Hustle ready to start another season
Photo: New Memphis Hustle head coach T.C. Swirsky talks about this year’s team during the Hustle’s recent Media Day. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
Basketball is about to come back to the Landers Center in Southaven as the NBA G League’s Memphis Hustle takes the floor for another year.
With each year, the Hustle roster evolves and changes as players are assigned or take advantage of the opportunity to play and hopefully move up onto an NBA roster. The roster on the floor when the team opens the year at Rio Grande Valley Saturday night won’t look the same as the team that finished last season with a 15-19 record, 5-11 in G League Showcase games.
Also new on the floor will be a new head coach, as last year’s top assistant coach T.C. Swirsky assumes the clipboard with the elevation of Jason March to an assistant’s role with the parent Memphis Grizzlies.
The Hustle still continues to struggle on the won-lost ledger, talking more about player development than wins and losses. The Hustle have made two playoff appearances since their establishment in 2017. They reached the G League playoffs in the 2018-19 and 2022-23 seasons, with a first-round win in 2019 before losing in the semifinals.
Swirsky noted several factors in how the team finished the 2023-24 season four games under .500.
“Last year we dealt with a lot of injuries so hopefully we can do a better job of staying healthy this year,” Swirsky said. “But, at the end of the day, it is about development. It would be great if we can win a championship, but we want these guys to put on a Grizzlies uniform and contribute minutes there.”
One of the players to watch for during the season is Maozinha Pereira, who played for Team Brazil in the Paris Summer Olympics and played last season in the G League with Mexico City before signing two 10-day contracts with the Grizzlies late last season and spent the preseason with Memphis.
Lucas Williamson will return for the Hustle this year. Williamson has averaged 6.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game in his G League career, playing 116 games across two seasons with the Ontario Clippers and Memphis Hustle. Last year with Memphis, Williamson averaged nine points and three rebounds a game.
Another returning player is David Johnson, who has averaged 17 points and 4.7 rebounds with the Hustle. Johnson had a buzzer-beater shot go in to beat the Texas Legends during a game last December, beating Texas 110-109.
Other players to look forward include Robert Woodard II, who played collegiately at Mississippi State and has played San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Sacramento in the NBA and their G League affiliates, and Armando Bacot, who spent the preseason with the Grizzlies and played collegiately at North Carolina.
Danielle Boiago, Nick Covington, Jack Hostetler and Rob Sanicola will serve as assistant coaches on Swirsky’s staff.
Swirsky was March’s assistant for three seasons and was in the Grizzlies’ video room prior to that. It’s a similar track that March used to get to his current position and Swirsky credited March for getting to where he is now, leading a G League franchise.
After Saturday’s season opener against the Vipers, the Hustle home opener will be on Monday, Nov. 11 against Mexico City. A home game against Texas on Friday, Nov. 15 follows before a weekend visit Sunday to the Texas Legends.
The Memphis Hustle NBA G League season is underway once again.
