Get the Three Six Mafia mix ready. Something worth sampling is finally brewing on Beale Street, even as the Memphis Grizzlies navigate some early-season absences. After stumbling to a 4-11 record, Tuomas Iisalo has strung together back-to-back victories while developing something that can't be drawn up on a whiteboard: attitude. Not recklessness. Not immaturity. Just a willingness to get under everyone's skin and redefine the tone of a team still searching for stability. With Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. among many nursing injuries, the Grizzlies (6-11) have leaned into a grittier, more confrontational style of play.
Thankfully for their postseason hopes, Iisalo's Grizzlies are beginning to look like a team forging an identity rather than waiting for one to return. Jock Landale led the charge against a fan calling out Morant's leadership. Zach Edey returned to patrol the paint. Morant reaffirmed his love for Memphis on social media before trash-talking Klay Thompson. Santi Aldama has been more aggressive. Jaren Jackson Jr. was last heard by ClutchPoints channeling Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's portrayal in HBO's Winning Time to remind teammates this “long season” is a marathon, not a sprint, underscoring the need for patience and persistence amid adversity.
Beneath the wins, losses, and injury concerns, the first-year NBA head coach is building something deeper with his players. Speaking recently about the passing of Rodney Rogers and Chris Paul's retirement announcement, Iisalo revealed the philosophical foundation guiding his coaching approach.
“The most important thing in this whole thing is relationships,” Iisalo began. “That's what I look at in having great relationships with staff members, with players. It's something that goes very much beyond basketball, that's the more important thing. It's about what you do with the time you have together and that's what we focus on.”
Distinctions between short-term objectives and lasting memories, and how to value them, are easy.
“A lot of times you focus on the wins and losses,” continued Iisalo, “then when you look back, you remember what happened in between. It's the time you spend with great people.”
Asked how he plans to build those bonds with Morant and Jackson once they return, Iisalo split the answer between the hardwood and everything beyond it waiting at home.
“Well, there are two things. There are the on-court things,” Iisalo shared, “where we discuss those things to find good chemistry in what we do. It's looking for (Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.'s) input on how to do things, how they've done things before, because there is a certain familiarity with that.”
The second component reveals where Iisalo's coaching philosophy truly distinguishes itself.
“Off the court, it's getting to know the human being behind the player,” stressed Iisalo. “That's a big part of the way I see it.”
This approach isn't something Iisalo developed overnight or borrowed from another coach. No, this is the bedrock of the Finnish tactician's origin story.
“I was doing my coaching qualifications around 2009 and was asked how I see holistic coaching. That was the big term at the moment,” Iisalo laughed. “To me, it's about you coaching the human being first, then you coach an athlete, then you coach an athlete in a certain sport. You have to have good relationships with all of those and understand all three levels of those relationships.”
That worldview is beginning to show up as a tougher, more connected, and more intentional locker room. In a league where injuries and losses are inevitable, Tuomas Iisalo's focus on human connections offers a reminder that basketball, at its core, is about the people who play it. For a Grizzlies team still finding its footing in the standings, that foundation might prove more valuable than any early-season winning streak.
Even without their stars on the court, Memphis is finding its edge again. The attitude they're developing, the edge they're discovering, and the relationships Iisalo is cultivating could be what carries these Grizzlies through the long season Jackson Jr. referenced, transforming a rocky start into something meaningful by season's end.
