59-year old head coach Lionel Hollins is doing a great job for the Grizzlies so far this year.  The Grizzlies are 18-8 (69.2%) so far this year, which has them in second place in the Southwest Division, 2.5 games behind the Spurs.  Hollins is now 176-183 (49%) in his first seven years in charge for the Grizzlies.  Hollins seems to get the Grizzlies to play better every single year and that bodes well for the team in 2012-13.

25-year old Mike Conley and 24-year old Jerryd Bayless are giving the Grizzlies outstanding work at point guard so far this year.  Conley has played in 24 games (all starts) for the Grizzlies so far this year and he is averaging 34.3 minutes, 13.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.5 steals per game.  He is shooting 44.5% from the floor, 40.7% from three point range and 80.7% from the free throw line so far this year, which is pretty impressive.  Bayless has played in 25 games (1 start) for the Grizzlies so far this year and he is averaging 16.8 minutes, 5.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.  Bayless is shooting 40.1% from the floor, 33.3% from three point range and 80% from the free throw line so far this year.  The Grizzlies need both of these guys to stay healthy and continue to give them 48 solid minutes per night from the point guards.

Small forward Rudy Gay, point guard Mike Conley, center Marc Gasol, shooting guard Tony Allen and power forward Zach Randolph are all in the top ten in Grizzlies’ history in at least one category.  Rudy Gay is the Grizzlies’ all-time leader already in steals with 613 of them.  He is also #2 in games played (456), #4 in three pointers made (471), #9 in offensive rebounds (697), #3 in defensive rebounds (1,936), #4 in total rebounds (2,633), #8 in assists (892), #5 in blocked shots (410) and points scored (8,202) in Grizzlies’ history.  Mike Conley has played in 376 games so far in his career which has him #7 in Grizzlies’ history.  He is also #6 in three pointers made (370), #2 in assists (2,046), #2 in steals (569) and #7 in points scored (4,498) in Grizzlies’ history.  Marc Gasol is just starting to make his mark in the Grizzlies’ record book.  He is #10 in games played (316), #8 in offensive rebounds (726), #5 in defensive rebounds (1,802), #5 in total rebounds (2,528), #9 in steals (280), #3 in blocked shots (487) and #9 in points scored (4,184) in Grizzlies’ history.  Tony Allen is #10 in steals (264) in Grizzlies’ history so far.  Zach Randolph is going to be moving up these lists with a bullet with the way he is playing so far this year.  Randolph is #4 in offensive rebounds (826), #8 in defensive rebounds (1,506), #7 in total rebounds (2,332) and #10 in points scored (3,843) in Grizzlies’ history.

The Grizzlies are getting really solid work out of the bench so far this year.  SF/SG Quincy Pondexter is averaging 23.8 minutes, 6.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.  He is shooting 42.3% from three point range so far this year, which is impressive.  Point guard Jerryd Bayless has been a solid caddy for Mike Conley so far this year.  He is averaging 17.3 minutes, 6.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game so far this year.  PF/C Marreese Speights is the top big man off the bench and he really makes the most of his minutes.  He is averaging 14.7 minutes, 5.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Power forward Darrell Arthur started the season late due to injury.  He has only played in seven games so far this year and he is averaging 14.6 minutes, 5.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Shooting guard Wayne Ellington is only shooting 37.4% from the floor and 32.7% from the three point line so far this year, and that could start costing him minutes in the near future.  He is averaging 16.4 minutes, 5.1 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game so far this year.

25-year old point guard Mike Conley is taking his game to a higher level so far in 2012-13.  He has played in 14 games (all starts) for the Grizzlies so far this year and he is averaging 34.0 minutes, 15.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.6 steals per game.  Conley is shooting 49.7% from the floor, 46.3% from three point range and 83.0% from the free throw line as he has been really efficient offensively for the Grizzlies this year.  Conley often winds up with open shots as teams collapse the D to help out with Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph in the paint.  Conley is having a huge season in 2012-13 and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

Jason “White Chocolate” Williams was a solid point guard in his brief time with the Grizzlies.  He played in 195 games in his five years with the Grizzlies and he averaged 29,9 minutes, 11.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  Williams is still the all-time leader in assists for the Grizzlies with 2,069 of them.  He is also #2 in three point shots made (500) and #5 in steals (372) in Grizzlies’ history.  Williams wasn’t with the Grizzlies for a long time, but he made his mark.