Grizzlies' Weird Offense, Lakers' Defensive Woes, Home-Court Disadvantage, and Why Pull-Up Shooting Matters

Welcome to the NBA Librarian Weekly, where we curate and summarize the best NBA content of the week.

<1000 words each week. I consume so you don’t have to.

In Today's Edition:

1. The Memphis Grizzlies WEIRD Offense

2. The Importance of Pull-Up 3 Point Shooting

3. Cade Cunningham’s Ascension

4. The Knicks/Lakers Homecourt Disadvantage?

5. Is the Lakers Defense Hopeless?

The Memphis Grizzlies WEIRD Offense

A typical NBA possession today involves at least one ball screen, often with rescreens or second screens for ball handlers. The Memphis Grizzlies, however, have basically said, "nah" to that approach this season:

1. The average NBA team runs 89 ball screens or dribble handoffs per 100 possessions. The Grizzlies? Just 43 per 100 possessions—the lowest in the 12-year history of tracking this stat!

2. Their offense emphasizes positioning and spacing over constant motion or pick-and-roll actions. Essentially, players are given the freedom to drive and attack open space, with the entire offense shifting around the court to support that attack. This includes frequent off-ball cuts and repositioning along the baseline to maintain spacing, create driving gaps, and set up isolation opportunities for players like Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.

3. Memphis is also the fastest team in the NBA, averaging 12.6 seconds per possession—the second-fastest pace in NBA play-by-play history.

All of this has resulted in the second-largest offensive improvement in NBA history, with the Grizzlies scoring 12 more points per 100 possessions compared to last season, good for the 5th-best offense in the league.

It’ll be fascinating to see how this style holds up in a playoff series, where teams will have more time to adjust and scheme specifically against it.