The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Ronald Tillery) reports on Mike Conley: The second-year point guard, taken fourth overall in the 2007 draft, hasn’t logged a single minute in the fourth quarter of the Grizzlies’ past two games. He’s yielded to third-year reserve Kyle Lowry, whose defensive toughness, speedy play and adequate decision-making has earned him a role as the closer at that position. So what’s going on with Conley? He’s not injured. “That question requires reflection,” Griz coach Marc Iavaroni said after benching Conley for the entire fourth quarter of a 96-86 loss Saturday at Chicago. “Right now, Kyle is playing with more energy and physicality so I’m going with him.”
Category: Memphis Grizzlies Blog
Grizzlies blog – Memphis Grizzlies blog
Nov 1: Bulls 96, Grizzlies 86
The AP reports: While Derrick Rose hopes to show more fire someday, the Chicago Bulls will take the sort of cool contribution he made on Saturday. The rookie who led Memphis to the NCAA final last year buried that city’s NBA team, scoring 26 points in his best game to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 96-86 victory over the Grizzlies. Kirk Hinrich added 18 points, but the night belonged to Rose, the No. 1 draft pick and Chicago native… Hinrich was 5-of-7 on 3-pointers. Drew Gooden grabbed 20 rebounds, and Chicago pulled this one out after losing by 16 at defending champion Boston the previous night thanks in part to a 51-43 edge on the boards… Rudy Gay scored 20 after pouring in 29 and hitting the winning 18-footer against Orlando on Friday. Warrick added 18 points and seven rebounds, while Mayo, the No. 3 pick, scored 16.
Oct 31: Grizzlies 86, Magic 84
The AP reports: Rudy Gay, the third-year pro, hit an 18-foot jumper right of the basket as time expired to give the Memphis Grizzlies an 86-84 win over the Orlando Magic… It gave Gay 29 points to lead the Grizzlies to their first win in a home opener since moving to Memphis in the 2001-02 season. Gay scored 14 of Memphis’ 25 points in the fourth-quarter rally. Rookie O.J. Mayo scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds for Memphis, while Gasol scored 10 points and guarded the Magic’s Dwight Howard… Rashard Lewis led the Magic with 23 points, while Hedo Turkoglu finished with 18, nine rebounds and seven assists. Howard had 14 points and 14 rebounds, but managed only nine shots. Jameer Nelson had 11 points.
Grizzlies exercise 4 player options
The Memphis Grizzlies today exercised the fourth-year team options on forward Rudy Gay and guard Kyle Lowry and picked up the third-year team options on guards Mike Conley and Javaris Crittenton. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed. All four players are now signed through the 2009-10 season.
Gay, the eighth overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft, led all NBA sophomores in scoring last season (team-high 20.1 points per game) and finished runner-up to Orlando’s Hedo Turkoglu for the NBA Most Improved Player Award. The 6-8, 230-pound forward holds career averages of 15.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.96 blocks in 32.1 minutes in 160 career games (125 starts).
Lowry, the 24th overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft, ranked third among all second-year players in assists last season (3.6), trailing only Portland’s Brandon Roy and Boston’s Rajon Rondo while leading the club in free throw attempts (243). The 6-0, 205-pound guard holds career averages of 9.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.15 steals in 24.5 minutes in 93 career games (nine starts).
Conley, the fourth overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, led all NBA rookies in assists last season (team-high 4.2) and posted the highest-assist average for any rookie since the 2005-06 season. The 6-1, 185-pound guard, who participated in the 2008 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge as part of All-Star Weekend, owns career averages of 9.4 points, 4.2 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 26.2 minutes in 54 games (47 starts) with the Grizzlies.
Crittenton, the 19th overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, was acquired by Memphis along with the draft rights to Marc Gasol, Kwame Brown, Aaron McKie, first round draft picks in 2008 and 2010 and cash considerations in exchange for Pau Gasol and a 2010 second round pick on Feb. 1, 2008. The 6-5, 200-pound guard averaged 5.6 points and 2.2 rebounds in 13.6 minutes in 50 games (zero starts) in his first professional season.
