I finally figured out why youth is so dangerous in the NBA, and perhaps in professional sports in general. Last night, the Griz played the Suns. Phoenix had all of its starters healthy and ready to go. Meanwhile, Memphis rested Jackson, Morant, Adams, Bane and a couple of role players. So basically, they started their second unit.
Of course doing something like that against the Suns, the best team in the NBA, is sort of an insult. So you could tell CP3 and them weren't really taking things seriously from the opening tip, not like they would against even a slumping Warriors squad once they see Draymond and Klay on the other end of the floor. And that's actually part of the problem. You have dudes on one team who are established vets, already making gazillions of dollars. Then you have these young, unknown cats on the other team who're dreaming of reaching that status, still having something to prove. So that's problem number one.
The bigger issue - like I finally figured this shit out. When you play against a young team like the Grizzlies or even Pistons on some nights, you have to be ready to play from the moment the whistle blows until the end - for the full 48 minutes. That's because if you sleep on them and let them build up a big lead, by all means you'll catch up eventually, but by time you do, even if it's in the first half, they're still going to be fresh.
It's kinda like what happened against Lebron and them versus the Pelicans a week ago. If I remember correctly, by the time the Lakers finally caught up with NOP, even though it was very early in the game, like the Pelicans were ready to surge again and again and again if necessary. So it's like 'damn, I gotta be chasing niggas around for two hours straight , even though they're scrubs'. And yes, that is in fact the issue when dealing with these young teams. You gotta be ready to chase them around, like on some Dennis the Menace type shit.
I would argue that back in the day, the refs were more sympathetic towards superstars and the good veteran teams. But also, back in those days teams played more halfcourt, so it wasn't like now when they shoot early in the shot clock and are always running fastbreaks. You know what I mean? Back in the days, you had the big guys, and then you had the small guys. But now on many teams, it's like every player from 1 to 5 is ready to slash and drive if given the opportunity. And traditionally speaking, you can't have a team of rookies running vets out the gym - that wouldn't be a good look for the NBA. Think, for instance, how they did Kobe back in the '98 All-Star Game. That was the pre-Lebron era. In the post-Lebron era, now the younger teams are getting a fairer shot. Or at least, that's my argument as to why now they're suddenly more formidable than usual.
And also something else I just thought about is there's quite a few teams these days with like no real veteran presence anyway, you know, due to all of the trades and stuff. That's NBA Inception.
CONCLUSION
By no stretch of the imagination am I saying that the Grizzlies, even when healthy, are better than the Suns. But then again, I'm not saying that the Grizzlies are that good anyway. In other words, when you look at their roster on paper and compare it to others in the NBA, in actuality they're pretty average, i.e. containing one perennial all-star in Ja Morant, a couple of lesser-known stars, an old soldier and a lot dudes you probably never heard of.
But dudes are young and hungry. You know how it is when you start playing catch with a small child, how they never want to stop? Fuck around, niggas even enjoy the game when they're losing, even if there's no score involved type shit. That's what some of the elder teams are learning the hard way. You have these one-and-done cats coming into league still fresh-faced, not chiseled men like back in the day. And if an organization decides to go the veteran route, well, at least don't fool yourself into believing that you can dominate youngsters by playing freestyle, run-and-gun basketball.
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