Grizzlies’ Brown Seems to Be Smarter Than the Average Bear

Coach Hubie Brown told a cautionary tale to his Memphis Grizzlies at the Wednesday morning shoot-around, reminding them that even without the injured LeBron James the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Seattle SuperSonics on Tuesday night.

So that’s the point of reference for the Lakers, the closest comparison these days. Not the Showtime squads of the ‘80s or the Chicago Bulls of the ‘90s, but the LeBron-less Cavaliers, circa 2004.

Memphis point guard Jason Williams couldn’t believe it when a friend told him the Grizzlies were favored by 10 points over the Lakers.

But let’s take a moment from the constant moaning of the injury-depleted Lakers’ fate and show some love for what the Grizzlies are doing. Remember, they won by double digits here in November when the Lakers had Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone.

They might have the only team executive who has sat courtside in another arena and applauded another team, as Jerry West did at the Laker-Houston game in Staples Center on Christmas Day, but West’s new club has given him plenty to cheer about as well.

The Grizzlies are 23-18 after beating the Lakers on Wednesday night, already within five victories of the franchise’s best season. They’re 13-5 at home, they’re right in the playoff mix and they’re doing it all with a bunch of 24-year-old players and a 70-year-old coach.

“Everybody’s like, ‘What’s going on in Memphis?’ ” said Earl Watson, the backup point guard from UCLA. “We’re young, we’re well-coached, we’re highly disciplined. And I think the hunger is there. We’re just growing, each and every month, each and every week, we’re getting better. And we’re always looking ahead, we’re always looking up.”

Well, Brown doesn’t allow them to look too far ahead. With the third-youngest average age in the NBA (25.5 years), Brown has to cater to their short attention spans.

“Young teams, they can’t think long,” Brown said. “So we want to keep them within short frameworks, short goals.”

The only long-term thought he allowed them to keep in the back of their minds was that if they could just get through six weeks of the season, when they had 11 road games and never played consecutive games at home, they could really start to build momentum.

Now, at the midpoint of the season, they already have the majority of their road games behind them.

“Now it’s up to you to take advantage of these games,” Brown said. “And you can’t let a game slip that you think you should win. And that’s where, I think, we put all of our emphasis. Because at no time do we ever want them, ever, to think that they lose who they are. We know who we are.”

They are a team that’s somehow getting it done without a physical, low-post scoring threat in the West, the land of Shaq, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.

They force steals, their athletic front line blocks shots, and they get out on the fastbreak.

Somehow the disciplinarian Hubie Brown and the freewheeling Jason Williams, a matchup that seemed destined to rival some of the worst pairings on “Blind Date,” are coexisting.

“It’s working,” Williams said. “I thought the same thing when he first took the job: I thought we were going to bump heads and go crazy just like you all thought we were.

“He let me play my game. He’s totally the opposite of what I thought.”

Brown still has a temper and still has lung power, as he demonstrated in a second-quarter timeout Wednesday night when his complaints to his team could be heard three-fourths of the way down the court.

Oh, and he still has serious X-and-O skills.

He credited the Laker coaching staff with a good game plan that stretched out the Grizzly defense, created one-on-one opportunities that allowed the Lakers to creep to a 46-40 halftime lead, thanks in large part to 16 second-chance points off 12 offensive rebounds.

But Brown made all the right changes in the locker room, and the Grizzlies took command of the game in the third quarter by changing their defense, cutting off passing lanes, and not allowing an offensive rebound.

How could any basketball junkie who listened to Brown’s work as a television analyst for 15 years not be inspired when he talks basketball? We’re talking about a man who used the word “because” three times in one sentence Wednesday night.

I wonder if at any time since he was hired in November 2002 he has had to catch himself: “See, if I’m the Memphis Grizzlies right now -- wait a minute, I am the Memphis Grizzlies.”

The only reason I look forward to Laker-Memphis games is because they allow me to get my Hubie fix, which for television viewers is now limited to the NBA draft.

The only problem is, the Grizzlies are doing too well for Brown to get bounced from his job and back into the broadcast seat.

“You can never do this without players,” Brown said. “And never do this without the players total chemistry and sacrificing.

“First of all, you’re always happy for your staff. Then you’re really happy for [the players], because they’re looking beyond minutes, shots. They’re looking beyond that.”

They’ve turned into one of the better stories in the NBA, certainly a lot better than the recent Laker chapters of poor shooting, insufficient scoring and road losses.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande go to latimes.com/Adande.