I do think that would be an interesting. If you decide we've seen the best of Jaw and we could get something for him. But it doesn't seem like there's an appetite. There's a lot of guys like Ja out there who there isn't an appetite for teams to trade for. So I honestly think you play this year out, you try to make the play in and then you get maybe the 12th pick, 10th pick. Hopefully the sun start losing games because the Grizzlies get their, probably get their first round pick and then you get a couple of maybe later lottery picks and, and you build around Cedric and Zach.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Actually I do have one more question because you mentioned how this, this difference between when Edie wasn't playing, Edie is playing. Part of it is Edie, but part of it is the competition. You also mentioned some of these other good things that happened during that span like Cam Spencer kind of breaking out. Are you feeling more hopeful about these next four weeks in terms of their ability to just kind of keep their head above water while Edie's out. Compared to how they looked at the beginning of the season.

[Keith Parish]

Yeah, I am, I am more hopeful because of the improved play of Jalen Wells. I think seeing Vince look health, Vince Williams look healthy again and the fact that like we have proof of concept that Jared is great, obviously with John too. Some part of my fan brain thinks Jaw has watched them win with defense and get needy the ball and maybe Ja can step in even if there is no Ed Jaw is going to be like, oh, I'm, I'm on board with this. I'm no longer going to question if it's Coach Isolo or anything. He's going to try to win. The schedule isn't as grueling as it was early in the year and. And they of course were still finding their way with the new system. I do think you had a new coach while he took over last year's interim. They came out of training camp with doing new things. They had players they thought were going to be heavily involved that then were not involved. That's Ty Jerome and Scotty Pippen Jr. So the beginning of the year was a lot of people learning new rules with a new coach, a new coaching staff and then playing some harder teams and they lost to all the harder teams. So like they've, they've lost all the good teams, they've beaten all the bad teams. That's a fine place to be if you're a middle of the road NBA squad. And so I think with Jaque coming back, I, I am more optimistic. The next four weeks are not going to be a Repeat of the 4 and 9 start to the year.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Well, Keith, thank you for answering all of our Grizzlies questions, but it's now time to play Andrew versus the Beat Grizz Edition. You've played this before. I came up with eight questions about the Grizzlies. You're going to give me a number between 1 and 8. It will correspond to a question. If you get it right, you'll get at least two points. Points get it wrong, Andrew will have a chance to steal for one. And we'll go back and forth until all the questions have been asked and answered. So Keith, to start us off, I just need a number between one and eight.

[Keith Parish]

Let's go. Number one.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Question number one. Zach. Edie had a 32.17 rebound game against the Kings this season. Who was the last Grizzly to have that many points and rebounds in a game?

[Keith Parish]

I'M going to say Jonas found shooters.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Keith. That is correct for two points. He's on the board, Andrew.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I'll go. Go. Number two.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Question number two. Grizzlies rookie Cedric Coward hit six three pointers in a game this season. Which Grizzly, over the course of their entire franchise, has the most games with six plus three pointers?

[Andrew Schlecht]

Most games with six plus three pointers.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Six plus three pointers. Most games, franchise history. Wow.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That, huh? Mike Miller.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Mike Miller is correct, Andrew, for two points. We got a hot start. All right, back to Keith.

[Keith Parish]

Let's do number three.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Jaren Jackson Jr gets a lot of flack for his rebounding, but he's not the only tall guy with less than impressive rebound totals. In fact, among players who have played at least 600 minutes this season, there are two other players, 6, 10 or taller who have fewer rebounds than Triple J. Name them both. Now you get one point per correct answer. So these are active players this season, six, 10 or taller, who have played as many minutes as Triple J but have fewer rebounds. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Keith Parish]

How, man, how long do I have? This seems like a hard one.

[Andrew Schlecht]

This is a really hard one.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Yeah, the first two were kind of fun and.

[Keith Parish]

I'm like running through every team's roster in my head. How.

[Andrew Schlecht]

How many minutes did you say?

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

600. So a lot of minutes. That's a lot of minutes.

[Keith Parish]

That's a lot of minutes too.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

So we're only talking about like high minute guys in the league, huh?

[Keith Parish]

And I got to know people's heights as well.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

I know. It is challenging.

[Keith Parish]

This is. This is. This is a good question.

[Andrew Schlecht]

This is a psycho question. This is crazy.

[Keith Parish]

How tall? I'll go. I don't know if he hit the. I don't know if he hits the height limit or the minutes limit. I'm gonna guess Nick Batum.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Nick Batum. That is incorrect. I don't. That actually. Could he be.

[Keith Parish]

I don't know.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Let's. Let's look it up.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That's a good.

[Keith Parish]

He might have more rebounds too.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That's a good guess.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

I was about to say he's 6 8. He's 67 according to basketball Reference.

[Keith Parish]

Wow. That's a non generous listing on Basketball Reference.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

That is. Okay. Andrew, you got any ideas?

