Tuomas Iisalo took plenty of criticism during his first full season as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.

The critiques were mainly because of Iisalo's controversial rotation patterns that emphasize getting maximum effort out of players in shorter spurts rather than leaving them out there for longer periods of time. It also felt like the substitution patterns were pre-determined, and Iisalo would not adjust them on the fly based on how the game was flowing.

The reported tension between Ja Morant and Tuomas Iisalo came from Iisalo's sub patterns, prioritizing shorter, more intense stints.

Iisalo was asked about the concerns players may have about that taking them out of rhythm, gave a great answer to his thought process

⬇️ pic.twitter.com/1eEEN8AbV2

— Matt Infield (@Matt_Infield) November 3, 2025

While that was a fair criticism, and there is still some of that going on this season, Iisalo did not get a fair chance to showcase his strengths in his rookie year as a head coach.…