VANCOUVER trades George Lynch and Pete Chilcutt
to DENVER for Bobby Jackson

What the Grizzlies get: Jackson (25 years old), 23rd overall pick in 1997 Draft, is a scoring point guard (13 ppg, 6.4 Reb, 3.5 Ass this season). He has a 3 years-contract with a total of 2,400,000$. He is likely to replace rookie guard Antonio Daniels as the Grizzlies' starting point guard.

The Nuggets get: An expiring contract of former Lakers-Forward George Lynch, who struggled to do anything good for the Grizzlies so far (4,7 ppg). Chilcutt is strong from outside.

December Part #1: Grizzlies vs New Jersey Nets

OT Loss, 98-107

The Grizzlies keep losing, but they're getting closer to their third win. After losing to the Bucks by only 1 point two days ago, the Grizzlies faced the Nets and built a 19-points lead late in 3rd quarter! But things turned around dramatically and Vancouver found themselves trailing by 2 points 3 seconds before finish: Michael Smith kept cool and made his lay-up - 88:88.. still, the Nets had a run and left the Grizzlies chanceless in OT. Sam Cassell had 31 pts, 5 Ass and 5 Steals for the Nets, Kerry Kittles added 19 pts.. a disappointing day for Vancouver, which also lost rookie guard Antonio Daniels, who will be sidelined for 2-4 weeks with an Ankle sprain.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 29 pts and 7 Reb, but missed two FT's 30 second before final whistle. Grizzlies' center Bryant Reeves had a double-double: 21 pts, 10 Reb.

Without any questions, Cassell was the player of the match. He was outstanding, especially in OT, where the Nets dominated Vancouver.

Breaking News: Houston trades both Drexler and Olajuwon!

8./9. December: Two All-Stars will leave Houston! The Rockets traded their two living legends Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon: Drexler will join the Nuggets, while the Rockets receive a 1st Round Pick in 1998 draft and Olajuwon, quite suprisingly, was traded to the Lakers. It seems like the Rockets rebuild their roster dramatically in order to give this season up for the next draft. The Nuggets, also one of the worst teams in NBA so far, surprisingly gave up a first-round pick though, while the Lakers traded center Elden Campbell and promising guard Derek Fisher for Olajuwan and veteran Mario Elie. Fisher may become an important key to the Rocket's rebuilding process and the Lakers now have a phenomenal frontcourt with Olajuwan and Shaq O'Neal, Robert Horry!

Trade #1: HOUSTON traded Clyde Drexler and Eddie Johnson
to DENVER for Cory Alexander and Denver's 98' 1st round-pick

Trade #2: HOUSTON traded Hakeem Olajuwan and Mario Elie
to LA LAKERS for Elden Campbell and Derek Fisher

Mresuperstar wrote:
Wow, stupid move for the rockets, depending on the draft pick.

Another close match. Vancouver lost control in final quarter, but still led by 2 points 30 seconds before finish. Anyway, they didn't win regular time: 84-84 after 48 minutes, second overtime in a row. And again, the Grizzlies couldn't compete in additional five minutes and lost by 7 points.. but what a matchup this was - the young and promising Shareef Abdur-Rahim vs All-Star and future Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler, who got traded to the Nuggets recently:

Abdur-Rahim dominated the whole game and had 48 points in the end! His best game in his young NBA career, what a huge night for him..

..but there was also Clyde "The Glide" Drexler (35 years old). The veteran had an impressive second half after a struggling start and had 41 points. And this guy still can fly..

December 1997 - Results

The Grizzlies snapped a nine-game losing streak with a close, but well deserved win (29-14 in 4th quarter) against the recently rebuilt Rockets: the start of a 3-2 week for Vancouver. Two wins against the Wizards and Raptors at home. The Grizzlies now face a tough schedule with two games against San Antonio and some East Coast-games in Miami and Chicago.

December Part #3: Some impressions

Shareef Abdur-Rahim was the key player against the Rockets, scoring 34 points plus grabbing 9 boards.. Center Bryant Reeves added another double-double (20/11) and rookie guard Bobby Jackson had 13 pts, 5 reb and 6 assists.

