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Before the Portland game last week, Santi Aldama was shaving his beard. He trimmed everything except for his mustache.
“I looked in the mirror and just saw it, so I turned to my girlfriend and asked, ‘Should I keep it?’ ” Aldama said.
“She was like, ‘sure.’ So, I’m keeping it. I’m just going to rock it for a bit.”
As soon as Aldama showed up for games and practices, his teammates started to let the jokes about the mustache fly. Aldama has been labeled with several nicknames this week – some more appropriate than others.
One of them: Nintendo character “Luigi,” the taller of the two Super Mario Brothers.
“Santi the plumber!” teammate David Roddy blurted in the locker room before the game.
Aldama has already passed his seasonal nickname, “Santi Claus,” which he likes and credits to Grind City Media’s Lang Whitaker.
But we’re long past Christmas, and Aldama is not quite as sold on Luigi.
“There are a lot going around. I’ve heard that one,” Aldama said. “But Luigi is Italian, and I’m Spanish, so I don’t know about that one. I’m sure there are Spaniards with a mustache out there, but I can’t think of anyone on the spot. Maybe Lang can think of another one.”
But if Aldama is Luigi, that makes him a pretty darn good sidekick to the stars of the show – and that’s exactly what he has been lately.
Despite the team’s struggles since mid-January, Aldama has stepped up to play some of the best basketball of his career.
He has scored 15 or more points in 10 games this season, and four of those have come in the last three weeks and two days. He is also shooting 35% from 3-point range since Jan. 1, and 50% from the floor.
Most importantly, he’s letting the ball go from the 3-point line at a high frequency, which Memphis needs him to do in order to space the floor for its driving guards.
Aldama ranks in the top 90% of NBA bigs in 3-point attempts, according to analytics website Cleaning The Glass. Even with the high volume of shots, he’s in the top 65% in shooting accuracy for his position, and he’s particularly good at shooting from the corner (42%).
“(Aldama) is not scared to shoot it,” Desmond Bane said Sunday. “If I’m driving and the defense collapses, Santi is going to let it fly 90% of the time. If not, he makes a play driving on the close-out. I’m super proud of him and how much he has developed.”
Aldama, who is 22 years old, credits the improvement to his experience. Last season, he had very few opportunities to play rotation minutes. This season, injuries have cleared the way for him to start in 18 games.
“I’ve been doing the same things, working every day,” Aldama said. “But I’m feeling really confident out there. Now teams are starting to guard me a bit differently, running me off the 3-point line a little more. So I’ve got to develop different things and learn some different stuff. It’s mostly been working.”
The bump in opportunity has also meant a brand-new experience. For the first time, Aldama is experiencing the dog days of the NBA, when games stack up and players are ready to get to the All-Star break. It’s even tougher when factoring in the Grizzlies have lost eight of nine games.
“It’s been a little tough, for sure,” Aldama said. “This is not the stretch that we want to be in, but it happens. A lot of teams go through this and it’s just a matter of figuring it out.”
More from your Insider:
The Grizzlies were outscored 28-17 in the fourth quarter in their loss to the Raptors. They have lost eight of nine games.
A report from The Athletic states that Ja Morant’s acquaintances confronted members of the Pacers’ traveling party near the team’s bus in the loading area of FedExForum after the Grizzlies’ Jan. 29 victory.
NBA box score for the Sunday, Feb. 5 game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors played at FedExForum in Memphis.
Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said the Grizzlies will do their due diligence at the trade deadline, but he and general manager Zach Kleiman “believe in this group.”
Dillon Brooks was suspended one game without pay by the NBA for his flagrant 2 foul on Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell on Thursday night, Feb. 2.
The Grizzlies security team has been quick to break up skirmishes and protests. Thursday night they showed how it’s done yet again.
“Big picture, what’s the worst-case scenario for an already highly functioning team built around a currently 23-year-old Ja Morant, 23-year-old Jaren Jackson Jr. and 24-year-old Desmond Bane?”
Dillon Brooks and Donovan Mitchell were ejected following a skirmish in the third quarter. The Grizzlies went on to lose for the seventh time in eight games.
NBA box score for the Thursday, Feb. 2 game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Ja Morant is averaging 27.4 points, 8.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds this season for the Grizzlies. This is his second All-Star selection. This is Jackson’s first selection.
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