Rookie Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey was hungry. His teammates noticed, so they kept feeding him.

Edey relentlessly posted up on offense versus Indiana Pacers defenders and carved out good position Monday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. His patience, strength and footwork were all on display in Monday’s 120-116 preseason win.

Monday’s game was like a homecoming for Edey. He played his college basketball at Purdue, and his coach, Matt Painter, was among those in the crowd on Monday.

Edey finished with 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting in 19 minutes and had nine rebounds. The points and rebounds were the most he has had this preseason.

Here’s what stood out from Edey’s performance.

Getting it done inside

It wasn’t just the fact that Edey was scoring inside. He looked dominant and forceful while doing so. He made several of his patented right-handed hook shots that he practices every day.

He countered the hook shot with one of his most impressive moves of the day. When he shot the hook, he often went over his left shoulder. But in this instance, Edey caught Pacers center Isaiah Jackson off balance and spun to his right to throw down a powerful two-handed dunk in the first quarter.

Edey did a lot of his work against Pacers center Myles Turner, who is known as one of the NBA’s best shot blockers.

Grizzlies players had previously pointed out how the fast pace that they preferred limited how many post touches Edey could get, but Monday looked like they found a balance.

Accepting the defensive challenge

After not getting the start, Edey checked into the game midway through the first quarter and immediately gave up a 3-pointer to Turner.

You may have thought — uh oh.

Immediately, those draft concerns about his ability to guard perimeter-oriented players came to mind, but he quickly recovered. Grizzlies assistant coach Erik Schmidt pointed out at halftime on the Bally Sports broadcast how Edey's offense wasn't the only good thing about his night.

“Both sides of the ball, too,” Schmidt said. “Really good pick-and-roll defense. Great finishes in the post. Love to see him doing this where he went to college, so it’s great.”

Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis Grizzlies' Zach Edey offensive skill set vs Pacers preseason