Monstrous, Zach Edey brings smiles back to the Grizzlies

The Grizzlies recorded their third win in a row last night in Sacramento, and have not lost away from home in four games. Ja Morant still isn’t back, but Memphis can count on a returner Zach Edey. Last night, for his 7th outing of the season, the Canadian giant recorded the best game of his career with 32 points on 16 of 20 shots, 17 rebounds and 5 blocks in 29 minutes!

U victory against kings, Eddie thus became the third player in franchise history to sign such a statistic after Pau Gasol and Zach Randolph.

This is also his third game in a row with 15 or more rebounds. “I can really see the ball coming into the circle. I’m in the position I want, where I want to go, and I feel like the ball is coming straight at me.” will explain after the meeting.

Co-conspirator with Vince Williams Jr.

For him, rebounding is the key to success. “In my eyes, defensive rebounding is a team stat. Offensive rebounding is an individual stat. As long as we’re getting defensive rebounding, that’s fine with me.” Against the Kings, the Grizzlies grabbed 18 more rebounds than their opponents!

How does he explain such a rise in power? Perhaps because of his complicity with Vince Williams Jr., Ja Morant’s replacement at the helm.

“It really started during my rehab. He was also in rehab at the same time.” reports the former Purdue center. “I’ve always enjoyed playing with him. He’s always going to fight, he’s going to defend at a high level, he’s going to defend well on screens, and offensively he’s going to make it easy, he’s going to get everybody involved. He’s really fun to play with.”

“We looked like idiots”

The term “pleasure” comes up often in Grizzly’s comments. “There are a lot of guys who just enjoy playing basketball,” Edey already confided after the victory in New Orleans. “We take advantage of the situation, we do our best, we play together and we play great basketball. We see it on the whole bench. Everyone knows we play very well.”

In fact, Memphis has rediscovered the virtues of “griint-and-grind” with players who work hard on every ball. “I think that says a lot about our group and the pride we have in being the most physical team”concludes the Canadian. “Everybody knew we weren’t doing the right thing and we looked like idiots.”

How to read statistics? MJ = matches played; Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive jump; Tot = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; Points = Points.