[Andrew Schlecht]

Golly, I. I really. I don't know. This is a hard one.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

How about just name a tall guy name.

[Andrew Schlecht]

What about, I don't know, Noah Clowney? I don't know.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Andrew. That is correct for one point.

[Keith Parish]

What? That's not right. How did you do that?

[Andrew Schlecht]

I Was looking at Noah Clowny stuff earlier today.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Just no way can you get the other name.

[Keith Parish]

That's unreal.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I have, I have a corner. I have a corner three stat for him earlier in the show that I was thinking about him. I don't know.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

I don't.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I don't know.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

You're passing.

[Andrew Schlecht]

I'll pass on the next one.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

So I thought no one would get Noah Clowney. The only reason I asked this question because I thought you might get the other name, which is Kevin Durant.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Oh, kd. Oh, that's weird though.

[Keith Parish]

Stephen Adams is stealing all those rebound stats.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Well, it's funny, usually he does the opposite where he is giving guys rebounding stats. Gave. Gave Russell his. His MVP, you know.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

All right, Andrew, board is yours.

[Andrew Schlecht]

4.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Vince Williams Jr. Had a game with 17 assists this season. As we talked about earlier, There are only three other Grizzlies in franchise history to have a 17/assist game. Now one is John Morant. That makes sense. Name the other two and you do get one point per correct answer. So these are Grizzlies throughout franchise history that had a 17 +assist game.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Oh my. This is a tough one because they don't have like a ton of like assisty point guards. White chocolate.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Oh, Andrew. That is correct. Jason Williams. Wow.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Okay.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Pow. Not pow. Okay, Keith, you have a chance to steal a point if you could name the other Grizzly.

[Keith Parish]

I knew the Jason Williams one for sure. Now I have to guess. I feel like. Let's go with.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

And I'm realizing now, well, what is this? I can't, I can't. I can't say it. I'll just say there's something about this answer. Maybe, maybe me just saying that will help you.

[Andrew Schlecht]

But.

[Keith Parish]

Yeah, I'm worried. It's a Vancouver day and I'm trying to think of who. Let's go. Mike Bibby.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

It is Mike Bibby.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yes.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Yeah, normally I wouldn't include that and it didn't hit me until I just saw his name. I was like, wait, when did he play in Memphis? I looked it up. Oh yeah. But you get the point and you have control board. It is four.

[Keith Parish]

All right, let's. Let's jump ahead to eight.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Oh, jumping ahead to eight. Question number eight. According to Basketball Reference, Memphis is one of only three teams where every single player on the roster, including two way players, played college in the U.S. there's only three teams you can say that about. Name one of the other teams where this is also true. Every single player played college in the.

[Keith Parish]

US this is the hardest question I've ever faced on here. I have no idea where any of these players came from. Let's go with the Phoenix Suns.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

The Phoenix. You know what? That's. I think that's a really good guess. It's not correct. Okay, but if I remember correctly, that, that. That is a really good guess. Let's see, let's see, let's see. Yes. Oh, the only player. And this is actually really unfair. I kind of think I should give you the point. It's J. It's Jalen Green for G League Ignite.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That's the only one. That's. That's tough.

[Keith Parish]

That's. Yeah. All right.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

My loss, Andrew.

[Andrew Schlecht]

God.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Any guesses?

[Andrew Schlecht]

I'll play college. I don't know. The Nets.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Not the Nets. One is the Indiana Pacers. And then the reason I asked this question because I thought it was funny. Toronto. Toronto.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Oh, that is funny.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

It's a little cute question. Okay, Andrew, board is yours.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That's a little cute. Question five, Question number five.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

If you added together the career highs for Cam Spencer and Pat Spencer, what would the number be? Now you get to choose who answers first. You can make Keith answer and then you go higher or lower. Or you can answer and Keith will go higher or lower.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Wow. 71.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Keith.

[Keith Parish]

That's a lower for me, dog.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Yeah, that's a. What are you talking about, Andrew?

[Keith Parish]

I was gonna guess. I was gonna guess 42.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Okay, the answer is 42. Exactly. Wow. Andrew. What? Play that out for me. What were the totals in your head?

[Keith Parish]

We need to hear the totals in your head when you were adding them up.

[Andrew Schlecht]

The totals in my head were. I honestly didn't really think about it that much.

[Keith Parish]

Yeah, I could tell you were like, well, well, path. Spencer probably has a 38 point game and then maybe Cam's crew has 33.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Listen, I. For. For all of these questions, I go plus or minus 15.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

So you know, usually you get within like 1 of the correct answer. That is the furthest you've ever been.

[Andrew Schlecht]

That was a bad one.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Okay, we have a tie game with two questions left. Four to four. Keith, the board is yours.

