Why Jock Landale Helps The Grizzlies Immediately | Jessica Benson Show

Why Jock Landale Helps The Grizzlies Immediately | Jessica Benson Show

They reportedly go out and get Jock Landell to add to their front court. As of Sunday night, that had not been made official by the Grizzlies. The Rockets have given Jock Landell their goodbye post. And so, you lose one big, you bring in another. I heard from one of the Rockets reporters like almost immediately when this news broke and she just wanted to point out that Jollandelle is a a really great guy and someone who is great for the culture of the team. And I really that is something that I don’t think should go overlooked with all of the Grizzlies offseason editions as we sit here on July 7th from conte to Chai Jerome to now Jock Landel just three players who are consistently described as great teammates, great locker room guys, fierce competitors. That’s something that felt the Grizzlies formula was lacking last season and it does feel important. I loved the Ty Jerome signing that happened while I was gone and and now with Joc Landell, I do think it’s this this prototype of veteran to add to the culture of the Grizzlies group going into next season where we’re now obviously going all in on the build around John Mar and Jiren Jackson Jr. CJ, what did you think? I don’t know. Like I like honestly, truthfully, I did he did he play a whole lot? Like I don’t I saw this name. I saw this name pop up and I was like okay um who where is he from again? It’s like all right Houston. Cool. Let’s just go to box scores and see how many minutes he’s playing in in games. It’s like uh like he doesn’t he didn’t seem to find his way onto the court a whole lot for the Houston Rockets. Now the Houston Rockets did have a bit of depth at the the center position. So, you’re talking about Sang Goon, you’re talking about Stephen Adams. Um, so it’s going to be hard to crack the rotation with those two ahead of you. So, I don’t want to take anything away from what he will be here. It’s just that I don’t know because my job isn’t to evaluate other teams talent, right? Like I’m I’m not the general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies. I will say I I I still kind of trust Zack Kimman. I still kind of trust what this Grizzlies front office does from a a scouting standpoint. So, if they’ve watched enough of him and talked to enough people and they have gotten the good word in that, hey, this is a guy who is better than what you would think uh a third string center would be on a Houston Rockets team that was pretty damn good last year. He’s good enough to play minutes in the NBA. And I kind of have to shrug my shoulders and say, “Well, he’s here. Good luck. Here we go. We’ll find out real quick because there is there is a very very little front court depth and specifically for throw throw small forward out of there. Just power forward center depth on this team right now. Very little of it going about right now. So he comes in and he’s absolutely going to get a chance to play. He’s absolutely going to get a chance to stick. So, if they’ve identified that as one of those dudes on the margins who you can go out there and get and bring him in and if he is a a good locker room guy for whatever that’s worth and if he can contribute and set screens, um, good luck. Here we go. Let’s find out about him. I’m I’m not going to sit up here and lie like I’ve been been studying this dude since he came out of what? St. Mary’s. No, he St. Mary’s, right? Australian. That’s what the Wikipedia page says. It’s like from Australia. Okay, here we go. Let’s find out. It’s It’s been a minute since we had a big white dude with an accent at the center position. And ultimately, like when you look at it with Jollandelle, one of the reasons he didn’t play because of the depth of the Rockets is Stephen Adams ended up usurping him in that rotation and the necessity of Stephen Adams for that Rockets group and the run and and his new contract with the Houston Rockets this off season. So, you look at it like, okay, so you got somebody who lost out on the job to Stephen Adams who used to be on this team. But I will say when it comes to the versatility of bigs that Jock Landell provides versus a Jhoff because I saw, you know, some people immediately Jay-Hawk really was a fan favorite because one, reverse dunks are fun and two, he was like a little dose of excitement. Jock Landell is a a big dose of just a physical big guy who does the dirty stuff from the rebounding to the screen setting. Uh he’s a good passer, one of the better offensive rebounders in the league last season when he did play and I think he really gives you a legit fill in at center with Edy out to start the year and obviously you hope Jiren is back by the beginning but you you just don’t know for sure. And so when you’re looking at what the front court is without Jiren and Edy, it’s Brandon Clark and Santi Alama and previously Jay Hoff. And now you flip-flop that out with Jock Land. And Landell gives you someone who is not Brandon Clark and Santi Alama. Like he is