Ground & Pound Grizzlies Era Begins as Boozer & Edey Squash Steph's Warriors

Boozer, Edey, and Memphis Young Core is already Competitive

Boozer and Zach Edey not only beat the Warriors with their advantages in size and passing in the frontcourt, they did so on a 17-0 comeback and game-winning shot from Boozer.

Coming off a 45-PT night against the Jazz in the season opener , Ty Jerome showed up huge for Memphis once again in the scoring department versus the Warriors with 28 PTS of his own, 20 of which came in the second half.

The Grizzlies are off to a quick 2-0 start in the tough Western Conference, and there's a few reasons why they might surprise people by staying competitive enough to be in the play-in/playoff race.

One basketball equation is proving very quickly to be evident: Boozer + Edey = Results.

The combination of additive attributes such as size, strength, rebounding, playmaking, mobility, defensive instincts and decision making feel with the complementary nature of Boozer's outside-in game and Edey's inside-dominant game immediately makes this duo a force to be reckoned with in the NBA, one of which could create mismatches for years to come, as the Warriors small-ball lineup quickly found out.

Still early in the season, these numbers represent the smallest of sample sizes; but with that said, Edey and Boozer are a +2.8 padded Net Rating and +47 Net Rating in 21 minutes, via Data Ballr.

A little deeper digging will tell you that 19 of those minutes were the starting lineup of Boozer, Edey, Cedric Coward, Jaylen Wells, and Ty Jerome, where the starters have a +49 Net Rating through two contests.

Obviously, this number will come back to Earth, but through two games, the Grizzlies are good; their starting unit is balanced and killing their opponents.

Shooting 46% 3P% helps while your opponents shoot just 33% 3P%, so chalk some up to the ball bouncing their way, but when you create open threes for this many good-to-great shooters flanking Edey everywhere in the starting unit, your team-wide 3P% will be relatively high. The two forces of 4-out 1-in naturally pulls defenses in opposite directions, where high-level decision makers like Edey and Boozer will make defenses pay, over and over again.

The contrasts and similarities in Edey's and Boozer's game makes for a lethal complementary duo that could quickly become in-sync on the court in aspects like playmaking between high-low passes, alley-oop lobs, and 3pt kickouts, even down to little things like positioning, footwork, and timing up screens.

There simply aren't many other NBA teams that possess a big man presence to counter Edey inside and a wing big, strong, long, and mobile enough to slow down Boozer's shot creation from the perimeter.

Add in the strong perimeter defense of Coward and Wells in the starting unit, with the 3pt shooting of everyone on the perimeter plus the individual scoring of Jerome, and this starting lineup is beginning to cook with two-way floor balance fire.

Grizzlies fans can finally rejoice after a messy ending to the last iteration of the team; the Grizzlies are off to a roaring start, and with the Kings up next, Memphis looks to keep the good times rollin'.

Edey and Boozer are here to anchor the franchise's frontcourt for the foreseeable future; The Big Zamboni and The Booz Cruise are just setting sail; The Ground & Pound Grizzlies era has begun.