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Vancouver Grizzlies
Young Grizzlies squad looks to make its mark
The Vancouver Grizzlies open the 2000-01 campaign Oct. 31at home against the Seattle SuperSonics. Here are a few questions the Grizzlies will have to address this season, followed by CNNSI.com's perspective on some of those issues.
CNNSI.com wants to know:
1) Is this the season Shareef Abdur-Rahim makes the big leap to superstardom? After rewarding him with a reported six-year, $71 million deal in the offseason, the Grizzlies can only hope so. Abdur-Rahim already is among a select group of players to average 20 or more points in three straight seasons. A lesser-known fact is that he averaged 10.1 rebounds last season -- as a small forward.
2) Can Sidney Lowe do what Brian Winters, Stu Jackson, Brian Hill and Lionel Hollins were unable to do in Vancouver -- win 25 games in a season? Lowe is the Grizzlies' fifth coach in six years, which isn't too surprising after 300 losses in the franchise's first 378 games.
3) Does the addition of rookie Stromile Swift finally give the Grizz a formidable frontcourt? Vancouver's starting power forward (Othella Harrington) and center (Bryant Reeves) combined to average 12.6 boards a game last season as the Grizzlies finished next-to-last in the NBA in rebounding.
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4) Who made Vancouver the official reclamation project of the NBA? Isaac Austin is on his third team in as many years, thanks to lackluster-at-best performances, while the enigmatic Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf is back in the league after a two-year hiatus (one year in Turkey, one in retirement).
5) Will the all-Arizona Wildcat backcourt continue to flourish? After being reunited in Vancouver, the tandem of Michael Dickerson and Mike Bibby showed marked improvement in their second years in the league. Dickerson raised his scoring average from 10.9 to 18.2, while Bibby became one of the NBA's top assist men at 8.1 per game.
The key to Vancouver's season will be continuing to develop its impressive young nucleus. The average age of Abdur-Rahim, Bibby, Dickerson and Swift is only 23. One more trip to the lottery is expected. After that, look out.
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Biggest Offseason Move: Austin -- no pun intended. The last time Austin was in a contract year, he responded with career highs in points (13.5) and rebounds (7.1). But after two disappointing seasons, he landed in Vancouver in perhaps his final NBA chance. The Grizzlies gave up little (sending Dennis Scott, Cherokee Parks, Obinna Ekezie and Felipe Lopez to the Wizards) to get the oft-overweight Austin, but it could pay big dividends as he adds some much-needed bulk in the paint.
Circle the Date: Think Grizzlies fans will ever ease up on Steve Francis? We don't either. Francis and the Rockets come to GM Place for the first time Dec. 11. The Francis sideshow inspired the Grizz last season -- they split with Houston.
Standout Stat: 10 Road wins by the Grizzlies last season. Vancouver had won only 17 in its first four seasons combined.
| Grizzlies Offseason Movement | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrivals | Via | Departures | Via |
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Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf Ike Austin Damon Jones Arijan Komazec Tony Massenburg Stromile Swift |
free agency trade w/Wizards free agency free agency free agency draft |
Obinna Ekezie Felipe Lopez Cherokee Parks Dennis Scott |
trade w/Wizards trade w/Wizards trade w/Wizards trade w/Wizards |
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