not them. He is the emphasis on physical. He will go get board. So I just I do appreciate that it diversifies the front court options that as you mentioned CJ are on the thinner side with those injuries to start the year. I think it also shows a continued belief from the Grizzlies that you know the the long game here is Jiren Jackson Jr. and Zach Edit and I will say it over and over and over again this off season like this team next year and beyond goes as far as John Mar and Jiren Jackson Jr. takes them and obviously getting Zach Edit back into the mix is is a big piece of it. But if Jock Landell can serve as a, you know, certifiable filler in the meantime and I’m not even entirely convinced Jock Land is your starter at the beginning of the season. Like if Jiren is healthy, perhaps you do see Brandon and Jiren as your starting front court and then Jaclyn Landell comes off the bench. But it just gives you it gives you a different look that you didn’t have prior to this. And again, it all comes down to the money moves for this Grizzlies team that will ultimately work to them signing the extension for Jiren Jackson Jr. and that is the most important thing of the offseason. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It’s all about that part of it. And then after after you solve that part, getting the Jiren extension done, agree to it, find a way to make it work, getting dudes in on the margins for those minimum type deals is how you make all of that money that Jiren’s going to be getting work. Great. Um, once you do that though, then it becomes, all right, can one of these dudes pop and it’s it’s summer league season and so it’s it’s a lot of popping going on, right? Like, okay, which one of these dudes are are going to start popping off here? Sort of like popcorn or fireworks. Fireworks just popped. Did you see any did you see good fireworks at the red? We were we were at the AutoZone parking. Oh yeah, sweet song. Also, it was crazy because the game is going on and everybody’s doing their fireworks show during the game. So, pitchers are pitching as fireworks are going off. Incredible moment. Felt like I was in in the sand lot. But if uh what’s his name? Jo Landell. America, baby. America. Um, if Jack Landell can be one of those dudes who ends up sticking, then it’s like, okay, right, here’s another piece that is on an affordable deal that we can roll with um for the seasons to come. And then if he doesn’t, it’s not like it’s a super expensive deal. It’s not like it’ll be super hard to get off of, I can’t imagine. So, you know, give him his money and send him on his way. Tell him good good job and and thank you very very much. I I think that you hit the the nail on the head. If it’s true that he’s I don’t know. I hadn’t seen this dude play. But if he’s a different type of big than what Santi and what um Brandon Clark and what honestly what Jiren and honestly what Jay Huff is, you know, those are are uh slend more slender guys one and three of them do most of their work on the perimeter either taking shots and making shots from three or the ball on the floor from the wing spot and then getting downhill and getting to the rim. If this guy is a big bruising type of big, somebody who can go out there and be a a physical force inside, then absolutely that that is something that has value on this roster is currently constructed because you only got one of those right now and that’s Zach Edit. So, you do need, like you said, a bit more diversity at the center and power forward spot. If he can offer that at a high enough level to see minutes in the NBA, then hey, good stuff. And again, if he can’t, this is not going to be super hard to move off that contract. I think the Rockets bought him out also. Then they they cut him. They just paid him. Cut him like here’s here’s your 8 million or 6 million, whatever million you you got. Here it is. Good luck to you. God bless. Thank you for your service. So the Grizzlies can do something similar as they continue to start looking for that piece because there there is a need for that type of big somebody cuz John does his best work when there’s somebody who can set a ball screen and and get him free. So if he works great, you got it. If he doesn’t, fine. Send him on his way and then you got to get back out there and and find it again. The Jessica Benson Show with CJ Hurt.

Jess and CJ discuss free agent center Jock Landale *reportedly* agreeing to sign with the Memphis Grizzlies. With Jaren Jackson Jr. and Zach Edey injured, can Landale provide the Grizzlies with some immediate frontcourt help? They dive in and explain.

#jessicabensonshow
#nbafreeagency
#nba
#memphisgrizzlies
#jocklandale
—-
1-click Subscribe to GCM: http://bit.ly/subscribe2gcm

Discover the latest Memphis sports community news at: http://grindcitymedia.com/

~SOCIAL~
Instagram: http://instagram.com/grindcitymedia
Twitter: http://twitter.com/grindcitymedia
Facebook: http://facebook.com/grindcitymedia

Follow the Memphis Grizzlies on YouTube for exclusive team videos and player highlights: http://bit.ly/subscribe2memgrizz