O.J. Mayo is looking like a generational player.

The rookie guard out of USC was named Monday the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for games played from the start of the season Oct. 28 through November.

That came as no surprise. But did you know that Mayo is one of only four players in the past 25 years to record at least four 30-point games in his first 17?

Allen Iverson, Michael Jordan and Terry Cummings are the others.
Mayo, the third overall pick, leads all rookies with a team-high 21.9 points per game. It’s the highest scoring average for a first-year player since Iverson (23.4 ppg) in 1996-97.
Mayo is the only rookie to score in double figures in every game played this season. He is the first Grizzlies player to be named Rookie of the Month since Tarence Kinsey in April 2007.

Iranian center Hamed Haddadi is going to the NBA Developmental League next week, Griz general manager Chris Wallace said Friday before the team played at Dallas.

Haddadi will report to the Dakota Wizards in Bismarck, North Dakota, and he’ll be joined by Griz scout Gordon Chiesa, who was an assistant coach under Marc Iavaroni last season.

Chiesa is credited for convincing the Griz to sign Haddadi after watching the 7-footer perform at the Rocky Mountain Revue summer league in Salt Lake City, Utah.

David Aldridge was partially correct when he reported on TNT last Thursday that Cleveland asked Memphis to claim forward Antonio McDyess off waivers and trade him.

Several teams placed a phone call to Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace with the same request. Wallace turned down every one of them. None of the trade proposals fit into the Grizzlies’ long-term plan of a) acquiring young talent and b) using their space under the salary cap on an impact, next-level player.

McDyess took a $6 million buyout from the Nuggets but his salary cap number is twice as much. There wasn’t anything the Griz could arrange with Cleveland or another team that prevented them from reducing cap space or receiving inconsequential players. Plus, hardly any team is willing take Marko Jaric and the three years (roughly $21 million) left on his deal. Teams with aspirations for the summer of 2010 aren’t interested in taking on someone due to be paid $7.6 million for that upcoming season.

Serious playoff contending teams wanted McDyess to bolster their chances but weren’t willing to part with draft picks or players in their immediate core. When teams want to send the edges of its roster generally these are players who are being paid for who they used to be and not who they are today.

So even though the Griz have the means to facilitate trades (and they likely will by the February trade deadline) don’t color them suckers. Any deal the Griz facilitate would have to have characteristics of last year’s New Orleans-Houston swap. Memphis was in the middle of that one because it made money off the transaction. Plus, there were no roster implications beyond that season.

Memphis isn’t interested in receiving players that will a) cost the Griz long-term and b) create playing time issues unless said player is someone who can take the team to the next level.

Barring a game-changer, the Griz won’t disrupt their pecking order:

Mike Conley/Kyle Lowry
O.J. Mayo
Rudy Gay
Darrell Arthur/Hakim Warrick
Marc Gasol/Darko Milicic
Plus, Quinton Ross continues to earn whatever playing time is left whenever Gay and Mayo sits.

O.J. Mayo’s first-half offensive explosion Sunday night against the Denver Nuggets nearly set records.

His 26 points in the first half were one shy of a team record. A Grizzly has scored 27 points in a half three times, most recently by Mike Miller (Nov. 31, 2007 against Dallas).

Mayo’s 20 first-quarter points were two shy of tying the franchise record. Former Vancouver Griz and ESPN analyst Greg Anthony holds the mark.

Sunday was just the fifth time since 2003 that an NBA rookie tossed in 20 points in a quarter. The last rookie to do it was L.A. Clippers forward Al Thornton on March 29, 2008. Mayo joined Thornton, Salim Stoudamire, Ben Gordon and Carmelo Anthony.

AND FINALLY: Rudy Gay is struggling through 39-percent shooting overall and 17-percent shooting from 3-point range. But did you know? …Gay hit a career-high 36 points twice last season and both came against tonight’s opponent: the Phoenix Suns.

The Sunday Commercial Appeal Sports Section features an exclusive interview with former Grizzlies president of basketball operations Jerry West.

West retired from the Griz a little more than a year ago and hasn’t spoken publicly in Memphis.

Until now.

He was candid, passionate and nostalgic regarding the Griz in a nearly two-hour conversation. Filmmakers would call this the cutting room floor. In sports radio, this would be sort of a tease. Anyway, here’s what didn’t make the Sunday (Sept. 28) paper:



Q. Will you work again?
A. Every once and a while I think it would be fun to be involved in a lesser capacity. I don’t think it’ll happen unless there was a really intriguing situation where you were a working consultant — where you have an active part and no influence over making decisions. But I would never get back to a daily situation where you’re physically and emotionally a wreck every night. Whatever I would do would have to be in a low-key way.”

Q. How is this retirement different from your last?
A. This is one time that I don’t have a strong urgency to work. There were times I missed the interaction with people in the office. I missed the competitive side of it. It was an unbelievable amount of fun. Everyone should know when it’s in the best interest of everyone that someone younger gets an opportunity to show what they can do. This was a culmination of a long time involved in basketball.

Physically, I feel different. I’m not so uptight. I don’t wake up in the middle of the night wondering about a terrible loss and all of the things that go on. The thing I cared most about was the fans. And I worked at my job. Period. We all have habits and routines. I’ve had to change my habits and routines.

