1997–98 Vancouver Grizzlies season

1997–98 Vancouver Grizzlies season
Head coach	Brian Hill
Owner(s)	John McCaw, Jr.
Arena	General Motors Place
Results
Record	19–63 (.232)
Place	Division: 6th (Midwest) Conference: 11th (Western)
Playoff finish	DNQ
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	CHEK
Radio	CKST

The 1997–98 NBA season was the Grizzlies' third season in the National Basketball Association. After finishing with the worst record in their first two seasons, the Grizzlies made some strides under new head coach Brian Hill, as they finally escaped last place by finishing sixth in the Midwest Division with a 19–63 record. Leading the way in scoring again was Shareef Abdur-Rahim who averaged 22.3 points per game. Also showing promise was Bryant Reeves, who continued to show improvement with 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

Draft picks

The Grizzlies first draft pick was Antonio Daniels, which was the fourth overall pick in the draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	4	Antonio Daniels	PG/SG	United States	Bowling Green State University
2	52	C.J. Bruton	G	United States	Indian Hills Junior College

Roster

Vancouver Grizzlies roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From SF 3 Abdur-Rahim, Shareef 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) California PF 23 Chilcutt, Pete 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) North Carolina PG 33 Daniels, Antonio 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Bowling Green SG 30 Edwards, Blue 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) East Carolina PG 12 Hurley, Bobby 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Duke SF 9 Lynch, George 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) North Carolina SG 7 Mack, Sam  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Houston C 44 Massenburg, Tony 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Maryland PG 11 Mayberry, Lee 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 172 lb (78 kg) Arkansas PF 40 Newbill, Ivano 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Georgia Tech C 50 Reeves, Bryant 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 290 lb (132 kg) Oklahoma State SG 6 Robinson, Larry 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Centenary College of Louisiana PF 34 Smith, Michael 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Providence SG 2 West, Doug  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Villanova	Head coach Brian Hill Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster

Regular season

The Grizzlies got off to their best start in team history, as thirteen games into the season, the team had a 6–7 record. On October 31, 1997, Violet Palmer made history in Vancouver when she officiated the NBA season opener between the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Dallas Mavericks, in British Columbia, Canada. The team would then fall into a slump, which included a thirteen-game losing streak as they fell out of playoff contention. Vancouver would finish the year with a 19–63 record, their best in team history, and finish out of last place for the first time ever.

Highs

• Vancouver recorded their first ever three game winning streak, as on January 20, they defeated the Denver Nuggets, followed by sweeping a home and home series against the Golden State Warriors.
• On March 23, 1998, Vancouver defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 106–95 to earn their sixteenth win of the season, a team record. Vancouver finished with nineteen wins, four higher than their previous high of fifteen, set in 1995–96.
• The Grizzlies finished out of the Midwest Division cellar for the first time in team history, as they had a 19–63 record, eight games better than the Denver Nuggets, who finished the year 11–71.

Lows

• On January 15, 1998, the Washington Wizards defeat Vancouver 112–110, sending the Grizzlies to their thirteenth consecutive loss.
• From January 27 to April 5, the Grizzlies win only 3 of 31 games.

Season standings

Midwest Division	G	W	L	Pct	GB
Utah Jazz	82	62	20	.756	--
San Antonio Spurs	82	56	26	.683	6
Minnesota Timberwolves	82	45	37	.549	17
Houston Rockets	82	41	41	.500	21
Dallas Mavericks	82	20	62	.244	42
Vancouver Grizzlies	82	19	63	.232	43
Denver Nuggets	82	11	71	.134	51

