25-year old point guard Jeremy Pargo and 20-year old shooting guard Josh Selby are not shooting well enough this season to get a lot of playing time right now.  Pargo has played in 9 games (3 starts) for the Grizzlies so far this year and he is averaging 17.9 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.  But, he is only shooting 35.1% from the floor so far this season.  Pargo will continue to backup Mike Conley at the point for the Grizzlies.  Josh Selby has played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies so far this year and he is averaging 14.8 minutes, 4.5 points, 1.0 rebound and 2.8 assists per game.  But, he is only shooting 38.1% from the floor and that’s not too good for a shooting guard.

20-year old shooting guard Xavier Henry’s season ended early due to a knee injury.  Henry played in 38 games (16 starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 13.9 minutes, 4.3 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.5 assists per game.  24-year old SG/PG Greivis Vasquez played in 70 games (1 start) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 12.3 minutes, 3.6 points, 1.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.  He played a little better as the year went on.  22-year old PG Ishmael Smith came over along with Shane Battier in a deal with the Rockets.  He played in 15 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies last year and he averaged 7.5 minutes, 1.8 points, 0.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  Smith played in 43 games (3 starts) for the Rockets & Grizzlies and he averaged 10.3 minutes, 2.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.  The Grizzlies hope that these guys will improve as players and help them down the road.

The Memphis Grizzlies are finally in the playoff hunt and they have a really deep roster.  With that in mind, the rookie players are going to do a lot of sitting and watching the rest of this year.  19-year old shooting guard Xavier Henry has played in 38 games (16 starts) so far this year and he is averaging 13.9 minutes, 4.3 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.5 assists per game.  The Grizzlies gave Henry more than he could handle early this year so look for the Grizzlies to let him do a lot of watching and learning the rest of the year.  24-year old PG/SG Greivis Vasquez has also had a rough time so far this year for the Grizzlies.  He has played in 54 games (0 starts) so far this year for the Grizzlies and he is averaging 12.3 minutes, 3.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.  Vasquez is only shooting 37.1% from the floor and that just isn’t good enough to get him on the floor for the Grizzlies right now.  22-year old point guard Ishmael Smith came over in the Shane Battier deal with the Rockets last week.  He has played in 1 game off the bench for the Rockets and he worked 9 minutes in which he had 4 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist.  Smith has now played in 29 games (3 starts) overall this year and he is averaging 11.7 minutes, 2.7 points, 1.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while only shooting 38.8% from the floor.

19-year old shooting guard Xavier Henry and 24-year old PG/SG Greivis Vasquez were supposed to give the Grizzlies scoring punch off the bench but it hasn’t worked out that way so far this year.  Henry has played in 28 games (16 starts) for the Grizzlies so far this year and he is averaging 17.4 minutes, 5.6 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Henry got a chance to start earlier this year when O.J. Mayo was in the Dog House but he couldn’t keep the job as Tony Allen has it now.  Greivis Vasquez has played in 35 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies so far this year and he is averaging 13.2 minutes, 3.6 points, 1.0 rebound and 2.4 assists per game.  But, he can’t shoot as he is only hitting 36% of his shots from the floor so far this year.  The Grizzlies hope that Henry & Vasquez step up in the second half of the year.

The Grizzlies need more out of the rookies.  The Grizzlies have benched O.J. Mayo and have inserted 19-year old Xavier Henry in his spot.  Henry has played in 27 games (15 starts) for the Grizzlies so far this year and he is averaging 17.4 minutes, 5.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  Henry won’t keep his starting job unless he starts shooting better soon.  Henry is hitting only 41.7% from the floor, 11.8% from three point range and 66% from the free throw line so far this year.  23-year old SG/PG Greivis Vasquez has played in 23 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies so far this year and he is averaging 12.2 minutes, 3.4 points, 0.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.  Like Henry, Vasquez is having issues with his shooting.  Vasquez is shooting only 36.3% from the floor, 31.4% from three point range and he has shot 67% from the free throw line.  Vasquez needs to start shooting better if he wants to earn himself more minutes going forward.

