The Dillon Brooks Act is Getting Stale

Well, Dillon Brooks ran his mouth again, and his team paid the price again. Let’s discuss.

There was a time when I rooted for Brooks. I found him to be a fascinating college player. I loved his tenacity and want to win. I will always remember when he made a late shot in the NCAA tournament when Oregon played Duke. I thought nothing of it at the time, but then Coach K decided he had to say something. Brooks listened, but I'm sure he didn't care. I found it to be sour grapes from Coach K. His team got beat, Brooks didn't stop until the whistle and it was a meaningless shot that wouldn't have changed the outcome no matter what. Coach K is a punk, and I'm sure Brooks thought the same thing at the time. He ended up in Memphis, and being a Grizzlies fan meant I was going to root for him. That is the way I root. If you're on my team, I'm going to go to bat for you. But then he got kind of good at defense. He became the Grizzlies 3 and D guy. That was where he shined and he did his job well. But the Grizzlies got a little too big for their britches. They started talking shit when they hadn't won anything of importance. And Brooks was at the front of the line when it came to shit talking. The Grizzlies had a solid season awhile back and ended up playing the Lakers in the playoffs. And instead of trying to just win the series and go onto the next round of the playoffs, Brooks and the rest of the Grizzlies decided they had to talk. Brooks in particular must have thought his new job was to trash talk, and to call out the biggest and best players. He went after LeBron James. He said that he "pokes bears". This was not a good look. This scared me. And when the Grizzlies were easily taken out by the Lakers, Brooks was silent all of the sudden. During the series he would talk to anyone that put a microphone in front of his face. But when he couldn't hold up his end of the bargain, and LeBron clowned his ass, he was silent. That pissed me off more than when he first opened his mouth. The sheer fact that he would talk, but then not back it up, that is a punkass move. That is clown stuff. That is what selfish little kids do. He was finally traded to the Rockets, and that was all I needed to root against this dude. And he brought back the trash talking, which made it even easier for me to clown on him. He would do this nonsensical stuff where he would just stand in one spot and stare at the opposing team. I believe he thought he was being intimidating, but he just looked like an idiot.

I don't know why and how he decided this was going to be his new thing, but it didn't work. While Brooks isn't a bad NBA player, he is a role player who is a mid tier 3 and D guy. He doesn't strike fear in any opponent. No one is worried about what he may do on the scouting report. Teams don't gameplan around him when they go to face whatever team he is playing for. The Rockets wore tired of his schtick after a year and traded him to the Suns in the Kevin Durant deal. He had an okay season for the Suns, but when they ended up as the eighth seed, and had to face the Thunder, he started up with the shit talking. He called Shai Gilgeous Alexander "frail". He griped about the refs. He was back to his Grizzlies days when the media would show up in the Suns locker room. And he got his ass cooked in all four games. SGA was scoring so easily that, at one point after a made bucket, he smiled and pointed at Brooks as if to say, this dildo can't guard me. Lu Dort did something similar during a scuffle for a loose ball. When Brooks openly complained about the refs to the media, the Thunder decided they didn't even need free throws to win. In game three SGA went 15 for 18 from the field, with Brooks as his main defender, and scored a playoff career high 42 points. Brooks will be more known for getting crossed over time and again this series than for anything else he may have done. And when the Thunder finished off the Suns in a sweep last night, Brooks all of the sudden wanted to be best friends with SGA. He went up and hugged him. Brooks and Devin Booker talked about how good SGA was at basketball in their press conference last night. All of the nonsense that Brooks was saying for two weeks was suddenly gone and now he seems to love SGA.

Dillon Brooks is a fake tough guy in the modern NBA. He may talk shit, but he has yet to back it up. He keeps going after the best and he keeps getting thwarted. I would just prefer if he would go back to his early NBA days and play gritty and grimy basketball. He doesn't need to shit talk, he doesn't need to be in front of a microphone, he doesn't need "poke bears". He just needs to play hoops. But I'm stoked that he is no longer on my favorite team. He is so much easier to root against than for, and if that makes me a hater, as Kendrick Lamar says, "I'm the biggest hater". Dillon Brooks is a joke of a "menace" in today's NBA. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

The Grizzlies Do Not Need Dillon Brooks

The Grizzlies supposedly told Dillon Brooks that he will not be back next season "under any circumstance". Who knows how true that statement is, but it is coming from Shams Charnia, who is a very reliable source, so I tend to believe it.

I am all on board with this move. He may have thought his talking during the first round of the playoffs was motivating the team, but it had the opposite effect. His talk crept into an already crumbling locker room and made all the other problems this team, my favorite team in the NBA, had going on all season. Adding Brooks' talking with Ja Morant's whole situation, injuries to Brandon Clarke and Steven Adams and a team that was fading at the end of the year spelled trouble for the team. But Brooks was doing this all season. He was constantly talking. He never stopped. He claimed to "poke bears" all year long and look where it got the Grizzlies. They were dispatched, fairly easily I might add, by the 7 seeded Lakers. The Lakers are a good team, but the Grizz were the 2 seed and they couldn't even get to a game seven at home. That is the most frustrating part.

