Grizz Gaming gets another crack at Dimez, Mavs Gaming
July 19, 2018
The last time Grizz Gaming (4-6) and Mavs Gaming (5-4) faced off, it wasn’t pretty and Dimez put up a wild 50-point outburst. However, those were different times at ‘THE TIPOFF’ and Grizz Gaming’s struggles that weekend are in the rear view. The team has won three of its last five regular season games and is anxious for the rematch with Mavs Gaming, who sit just 1.5 games ahead in the NBA 2K League standings.
Grizz Gaming General Manager Lang Whitaker echoed that sentiment and also referenced the new archetypes that have caused position changes throughout the league.
“I think we’ve kind of come into a groove the last five regular season games,” said Whitaker. “With the new archetypes, a lot of players are playing new positions. Dimez isn’t playing point guard for them anymore, at least he didn’t in the tournament, we’ll see what they do this week. I think there’s a lot of things that are different now since the second day that we played. We’re looking forward to matching up with them again.”
It won’t get any easier with Dimez, who is the only player in the league to rank in the Top 5 in scoring (22.4 ppg) and assists (12.0 apg). In addition, he leads the league in steals (2.6 spg).
“I don’t know if you can stop him,” said Whitaker. “I think, if anything, you do your best to contain and try to stop everyone else. That’s tough because they have a lot of really good players on that Dallas team.”
However, the Grizz have a savant of their own. Over the last few weeks, AuthenticAfrican has been just as prolific, averaging 22.6 points and 12.8 assists over his last eight games, including seven straight point-assist double-doubles.
“Double A has been awesome,” said Whitaker. “We’ve asked him to do lots of different things and he’s done everything he’s been asked to do and done it really well,” said Whitaker. “I’m hopeful that this week we’re able to reverse what happened in that tournament against Dallas, find a way to compete against them, close out these last four regular games and start off this last stretch with a win.”
At just a game and a half back of Mavs Gaming in the standings, Week 9 could make or break the team’s playoff chances with just three games remaining on the schedule afterward. With 16th place Knicks Gaming winning ‘THE TICKET’ and receiving an automatic playoff bid, there is now a near certainty that only the top seven teams will make the eight-team playoff with them. Including Mavs Gaming, five teams are tied in a logjam for fifth through ninth place. Fans can live stream both games at twitch.com/grizzgaming.
Grizz Gaming GM @langwhitaker tells us what needs to happen to be successful against @MavsGG and how much the team has changed since the season started. pic.twitter.com/Q0ImPEbOQx
— Grizz Gaming (@GrizzGaming) July 19, 2018