Friday marked the 2018-19 season’s one-month checkpoint. The Memphis Grizzlies have now played well into double-digit games, and early-season small samples are beginning to give way to sustainable trends.
Month one has to be considered a great success for the Memphis Grizzlies. Their preseason situation was murky, to say the least, with many swapped roster pieces, a newly-installed coach, and multiple identity issues. Sputtering out of the gate seemed very likely.
Instead, Memphis is 9-5, unlikely kings of the Southwest Division, and have beaten some of the NBA’s best teams early.
They’re stubbornly refusing to evolve with the league’s pace-and-space revolution; suffocating teams on D, and snaring national media buzz.