What a comeback, man. Spearheaded by Cam Boozer and Zach Edey

Just wanted to add to this, because true. I asked Iisalo before the game Wednesday about the message from him and Zach Kleiman over the past year+ about building a team identity that matches the DNA of the city -- mainly how the steps this offseason/preseason have laid the foundation for it, and how it translates on the floor. His response: “With the on the court piece, we were extremely satisfied with guys coming into camp in great physical shape. Which then reflected our play also in preseason, and the fact that we only had 1 injury really with Stew — and that was hard when you land on someone’s foot. That’s the first thing, but the second thing I think that’s incredibly that the team reflects the city. One of the things we tried to be more proactive with our guys is to try to create a connection in the community. Last year, I thought Memphis got a really bad rap in the press when it was related to the NBA, and that’s not my experience at all and hasn’t been the experience of anybody who’s played or coached here. We want to present that — there are great things, and an insane amount of history here. This city needs an NBA team. There are places like Le Bonheur and St. Jude that we have visited. We have tried to connect with the fan experience what it means for somebody — like today, how much they have to put in work to come here and cheer for us. In that way, it also creates perceptive for our guys to know who we’re really playing for — not only for ourselves or for the team, but for the whole community where we want to act as a beacon of light. That’s the big picture. How do we get to that? People want to root for someone they can identify with — that’s working harder than the other guy, placing the team first in every situation, and in the end being competitive. In the end, you have to win, but you have to take the steps first in order to reach that. If we do those things, where we have started off really well, it’ll also be a great connection. I’ve seen in the past the types of crowds you can have here when the playoffs roll around.”