Game log

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Streak
1	October 31	Dallas Mavericks	88–90	0–1	Lost 1
2	November 1	Sacramento Kings	97–96	1–1	Won 1
3	November 4	@ Dallas Mavericks	87–92	1–2	Lost 1
4	November 5	@ San Antonio Spurs	79–87	1–3	Lost 2
5	November 7	Minnesota Timberwolves	97–108	1–4	Lost 3
6	November 9	Detroit Pistons	104–96 (OT)	2–4	Won 1
7	November 11	Los Angeles Clippers	119–113	3–4	Won 2
8	November 12	@ Utah Jazz	80–98	3–5	Lost 1
9	November 15	Milwaukee Bucks	109–94	4–5	Won 1
10	November 16	@ Los Angeles Lakers	95–121	4–6	Lost 1
11	November 18	@ Denver Nuggets	100–87	5–6	Won 1
12	November 19	@ Seattle SuperSonics	87–107	5–7	Lost 1
13	November 21	Denver Nuggets	99–96	6–7	Won 1
14	November 23	@ New York Knicks	84–104	6–8	Lost 1
15	November 26	@ Milwaukee Bucks	82–101	6–9	Lost 2
16	November 27	@ Indiana Pacers	85–106	6–10	Lost 3
17	November 29	@ Minnesota Timberwolves	87–106	6–11	Lost 4
18	November 30	@ Detroit Pistons	97–95	7–11	Won 1
19	December 3	Orlando Magic	97–101	7–12	Lost 1
20	December 5	Cleveland Cavaliers	98–107	7–13	Lost 2
21	December 9	@ Phoenix Suns	85–107	7–14	Lost 3
22	December 12	Golden State Warriors	95–88	8–14	Won 1
23	December 14	Houston Rockets	110–105	9–14	Won 2
24	December 16	@ Houston Rockets	91–118	9–15	Lost 1
25	December 17	@ San Antonio Spurs	87–98	9–16	Lost 2
26	December 19	@ Portland Trail Blazers	91–96	9–17	Lost 3
27	December 21	Portland Trail Blazers	88–86	10–17	Won 1
28	December 26	Phoenix Suns	100–118	10–18	Lost 1
29	December 28	Utah Jazz	88–89	10–19	Lost 2
30	December 30	San Antonio Spurs	115–124	10–20	Lost 3
31	January 1	Philadelphia 76ers	104–115	10–21	Lost 4
32	January 2	@ Sacramento Kings	80–94	10–22	Lost 5
33	January 4	Seattle SuperSonics	108–120	10–23	Lost 6
34	January 6	Los Angeles Lakers	87–100	10–24	Lost 7
35	January 7	@ Los Angeles Clippers	102–110	10–25	Lost 8
36	January 9	Charlotte Hornets	90–98	10–26	Lost 9
37	January 11	Miami Heat	90–96	10–27	Lost 10
38	January 13	@ Philadelphia 76ers	89–107	10–28	Lost 11
39	January 15	@ Boston Celtics	93–97	10–29	Lost 12
40	January 16	@ Washington Wizards	110–112	10–30	Lost 13
41	January 20	Denver Nuggets	88–77	11–30	Won 1
42	January 23	@ Golden State Warriors	88–80	12–30	Won 2
43	January 24	Golden State Warriors	107–96	13–30	Won 3
44	January 27	Chicago Bulls	85–103	13–31	Lost 1
45	January 29	Minnesota Timberwolves	106–112	13–32	Lost 2
46	January 31	New Jersey Nets	106–116	13–33	Lost 3
47	February 2	@ Dallas Mavericks	90–104	13–34	Lost 4
48	February 3	@ Houston Rockets	97–110	13–35	Lost 5
49	February 5	@ Charlotte Hornets	93–108	13–36	Lost 6
50	February 12	Houston Rockets	103–112	13–37	Lost 7
51	February 14	Washington Wizards	110–108	14–37	Won 1
52	February 18	Boston Celtics	105–114	14–38	Lost 1
53	February 20	@ Atlanta Hawks	92–115	14–39	Lost 2
54	February 22	@ Toronto Raptors	105–113 (OT)	14–40	Lost 3
55	February 24	@ New Jersey Nets	101–110	14–41	Lost 4
56	February 25	@ Cleveland Cavaliers	101–106	14–42	Lost 5
57	March 1	Atlanta Hawks	76–101	14–43	Lost 6
58	March 3	Indiana Pacers	103–111	14–44	Lost 7
59	March 6	Sacramento Kings	96–98	14–45	Lost 8
60	March 8	Toronto Raptors	113–106	15–45	Won 1
61	March 12	@ Denver Nuggets	93–98	15–46	Lost 1
62	March 13	@ Utah Jazz	101–110	15–47	Lost 2
63	March 15	Los Angeles Lakers	110–119	15–48	Lost 3
64	March 17	@ Orlando Magic	92–99	15–49	Lost 4
65	March 18	@ Miami Heat	91–94	15–50	Lost 5
66	March 20	@ Chicago Bulls	92–98	15–51	Lost 6
67	March 21	@ Minnesota Timberwolves	88–102	15–52	Lost 7
68	March 23	Los Angeles Clippers	106–95	16–52	Won 1
69	March 26	@ Portland Trail Blazers	102–108	16–53	Lost 1
70	March 27	New York Knicks	89–97 (OT)	16–54	Lost 2
71	March 29	@ Phoenix Suns	98–106	16–55	Lost 3
72	March 31	Dallas Mavericks	101–104	16–56	Lost 4
73	April 3	Seattle SuperSonics	98–138	16–57	Lost 5
74	April 5	Utah Jazz	93–99	16–58	Lost 6
75	April 7	@ Los Angeles Clippers	110–94	17–58	Won 1
76	April 8	@ Los Angeles Lakers	102–113	17–59	Lost 1
77	April 11	Portland Trail Blazers	105–96 (OT)	18–59	Won 1
78	April 12	Phoenix Suns	106–129	18–60	Lost 1
79	April 14	@ Seattle SuperSonics	98–110	18–61	Lost 2
80	April 16	San Antonio Spurs	97–110	18–62	Lost 3
81	April 18	@ Golden State Warriors	100–112	18–63	Lost 4
82	April 19	@ Sacramento Kings	112–108 (OT)	19–63	Won 1

