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My Fox Memphis reports:
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Memphis Grizzlies standout Zach Randolph has been implicated in an Indianapolis drug investigation. A probable cause affidavit has a police informant indentifying Randolph as a major marijuana supplier in Indianapolis.
A stake out on a suspected drug house 2 weeks ago led to 32 year old Arthur Boyd being pulled over in a Cadillac Escalade. The vehicle had marijuana and ammunition inside, and was registered to Randolph.
The San Antonio Silver Stars today announced the signing of veteran forward Chamique Holdsclaw. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.
In order to make room on the 11-woman roster for Holdsclaw, the Silver Stars waived guard Belinda Snell.
Holdsclaw signed with the Dream in April 2009 after the team acquired her rights from the Los Angeles Sparks. The 10-year WNBA veteran requested a trade from the Atlanta Dream prior to the start of 2010 training camp and did not report to the team; she was released from Atlanta on May 19, 2010.
“We are thrilled to have Chamique join the Silver Stars family,” said Silver Stars General Manager Dan Hughes. “Chamique and our staff felt it was such a great fit. We are excited to get to work with Chamique in a Silver Stars uniform.”
Holdsclaw originally was selected first overall by the Washington Mystics in the 1999 WNBA Draft. In her 10 seasons in the WNBA, Holdsclaw has tallied career averages of 17.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
The 6-foot-2 forward was recognized as the 1999 WNBA Rookie of the Year in addition to being named a starter in the league’s inaugural All-Star Game. She spent six seasons in Washington and earned four All-Star Game selections (1999-2002) during her time with the Mystics. Her most productive season came in 2003 as she averaged a career-high 20.5 points, 10.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
Prior to the start of the 2005 season, Holdsclaw was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in exchange for DeLisha Milton-Jones and the 13th overall pick in the 2005 WNBA Draft. Holdsclaw’s tally of 17.0 points per game in 2005 ranked her third in the league. She was voted into the WNBA All-Star game for the sixth time in her career and reached two career milestones: 6,000 minutes and 3,000 career points. In 2006, Holdsclaw was named a WNBA All-Decade Honorable.
After playing in five games with the Sparks in 2007, Holdsclaw announced her retirement from the league but continued to play overseas for TS Wisla Can-Pak Krakow (Poland).
On Dec. 17, 2008, the Dream acquired the rights to Holdsclaw from the Sparks in exchange for the no. 13 pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft. She tallied averages of 13.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game with the Dream last season before missing the last nine games of regular season play and Atlanta’s first playoffs appearance after undergoing successful arthroscopic knee surgery.
Prior to being drafted into the WNBA, Holdsclaw completed an illustrious collegiate career at Tennessee that included being named a four-time Kodak All-American. She collected 3,025 career points and 1,295 career rebounds which made her the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in Tennessee history among both men and women. Additionally, her points and rebounds tallies ranked her first all-time in SEC women’s history and also first in the history of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. She won the Naismith Player of the Year trophy twice (1998, 1999) and was named the Naismith Player of the Century for the 1990s as she helped lead the Lady Vols to a 134-17 record during her time at Tennessee.
Snell has tallied career averages of 4.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game in 112 games played. She signed with the Silver Stars as a free agent on March 30, 2009 and recorded a career-high 6.2 points per game and a career-high 2.3 rebounds per game in her first season in San Antonio. Snell re-signed with San Antonio on April 28, 2010, after reaching the FIBA Euroleague Women finals and winning the F.E.B. title with Ros Casares (Valencia, Spain).
“Belinda was a wonderful member of the Silver Stars and we want to thank her and wish her the best in the future,” said Hughes.
The National Basketball Association announced tonight that the Washington Wizards received the first overall pick in the 2010 Draft during tonight’s Draft Lottery in Secaucus, NJ.
“This is a great night for our franchise and particularly for our fans,” said Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld. “They have shown great support and passion during what has been a difficult stretch over the last two seasons, but they can celebrate tonight knowing that we’ve taken a big step towards building the team that they deserve.”
