The Memphis Grizzlies blocked a lot of shots tonight. 10 of them. The most any team has blocked in a long while. They still lost, to the Knicks, somehow, but it wasn’t for lack of effort (except from Mike Conley, who didn’t block any, lazy bum). I don’t have numbers on how many of them were legit blocks versus BS strip blocks that shouldn’t count, but at the very least, Jaren Jackson’s blocks were good ones.
Jackson is living up to his draft position, happily. I wasn’t convinced by his Summer League and preseason play, but he’s legit. I will forever have doubts about his shooting form, no matter what percentage he manages from three, however. Shotblocking, though, is something that he is already good at, and even if he never gets better in that area, he’s going to be a defensive beast for his whole career. So yeah, totally legit. Even more legit since he’s only 19 years old still.
Hypothetical question: how old do you have to be before people stop putting “only” before your age and just start saying it without qualification? If I said Thon Maker was only 27, would that be okay or not okay? Hey people, Vince Carter is only 41, so stop dissing him so much.