Q. What are you most proud of during your run with the Griz?
A. I can speak for men that have been involved in highly competitive things and you can’t find anything more highly competitive than basketball. When I first got there I felt the most important thing was to try to build relationships and get people to feel good about themselves.

When I got there I saw a culture that wasn’t horrible but people didn’t expect to win and that’s unacceptable. Secondly, we needed to increase our talent level and we were able to do that. It really gave us a chance to get to the point where we were competitive. One of the most fun and exciting times didn’t involve me. It was when we hired Hubie Brown and when he won Coach of the Year. That was probably one of the highlights of my life.

It’s so easy to be critical and I understand why people are but Hubie getting Coach of the Year was a chilling experience. He had the ability to teach, to motivate and a system that wanted everyone to be involved. We had so many players so close together in talent that he had them believe that if we do these things we’ll be successful.

Q. What was your biggest disappointment?
A. You get paid by a franchise but you work for the fans. If I had any reservations it’s that we didn’t leave a team there that could prosper. I’m a Type-A personality and when things don’t go the way you want them to go, you blame yourself.

Q. You were asked to present the Western Conference trophy to the Los Angeles Lakers and gave a heartfelt speech. What did that moment mean to you?
(Side note: Griz fans apparently were bothered by the moment despite West’s more than 40-year association with the Lakers)
A. It was nice that they asked me but awkward because I didn’t feel comfortable in that situation. But if the league asks me to do something I’m probably going to do it because any player probably feels like they owe something to the league.

Q. What have you been doing since leaving Griz?
(Side note: West has spent time between L.A. and his native West Virginia. He works out 5 days a week after recovering from a nasty golf cart accident several months ago.)
A. Not a whole lot. Frankly, when you’ve been involved in something as long as I was involved in basketball, and something as emotional as the NBA, it’s not easy to just move on to something else.

Coming Sunday… West’s take on the current state of the Griz, his relationship with owner Michael Heisley, the Pau Gasol trade and more!

Seems as though making the Grizzlies a better defensive team isn’t just lip service.

The process requires adding defensive-minded players and the Griz plan to bolster its attack without the ball by adding swingman Quinton Ross.

Ross, 27, is a quality (and fortunate) pick-up given he earned a reputation as someone who can effectively defend the likes of Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady over the past four seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers. Ross became expendable once the Clippers opted to gain more offense by acquiring Ricky Davis.

His age means he’s mature yet not an old veteran that clashes with the youth movement. Albeit somewhat of an offensive liability, Ross’ versatility could give the Griz a steady backup to Rudy Gay at small forward and at shooting guard when O.J. Mayo needs rest.

The signing is expected to become official tomorrow. It’s a minimum, non-guaranteed deal that means Ross must first earn a roster spot and avoid being cut at several key dates to remain the rest of the season.

This seems like a low risk, high reward proposition.

HADDADI MAY BE TARDY

Hamed Haddadi, the Iranian center Memphis signed as a free agent, may not be with the team Tuesday when it opens training camp. Haddadi still hasn’t been officially cleared to travel to the U.S.

“We’re still working through immigration,” Griz general manager Chris Wallace said. “Hopefully, his approval will come soon enough to get him into camp. But there’s a possibility that might swing over a few days into camp.

Haddadi, 23, led all Olympians in rebounding and blocks during pool play. The 7-2, 254-pound center signed at least a two-year deal that will pay him a little more than $1 million in this season. He will become the first Iranian to play in the NBA.

One of the routine conversations I’ve had with old school NBA players turned coaches has to do with the lack of fire in today’s generation of players. In Memphis, the Griz have hardly employed teams that battled in practice. Scraping, clawing, elbowing, pushing, shoving and fighting – something called ‘competing’ in practice back in the day – seems to be lost in today’s world of guaranteed contracts and coddled athletes.

At least, that’s what real veterans of the game convey.

Sure, the Griz have had their share of knuckleheads through the years. But the idea of fighting for a job as if a player’s livelihood depends on it is something that hasn’t been part of the culture with the Grizzlies.

I suspect that’s about to change after recently watching informal workouts/pick-up games. For the first time in Memphis Grizzlies history – and I’m the only beat writer the team has worked with – a fiery, healthy, competitive spirit is evident AND we’re talking about practice.

We’re talking about practice, y’all.

When rookie guard O.J. Mayo is absolutely angry and unapproachable when his team loses a pick-up game…

When Mayo challenges 7-footer Darko Milicic and the pair needs to be separated (without incident) by teammates…

When Rudy Gay is backing up his all-out play by admonishing some teammates and verbally sparing with others…

When Kyle Lowry and Javaris Crittenton joust every play…

When Mayo is passionately challenging his teammates to continue a postgame, conditioning drill and is bitterly disappointed when his plea is met with avoidance…

When a few fights nearly break out yet there is harmony when the session is over…

When we’re talking ‘bout practice…

…it’s likely that this may not only be the Grizzlies’ most youthful training camp but also it’s most spirited. I’m not talking about disharmony or potential cancerous situations. These scenes were all in the spirit of competition.

I must say it’s refreshing. Competing in practice and not dogging it for fear of getting hurt or shown up by a less coveted player can only lead to a team collectively “getting after it” when the lights come on.

Evident, too, is that even the veteran players may have a difficult time suppressing Gay, Mayo and Lowry’s apparent desire to lead.