Ja Morant Puns

The most pro wrestling move at a Grizzlies game since the Randolph-Griffin choke slam: Ja Morant gets the hoop-and-harm and then stares down a little kid fan in a Warriors jersey.

Ja Morant: "He was disrespectful with that jersey on. We Memphis. It looked like he wanted to cheer, but he had that jersey on. I apologize to him, but in that moment, bro, take that jersey off and then dap me up. Somebody find his information. I’ll send him one myself."

https://twitter.com/espn_macmahon/status/1481124391274442752

>Last night I watched two guys that should be considered in the MVP race, @Lakers LeBron James and Grizzlies guard Ja Morant.

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>For the last three weeks, no one in the NBA has played better than LeBron James. He has more 30-point games than anybody this season with 18 and is averaging 30 points, 6 assists, 7 rebounds while shooting 52% from the field

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>Ja Morant is must-see-TV and has taken over as the most exciting player in the league averaging 24 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds!

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The stuff he's doing recently is absolutely jaw-dropping athleticism, to the extent that I think he may have the highest vertical ever in NBA history.

In yesterday's game vs the Lakers, he pulled off two incredible plays:

1 - A two-handed block off the top of the square of the backboard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbqtVPHBsIw&ab_channel=NBA

2 - And an alley-oop dunk, where his eye level was in-line with the rim that he had to move his head to avoid banging it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS4cOloXQbY&ab_channel=HighlightzPlus

At 6'3, he would need a 45 inch minimum vertical to get his head at the rim. Add on another 5-6 inches to get eye level with the rim, and we're talking about a player who may actually have an obscene 50 inch vertical leap.

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Just a quick side note, a 50 inch vertical leap is basically reaching the pinnacle of human performance and it is almost an impossible feat, which is well explained why that is the case in this video by Wired:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn0lqMuGguw&ab_channel=WIRED

Most claims of a vertical leap being > 50 inches has usually been unverified (especially in the case of Wilt)

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Some of the top NBA verticals include:

- Michael Jordan (48 inches)

- Keon Johnson (48 inches)

- Dennis Smith Jr. (48 inches)

- Zach LaVine (46 inches)

- Derrick Jones Jr. (46 inches)

- Zion Williamson (45 inches)

Link to tweet.

> To emphasize the kind of month Anfernee Simons is currently having - he's scoring more than Kevin Durant (28.3 PPG) - assisting more than Ja Morant (8.2 APG) while shooting better than EVERYONE on volume (51/46/91).

> He's been absolutely phenomenal.

Ant has been on an insane tear since joining the Blazers starting lineup a few weeks ago. I could definitely see him joining the conversation for the most improved player award. It'll be very interesting to see what his numbers look like once CJ rejoins the Blazers tomorrow. I think I speak for the vast majority of Blazers fans when I say that I'd love for him to remain the focal point of the offense even with CJ returning to the squad.

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IM ON MY GRIZZLE and F the haters. Ja is just different

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/game?gameId=401360339

He carries the damn ball and I am telling you all that two of the highlights of him hanging in the air tonight against the Cavs his foot was on the ground when he released and should be called an up and down WALK. I thought the same thing when he hit that game winner against the Lakers.

Come on refs! I'd love someone to prove me wrong with video evidence.

>I would say who I try to play like is Westbrook. He’s my favorite player and I just like how he plays all around: He scores, rebounds and passes. And also just the aggressiveness he plays with just like he’s got a chip on his shoulder.
>
>I just feel like, in my opinion, and most people probably wouldn’t think so, but I just feel like he is a great player but just doesn’t get the respect he deserves and I kinda feel like that’s how I was coming up. I was a great player but obviously was overlooked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBIp4hJJVVg&ab_channel=DanPatrickShow

About a month ago, I created a post that talked about why the Grizzlies were doing so well without Ja Morant while he was in COVID protocols, and in the post I was really questioning if Ja was actually holding them back because of his defensive liabilities within a solid defensive system in Memphis.

Yeah, I was… a little wrong there. Whoopsies.

Since November 28th of last year, the Grizzlies have gone 20-4, the best record in the league over that time frame. In that stretch of games, Memphis has been absolutely dominating the paint both on offense and defense. Since Nov 28th, Memphis is…

1st in total rebounding (#1 ORBS)

1st in blocks

1st in steals

1st in DRTG

1st in points in the paint

1st in 2nd chance points

1st in deflections

1st in loose balls recovered

3rd in opponent points in the paint

3rd in opponent 2nd chance points

… and Ja Morant since he’s gotten back to playing has been looking like an MVP candidate, averaging 26-5-6 a game on 59% true shooting and hitting 43% of his 3s as well. Memphis has also gotten a lot of quality wins against good opponents, within this current 10 game win streak alone they’ve beaten Golden State, Brooklyn, Phoenix, the Clippers, and the Lakers twice, and over the course of the season they’re 19-7 against teams that are within the top 8 of their conference as of today.

