The Grizzlies upset the Bucks on Thursday, with young forwards GG Jackson and Vince Williams playing big parts in the victory. Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes that breakout years from Jackson and Williams are silver linings in an injury-riddled season from Memphis.
Jackson scored a career high-tying 27 points in the win over Milwaukee.
“I try to be as coachable as possible,” Jackson said. “My high school coach called me a sponge back in the day. Not back in the day, it was like two years ago. I try to pick up on things as fast as I can, but not too fast to make sure I get every little detail.”
Meanwhile, Williams finished that game with 18 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Both players look like they’ll fit perfectly on a fully healthy version of the Grizzlies. Williams gives Memphis another capable perimeter defender while Jackson’s ability to bring instant offense to the bench will be valuable.
Jackson in particular drew praise from Milwaukee’s stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard after the game, according to The Memphis Commercial Appeal’s Jonah Dylan. “I thought he had a great game,” Lillard said. “He came out, he was letting it fly, no hesitation.”
Antetokounmpo said he liked Jackson “a lot.”
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- Pelicans wing Herbert Jones is shining from beyond the arc in his third season in the league, NOLA.com’s Christian Clark observes. Jones is shooting a career-high 40.7% from deep and is connecting on 52.6% of his threes since the New Year. “Herb has been shooting the ball well lately,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “He is getting more and more confident in his shot.“
- Rockets wing Dillon Brooks‘ worst shooting season came last year with the Grizzlies, but he’s experiencing his best efficiency ever in his first year with Houston, Jonathan Feigen of Houston Chronicle writes. Overall, he’s taking smarter shots and helping Houston get into an offensive flow. “In general this year, I think he’s done a good job of really expanding his game and not getting pigeonholed into (the) defensive side only,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “… It’s a lot to play both sides of the ball, not just be a scorer or a defensive guy only. I think he welcomes that role this year. It was good carryover from the Canadian national team and the things he did with them.“
- Jeremy Sochan has had somewhat of a roller-coaster season with the Spurs this year. Sochan took over point guard duties to begin the season, an experiment that was taxing on him and wasn’t producing San Antonio’s best offensive product, according to Tom Orsborn of San Antonio Express-News. However, Sochan seemed to have no regrets about going through with the position change, even if temporarily, and expressed the need for outsiders to have patience while this core grows together. “I always had the mentality that the only way is up,” Sochan said. “Everything I do is for a reason, to learn and grow. So, yeah, I feel good. It’s just growing and learning even more. The sky is the limit.“
Brooks turned a corner this summer in the FIBA World Cup and it has clearly transferred over to the NBA as well
I would be the first to say, I hated that signing. But Brooks is playing heck of a lot better with the Rockets this year. I like to see if he continues to progress in the right direction. Rockets need some major players right now. Sengun was the only major player for the rockets. If Brooks continues to grow with Sengun, nice duo to build around that can space the floor. I nice parameter shooter who can actually hit some 3s while play D, rockets would be serious deep threat post season team. Jalen Green isn’t that guy and rather kept Christopher. Christopher, Sengun, and now Brooks, would have been some threats to the west. Another player I wish they kept was K.Martin Jr. Martin was solid defensively and his offense was only getting better. This system I believe would have done Martin Jr very well. And some open looks