"We're going to keep getting better and we're going to be a viable product to spend your entertainment dollars on," Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. "We're going to play hard, we're going to play together and we're going to give a lot of people problems. We showed people glimpses of that in the last three months."

The way the Grizzlies improved and grew 39 games under Hollins was comparable to the way the team progressed in Hubie Brown's first year as Grizzlies coach in 2002-03. Brown took over for the fired Sidney Lowe after the Grizzlies got off to a 0-8 start and the team went 15-22 in the last three months.

"There are certainly similarities, although Hubie had a lot more games to work with," said Hollins, who went 13-26 since taking over Jan. 25. "It's easier to take over a team earlier in the year, rather than later in the year, because you have to turn around a culture.

"It's not the culture on the court. It's the culture in the locker room. It's being on time. It's holding everybody accountable. It's being at meetings and practices on time, working hard before and after practice on your game... There's a lot of things that go into changing a team. It's little things that are important.

"A lot of those things weren't taking place. You've got to change that, and then when you get to the court, we have a style and a way you're going to conduct yourself."

The Grizzlies bought into Hollins, and players such as Rudy Gay feel the Grizzlies are one or two players away from getting back into playoff contention.

"We showed progression," Gay said. "This year, the team feels we're getting better."

The Grizzlies need a power forward, a veteran outside shooter and a backup point guard to solidify an eight-man rotation. The core group of Gay, O.J. Mayo, Mike Conley and Marc Gasol are all players who just finished their third season or fewer in the league.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT: The Grizzlies, despite looking more like a professional team in attitude and structure under Lionel Hollins, seemed doomed to their worst season since their first years in Memphis. But in the last three weeks of the season, they shared the ball, hustled, showed some resolve after blowing leads and won seven of their last 12 games, including a 98-90 victory over Atlanta in their season finale. Included in the hot finish was a four-game win streak in which they scored more than 100 points in each victory.

TURNING POINT: The Grizzlies hit a stretch in mid-December to late January where they lost nine straight games and 17 of 19, going from a 9-15 record on Dec. 14 to 11-32 on Jan. 24. It was clear the players had lost faith in Marc Iavaroni as their coach. They all but ignored his in-game instructions and publicly expressed their displeasure. Management responded by firing Iavaroni and hiring former Grizzlies assistant Lionel Hollins.