MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Rudy Gay emerged as a budding All-Star. A year ago in a shaky rookie season, his outside shot was unsure and he didn't have decisive moves to the basket. He fixed that in the off-season, improving every facet of his game. His scoring average jumped from 10.8 points last year to 20.1 this season, as he became the third Grizzly after Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Pau Gasol to average at least 20. He also set a single-season franchise scoring record for most points with 1,632. He's the first second-year player in three years (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony in 2004-05) to average 20-plus points.

MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER
Free agent Casey Jacobsen was supposed to give the Grizzlies some outside shooting pop. But when he showed he couldn't do that, he was worthless. He can't guard and he can rarely beat anybody off the dribble. Management finally ordered Marc Iavaroni to cut his playing time next-to-nothing.

FREE AGENT FOCUS
Kwame Brown and Casey Jacobsen are unrestricted free agents, and the Grizzlies are helping them pack. Getting the grocery-eating Brown from the Lakers in the Pau Gasol trade was nothing but a cap space move. Now, with Brown and his $9.075 million salary gone, that's a nice chunk of change to play with, as is Jacobsen's chump-change salary of $798,328. Three-point specialist Juan Carlos Navarro and power forward Andre Brown are restricted free agents. The Grizzlies should make an honest effort to re-sign Navarro, but need to save the bulk of their money to get a quality inside player.

PLAYER NOTES

--G Mike Conley had some shoulder problems leading to surgery that kept the rookie out of action early. But once he came back, he got better and better as the season progressed.

In the last month, Conley figured out the NBA game top to bottom. His outside shot improved dramatically, which helped his driving game. His field goal percentage rose and defense respected him more.

"I was watching people too much instead of me being the guy who takes the open shot," Conley said. "As a rookie, you try not to come in too aggressive. You want to get people involved. I'm one of the more unselfish guys you'll meet. Now that everybody knows me and I know them, it's a lot easier for me to go out there and get my shot with confidence."

Conley finished the season averaging 9.4 points and 4.2 assists, scoring in double-figures the last five games (including a career-high 25 versus Minnesota) to close out the year.

--F Hakim Warrick was in a quandary last year with Grizzlies. He started and played well early in the year when Pau Gasol was still recovering from foot surgery, then he got sent to the bench when Gasol returned. Warrick adjusted to that role.

This year, he had to prove to new coach Marc Iavaroni that he could play defense well enough to earn minutes. Once Warrick did that, Iavaroni became a fan of his, and Warrick had a big year.

He averaged 11.4 points and 4.7 rebounds. He closed the season scoring in double-figures 15 straight games with back-to-back games of 29 points at Denver and 26 at Sacramento.

"They (the Grizzlies' coaches) know I can score, so I don't even worry about offense as much," Warrick said. "I've tried to go in there and focus on rebounding and defense. It's something I'll be working on in the off-season -- playing against smaller, quicker guys. I realize I have to become a better perimeter defender. But the last 40 games or so has shown that you can count on me for 15 or 16 points a game and I can rebound as well."

--Backup G Kyle Lowry, who missed almost all of his rookie season a year ago with a broken wrist, returned this year only to find the starting point guard went to first-round draft choice Mike Conley.

Lowry just went back to work, supported Conley and provided tremendous spark off the bench. He had 22 points in the season finale loss at Denver, raising his final scoring average to 9.6 points. He and Juan Carlos Navarro are the only Grizzlies that played in all 82 games.

"As the season went along, I did a better job of doing the things that helped our team win," Lowry said. "I want to be an NBA starter. I'm not satisfied with being a backup.

"Everybody gets mad (about not starting), but you still have to work hard. You can't stop your progress."

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