So, obviously this brings up questions:

Is Memphis a legit title contender?

Where do you put Ja in your own MVP power rankings?

Should Taylor Jenkins get COTY for creating a system that can be elite both with and without his star player?

How indicative is Memphis’ stellar record against playoff teams of their playoff success down the road?

Would love to hear your thoughts about all of this below.

He came up big yet again against Golden State with an excellent all around performance including the 2 daggers to put the game away breaking out of his 4th quarter slump

Jaren Jackson also continued his block party with 3 (2 huge clutch time blocks) and a double double. Tyus Jones had his best game of the season with 17/6/6 on 6/8 shooting

Steph Curry had a 27 point triple double on 8/21 shooting as well

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4279888/ja-morant

[Grizzlies DEFRT without Ja Morant - 94.6 (best in league)] (https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=grizzlies+defensive+rating+without+ja+morant+2021-22)

[Grizzlies DEFRT with Ja Morant - 117.2 (worst in league)] (https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=grizzlies+defensive+rating+with+ja+morant+2021-22)

Warriors have the best defensive rating at 99.5.

Magic have the worst defensive rating at 113.

https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/defense/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1

I haven't seen anybody talk about the Grizzlies recent run which has catapulted them from out of the play-in spots all the way up to 4th in the West.

The reigning Western Conference Player of the Week continues his absolute tear. Third quarter Ja was absolutely unguardable with 18 points, including an incredible transition dunk!

Ja Morant has now scored over 30 points in 4 straight games over the Grizzlies' 5 game winning streak.

His performances have been fueled by duels with some of the best players in the league, with Ja outscoring Devin Booker, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant.

Grizzlies are now 24-14 and 4th in the West. Ja Morant sure looks like an All-star to me.

Source for stats: https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/ja-morant-2022

Could he potentially have a case for being a current top ten player in the league? What do you guys think? Why or y not?

The only other players to average 25-5-5 in one of their first three NBA seasons:

• Oscar Robertson

• Elgin Baylor

• Jerry West

• Michael Jordan

• LeBron James

• Dwyane Wade

• Luka Doncic

Source: https://twitter.com/grizzanalytics/status/1479176961075388427?s=21

They have been destroying teams left and right with Desmond Bane, Dillon Brooks and JJJ playing outstanding on both ends of the floor. It's undeniable that, minus Ja's lack of defense, the team has jumped to a whole another level on defense recording a ridiculous defensive rating of 96.6 in the last 10 games. Look at the numbers from November:

Ortg: 108.9 / Drtg: 113.2 / NetRth: -4.3

It's asinine to suggest that the Grizzlies are better without Ja, but I think this string of games has shown that Ja has to step up his defensive game to match the intensity. What a run they have been on.

Last 10 Games - November

Context:

>“It’s frustrating for me, watching this team while I was out and the type of basketball they were playing,” Morant said. “We beat this team by 73, and then we lose the day I come back against this team.

>“It’s frustrating. I was already in my head coming back out and trusting my knee after missing 12 games.

>“Basketball is my escape, I feel at my best when I play. So, it’s really frustrating. Even during the game, I was running down the court and I heard some of my fans courtside tell me I need to sit back out. So, I just don’t understand what they wanted to get out of that. I feel like that just makes it worse.”

https://dailymemphian.com/section/sportsmemphis-grizzlies/article/26069/ja-morant-frustrated-by-criticism-of-fans

There’s no doubt he is a different tier of star than Memphis has ever had previously. And the record book shows it.

Ja is the first player in franchise history to net 40 twice in the same season.

Source: https://twitter.com/drewhill_dm/status/1476394167181926405?s=21

He will likely go down as the best player in the history of the franchise. He’s not even 23 yet.

Ja has improved his 3 point stroke by a lot and even if it doesn't remain this high, it definitely has improved to where defenses will have to respect it.

Source: https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/moranja01/shooting/2022 (Once today's game is added his total 3P% ends up being exactly 40%)

We’ve all heard the comparisons but what does Ja do that has nobody fearing for his legs? We all know why I’m asking this but I don’t want to put that energy out there

Ja Morant: "He was disrespectful with that jersey on. We Memphis. It looked like he wanted to cheer, but he had that jersey on. I apologize to him, but in that moment, bro, take that jersey off and then dap me up. Somebody find his information. I’ll send him one myself."