The Memphis Grizzlies really don't care that you don't believe in them. Again.

The Grizzlies are beyond any sort of chip on their shoulders about public perception because so many of their players have been left behind in their careers, or their lives. Even with two of the biggest Misfit Toy Stars gone with Zach Randolph in Sacramento and Tony Allen in New Orleans, the Grizzlies remain the land where the broken players go and thrive. So, no, they don't care that they were picked to win fewer than 40 games by nearly every statistical model out there including our own SportsLine forecast.

Mike Conley's is not one to hold a grudge (even against writers who declare his contract extension seven years ago the "worst move in franchise history"). Marc Gasol's own perfectionist mindset isn't driven by outside evaluations. Memphis coach David Fizdale isn't one for bulletin board material. It's not in the team's DNA.

It's also too early for the Grizzlies (4-1) to declare victory. They've been through enough losing streaks to understand how long the season is. A three-game losing streak and Memphis is back to .500, and all the good vibes are gone. Even its first loss, to winless Dallas, was the kind of loss where you re-evaluate what you know. The Grizz rebounded with a close win in the home-and-home with the Mavs Thursday, but that two-game set was quite the contrast to the first three games, because honestly, it was the best three-game run of any team this season.

Memphis has beaten Houston, Golden State and New Orleans.

There's no big secret to the Grizzlies' performance; it's the same thing you've come to know and love or loathe depending on your obsession with modern concepts. Memphis is 17th in offense per 100 possessions, and seventh in defense. It has the second-best net rating in clutch time. It's rolling at the 30th-ranked pace, league-wide. So Grit-Grind didn't so much as die as it just morphed into something slightly different.

Instead of the twin towers with Gasol and Randolph, Gasol has come out gunning, averaging 25 points per game and shooting 4.6 3-pointers per game so far, up from last year's career high. But the rest of Memphis' success have come from an unexpected source: the bench. Tyreke Evans has been a revelation in this first week and a half, averaging 12 points per game. But more importantly, the Grizzlies have been 10 points better than their opponent with Evans on the floor, and essentially a wash without him on the court. The same is true of Mario Chalmers (plus-6.7) and rookie Dillon Brooks (plus-6.2)

Evans' ability to attack the rim and kick to shooters is proving valuable this year. Evans has also learned patience in the pick and roll to allow angles to open for him:

Evans is shooting well, which will raise some eyebrows in skepticism, but he also shot over 35 percent from 3-point range the past two seasons. There's a real threat there.

That threat is part of what's helping give Memphis a real sense of gravity. Gasol's expanded 3-point game is helping as well. Watch as Evans pushes into the defense, and kicks to Gasol. The defense two years ago gives Gasol that shot all day long, but now, both defenders try and run him off, which gives Gasol an easy read for an open 3-pointer:

In other words, two veterans with major injury issues who were more often the punchline for jokes than respected for what they brought to their teams, and a late first-round pick with no hype have helped Memphis get out to this hot start.

Here's the really shocking part: The Grizzlies could very well get better.

Memphis has been without JaMychal Green since its first game, and wing Wayne Selden the duration of the season. Both players would have been helpful against the Mavericks' Harrison Barnes, who went for 37 points across the two games. Green and Selden provide spacing and athleticism Memphis needs.

If you want the weird part of this start for Memphis? According to Synergy Sports, that 17th-ranked offense features the 13th-ranked offense on jump shots and the 23rd-ranked offense on shots at the rim, despite Gasol's hot start. If the Grizzlies get their at-basket attacks to improve while maintaining their jumper proficiency, those offensive numbers will improve.

And not to start a tough conversation for anyone, but Chandler Parsons? He's shot 50 percent from deep to start the year, and Memphis has been 10.9 points better per 100 possessions with him on the floor. Hope may be too strong a term, but there's reason for extremely cautious optimism. Parsons is also being allowed the opportunity to find his rhythm, because opponents are outright ignoring him, creating a space of comfort I like to call the Parsons Zone:

Parsons is being slowly worked in, and it's working. He'll have to work his way into meaningful minutes and keep his percentage up as defenses start to guard him again to be relevant, but right now, he's set up to succeed, which is crucial for a guy coming off his injury issues.

Prognostications once again failed to adequately evaluate how good Conley and Gasol are, particularly together. Interestingly, so far this season (in a tiny sample of course), Gasol and Conley have positive net point differentials per 100 possessions both with and without the other on the floor. That gives you a sense of the balance Memphis is playing with early on.

And, of course, there's the defense. The biggest key this season is how Memphis isn't over-pursuing ball-handlers, and constantly flowing to show help and then recover. Watch how Evans switches onto Eric Gordon here while Dillon Brooks recovers on the shooter, then Brandon Wright shows on Gordon, then recovers on Nene. You're seeing a lot of this, where Memphis closes off all available options, forcing passes that aren't the opponent's preferred action:

The Grizzlies have clearly set parameters on how they will defend ... nothing easy. Memphis allows the fewest points off turnovers per 100 possessions in the league, even factoring their glacial pace. They are giving up the seventh-highest free throw rate; they put you on the line to make you earn it. Memphis is forcing the eighth-most possessions ending with less than four seconds on the clock. They are third this season in transition defense, 12th in half-court despite playing Houston and Golden State, which mucks up everyone's rating.

In other words, you are going to have to be smart, careful and efficient to score on Memphis.

Again, all this can change in a heartbeat, Memphis more than other teams has been prone to big swings. Furthermore, the Grizz had a better performance comparatively speaking against teams over .500 last season (20-25) than they did against teams under .500 (23-14, worst of all playoff teams and worse than 9th-place-finisher Denver). Losing to teams they should beat has been their model, just as challenging teams they should lose to has been.

Their high-effort level defense is the kind of thing that can suffer as the season drags on, and they are still only mediocre in terms of efficiency and shot selection, but the proof is in the pudding. Memphis isn't the same tough, physical team led by Gasol and Conley's brilliant efficiency. They are a different tough, physical team led by Gasol and Conley's brilliant efficiency. It's a long NBA season, but their start is enough to make those that rushed to chisel their gravestone nervous.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, keep cruising past the symmetry, never focused on their mortality but instead on what this NBA life can bring them.