After a 10 game improvement last season, the Memphis Grizzlies are poised to make the playoffs in the 2010/11 season and finally have the bench to be able to actually win a game or two once there. With a solid starting five of Mike Conley at point, O.J. Mayo at the two, Rudy Gay at small forward, Zach Randolph at the 4 spot and Spanish center Marc Gasol at center, look for the Grizz to compete for the Southwest Division title.
Look for second year head coach Lionel Hollins to vastly improve his team over the course of the season and push his team past the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
On January 25, 2009, the 2009 Memphis Grizzlies signed Lionel Hollins as the franchises newest head coach. A former player on Portland’s 1976 Championship squad, he was expected to bring toughness and stability to the team that is going through a perpetual changes. In the 2009 draft, the Grizz selected center Hasheem Thabeet of the University of Connecticut, and Demarre Carroll of the University of Missouri. In September of 2009, the Grizzlies had the opportunity to sign the much maligned guard Allen “The Answer” Iverson who averaged 12.3 ppg in 22.3 mpg. He was waived after only four games and in December signed a one-year contract with his former team the Philadelphia 76er’s. The Clipper record stands at 10-13.
The Memphis Grizzlies certainly won’t be confused with the Los Angeles Lakers by the casual fan, much less the well-versed basketball fan, but they’re working hard to build their own image and legacy and are well on their way to becoming one of the top teams in the league. The Grizzlies came to existence in 1996 in Vancouver and played six years there before making the move to the continental United States. Those six years could easily be considered the six worst years that any single team has had in a six-year run, a run in which the Grizzlies averaged a 19-63 record and a last place finish in the always competitive Midwest division.
The franchise came into existence in the 1995 season as a part of the NBA Expansion into Canada. The team would be relocated to Memphis in 2001 and acquired center Pau Gasol from the Atlanta Hawks then drafted Shane Battier. Gasol would go on to win the Rookie of the Year Award. When Jerry West took over as GM in 2002, he fired head coach Sidney Lowe and installed Hubie Brown who won the NBA Coach of the year in 2003. However, in 2004, Brown stepped down and was replaced by Mike Fratello who took the team into the playoffs but was eliminated by the Phoenix Suns. In the postseason, clashes between Fratello and some of his players (Bonzi Wells and Jason Williams) led the franchise to trade Wells and Williams as well as Stromile Swift and James Posey for a host of players to include Damon Stoudamire, Bobby Jackson and Eddie Jones. They would again make the playoffs but were eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks.
In the offseason, GM West traded Battier to Houston for Rudy Gay and Pau Gasol would break his left foot playing for Spain in the FIBA World Championships. It wouldn’t take long before Fratello was fired and replaced by Tony Barone. The team would finish 22-60 and in the offseason, the franchise would hire Marc Iavaroni as the new head coach. Iavaroni would win no more than 24 games in a season and was promptly fired and replaced by assistant coach Johnny Davis.
In the 2009 draft, the Grizzlies selected Hasheem Thabeet from the University of Connecticut. They would later make interim coach Davis the permanent head coach.
NBA
Team Info Home
All Images, Content and Design © 2004-2010, NBATEAMINFO.com. All rights reserved. |