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Shareef Abdur-Rahim	82	82	36.0	.485	.412	.784	7.1	2.6	1.1	0.9	22.3
Pete Chilcutt	82	0	17.3	.435	.415	.661	3.7	1.3	0.6	0.5	4.9
Antonio Daniels	74	50	26.4	.416	.212	.659	1.9	4.5	0.7	0.1	7.8
Blue Edwards	81	20	24.3	.439	.333	.837	2.7	2.5	1.1	0.3	10.8
Bobby Hurley	27	0	17.0	.374	.143	.744	1.1	3.6	0.4	0.0	4.5
George Lynch	82	0	18.2	.481	.300	.703	4.4	1.5	0.8	0.5	7.5
Sam Mack	57	54	24.8	.397	.409	.805	2.3	1.8	0.7	0.2	10.8
Tony Massenburg	61	13	14.7	.479	.000	.730	3.8	0.3	0.4	0.4	6.5
Lee Mayberry	79	32	23.2	.375	.350	.745	1.4	4.4	0.8	0.1	4.6
Ivano Newbill	28	2	8.9	.351	1.000	.567	2.5	0.3	0.4	0.1	2.1
Anthony Peeler	8	8	25.3	.486	.263	.667	2.5	2.9	1.1	0.0	9.9
Bryant Reeves	74	74	34.1	.523	.000	.706	7.9	2.1	0.5	1.1	16.3
Chris Robinson	16	0	8.9	.351	.292	.500	0.8	0.6	0.4	0.1	3.4
Larry Robinson	6	0	6.8	.316	.500	1.000	2.0	0.2	0.7	0.0	2.8
Michael Smith	30	29	23.5	.504	.000	.658	6.9	2.0	0.9	0.2	6.1
Otis Thorpe	47	46	33.5	.477	.000	.694	7.9	3.4	0.6	0.5	11.2

.

Transactions

Vancouver acquired forward-center Otis Thorpe in a trade with the Detroit Pistons. The Grizzlies gave up a conditional first round draft pick. Vancouver also acquired Sam Mack from the Houston Rockets to become the team's starting shooting guard. Midway through the season, Thorpe was traded along with Chris Robinson to the Sacramento Kings for Michael Smith and Bobby Hurley.

The Grizzlies hired Brian Hill to become the head coach. Hill had previously been the head coach of the Orlando Magic from 1993–1997, leading them to a 191–104 record under his helm. The Magic advanced to the 1995 NBA Finals and had a 60 win season in 1995–96.

References

• Grizzlies on Database Basketball
• Grizzlies on Basketball Reference