Time for Grizzlies to ‘let the bleep bleep fly’
There have been bad Grizzlies slogans, slogans so clearly created by the team's marketing department they made you cringe. Think “Roundtown” or “Made in Memphis” or “Young and Hungry.”
Then there are those that come about organically, from moments and wins so memorable they become part of the fabric of the franchise, and part of many a Growl Towel and bootleg T-shirt.
Like “Believe Memphis,” or “Grit and Grind,” or “We Don't Bluff,” or “Whoop That Trick.”
So where does “Let the bleep bleep fly” eventually fit into all this?
The answer will provide us more answers about this season than the Grizzlies could during Monday's media day at Fedexforum.
Because “Let the bleep bleep fly” is how guard Dillon Brooks described the profane saying new coach Taylor Jenkins often emphasizes behind the scenes. Jenkins frequently used the Grated “Let it fly” on Monday.
He's specifically referring to the Grizzlies' new offensive philosophy, where players will be empowered to shoot the ball from all over the floor just like the Milwaukee Bucks did a year ago. Never mind that this Memphis roster, which features at least 11 new faces, has just three players who shot better than 35 percent from 3-point range in the NBA last year.
This is the “Let the bleep bleep fly” season, a season in which the final score of every game is far less important than how Jaren Jackson Jr. and Ja Morant and Brandon Clarke played in that game. It's a season long overdue in these parts, a season that will be far different than any other over the past dec
ade or so.
“It's time to move on,” forward Kyle Anderson said.
“Be better at the end of the year than the start,” Morant said.
“We're optimistic about what we're going to see from them on the court,” Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Zach Kleiman said. “But we also know that development is not linear. It takes time.”
That is all a polite way of saying there's going to be a lot of losses this year. Not that there's anything wrong with that at this point.
It's far better than the past two years, when management told us this franchise still was competing for a playoff spot, when the Grizzlies tried to squeeze the last little juice out of Mike Conley and Marc Gasol, when all but the most loyal fans knew rebuilding would be the more prudent direction.
In just one offseason, that rebuild seemed to skip a couple of steps thanks to some luck in the NBA draft lottery and the bevy of trades made by Kleiman and the front office. There will be no tanking or quest to convey this year. That much Jenkins and Kleiman made clear.
“Winning and losing, it matters to us,” Jenkins said. “We want to ultimately establish here in year one who we are. What does that mean?”
It's an open-ended question because nobody really knows the answer right now. Not when the two best players are 20 years old. Not when Jenkins is a firsttime head coach and the second-youngest coach in the NBA. Not when Kleiman is the youngest lead executive in the league. Not when there's only one player in training camp born in the 1980s. Not when the three-oldest players in camp (Jae Crowder, Solomon Hill and Miles Plumlee) all could be gone by the trade deadline.
But in Morant and Jackson, there is so much more hope than a year ago.
“They have a chance to leave their own mark,” Hill said. “You think about this situation, in five to six years, they're still young.”
So instead of hanging on the wins and losses, let's see if Jackson emerges as a star in more than flashes.
Let's see if Morant is throwing alleyoops and hitting 3-pointers and is indeed better at the end of the season than the beginning.
Let's see if Clarke or Brooks or Marko Guduric or De'anthony Melton emerge as viable long-term pieces alongside Morant and Jackson.
“Let the bleep bleep fly” and just see what happens.
You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto