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The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Ronald Tillery) reports: Henry Bibby and former NBA point guard Damon Stoudamire have officially joined Memphis Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins’ staff as assistant coaches. They are expected to be on the bench tonight when the Griz host the Los Angeles Clippers.
InsideHoops.com editor says: The Grizzlies should now immediately inform Damon Stoudamire the team has decided to move back to Vancouver.
The AP reports: O.J. Mayo scored 32 points and the Grizzlies held off the Houston Rockets 104-93 on Wednesday night for their second straight victory. The Rockets closed to 97-93 with just over 4 minutes remaining, but Mayo scored on a drive and hit a 3-pointer, and Memphis held on… Rudy Gay had 18 points and nine rebounds for Memphis, and Hakim Warrick finished with 17 points on 6-of-9 from the floor and had eight rebounds. Marc Gasol and Conley had 10 points apiece, and Conley also had nine rebounds and seven assists. Gasol recorded five blocks… Tracy McGrady led the Rockets with 21 points. Rafer Alston added 15 points and six assists.
The AP reports: Memphis Grizzlies rookie O.J. Mayo had done more scoring than losing at every level of play until he reached the NBA. On Monday night, he used his ability to score to help the Grizzlies end a 12-game losing skid, matching his career high with 33 points in a 113-97 win over the Washington Wizards… Rudy Gay scored 23 and Marc Gasol added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis, which ended the team’s longest drought since dropping 13 in a row to start the 2002-03 season. The Grizzlies had not won since beating Dallas 102-82 Jan. 4… Antawn Jamison had 29 points and 13 rebounds and Caron Butler scored 21 for Washington, which failed to record its second two-game winning streak of the season.
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant scored 25 points, Gasol had 24 points and eight rebounds and the Lakers beat Memphis 115-98 on Saturday night, extending the Grizzlies’ losing streak to 12 games. The win was tempered by the uncertain status of Lakers center Andrew Bynum, who left the game in the first quarter with a sprained right knee. X-rays were negative and further tests will be done Sunday in New York where the Lakers face the Knicks the following day… Rudy Gay had 23 points, while O.J. Mayo scored 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field for the Grizzlies, losers of 20 of their last 22. Mike Conley finished with 13 points and seven assists, and Marc Gasol also scored 13 points.
The Memphis Grizzlies have signed forward Darius Miles for the remainder of the season, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.
The 6-9, 235-pound forward has averaged 5.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.80 blocks in 12.1 minutes in 10 games with the Grizzlies this season.
The seven-year NBA veteran originally signed with the Grizzlies as a free agent on Dec. 13 (and was later waived on Jan. 7) after missing all of the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons following microfracture surgery on his right knee. The 27-year-old signed consecutive 10-day contracts with Memphis on Jan. 10 and on Jan. 20.
Miles signed a free-agent contract with the Boston Celtics on Aug. 22, 2008 and appeared in six preseason games, averaging 1.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 10.4 minutes before his release on Oct. 20.
The third overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft, Miles became the first player in league history drafted straight out of high school (East St. Louis High School) to earn All-Rookie honors when he posted 9.4 points and 1.54 blocks for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2000-01.
The Bellville, Ill. native holds career averages of 10.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.14 blocks in 27.4 minutes in 422 career games (190 starts) with Memphis, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Portland Trail Blazers.
The AP reports: Kevin Durant scored 35 points and led the way as the Thunder recovered after blowing a late 12-point lead to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 114-102 in overtime Wednesday night… Jeff Green added 23 points on a career-high five 3-pointers, Westbrook scored 16 points, and Chucky Atkins had 10 in only his second game since joining the Thunder in a trade three weeks ago. Rudy Gay finished with 25 points to lead Memphis, which lost its 11th straight game and fell to 0-2 under new coach Lionel Hollins. Mayo scored 17 points, and Mike Conley and Marc Gasol added 15 apiece for Memphis. Conley also had a career-high nine assists.
The AP reports: Chauncey Billups scored 14 consecutive points in the third quarter and finished with 29 to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 100-85 victory Tuesday night, sending the Grizzlies to their 10th straight loss Hollins’ debut as coach… The Nuggets got 20 points from J.R. Smith and 16 points from Linas Kleiza. Chris Anderson had five of Denver’s 15 blocked shots, a season high… Rookie guard O.J. Mayo led the Grizzlies with 19 points. Gay, Kyle Lowry and Darius Miles scored 13 apiece.