I appreciate Ja coming out at the end of the season and talking about his personal problems affecting the team. That takes maturity and shows that he, hopefully, is getting some help. Clarke and Adams have to take time to recover. Adams should be back soon, but Clarke's injury is going to take some time. He tore an ACL. He is going to need a lot of rehab for that injury. That could bleed into next season. But Brooks never showed growth or maturity. The Grizzlies would win a game and he talked and talked and talked. But then they'd get beat and he wouldn't even speak to the media. I heard a podcast where someone explained how Brooks was trying out a new character for his future in the NBA and it never worked. This person said he was trying to be like Draymond Green, but without any of the accolades. I think that is a very apt comparison, except Green is a much, much better player than Brooks could ever dream to be.

When the news was released that the Grizz were moving on yesterday I felt a sense of relief. It made me feel even better after another story came out saying that the Grizz tried to re-sign him during the season, but he wouldn't sign. That means he thought he could hold out for more, to get a better deal. But now everyone has gotten to see that he is all bark and no bite. He added some solid defense to the team, but what else did he really do? He is a poor shooter. He was being left wide open constantly and he couldn't hit the ocean. He never seemed to find the open guy while running the floor or in their half court offense. Sure he would pass, but it wouldn't lead to much until other players touched the ball. There was no rebounding or anything else of substance. And while the defense was okay, he could not guard the star players. LeBron abused him whenever he wanted. He cannot stay in front of guys like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown or Steph Curry. He was no match. It was almost like star players would hunt for him on offense just to beat him.

Now that the Grizz are moving on there is a sense of relief for me as a fan, and I bet the team feels it as well. They can move on. Sure they won't get anything for him, but this could be addition by subtraction. They can replace him with a younger guy in the lineup. A player like David Roddy could fill that role. I'd love to see Kenny Lofton Jr because I am a big fan of his. They could go small and play three guards with Jaren Jackson Jr and Steven Adams when he comes back. They could possibly go out and find some solid veteran help. They have a good enough team to continue to win without Brooks. They may be able to find a player that fits their timeline a little better.

I don't know where Brooks will end up, but I know that he will not be on my favorite team anymore and that makes me feel better. I am happy they are cutting the cord and moving on. The time has come. This is a good move by the Grizzlies. Now let's just hope the Grizz continue to win. Time will tell.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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The Grizzlies Have a Dillon Brooks Problem

I am a Grizzlies fan. I adore that team. They have had their issues this year, and I have touched on them as have many other reputable websites and publications. They still fought their way to the 2 seed and beat the Lakers last night to even their round one series. They looked good without Ja, but make no mistake, they need need need Ja to win this series. But, Dillon Brooks needs to knock it the hell off. Let’s discuss.

If Brooks were on any other team I would loathe him. He talks nonstop. He is a good defender, but the way he talks you'd think he was the perennial DPOY. He is not. His teammate is the DPOY in fact. And the talking, outside of his defense, is not warranted. He is not a good offensive player. He cannot shoot the three with any consistency. He is a subpar passer. He takes worse half court shots than Russell Westbrook. When he rises up to shoot a three I find myself saying "bad shot" more often than not. I get why he starts, it makes sense within the construct of this roster. But the shit talking has got to slow down a bit.

I fully understand basketball is a game of talking. I have played it my whole life and I have shit talked a ton. That is part of the game. But this stuff with Brooks is becoming too much. He thinks he is Draymond Green, more on him tomorrow. But he is not. Draymond is a former DPOY. He is considered one of the greatest defensive players of all time. He has been an extremely integral part of a dynasty in Golden State. Draymond has earned the right to talk. Dillon Brooks has not. And watching him talk to LeBron during the game last night, and the interview afterward, it made me frustrated. LeBron doesn't need motivation. The dude has lived his whole career off of negative talk and motivation. LeBron has earned all he has gotten in the league. Say what you will about him joining a "super team", LeBron is the second greatest player of all time. So for Brooks to stare him down after a jump shot in the third quarter, stop. To clap in his face after LeBron called him a bum, that needs to stop. To constantly chirp at him during the game, that needs to stop. For him to say he likes "poking bears", and to say "he hasn't dropped 40 on me", just stop.

This is the stuff that drives me nuts. I like confidence, but this is cockiness from a guy that is not even close to deserving it at all. Brooks has not earned this place. He is trying to be villainous. My 11 year old son called him a "try hard" last night. I guess that means he is a poser. And I agree with him one hundred percent. LeBron is about to drop 40 on his ass. I wouldn't be shocked if he did it in game 3. LeBron is going to come into that game possesed. And the whole "poking bears" thing, that worries me the most. LeBron will use it. Anthony Davis will use it. D'Angelo Russell will use it. Austin Reaves will use it. Dennis Schroeder will use it. The whole team will use that quote as bulletin board material. And Brooks just won't shut the hell up. Desmond Bane talked some about Rui Hachumura after game one. Hachumura came out and did it again and Bane was quiet. Ja and JJJ and Steven Adams and the rest of the Grizzlies are being quiet, but Brooks is still running his trap.

I have no problem with him being on the team the rest of this year, but it is time to move on. I didn't want the team to trade him at the start of this season, but I'm all for it now. He is the type of trash talker that needs others to back him up. I don't want that type of player on my favorite team. Hopefully he proves me wrong and his talking works in this series. But I do not see that happening. He has poked the wrong bear. LeBron thrives in moments like this. I just hope Brooks trash talking doesn't ruin the Grizzlies postseason. My fingers are crossed. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.