Oct 29: Rockets 82, Grizzlies 71
The AP reports: Yao Ming had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Artest added 16 in his Houston debut, and the Rockets overcame poor shooting to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 82-71 on Wednesday night. Luis Scola had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets, who were 28-for-76 (36.8 percent) from the field. They also went 5-for-16 from 3-point range and were outrebounded 49-44… Rudy Gay scored 20 and Darrell Arthur had 11 points and 15 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who’ve lost all eight season openers since moving to Memphis in 2001… Tracy McGrady, wearing a brace on his left shoulder and a wrap below his left knee, had 16 points and five assists, but went 7-for-18 from the field.
Rockets-Grizzlies team connections
Houston acquired Shane Battier from Memphis in exchange for Stromile Swift and the draft rights to Rudy Gay on July 12, 2006 … Rockets guard Steve Francis, who was selected after his junior season by Vancouver in the first round (second overall) of the 1999 NBA Draft, had his draft rights traded by the Grizzles to Houston on Aug. 27, 1999 … in the 2008 NBA Draft, Houston traded the draft rights to Nicolas Batum (25th overall pick) to the Portland Trail Blazers for the draft rights to Darrell Arthur (27th overall pick) and to University of Memphis forward Joey Dorsey (33rd overall pick) … the Rockets then sent the draft rights for Arthur to the Grizzlies for the draft rights to Donté Greene (28th overall pick) and Memphis’ 2009 second-round pick … Andy Greer, an assistant coach with the Grizzlies, joined Memphis after four seasons with the Rockets.
NBA opening night rosters
The NBA’s opening day rosters are official, and now posted on InsideHoops.com.
This evening was the deadline for NBA teams to trim their rosters down to 15 players or less.
The 2008-09 regular season starts Tuesday, October 28. InsideHoops is your online basketball home. We’re pumping out more content this season than ever.
Enjoy the season!
Antoine Walker benched in Memphis
Once known as a versatile forward who could play multiple positions, nail three-pointers and shimmy around a lot to celebrate a good play, Antoine Walker, now with the Memphis Grizzlies, will sit around on the bench doing a lot of nothing. The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Ronald Tillery) reports:
Walker has been told that he won’t play, a decision designed by circumstance more than anything. The Griz are on a full-blown youth movement and the only position where Walker can still be mildly effective is power forward. However, it’s the same spot on the floor the Griz want to give ample time to Darko Milicic, Hakim Warrick and rookie Darrell Arthur for their development. “He understands,” Griz coach Marc Iavaroni said, revealing that he has communicated with Walker about this issue throughout training camp. Walker, entering his 13th season, still is disappointed. “I would have liked the opportunity to play but I understand the state that they’re in. They want to play the young guys,” Walker said. “I still feel like I’ve got a lot of basketball left in me and I can contribute to a team in the NBA. It’s unfortunate that it’s not working out here. But you have to respect the decision. This team has some good young talent.”
It seems like just yesterday Insidehoops readers were celebrating the famous Antoine Walker shimmy but it’s now a distant memory.
Rudy Gay is a budding star
SI (Arash Markazi) reports on Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies: The 21-year-old swingman nearly won the Most Improved Player award after boosting his scoring average from 10.8 points as a rookie to 20.1 points last season, an NBA-high 9.3-point increase. Gay became the first second-year player to average more than 20 points in three years and set a franchise record for most points in a season (1,632). This year, Iavaroni will give Gay more freedom on the court and allow him to lead the team after he was thrust into that role in the middle of last season. “If he is the best player on our team, he has to understand with that comes a lot of responsibility,” Iavaroni said. “He will ultimately be judged by how well we play because he must bring it every night for us to have success. He needs to understand that. That’s going to be his challenge this year.”
Oct 22: Magic 101, Grizzlies 90
The AP reports: Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu each scored 22 points to lead the Orlando Magic to a 101-90 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night in the final preseason game for both teams. J.J. Redick, competing for time at shooting guard, added 15 as the Magic cruised to their sixth straight preseason win. Reserve Darrell Arthur led Memphis with 18 points. Mike Conley added 13. Magic star Dwight Howard, who played sparingly in the second half, had 11 points and eight rebounds as Orlando showed signs of being ready to improve on its 52-win, Eastern Conference semifinal performance last season.