The Grizzlies have not been playing their rookies much so far this year. 19-year old SG Xavier Henry has played in 10 games (0 starts) so far this year for the Grizzlies and he is averaging 13.6 minutes, 5.6 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. 24-year old point guard Greivis Vasquez has played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies so far this year and he is averaging 7.7 minutes, 2.8 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Henry & Vasquez both have nice upsides and bright futures for the Grizzlies but they are likely going to brought along slowly.

24-year old small forward Sam Young had the best rookie year from this year’s crop. Young played in 80 games (1 start) for the Grizzlies this season and he averaged 16.5 minutes, 7.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He might develop into a starter down the road for the Grizzlies. 23-year old center Hasheem Thabeet was so bad earlier this season that he was sent to the D-League for a while. He did come back from the minors playing a lot better so maybe his demotion did him some good. Thabeet played in 68 games (13 starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he averaged 13.0 minutes, 3.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, 0.2 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game. With Marc Gasol entrenched in the starting lineup for the near future they just hope that Thabeet will be able to give them good defense and rebounding in 15-20 minutes per game for now. 23-year old power forward DeMarre Carroll is in kind of the same boat as Thabeet. He played in 71 games (1 start) for the Grizzlies last season and he averaged 11.2 minutes, 2.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. As long as Carroll gives the Grizzlies decent defense and rebounding off the bench they will be happy. 25-year old shooting guard Lester Hudson came over as a free agent after the Celtics released him. Hudson played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies last season and he averaged 6.8 minutes, 4.0 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Overall, Hudson played in 25 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies & Celtics in which he averaged 5.2 minutes, 2.3 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. He might have a hard time making the team next season.

If the Grizzlies are going to make a run for the playoffs they need to get more from their rookies who get a lot of the bench minutes for the team. Forward Sam Young has played the best ball of the rookies this season for the Grizzlies. He has played in 54 games (1 start) in which he has averaged 16.2 minutes, 7.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Power forward DeMarre Carroll needs to step up if he wants to keep getting P.T. Carroll has played in 52 games (1 start) for the Grizzlies this season and he is averaging 11.9 minutes, 3.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game on 39.3% shooting from the floor. The Grizzlies are bringing center Hasheem Thabeet along slowly. He has played in 50 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies this season and he is averaging 10.3 minutes, 2.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 0.1 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. On the plus side, Thabeet is shooting 58% from the floor this year. Shooting guard Lester Hudson started the season with the Celtics. He has played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies and he is averaging 7.4 minutes, 4.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game on 38.2% shooting from the floor. Overall for the Celtics & Grizzlies, Hudson has played in 24 games (0 starts) in which he is averaging 5.4 minutes, 2.3 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.

The Grizzlies are happy with their back-up front court crew of rookies this year so far. Small forward Sam Young has been the best of this bunch so far this season. He has played in 34 games (1 start) for the Grizzlies so far this season and he is averaging 17.4 minutes, 8.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Power forward DeMarre Carroll is not shooting too well this season hitting only 39.3% of his shots from the floor. He has played in 31 games (1 start) for the Grizzlies this season and he is averaging 13.9 minutes, 3.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Center Hasheem Thabeet has been getting better each game this season. He has played in 30 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies this year and he is averaging 11.1 minutes, 3.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 0.1 assists and 1.1 blocked shots so far this year. Thabeet is shooting 60.9% from the floor so far this season (on mostly put backs and dunks) but he is only hitting 46.2% from the free throw line and that just won’t get it done.

The Grizzlies are depending on their rookies to give them a boost off the bench. 23-year old forward DeMarre Carroll has played in 10 games (0 starts) this season for the Grizzlies and he is averaging 18.9 minutes, 4.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. 24-year old small forward Sam Young has also been busy this season playing in 10 games (0 starts) in which he is averaging 12.3 minutes, 4.5 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. The Grizzlies expect the most out of 22-year old center Hasheem Thabeet. He recently injured his jaw pretty severely so it might take him a little bit of time to get back involved in the playing rotation for the Grizzlies. Thabeet has played in 7 games (0 starts) for the Grizzlies this season and he is averaging 6.0 minutes, 0.6 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. The Grizzlies don’t have a deep bench so they will need Carroll, Young and Thabeet to give them solid minutes when they are on the court this year.