As Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace continues to say that Marc Iavaroni is his coach and that everyone in the organization will be evaluated at the end of the season, there's no denying the improvement of some of the Grizzlies' young players.
For instance, first-round draft choice Mike Conley probably won't get any Rookie of the Year votes this season. He had a shoulder injury that sidelined him for awhile, and by the time he healed and got back in the lineup, the Grizzlies were awful and on their way to trading Pau Gasol. But in the last month, particularly last few weeks, Conley has started to figure out the point. The most noticeable thing is the improvement of his outside shot.
As good as Conley was last year at Ohio State, his clear weakness was hitting an outside jumper. And honestly, for a great portion of this season, defenses disrespected his jumper so much that they didn't even bother fighting over screens.
Now, Conley is making opponents using that strategy pay for that line of thinking. In Wednesday's blowout of the Knicks, he nailed 8-of-10 field goals for 18 points.
"I watched the film of our last loss to Atlanta and it caught my attention I wasn't being aggressive looking for my shot," Conley said. "I made up my mind early that I was going to shoot the ball early coming off the pick-and-roll. I did that early in the game and kept going."
Said Iavaroni of Conley, "He played with a lot of confidence, and hopefully he can carry it over when we play against more solidly-configured teams. The Knicks are going through a tough time right now."
GRIZZLIES 130, KNICKS 114: The Knicks were so bad that they made the Grizzlies look like a playoff team. You know things are going good when Kwame Brown comes off the bench and goes for 11 points and eight rebounds. Memphis shot 60 percent from the field and 45 percent from three-point range, an indication that the Knicks were really uninterested in guarding anybody.
The Grizzlies scored a season-high 74 first-half points and finished with eight players in double figures.
"We wanted to come out aggressive," Conley said. "We didn't set the tempo last game (a loss to Atlanta). This time, we were energized and knocking down big shots."