The Wizards, who had a 10.3% chance of landing the first pick in tonight’s Draft Lottery, have held the number one overall pick twice before in franchise history. They chose Walt Bellamy number one in 1961 and Kwame Brown with the top pick in 2001.
In addition to the number one pick, the Wizards own Cleveland’s first round selection (30th overall) as a result of a three-team deal on Feb. 17 and hold their own second round pick (35th overall).
Washington is totally rebuilding, and chances are they’ll go make John Wall the first overall selection.
The Philadelphia 76ers are likely to take Evan Turner second, playing him alongside Andre Iguodala.
At third, the Nets will probably go for a power forward. There are several good candidates worthy of going that high up.
Complete 2010 NBA Draft Lottery results are here.
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The Memphis Grizzlies and Head Coach Lionel Hollins have agreed on a multi-year contract extension, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.
In his first full season as an NBA head coach, Hollins guided Memphis to a 40-42 record (.488), the fourth-best season in the franchise’s 15-year history. The Grizzlies recorded a 16-game improvement in 2009-10, second only to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Since naming Hollins the 11th head coach in club history on Jan. 25, 2009, Memphis has steadily improved, posting a 53-68 record (.438) after going 55-152 (.266) in the two-and-a-half seasons prior.
Under Hollins, the Grizzlies set franchise records in 2009-10 for scoring (102.5 points) and field goal percentage (.469) while establishing the longest home and road winning streaks in club history (11-game home winning streak from Dec. 18, 2009-Jan. 25, 2010, seven-game road winning streak from Feb. 17-March 10, 2010). The former 1978 NBA All-Star with the Portland Trail Blazers also helped Grizzlies forward and nine-year NBA veteran Zach Randolph earn his first career All-Star appearance, as he set or tied 16 franchise records in his first season in the Bluff City.
The 22-year NBA coaching veteran was named the Western Conference Coach of the Month after leading the Grizzlies to a 9-4 record (.692) in December, the best December record and sixth-highest winning percentage for a single month in team history.
An original member of the Grizzlies organization as an assistant coach with Vancouver in 1995, Hollins rallied Memphis to win 39 of its final 73 games (.534) after a 1-8 start to the season. He also helped the Grizzlies snap long-standing road losing streaks against opponents such as the San Antonio Spurs (10 games), New Orleans Hornets (eight games), Phoenix Suns (seven games), Chicago Bulls (five games), Portland Trail Blazers (four games) and Philadelphia 76ers (four games). The Grizzlies also defeated every NBA division leader this season.
A member of the 1977 NBA Champion Portland Trail Blazers, Hollins holds a lifetime NBA coaching record of 71-114 (.384), having served as the Grizzlies’ interim head coach for 60 games in the 1999-00 season and four games during the 2004-05 campaign.
The Memphis Grizzlies announced today that center Marc Gasol and guard/forward Ronnie Brewer will miss the team’s remaining eight games of the 2009-10 regular season due to injury.
Gasol, a 7-1, 265-pound center, missed five games from March 16-24 after suffering a partially torn neck muscle during a game on March 13 vs. Denver and re-aggravated the injury in his second game back on March 31 vs. Dallas.
One of the leading candidates for the NBA Most Improved Player Award, Gasol has posted career highs in points (14.6), rebounds (9.3, T-16th in the NBA) and blocks (1.58, 13th) while shooting a franchise-record 58.1 percent (4th) from the field in 69 games this season. The Barcelona, Spain native leads all second-year players in rebounding and field goal percentage.
Brewer, a 6-7, 227-pound swingman, suffered a partially torn right hamstring on Feb. 19 vs. Miami, his first game with the Grizzlies after being acquired from the Utah Jazz at the trade deadline one day earlier. The four-year NBA veteran initially missed 13 games with the injury from Feb. 21-March 13 and has only played in four games since, last on March 22 at Sacramento.
