Tuomas Iisalo is finally getting the kind of roster that lets his ideas breathe, and the early returns in Memphis have been loud.
After taking heat in his first full season as Grizzlies head coach for rotation patterns that leaned heavily on short bursts and seemed locked in before the game even started, Iisalo now has a healthier group and a cleaner runway to show what his offense can really do. The difference has been obvious. Memphis is scoring 120 points per 100 possessions through nearly two weeks, which ranks second in the NBA, and the Grizzlies are sitting atop the league in NET rating at +15.1 during their 6-0 start.
That kind of offensive pop is no accident. Iisalo’s system is built around point guards, bigs and a steady diet of pick-and-roll, so the 1 and 5 spots matter a ton.
Last season, that foundation was shaky at best. Zach Edey played only 11 games, Brandon Clarke only two, Ja Morant appeared in 20, Ty Jerome in 15 and Scotty Pippen Jr. in 10.
It’s hard to run a system that depends on ball-handlers and interior play when those pieces are constantly missing.
This year has been a different story. Jerome, Pippen and Cam Spencer have been available for most of the start, with Jerome and Pippen each missing just one game.
Edey has missed one game because of injury management, and Isaiah Stewart has played in every game but one. With those pieces in place, Memphis has been able to use its best pick-and-roll combinations instead of patching things together on the fly.
That has opened the door for Stewart to become a bigger offensive piece than expected. He scored 24 points on 8-for-9 shooting in Saturday’s win over the Sacramento Kings, and he had 18 points in the game before that against the Portland Trail Blazers. Stewart has been scoring from deep and in the mid-range, including floaters, and his role on that end has grown quickly.
After the Kings game, Stewart told Rob Fischer that this is new territory for him.
"This is really the first time in my career I have a coach that's pushing me to be something on that end of the floor," Stewart said. "He (Iisalo) told me this would be the most I do offensively. He's just putting that battery pack in my back."
Spencer has also started to flash more of the all-around game that makes him useful in Iisalo’s setup. He had eight assists against the Trail Blazers and then 13 against the Kings.
The Sacramento game stood out even more because Jerome and Pippen were both out, which left Spencer to start at point guard. His passing and shooting give Memphis another strong option in the backcourt.
Iisalo has made it clear how he views Spencer’s shot-making.
"He's one of the best shooters in the world and we encourage him to take as many shots as possible. And that's really what opens up other…"
There’s also another layer to the offense now with Cam Boozer, whose processing has helped create better looks and taken some of the playmaking burden off the guards. Iisalo praised him after a rough shooting night in his NBA debut, saying, "Typical Cam Boozer night, shot 2-15 and was +32." He also said Boozer is making reads at 19 "that take other guys 10 years in the league to figure out."
The bigger picture is that Memphis is doing damage on both ends. The Grizzlies are top three in the NBA in offensive rating and defensive rating, allowing 105 points per 100 possessions, which ranks third. That balance was always going to be the path for this team, with Edey and Stewart as the main rim protectors and Jaylen Wells and Cedric Coward handling the bulk of the point-of-attack work.
So far, those four have done their part, and the team defense has held up as a unit. For Iisalo, that means the roster is finally giving him the chance to show the version of his coaching that Memphis hired him for.
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For Memphis, the bigger question is less about the opponent than about whether the recent progress can hold up once the schedule starts asking for it again. Jerami Grant has already pointed to the team's performance as a reason for optimism, and now the Grizzlies get a chance to see whether that edge carries over against a Pelicans team that should give them a different kind of test on their home floor. [Read more 🡒]