Player development, Jason March knows very well. The new Taylor Jenkins' assistant is leading the Grizzlies into the Summer League. His team even qualified for the final against the Heat with a triple-double from Scotty Pippen Jr. The opportunity for Jason March to continue the work started in the G-League.
“The G-League is incredible. There’s a lot of talent. The game has really progressed.”, he claims. “The league has come a long way, even since my first year seven, eight, nine years ago. They’ve done an incredible job. The people in the league have continued to grow it.”
Having worked for the Grizzlies for 15 years, the man who will assist Taylor Jenkins on the Grizzlies bench for the upcoming season has held almost every position there, before taking over the management of the Memphis Hustle five years ago.
” For me, I don't like to talk about myself. It's about the players. We develop them, but the G-League is also a place where coaches can develop themselves. I think, if I'm being completely honest, more coaches need to go through that,” reveals Jason March. ” It was incredible for me. I learned a lot. There's something about having to call those timeouts and being in those stressful situations. That said, I have a lot to learn. These guys teach me something new every day. I love it. The G-League is incredible and I'm going to miss it a lot.”
Continue development
Last year, the Grizzlies had plenty of time to develop players, given the many injuries the team suffered. And players like GG Jackson or Jacob Gilyard, on a two-way contract, took advantage of it.
“Everyone talks about player development. I think we, as an organization, do an incredible job with developing our players,” Jason March is pleased. “One thing that gets overlooked in player development is learning how to win, learning how to finish games, all those things. It also helps develop the younger players, and that's what we're here for (in Summer League).”
The summer league is indeed the logical extension of his work in the G-League.
“We didn't have that success in Salt Lake City (for the first Summer League). With one win for two losses”recognizes the coach. “We've been pretty good here. Hopefully we can continue that. We're trying to challenge our guys to play a certain way and that's what I expect from our group.”
