MEMPHIS, Tenn. — If you talk to any of the players on the Memphis Grizzlies, they will all tell you the same thing. They are ready to get on the court and play their first preseason game of the season.
Luckily for them, only four days separate them and their first exhibition game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Grizzlies’ guard De’Anthony Melton said despite the quick turnaround from the Bubble in Orlando to the start of a new NBA season, he and his teammates are ready to hit the court.
“Man, I’m ready, I think we all are,” Melton said, during the Zoom press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “Just to lace it up against somebody else. Like I said, we love competition, and we love seeing how other people play us. We got a lot of high expectations for ourselves.”
Melton said the team is eager to play on Saturday, so they can get better. He said regardless of what happens in the four exhibition games, two on the road against the T’Wolves and two at FedExForum against the Hawks, they want to continue to improve to prepare for the long season ahead.
When the Grizzlies hit the floor on December 23 to play against the San Antonio Spurs at home, they will do so without two of their biggest playmakers, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Justise Winslow. Melton said during training camp it’s been hard on those two not being able to participate because of their injuries.
“Yeah, you can definitely tell they want to be out there,” Melton said. “And they’re ready to be out there. But our training staff is doing a great job, just bringing them back appropriately and at the right time because you know, we don’t want no recurring injuries.”
Melton said it is more important to have Jackson and Winslow back for the long term versus the short term. He said once they are back on the court, everyone knows what they are capable of.
Though it is a quick turnaround for the returning Grizzlies players, it has been a long time since their new guys played basketball, almost nine months. Melton said he has been very impressed with the rookies and their eagerness to learn.
“(I think they’ve done) a great job taking whatever’s coming. They’re steadily asking questions about their roles, their jobs, and the plays,” Melton said. “I think right now, we’re just getting back acclimated with everybody and getting up and down and running, honestly.”
Head coach Taylor Jenkins agreed with Melton and said everyone is really excited to finally play against an opponent to determine what they need to work on as the season is roughly two weeks away.
“Yeah, I think our guys are motivated,” Jenkins said. “Irregardless of how much time lapses from last season to this season with a bad taste in our mouth with how our season ended. We had a great opportunity to extend our season and potentially make the playoffs. I think our guys have been motivated all season long with the work that they’ve put in.”
Taylor said now that the group is back together preparing for this season, the guys are “fired up” to play in Minnesota on Saturday.
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