The former University of Arkansas Razorback has averaged 8.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.57 steals in 58 total games with the Grizzlies and Jazz this season.
Memphis (38-36) will host the New Orleans Hornets at 7 p.m. tonight at FedExForum. The Grizzlies need just four more victories to post the club’s first winning record since the 2005-06 season.
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The Memphis Grizzlies recalled center Hasheem Thabeet from the Dakota Wizards, the team’s NBA Development League’s affiliate, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.
The second overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Thabeet averaged a double-double with 13.8 points and 11.2 rebounds along with 3.17 blocks on 50.0 percent shooting in 31.3 minutes in six games (four starts) with Dakota after being assigned by the Grizzlies on Feb. 25.
The 7-3, 267-pound center, who led the Wizards to a 5-1 record, scored a D-League career-high 19 points on Feb. 28 at Fort Wayne and grabbed a personal-best 18 rebounds on March 5 at Tulsa.
The 23-year-old rookie is averaging 2.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.16 blocks (second among first-year players) in 50 games with the Grizzlies.
The Memphis Grizzlies assigned guard Lester Hudson to the Dakota Wizards, the team’s NBA Development League’s affiliate, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.
Hudson, who will make his third D-League appearance this season, has averaged 4.3 points and 1.3 rebounds on 38.2 percent shooting in 7.4 minutes in eight appearances with Memphis after he was claimed off waivers on Jan. 8. The 6-3, 190-pound guard has posted 2.3 points and 0.8 rebounds on 38.5 percent shooting in 5.4 minutes in 24 total games this season with the Grizzlies and Boston Celtics, who originally selected him with the 58th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.
A native of Memphis, Tenn., Hudson averaged 14.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists on 39.7 percent shooting in 28.0 minutes in five games with the Maine Red Claws during his first two D-League stints (Dec. 15-20, Dec. 26-30). The 25-year-old scored a D-League career-high 25 points on Dec. 16 at Erie while also collecting seven rebounds and a D-League career-best six assists.
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The Memphis Grizzlies assigned center Hasheem Thabeet to the Dakota Wizards, Memphis’ NBA D-League affiliate, it was announced today.
The assignment is the 23rd time an NBA player has been assigned to an NBA D-League affiliate this season.
Thabeet, the second overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft, becomes the highest-drafted NBA player to join an NBA D-League roster. In 50 games for Memphis this season, he averaged 2.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 10.3 minutes.
A 7-3 native of Tanzania, Thabeet played three seasons at the University of Connecticut, averaging 10.3 points and 8.5 rebounds in 100 career NCAA games. Named the Big East Co-Player of the Year and the Big East Defensive Player of the year in 2009, Thabeet was also a two-time NABC National Defensive Player of the Year. During his final campaign at UConn, Thabeet averaged 13.6 points, 20.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks (second in the nation).
Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports:
Grizzlies swingman Ronnie Brewer will miss at least three weeks with a partially torn right hamstring.
Brewer, who was injured Friday during the Grizzlies’ 100-87 double overtime loss to Miami, had his condition confirmed this morning after a magnetic resonance imaging exam.
Brewer did not travel this afternoon with the team to New Jersey where the Griz will face the Nets on Sunday evening. The Grizzlies are officially saying that Brewer will be out indefinitely and a timetable for his return will be set in a week.
Tim Buckley of the Deseret News reports:
He doesn’t like it, but Deron Williams knows trades come with the territory.
“It stinks that these things happen in the NBA,” Williams said Friday, one day after the Jazz dealt close friend and starting shooting guard Ronnie Brewer to Memphis for a protected 2011 first-round draft choice.
This particular trade, however, left Williams particularly offended — so much so he questioned the team’s thinking and suggested it could influence the length of his future with the franchise.
The All-Star point prefaced Friday’s remarks by saying, “I haven’t really got nothing much good to say about the trade, so …”