Grizz Gaming aims to rebound from heartbreak, build on legendary AuthenticAfrican performance

After a heartbreaking triple overtime loss in an epic thriller with 76ers GC, Grizz Gaming will look to rebound and make one final push for a playoff spot in its final two regular season games. The first comes on Friday at 6 p.m. against Raptors Uprising GC (6-6), who sit one game ahead of the team in the NBA 2K League standings.

Grizz Gaming General Manager Lang Whitaker lamented on last weekend’s woes but also stressed that the team still has plenty to play for.

“It’s hard, even in the moment to grasp what was happening in that game,” said Whitaker. “Triple overtime loss, one player going for 84 points… we were just waiting for the Sixers to double team and bring more help over to open it up. They didn’t and we just kept going. Tough loss. It’s about as close as you can come and not get it. It’s the only triple overtime game in the league this season. We’ve got to turn the page and we still have two more games to go out and try to win. The playoff picture is not finished yet, so we’ve got games to win.”

The team still has AuthenticAfrican’s performance to build on. All he did was score 84 points against 76ers GC, shattering the previous league record of 54 and breaking it with 3:34 to spare in regulation. Naysayers will point out the lack of production from other players but just as easily forget about all the balanced efforts from the team prior. It just shows they can either all contribute, or go to the hot hand when the time is right.

AuthenticAfrican was thankful for his teammates for putting their trust in him Friday night.

“It means a lot,” said AuthenticAfrican. “Especially in times where I was trying to get them involved. I really feel this isn’t who I am, I don’t like feeling selfish, and asked what plays they wanted to run. They just kept saying ‘no, keep going, they can’t stop you, don’t worry about us because we’re just trying to win the game.’ That kind of trust really makes me feel happy.”

To Grizz Gaming’s potential benefit, they get another shot at a team ranked above them in the league standings in Raptors Uprising GC. Led by Memphis native Kenny, the team has the attention and respect of Whitaker and his squad.

“Kenny has been awesome this year, All Hail Trey has been really good too,” said Whitaker. “They have a great team and we know those guys really well. Mehyar, being from Toronto, knows onethroughfive, who is their coach. They have a good organization and we respect them a lot. Kenny is from Memphis so there are a lot of ties between these teams. We’re looking forward to it and we feel like we’re pretty familiar with what they do and vice versa. It’ll be a fun matchup.”

Kenny leads the team in both scoring (17.0) and assists (8.3) per game. Yusuf_Scarbz (15.6) and All Hail Trey (15.1) also average above 15 points per game.

Fans can tune into Grizz Gaming’s penultimate regular season contest at www.twitch.tv/grizzgaming.

We caught up with @langwhitaker to discuss last weekend's historic game and what we can expect against @RaptorsGC. pic.twitter.com/o5K5wvpMbG

— Grizz Gaming (@GrizzGaming) August 1, 2018