--The Grizzlies have a solid link to the March Madness of the NCAA Tournament. Of the 11 players on the roster who played college basketball, they have one champion (Hakim Warrick), two players who made it to the finals but lost (Mike Conley and Mike Miller), four more players who made it to the Elite Eight (Rudy Gay, Kyle Lowry, Jason Collins and Casey Jacobsen) and another who made it to the Sweet 16 (Brian Cardinal).
Warrick and Miller had huge moments in the tourney. Warrick's last second block on Kansas' Michael Lee sealed Syracuse's 2003 title, and Miller's driving buzzer-beater beat Butler in the first round of the 2000 tournament. Last year, Conley's Ohio State team lost in the final to Florida.
"It was the best time of my life," Conley said. "It was so exciting, just the whole atmosphere of March Madness, the lose-or-go-home atmosphere where you've only got one game and if you don't win it you're going home. To make it all the way to the championship as a freshman it was a real honor because I know how hard teams work to get there and I know how hard we worked, so it was a great thrill to do it."
--The Grizzlies are 6-31 on the road and 2-21 in road games vs. Western Conference teams.
--Juan Carlos Navarro hasn't played well lately. He played Saturday night's game against the Clippers with a busted lip he sustained Thursday against the Lakers.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "We are trying to relax and just play our game. We have been trying to do that all season long." -- Grizzlies center Darko Milicic on the team's recent improved play.