The Grizzlies looked good against the strong Knicks, leading by 11 points at halftime. But a stunning 2nd half by Patrick Ewing (picture) made the Knicks winning 97-88. Ewing had 22 pts, 11 reb and 6 assists, Knicks guard John Starks added 19 pts.. for Vancouver, Abdur-Rahim scored 28 pts, 10 boards and veteran center Brad Daugherty had 18 pts.. power forward Tony Massenburg, who replaced Michel Smith (sidelined for 4 weeks), had his best game this season: 13 pts, 8 reb.

"The Twin Towers" dominated the boards in Grizzlies' loss against the Spurs: designated "Rookie of the Year" Tim Duncan (picture) had 36 pts, 13 boards, while veteran David Robinson had 28 pts, combining for 64 points (Spurs total: 108)! Abdur-Rahim had 33 pts for Vancouver.

#1: VANCOUVER re-calles guard Chris Robinson from D-Leauge.

Robinson, a sophomore shooting guard, was the Grizzlies' 2nd pick (51st overall) in 1996 Draft and had 41 games with Vancouver last year, averaging 4.6 points. He was .382% from outside and was in the starting lineup for 6 times.

#2: VANCOUVER signes guard C.J. Bruton.

Bruton, 53rd overall pick in 1997 Draft (by Vancouver), didn't make the team in pre-season, but he's now given a chance to replace Lee Mayberry as the backup point guard.

Drexler: gone. Olajuwan: gone. Kevin Willis? Now he's gone, too. The Houston Rockets seem to throw their season away and continue to collect draft picks instead. This time, they trade their veteran center Willis to San Antonio and receive Monty Williams and the Spurs' 1998 1st round pick:

HOUSTON traded Kevin Willis to
SAN ANTONIO for Monty Williams and San Antonio's 1998 first round-pick

Two months, 5 wins, one superstar: the Grizzlies still have to figure out the best way of playing and with only Abdur-Rahim performing on high level, the season goal of 17+ wins will be a really tough one. Rookie guard Jackson has some good numbers, but has way too many turnovers right now, and especially Reeves has to step up: he averages almost 3 points less than last year. At his age (25), the Grizzlies did expect at least the same scoring (16ppg) as he had in 1996-97.

VANCOUVER signed guard Lawrence Moten

The Vancouver Grizzlies announced this signing after being on a 10-game losing streak. The heavy schedule (games against the Bulls, Spurs, Jazz and Lakers) left the Grizzlies winless in early January. With Moten, who has already been with the Grizzlies in 95-96 and 97-97 (6.6ppg), the management adds some depth to their roster.

Coach Brian Hill made some changes in Grizzlies' rotation: struggling guard Blue Edwards will be replaced by Sam Mack, who came off the bench the whole season. Mack (8.5ppg) is the team's best three-point-shooter and is given more minutes now.. It also appears, that Tony Massenburg will remain as Vancouver's starting PF, even after Michael Smith's return from injury.

It will be one of the biggest stories of this 97-98 season: the Houston Rockets trade all (!) of their superstars.. Hakeem Olajuwon, Mario Elie (LA Lakers), Clyde Drexler, Eddie Johnson (Denver) and Kevin Willis (San Antonio) have all been traded and now it's Charles Barkley, who has to leave the team. Barkley will go to Indiana, where the 34 years old veteran will have a good chance to make the NBA finals (as the Pacers lead the Eastern Conference). The Rockets get promising guard-forward Jalen Rose (25 years), who's averaging 14ppg this season and who will be Houston's go-to-guy.. the Rockets now have two possible lottery picks (their own and Denver's) in 1998 draft, as well as San Antonio's 1st-round pick and some promising talents like Rose or Derek Fisher (acquired from Lakers), but they also left their fans being speechless by trading all of their playoffs-hopes away. At least it's an "interesting" move and maybe in a few years, the fans will be thankful for that "wasted" season.

HOUSTON traded Charles Barkley to
INDIANA for Jalen Rose and Indiana's 1999 2nd-round pick