[Keith Parish]

I'll take number six.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Question number six. When this Grizzly is on the court, Memphis's offense is plus 11.7 points per 100 possessions better than when he's off the court. Which is the biggest offensive on. Off swing for the team. Who is the player? So when this guy's on the court, Memphis offense supercharged.

[Keith Parish]

Interesting. I. I'm just going to say Zach.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Edie, that is Incorrect. He is the guy for defense though. Andrew, any guesses?

[Andrew Schlecht]

What about my potential 50 point score? Cam Spencer.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Nope. It was Santi Aldama. Oh, Aldama. Which brings us to a final question that will decide the week. And what a question it is. Here we go. Now, Andrew, you're going to start with this, but this is the one where we go back and forth. Jaren Jackson Jr. Is one of only 15 players who currently have 30 plus three pointers and 20 plus blocks this season. We're going to name the other 14. So this is current players this season. 30 plus three pointers, 20 plus blocks. There's only 15 of them. Triple J is one. We're going to name the Other 14. Now, Andrew, you're going to give me a name. Then Keith will give me a name. We'll go back and forth till one of you stumbles, which will decide this week's winner. So, Andrew, who do you got?

[Andrew Schlecht]

30 threes and. And block and 20 blocks.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

I would have loved for it to be 30, 30, but it did not work out.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Jay Huff.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

J. Huff. Wow. I mean, yes, but wow. As an opening salvo.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Yeah, I got it. I subscribe to a lot of. I wish I could give credit because I don't remember where I read this, but I subscribed to a lot of emails that give you different stats and the stat was that he leads the league in total blocks so far this season.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Oh, wow.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Jay Huff does. And I was. That immediately got me to J. Hub's basketball reference page.

[Keith Parish]

That's wild.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Keith.

[Keith Parish]

I'll say. Carl Anthony Towns.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Carl Anthony Towns is not on the list. Oh, which means Andrew wins the week. Yes. Let's see how close he was. I mean, I had imagined he'd be pretty close.

[Keith Parish]

So total, he hasn't blocked 20 shots this year.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

He's had 43. Oh, no. He's had 18 blocks.

[Keith Parish]

What is Carl Anthony Towns doing out there?

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

I don't know. There's some fun names on this list. Tyrese Maxey is on the list. Oh, Mikhail Bridges, Scotty Barnes, Chet Evan Mobley, Jaden McDaniels. Derek White, Onyeka Okongwu, Nas Reed, Miles Turner, Andrew Wiggins, Modest Bouzelis and PJ Washington.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Wow.

[Keith Parish]

Wow.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Congrats, Andrew.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Let's go win the week.

[Keith Parish]

You should have. You should have automatically won with the Noah Clowney get.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Yeah, that was a really good poll.

[Andrew Schlecht]

But also so bad guessing that the Spencer brothers have scored sick. Career high 71 together.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

You respect them too much, you know what I mean?

[Andrew Schlecht]

I am in a group chat with J. King that he talks about the Spencer brothers a lot. And so my, my, my thoughts of them are inflated. Hey, go listen to the Grits and Grinds podcast. It's a great Grizzes podcast. Keith is one of the best podcasters out there, so please go listen to that. Also listen to the Fast Break breakfast pod. You can listen to it on YouTube or anywhere else you get your podcasts. Keith, thanks so much for joining us.

[Keith Parish]

Thanks, guys.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

All right, Andrew, that was Grizzlies week. It was looking pretty good until the wheel ruined it. Let's see who is our next victim. For the upcoming week, we're gonna spin the wheel.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Oh no.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

And our Wheel Phantom team for next week will. The Utah Jazz.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Sorry, Jazz. It's about to get much worse. Utah Jazz. Oh man. You know what? The Jazz actually could use the wheel. Maybe this means that they will be much better. You know, perhaps.

[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

Let's see. Who are the Jazz playing this week? Any good game? Oh, well, guess who they're playing immediately. The Memphis Grizzlies. Oh, then they'll be playing Dallas and they play the Lakers next Thursday night.

[Andrew Schlecht]

Wow. Well, there you go. Okay, if you will leave us a five star review on Apple podcast, we'll read it on the show. Just like this one from Nick is the worst five stars for America's sweetheart. The old mutt Josh Robbins is electric on the slam and jam. Even though they waited till he he had a cold to bring him on. Wishing hangnails on both Alex and Andrew, thank you for that five star review. Please leave us one. We'll read it on the show. Hey listen, me and the rest of the NBA Daily Crew will be at the cup because we respect the NBA cup. Okay? So if you see any of us there, we'd love to talk to listeners of the Slammin Jam or of the NBA Daily. So come connect with us while we're there. Make sure you subscribe to the Discord. I'm gonna put that in the show notes. Would love to have you guys join us there. Enjoy the Emirates cup this weekend and we'll talk to you guys again next Saturday.

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[Michelle Bernstein]

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[Michelle Bernstein]

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[Host 1 (likely Alex)]

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[Andrew Schlecht]

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