Here’s a challenge: Describe the 2001 Memphis Grizzlies squad in five words
or less. Don’t use swear words and try to be nice. Not so easy, is it? It’s
understandable given no one in this town (except the Grizzlies coaching staff)
is likely to have seen many Grizzlies games. Even if a couple of their games
appeared on network television, it still wouldn’t matter since this team is
practically brand-new anyway.

So just who are these guys? For a team that returns one starter
in shooting guard Mike Dickerson (assuming Lorenzen Wright beats out returning
center Bryant Reeves for starting center), the biggest question is the lack of
identity.

Every team has one. Philadelphia’s walking wounded are tough. New
York’s physical play is brutal. Los Angeles’ winning ways are either
lackluster or brilliant, depending on what part of the season you’re talking
about. Utah has John Stockton passing to Karl Malone. The Washington Wizards
have newcomer Kwame Brown and what’s his name, that guy from Chicago or
someplace.

So what do the Memphis Grizzlies have? Who knows? The team hasn’t
played a game on Memphis soil and it’s hard to draw a bead from closed-mouthed
team personnel or from practices that are open only after the starting lineup
has finished practicing together.

Here’s what we do know: It’s going to be an athletic team, with
Stromile Swift, Will Solomon, Shane Battier, and Wright leading the pack. It’s
going to be a fast team, with more runners than the floor of the New York
Stock Exchange. It’s going to be a young team, with Jason Williams, Battier,
Swift, and Wright as probable starters. Veterans will also contribute, with
Ike Austin, Nick Anderson, Dickerson, and Reeves on hand. It’s going to
feature NBA wild child Williams passing to NBA rookie poster boy Battier. It’s
probably going to struggle on defense (except for Battier) and in rebounding.
It’s not going to have much size. Whether this combination of speed and
inexperience can put points on the board is, at best, conjecture.

So much for five words or less. But that’s okay, because head
coach Sydney Lowe doesn’t put much stock in that sort of thing anyway. “I
don’t know if it’s critical for a team to develop [an identity],” he
says. “It’s hard to say. Some teams play good defense so they say that’s
their identity. Once you see the Lakers, what is their identity? Their
identity is that they win ball games.” Historically, if the Grizzlies
have had an identity it would be this: losers. That might be a bit harsh, but
until this version of the team proves otherwise, the label will stick.

Lowe says that he doesn’t care much about that, but he does care
that opponents know a couple other things about his team. “It’s important
that teams in the league know that we’re going to come in and we’re going to
play hard,” Lowe says. “That we’re going to play tough defense and
we’re going to be physical and that they’re going to have their work cut out
for them.”

Of course, given their lack of size, the Grizzlies understand
that to earn that reputation they’re going to have to play smart as well as
hard. “We have to come out and defend; we have to come out and contest
shots,” Lowe says. “We’re not a big, physical ball club so we can’t
rely on holding people off. We have to concentrate on boxing people out and
going to the boards. We don’t just pound it inside to a guy. We have to
create, we have to make shots. There’s so much we have to do.”

Another problem with defining the Grizzlies is figuring who will
play where. While the guard positions are solid (Williams and Dickerson will
start, with Anderson, Solomon, and Brevin Knight backing them up), the forward
and center spots are fluid, with multiple players able to fit in different
spots. For example, Wright can play the power forward spot or the center
position, while rookie Pau Gasol can swing his seven-foot frame from power
forward to small forward.

Lowe says that such options weren’t necessarily intentional, but
they add new dimensions to his team. “I think it’s something that just
happened,” he says. “Certainly we wanted to be more athletic than we
were last year, but I don’t know if it was something where we wanted to get
this style of players so we could play this style of game. Now, we have to
take advantage of the athletic ability of some of our guys and the fact that
we can move pieces around and play multiple positions. I think in some games
that’s going to be good for us. Sometimes it’s not. You have to know how to
play that style.”

What style this team will be able to play will become more
apparent during preseason games. Expect multiple starting line-ups and lots of
experimentation. The hope is to come up with a solid, core rotation and from
there start building a bit of success.

That’s really the operative word for this bunch. These players
just want to come out and do what they can to put more wins on the board than
people expect. “Right now our goal is to come out and compete,” Lowe
says. “To play hard and to play smart.”

That’s not such a bad goal. Winning would be a better goal, but
that’s implicit in everything that this squad does on and off the court.
Another implicit goal is to endear themselves to Memphis.

How about these five words to describe the Grizzlies? Bad Team
Wanting More Wins. Or maybe Homeless Squad Needs Southern Lovin’. Or how about
Memphis’ Own, Looking To Surprise?

Beginning November 1st at home against the Detroit Pistons, the
search for a team identity begins, whether Lowe thinks it’s important or not.
Exactly what this team will be is anyone’s guess. More than likely, five words
won’t be enough.