The Memphis Grizzlies reached a buyout agreement and waived guard Steve Francis, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.
The 6-3, 210-pound guard has not appeared in a game with the Grizzlies or Houston Rockets this season after he was acquired from Houston on Dec. 24, 2008 along with Memphis’ own 2009 second round draft pick and cash considerations in exchange for a conditional 2011 second round draft pick.
The 31-year-old former three-time All-Star (2002, 2003, 2004) has averaged 18.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists 37.6 minutes in 576 career games (543 starts) in nine seasons with Houston, Orlando Magic and New York Knicks.
The Grizzlies’ roster currently stands at 13 players.
The Memphis Grizzlies named Barry Hecker an assistant coach, General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.
With over 35 years of basketball experience in the professional, collegiate and high school ranks, Hecker joins the Grizzlies after a stint with the China Basketball Association (CBA) where he was an assistant coach with the Jiangsu Nangang Dragons during the league’s 2008 playoffs.
Along with his work in the CBA, Hecker spent 16 seasons (1986-98, 2001-05) with the Los Angeles Clippers, first serving as the team’s director of scouting (1986-94) and then moving to the bench for four seasons (1994-98) as an assistant under head coach Bill Fitch. Hecker would later spend four seasons (2001-05) as the club’s director of player personnel/assistant coach.
Before his first stint with the Clippers, Hecker spent two seasons (1984-86) as the player personnel director for the Cleveland Cavaliers, helping assemble a core of players including Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Ron Harper and Johnny “Hot Rod” Williams, that would turn the Cavaliers into a perennial Eastern Conference power in the late-1980s and early-1990s.
Hecker basketball executive experience also includes two seasons (1999-01) as the interim head coach, assistant coach and player personnel director for the Las Vegas Bandits of the International Basketball League (IBL), where he assisted current Grizzlies Head Coach Lionel Hollins in the 2000-01 season.
A popular and frequent speaker on the basketball clinic circuit, Hecker has been the director of numerous camps, including those run by Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley, Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, Xavier McDaniel and Andrei Kirilenko. Internationally, Hecker has been invited as a guest speaker at clinics in China, Italy and Turkey.
The Washington, D.C. native received his bachelor’s degree from Frostburg State (MD) where he played basketball and baseball. He earned his master’s degree in education from George Washington University and was a Ph.D. candidate at Florida State. Hecker’s head coaching credits also include B.S. Leiden of the Dutch Professional League (1975) and Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah (1976-78).
The club also announced today that Andy Greer and Ron DuBois are no longer with the team and that Kevin O’Neill has been assigned to the new position of special assistant to the general manager.
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The Memphis Grizzlies have reassigned Kevin O’Neill to the new role of special assistant to the general manager, Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace announced today.
“Kevin O’Neill was instrumental in our draft preparations last year, which resulted in bringing O.J. Mayo and Darrell Arthur to the Grizzlies,” Wallace said. “Kevin is a very valuable resource for us. He has the rare combination of college coaching experience, as he was recently a head collegiate coach for a NCAA Tournament-caliber team, and he has a perspective of a NBA coach. We are eager to have Kevin’s input in our draft evaluation process again this year.”
O’Neill, a 29-year coaching veteran in the college and pro ranks, was named an assistant coach on June 17, 2008 after serving as the interim head coach at the University of Arizona last season, where he guided the Wildcats to a 19-15 record (.559) and the school’s 24th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
A seven-year veteran in the NBA coaching circles with the New York Knicks (2000-01, assistant), Detroit Pistons (2001-03, assistant), Toronto Raptors (2003-04, head coach), Indiana Pacers (2004-06, assistant) and Memphis (2008-09, assistant), O’Neill was a well-known figure on the college scene as the head coach at Marquette University (1989-94), Tennessee (1994-97) and Northwestern University (1997-2000). The Great Midwest Conference Coach of the Year in 1993 and 1994 (Marquette) has also seen duty as an assistant coach at Arizona (1986-89) under Hall of Famer Lute Olson, the University of Tulsa (1985-86) and the University of Delaware (1983-85).