BOSTON — Head coach Tuomas Iisalo called out the Memphis Grizzlies’ effort Wednesday night after they lost for the seventh time in their last eight games.
“You can lose games,” Iisalo said after his team’s 131-95 road loss to the Boston Celtics. “That’s part of basketball. But to go away from your identity or the things that we know produce wins, that’s something that we must correct right away.”
On the second leg of a back-to-back, the Grizzlies were playing without Ja Morant, who injured his right ankle during Tuesday night’s 133-120 loss to the New York Knicks. Fellow ballhandlers Ty Jerome, Scotty Pippen Jr. and Javon Small were also sidelined, as were big men Zach Edey and Brandon Clarke. Despite the long list of absences, Iisalo expected more from his team, which gave up 18 offensive rebounds and 34 second-chance points. Memphis never led against the Celtics.
“I would say this: One way to lose is not to make shots,” Iisalo said. “Today we struggled a lot, even with open 3-pointers. We couldn’t convert underneath the basket. At the same time, their shot-making was at a relatively high level. That’s all good. That’s part of basketball. It happens sometimes. The fact that today the Celtics were the things that we aspire to be — faster than the other team, harder working, better organized — that’s a tough pill to swallow as a coach, and I think it should be for all of our guys.”
Without so many guards, Iisalo expected a challenge for the Grizzlies against a Boston team ranked eighth in opposing turnover rate. But the coach quickly saw signs of other concerns. He called his first timeout with 5:16 left in the first quarter after the Celtics opened a 22-10 lead.
“Well, we know that obviously the organization part is going to be hard for us,” Iisalo said. “Vince is a good player, Vince Williams, but we have four point guards ahead of him injured right now. And, against a team that’s well-organized and very aggressive in the full court, that makes it very tough. But we got bullied on the boards. I think we gave up almost 40 second-chance points against a team that’s not particularly big or bigger than us. Transition game, that’s one thing, but in the halfcourt we were late for several actions, unable to communicate or arrive with the ball. Basic things. It started out early, obviously, with two early timeouts. And we then had stretches, but nothing consistent.”
Only 13 games into the regular season, the 4-9 Grizzlies have already dealt with drama. They issued a one-game suspension to Morant, which he served on Nov. 2, after what they labeled conduct detrimental to the team. Morant made it clear during a postgame press conference that he and Iisalo were not on the same page after a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in Memphis’ previous game. Over five games played since the suspension, Morant has averaged 16.6 points on 28.7-percent shooting to go along with 9.8 assists and 5.8 turnovers per game. Following one loss to the Detroit Pistons, Morant said he has not felt his typical joy.
Despite whatever turbulence has taken place behind the scenes, Iisalo said before Wednesday’s game that it has been “great” to coach Morant. Iisalo said he and Morant are both highly competitive people who are “after the same thing, which is winning.”
“We have had a lot of dialogue,” Iisalo said. “We see the game in very similar ways. He’s a very intelligent player. He sees things on video; you don’t even have to point it out, he already knows what could have been an option there. And overall it’s just been a pleasure.”
It wasn’t a pleasure to land on the wrong side of a blowout against the Celtics. When asked what the Grizzlies must do to ensure they don’t unravel after such a tough stretch, Iisalo said they need to keep working.
“We know we can do better,” Iisalo said. “We know that the situation is tough for us. We’ve played against some very strong opponents, and at the same time we’ve had some key players miss time. We’ve just gotta turn this into motivation. The fact that we are struggling in certain games, that’s all right. It shouldn’t be because of effort like tonight.”