Precious Achiuwa was back at FedExForum on Feb. 23 for a matchup between the Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings. The Kings picked up a 123-114 win, breaking their 16-game losing streak, and Achiuwa played a major role with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
But this wasn’t the first time he put up numbers like those here. He averaged 15.8 points and 10.8 rebounds for the Memphis Tigers during the 2019-20 season while earning American Conference Player of the Year honors.
Achiuwa played one season in Memphis before becoming the 20th overall pick in the 2020 draft, but he’s still connected to the Tigers. He has maintained relationships that include former Tigers teammate Boogie Ellis, who’s playing overseas. Achiuwa said he spoke to Ellis a day before the game against the Grizzlies and plans to see him after the season.
The Tigers are struggling this season, currently 12-15 overall and 7-7 in the American Conference. Times may be hard, but Achiuwa wants fans to stand by the program.
“They’ve always been a very supportive fan base,” he said. “Just continue to support the team. They’ll bounce back. This is the first down year in a couple years. It happens sometimes. Next year I’m sure they’re going to figure it out and be a lot better than they are this year.”
The Tigers have four games remaining before conference play. It’s an uphill battle for them to reach 20 wins — something they have done in each of coach Penny Hardaway’s seven seasons. The Tigers last failed to get 20 wins during the 2016-17 season, when they went 19-13 under then-coach Tubby Smith.
Achiuwa has the ultimate confidence in his former coach. He believes Hardaway’s defensive coaching mentality will help get the Tigers back in a positive direction.
“I’m not worried about Penny finding players that are going to compete at a high level,” Achiuwa said. “He’s always going to find guys that are going to compete at a high level. Success is just right around the corner. Guys just got to be patient.”
A big night in Memphis
Achiuwa was one of two Kings big men to have dominant nights against the smaller Grizzlies. Center Maxime Raynaud finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Both players said that the Grizzlies’ lack of ideal size was something they noticed before the game and eventually emphasized.
With Zach Edey and Brandon Clarke still out with injuries, the Grizzlies did not have an available center. The Kings had 22 second-chance points and a 45-37 rebounding advantage.
“Offensively, this was one of the games that we really struggled against the switches,” Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “We don’t have the inside advantage that we had before and can’t really rebound. There’s no mismatches created by that, so we got to work on that.”
Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at [email protected]. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.
