SEATTLE -- Memphis Grizzlies general manager Jerry West stood outside his new team's locker room Monday night, lamenting its discouraging preseason loss to Seattle with coach Sidney Lowe.

It wasn't so much that the Grizzlies lost -- it's the preseason, everybody loses, and the outcomes aren't really remembered as soon as the team bus pulls out of the arena. Instead, it was the way they lost. Up by six in the third quarter, they allowed Sonics sharpshooter Vladimir Radmanovic to make two straight 3-pointers.

	Stromile Swift, right, has made little progress as a pro under Sidney Lowe.

It couldn't have been much easier for Radmanovic, really. He simply set a pick, rolled over to an open wing, and somehow the Grizzlies defense, the entire Grizzlies defense, went with the ball. Literally, on one of the 3s, there was 25 feet of open space between Radmanovic and the next defender. Then in the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies gave away the game, committing 11 turnovers. They should start calling 'em the Memphis Bakers, they make so many turnovers. Thirty-one (31) in all. Eleven (11) in the pivotal fourth.

And so, there West was, where he has been this entire preseason, frustrated by the play and the poor decisions of young players who have fallen into a laissez-faire attitude because they were, well, the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies who had no shot and then became the first-year Memphis Grizzlies who were uprooted.

But West is a winner, which also means West is an impatient man. You could hear it in his tone when he was asked what the expectations are for this team, which seems to have the talent -- Pau Gasol, rookie Drew Gooden, Shane Battier, Lorenzen Wright and Stromile Swift top the list -- but lacks direction.

"I guess I really don't know," West said. "By watching preseason so far, I would say my expectations are not really very high, to be honest with you. We are just making so many mistakes."

It's no secret that veteran experience wins in this league, but West is not in the mood to make excuses for guys making millions of dollars to win basketball games.

"We have a lot of new faces, a lot of young faces," West said. "We think we helped ourself talent-wise, but I think there is a mental aspect to this thing. We have to get everyone in a positive mode in terms of thinking they can win games and not, 'Oh my God, it's our time to lose tonight.' That is not going to happen here. We are going to get these guys to understand that it is about will in this league.

"Everyone says it is a two- or three-year period. I really don't believe that. I think, to me, why not expect to win now? It is about will, and if your will is not greater than someone else's, then you are going to lose. When you start winning games, your will is going to change."

Reading between the lines, I would be very nervous if I was the head coach.

Look, Lowe is a good guy, but in all honesty the Grizzlies have not greatly improved under him in the short time he has been with the team. Granted, it has been only two seasons, but Swift has not developed as well as he should have given his vast physical skills, the team has not developed an identity, and the will-to-win attitude that West talks about originates with the coach.

Further, Lowe, simply put, is not West's guy. This is West's team now, and he is going to put his stamp on it, and that includes putting the person in place who will best reflect West's outlook.

I have no inside knowledge here, but my guess is that if the Grizzlies are not advancing their cause by the first of the year, you will see Lowe dismissed. Early speculation is that Mike Dunleavy would replace him, but that is just guesswork at this point.

Make no mistake, though, it is West who calls the shots in Memphis, even in terms of which players play what positions.

	"	This is a free-for-all. I don't care who is in there. The best players should play. Shane had a great rookie year, and he is a very nice player. But this is going to be about competition. We are trying to create competition here. "
		— Jerry West

I asked West about his crowded frontcourt of Gasol, Wright, Swift, Gooden and Battier. Right now, Wright would probably play center and West said Gasol is a "nightmare matchup" that he thinks is one of the best players in the game, certainly one of the most skilled. West is adamant that the 6-foot-10, 230-pound Gooden is a small forward who, once he learns the league's defenses, "is in the same category as Gasol. The great thing about him is he can rebound, he has a nose for the ball."

West also is very high on Gordan Giricek, a 6-6 rookie from Croatia who, presumably, West wants to mold into another Peja Stojakovic, though Giricek was doing a lot of ball-handling Monday night.

And so, I asked, where does that leave Battier? West did not exactly endorse the Dukie.

"Some of these guys are not going to play ahead of guys who are more talented," West said. "This is a free-for-all. I don't care who is in there. The best players should play. Shane had a great rookie year, and he is a very nice player. But this is going to be about competition. We are trying to create competition here."

Whew, icy. I'm thinking Battier ought to consider which chair he likes on the bench to start the game.

But that is what it takes to win in this league, ignoring the names, college reputations, basketball matriculation and contract sizes of certain guys and trusting what you see on the court is what you see on the court. Yes, Ben Wallace, from Virginia Union, really did win Defensive Player of the Year last season.

West is willing to trust his own instincts, and he is not in the mood to trust other people's. It may take some time, but things are changing in Memphis.

Frank Hughes, who covers the NBA for the The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.), is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.