After watching/listening/reading the Grizzlies lose to the Jazz and then to the Lakers, I started thinking about this season compared to last season. The two seasons started with such radically different expectations, it’s hard to remember what last season felt like. But I do remember how the Grizzlies got to the playoffs last year. Grit, grind, and hashtags. I also know the Grizzlies were planning on getting to the playoffs in a much different way this year. But as Iron Mike so eloquently put it years ago, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

There are two paths a team can take for a successful season.The first path is the path of the sneak. This is the path the Grizzlies took last year. They started slow, they looked discombobulated at times, and in general, they lulled everyone in the league into believing they were an easy win almost every night. However, at some point along the season, the Grizzlies got good. Sneaky good. And they became a tough opponent almost every night. They played tough defense, forced turnovers, converted those turnovers, and scored easy baskets. Then they snuck into the playoffs and knocked out the number one seed Spurs and took Oklahoma City to game seven. They were the Cinderella of the NBA last year. Nearly every year an NBA team finds a glass slipper and, at least for a season, turns into a sneaky good team. The hardest trick for every one of those teams is repeating that success the following year.

Which of course leads to the second path a team can take for a successful season: consistency. This is a much more difficult road to travel. This was the path the Grizzlies were planning on taking this year. Bring everyone back, play Tony Allen more this year, have a healthy Rudy, and just sit back and enjoy the success. It was almost guaranteed. However, the Grizzlies have run into trouble early this season. They lost Darrell Arthur for the season and Zach Randolph for half the season (hopefully only half). The loss of both players represent a drastic change from last year’s luck with injuries, but it also represents something much greater. A loss of consistency. The closer a player is to the basket, the more likely he is to score the basket. That is pretty obvious. The loss of Randolph hurts the consistency of this team from a scoring standpoint. He was the most consistent scorer the Grizzlies have ever had. He rarely had an off night, and his off nights were typically still decent nights. The loss of Arthur though represents a loss of consistency in minutes played for the bigs…or in this case the big. Marc Gasol must rest. He cannot play 46 minutes every game in a season like this (missing Z-Bo) with a schedule like this (why can’t they play the Wizzards more?). Arthur was his ticket to getting rest and playing with energy while he was on the court. Now I don’t know what to make of Marreese Speights yet. He is a big who can play minutes and possibly even score some. But you can’t have him shoot the ball 18 times in his second game with the team and expect to win.

Professional sports are often cruel in this regard: no one outside of Memphis cares that the Grizzlies have been dealt two severe blows early in the season. In fact, I am sure there are teams out there (I am looking at you Houston and Minnesota) who are elated that Memphis lost two of it’s bigs in a matter of weeks. So, once again, the Grizzlies must take the path of the sneak. They have to have the energy night in and night out to out hustle other teams. They have to have the ball bounce their way a few extra times to frustrate other teams. They have to have Rudy Gay step up and lead them to beat other teams. If they can do that, they can possibly hold on long enough for Z-Bo to return. And return he will. And he will bring some of the Grizzlies’ consistency back with him.