This is how Memphis Grizzlies coach plans on defense to be 'unpleasant experience' for opponents

NASHVILLE — Memphis Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo wants opponents to feel like they’re going to the dentist when they match up against his team’s defense.

Iisalo credited Spanish football manager Pep Guardiola with the reference after a Grizzlies training camp practice on Oct. 1 at Belmont University’s Crockett Center. Guardiola — the champion manager of Manchester City in the Premier League since 2016 — first used the reference in 2019, and it’s one that Iisalo strongly believes in when discussing the outlook for this season’s defense.

“That’s how it should feel like,” Iisalo said. “It should be an unpleasant experience.”

Defense has been a hallmark on Grizzlies teams for more than a decade. Last season’s drastic drop-off in the second half was primarily because of defensive problems.

The team wanted to address those issues in the offseason, so they went after defensive-minded players. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was acquired in the trade with the Orlando Magic, Cedric Coward was drafted in the first round and Jock Landale was signed via free agency.

If Memphis is able recapture its defensive magic to go with the offense’s potential, the season will go better than some pundits expect. At least that’s what history has suggested.

Iisalo’s favorite defensive stat is rating. He wants that number to be as low as possible. Since 2010, the Grizzlies have finished top five in defensive rating four times. Those four seasons are also the only years the team eclipsed 50 wins in that period.

“The way we’re going, I think we can be back at the top of the West,” Caldwell-Pope said. ”How fast we want to play, the chemistry we building here. It’s just us playing together is going to be key.”

Sparking competition

Iisalo has put together two types of drills. There are drills where the goal is to learn new things, and there are others based on bringing out competitive fire.

Players have spoken about the competition, stating that teammates are battling to win each drill. As a coach, it’s exactly what Iisalo wants.

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“The best practices are at the edge of conflict,” he said. “You want to keep it right there. That just means the engagement is very high from the players.”

Competition will be all throughout the roster, whether it’s fighting for a spot in the rotation or a currently unsettled starting lineup.

Defensively, Memphis is prioritizing flanking star point guard Ja Morant with multiple high-level wing defenders. Caldwell-Pope and Jaylen Wells are the early projected starters on the wing.

For the veteran Caldwell-Pope, he takes pride in guarding his assignment. He calls it “guard your yard.”

Grizzlies perimeter players allowed opposing offenses to invade their yards last season. Caldwell-Pope believes this can result in frontline players getting in foul trouble, which has been a problem for Jaren Jackson Jr. throughout his career.

Jackson and Zach Edey take pride in protecting the Grizzlies at the rim, but Caldwell-Pope doesn’t want Memphis relying on its rim protectors to save the day.

“Having multiple defenders out there that also can play and shoot on the offensive end goes a long way for us,” he said.

Newcomers carrying confidence

Free agent acquisition Ty Jerome is on that list of newcomers who believe in the plan.

For Jerome, it’s about the long term. He believes the Grizzlies are building for the future with habits that’ll come in handy when times get hard.

Of the newcomers expected to have rotation roles, Jerome, who played the past seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, is the least heralded for his defense. He isn’t known as the quickest or biggest defender, but those thoughts play right into what some people believe are his best traits.

Jerome’s IQ has impressed people with the Grizzlies. For what he lacks in physical tools and athleticism defensively, he aims to add the intangibles.

When a teammate is defending an elite perimeter scorer, he wants to give that player confidence to guard aggressively, knowing that he’s in help defense. Making sure Jackson and Edey are talking on the back line is also a major key.

Jerome’s offensive makeup is noted. On a team loaded with players who are here because of their defense, he wants fans to know that he’s going to put in the effort, too.

“One thing about me, I’ve always been a winner and I’ve always tried to impact winning,” he said. “If you ask me what do you do best, I would say impact winning, and that’s just not offensively. You got to fight defensively.”

Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: What Grizzlies mean by defensive ‘unpleasant experience’ for opponents

This is how Memphis Grizzlies coach plans on defense to be ‘unpleasant experience’ for opponents

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