VANCOUVER trades Blue Edwards and Lee Mayberry
to BOSTON for Bruce Owen and Boston's '98 2nd-round pick

What the Grizzlies get: Bowen (turning 27 in June) is having his first full NBA-year after appearing in one game for the Heat last season. He averaged 2.7points and 3.1rebounds per game (21.7minutes) for the Celtics this year (with 29 games as a starter), showing some great potential in defense. A good addition for the Grizzlies, one of the worst defending teams in the league.. also, the probably early 2nd-round pick can do some good things to this franchise.

The Celtics get: An expiring contract of 8-years-pro Blue Edwards (33 years old), who still can be a sharpshooter. He had his best season in 1992-93, averaging 16.9ppg for the Bucks. For the Grizzlies, Edwards had 7.7ppg in 41 games this season (32 games as a starter).. Mayberry has never been better than 5.8ppg in a season and it will be interesting to see, what Boston will do with his 4 yrs-contract..

Vancouver had a promising start and Bobby Jackson had a strong first quarter as well.. the rookie guard looked a bit out of place in the previous games and he's feeling some pressure from Grizzlies' first-round pick (next picture)..

..Antonio Daniels. Being replaced by Jackson as starting point guard early in the season, Daniels seems to find his place in the team and against the Nets, he had a perfect match, shooting 7-7 overall, 3-3 from 3-point-range! His 19 points helped the Grizzlies building a comfortable HT-lead..

..but two desastrous quarters made Vancouver losing their second match-up against the Nets: Sam Cassell and Keith Van Horn (who struggled in first game against the Grizzlies) had both some very strong numbers.. Vancouver now is 9-39, they managed to win against the Rockets a few days ago.

Grizzlies add depth: "The Real Deal" is coming from Australia

John Rillie, a guard aged 26, signed a contract with the Vancouver Grizzlies. "The Real Deal" or "JR" (as he's called Down Under) can play both point and shooting guard. With CJ Bruton already on the roster, Rillie will be the Grizzlies' second Aussie. He averaged 13.5ppg in the last two seasons with Adelaide (NBL), while shooting 41% from 3-point-range in his first season with the team. "It's an honour to play in the NBA and to join CJ here", said Rillie: "I will do my best to help this team and to get some minutes in the rotation".

Rillie joins the team as a free agent, as the season in Australia ended September last year.

The league-leading Pacers were expected to blow the worst NBA-team, but the whole team struggled to score against a surprising strong Grizzlies defense: Reggie Miller had a couple of threes, but also was only 8-24 from the field.. Still, he got better in second half and had 20 points in total..

Abdur-Rahim, who's still hoping for being nominated as an All-Star, proved his value for the team, finishing with a double-double (22/12) and scoring 9-15 from the field (including 2-4 from 3-point range).. rookie guard Antonio Daniels had 8 assists and showed that he can become a decent playmaker in the future..

..but Grizzlies' most important player today was Bryant Reeves: "Big Country" won the matchup against MVP-contender Rick Smits, who was limited to 8 points (4-13 shooting) and who found himself in early foul trouble as well.. Reeves made his best match of the season, scoring 33 points while shooting very good 11-15 from the field and adding 11 made FT's as well. Vancouver's center had some problems to improve his game in first half the season, but if he continues like that, the Grizzlies will have a solid co-leader.

Vancouver's new shooting guard John Rillie did appear in two matches before he broke his hand and will be out for 4-6 weeks.. So the team needed to react immediately: the Grizzlies sign rookie guard Stephen Jackson (19 years old) for the remainder of the season (plus a team option). Jackson was selected 43rd overall in the 1997 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns, yet did not receive an opportunity to perform, as he was waived by the team on October 30. Following this development, Jackson then saw action in six games with the La Crosse Bobcats over two on-and-off seasons in the CBA, in which he averaged 2.7 points in 12.7 minutes per game.. He was going to sign with Sidney in Australia's NBL, but now he has a chance to prove his skills in NBA.

Jackson isn't expected to hit the Grizzlies' rotation immediately, as Rodrick Rhodes will replace Rillie in the next couple of games.

All-Star game in New York: spectacular as always?! Wait.. not really. The fans saw some poor offense and good defense, mixing for one of the lowest total points amount in NBA All-Star game history. A new trend? We will see next year.. there's still some notes worth to mention:

Grizzlies-star Shareef Abdur-Rahim had his All-Star debut and played as a starter instead of Tim Duncan, who is day-to-day since his 29 points and MVP-performance in the Rookie-Sophomore's match two days ago! Abdur-Rahim ended up as Team West's second-best scorer, notching 11 points.. MVP-contender Mitch Richmond led the West with 16 points, as this two were the only West players in double figures..

"Give it to Michael and get out of the way," explained Larry Bird, the Eastern Conference coach, of his team's strategy. "That is the way it usually happens." And so it happened tonight: Michael Jordan had 22 points, 8 rebounds and was named the game's MVP, his 3rd All-Star game MVP-award.. East teammate Chris Webber had 20 points, 11 rebounds, while Antoine Walker had 11 points in his All-Star debut.

February 1998 - Results

5 wins for the Grizzlies in February, the team's best month this season. A surprising win against the league-leading Pacers was the the team's highlight, while Shareef Abdur-Rahim made his first appearance in the All Star-Game.. the goal of reaching 18 wins is within reach for Vancouver, especially as some other franchises may prepare for both playoffs or lottery picks.

February Part #3: Some impressions

Abdur-Rahim helped the Grizzlies beat the Rockets two times within 17 days: 32 points in first, 42 points in second match-up for Vancouver's first All-Star ever! He once again proved his strength and scoring abilities.. Bryant Reeves had two double-doubles (15/10 and 19/11) and Sam Mack scored 20+ in both nights (25 and 21)..

Jeff Hornacek led the Jazz past the Grizzlies (once again): the shooting guard had 26 points, while Howard Eisley (19) and Karl Malone (17) were in double figures, too.. Vancouver's best were Abdur-Rahim (19 pts while shooting 5-15 FG) and Reeves (17 pts, 4 blocks).

Even though Stephon Marbury had 28 pts and 11 assists, the Grizzlies managed to win against Minnesota, 104-94.. it seems like Vancouver is improving their defense with every game played..

Daugherty's out for 8 weeks - Vancouver signs center Marc Jackson

Brad Daugherty, the five-time All-Star center (aged 32), will be out for 8 weeks with a broken jaw. It's his second serious injury this season and the question is, if he still feels comfortable with his comeback (from retirement because of back-injuries). Daugherty did a good job as Bryant Reeves' back-up, scoring 9ppg and leading the young Grizzlies-bench. Anyway, it's unlikely that he will return to play for Vancouver, as this season is nearing it's end and his contract expiring. "It's a tragedy", said teammate Bryant Reeves: "He came back from retirement. He wanted to help us young guys and gave us so much. I hope he will stay with us, but this injury is a huge setback".

The Grizzlies were left without a back-up center, so they signed 23 years old Marc Jackson (the 3rd Jackson on Grizzlies-roster with Bobby and Stephen). After attending college at Temple University, Marc Jackson was drafted in the second round (37th overall) of the 1997 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors, but didn't play with them and became a free agent a few weeks ago.

He signed a contract for the remainder of the season, but Vancouver holds a team-option on his 473,000$ contract.