Grizz Gaming THE TURN Preview

Grizz Gaming Schedule

Thursday, May 9
T-Wolves vs. Grizz Gaming: 5 p.m. CT

Friday, May 10 – Saturday, May 11
Grizz Gaming at Blazer5 Gaming: 6 p.m. CT (TBD; Friday)
Grizz Gaming at TBD: 2 p.m. CT (Saturday)
Grizz Gaming at TBD: 7 p.m. CT (Saturday)
Grizz Gaming at TBD: 8 p.m. CT (Saturday)

Watch LIVE on YouTube and Twitch

 

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Tournament Format & Info

The tournament is single elimination and will feature all 21 teams and will begin with five play-in games. For the first time the NBA 2K League will introduce an “Archetype Ban” concept for the 2019 edition of THE TURN. An archetype is a preset combination of attributes and skills, and players can choose between five different archetypes per position. Prior to every game of the tournament, each team will determine one archetype that cannot be used in the game by either team. The designated home team will make its selection followed by the designated away team. The winner of THE TURN will earn over half of the prize pool, with the remainder being awarded to the second to eighth place teams (first place – $90,720; second place – $29,760; third and fourth place – $15,360 each; fifth-eighth place – $7,200 each). The winning team will also take home the second banner in the 2019 Tréfecta Banner Chain, which links the three in-season tournaments (TIPOFF, TURN, and TICKET). Criteria for seeding and the full schedule can be found here.

 

GRIZZ BYTES

Splitting the Difference

Grizz Gaming picked up a big first win of the season against a previously 3-1 Buck Gaming team, 61-52 last Thursday. Rookie point guard Vandi erupted for 28 points and 11 assists on 11-of-19 shooting. The two main deterrents to a Grizz win thus far were absent in tonight’s win with the team’s lowest point differential in any quarter at -1. Additionally, the team committed just six turnovers while forcing 13 Bucks turnovers. A poor third quarter would be the Grizz’s undoing against Jazz Gaming the next night, as the team was outscored 27-9 and Jazz shot 10of-12 from the field. The teams played even in the first, second and fourth quarters combined. Vandi posted his second straight double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Lang’s World

“We are looking forward to going up against T-Wolves Gaming for a second time this season. They are always a well-prepared team, as they showed in our first game, and they feature several outstanding players. We need to build off the momentum from our win last week and continue to get better each day.” – Lang Whitaker, Grizz Gaming GM

 

OPPONENT PRIMER

T-WOLVES GAMING

T-Wolves Gaming is currently 2-4 in its expansion season, but kicked things off with a bang in a 53-39 win over Grizz Gaming and a 30-point win over Wizards District Gaming at THE TIPOFF powered by AT&T and had a strong showing in Week 4, defeating Celtics Crossover Gaming and losing by just four (64-60) to undefeated Mavs Gaming. In the previous meeting between the two teams, T-Wolves shot 9-of-13 from three-point range while Grizz shot just 4-of-14. Memphis’ team has seemed to have found a bit more of a rhythm from long range and will need to continue that to make it into the next round.

BLAZERS GAMING

Should Grizz Gaming prevail against T-Wolves Gaming, they will match up against one of the league’s elite teams that is riding a six-game winning streak in Blazer5 Gaming. The team is third in the regular season standings and has an MVP candidate in Mama Im Dat Man, who averages 24.0 points and 12.4 assists per game. Not to be forgotten is last season’s MVP and Defensive Player of the Year OneWildWalnut. The big man down low is posting 17.1 points, 15.3 rebounds (third in the league) and grabbing 2.6 steals per contest.

POTENTIAL MATCHUPS TO WATCH

AuthenticAfrican vs. iFeast

Vandi matches up with the league’s leading scorer in ARooks at the point guard position. It’s been very clear through the early stages of the season that when Vandi is at his best, Grizz Gaming is at its best and they will need him to handle the point guard matchup to earn the team’s first win. On the defensive end, ToXSiK will be relied upon as the team’s lockdown defender to give Vandi the assist.

Vandi vs. Mama Im Dat Man

Another week, another big test for Vandi as he comes off his most consistent performance with two 20-10 games last week, one of which resulted in the team’s first win. As mentioned above, Mama Im Dat Man is a bonafide MVP candidate at the point guard spot. He currently leads the league in assists and ranks third in scoring.