HoopsHype.com Rumors

Conley was under a lot of pressure his first few years in the NBA. A lot of people didn't have much faith in him and the Grizzlies took a look of heat for picking him. How did he deal with that kind of pressure? Marc Gasol: It was hard, it was hard. But when Lionel (Hollins) came, he changed our mindset. He protected his players and said, "Hey, let's get to work, do things right and try to win games." And when you win games, people forget if this guy or that guy was a good pick or not. Mike Conley learned to work in that situation, to improve and use the pressure as motivation. Then, as you get older, you don't care as much about what people say. Do you think Lionel Hollins has given this team extra wins? MG: Yes, yes, yes. No doubt about it. One of the reasons why we've had success, won playoff games and came close to playing the conference finals is Lionel's mentality. He's a top-notch coach in the NBA. Obviously he's also learning on the job, but he's a very reasonable, honest and hard-working coach. HoopsHype

Memphis Grizzlies, Coaching, Marc Gasol, Lionel Hollins 

The new committee was hand-picked by Stern and consists of two owners, four GMs and three coaches. When they come up with rules changes, those will go directly to the 30 owners for their consideration and vote. The members are: owners Dan Gilbert (Cleveland) and Joe Lacob (Golden State); GMs Bryan Colangelo (Toronto), Mitch Kupchak (Lakers), Kevin O’Connor (Utah) and Sam Presti (Oklahoma City); and coaches Rick Carlisle (Dallas), Lionel Hollins (Memphis) and Doc Rivers (Boston). New York Daily News

Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Doc Rivers, Mitch Kupchak, CBA, Sam Presti, Bryan Colangelo, Dan Gilbert, Kevin O'Connor, David Stern, Joe Lacob, Lionel Hollins, Owners, Rick Carlisle 

The NBA on Wednesday announced the members of the league’s new competition committee, including Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor. The announcement follows a decision by the league’s board of governors last month to change the committee’s composition. The committee will now include two owners, four general managers, three head coaches and one representative from the NBA Players Association. Joining O’Connor are fellow GMs Bryan Colangelo (Toronto Raptors), Mitch Kupchak (L.A. Lakers) and Sam Presti (Oklahoma City); owners Dan Gilbert (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Joe Lacob (Golden State); and coaches Rick Carlisle (Dallas Mavericks), Lionel Hollins (Memphis Grizzlies), and Doc Rivers (Boston Celtics). Salt Lake Tribune

Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Doc Rivers, Mitch Kupchak, Sam Presti, Bryan Colangelo, Dan Gilbert, Joe Lacob, Lionel Hollins, Rick Carlisle, Golden State 

Heisley included coach Lionel Hollins among the team's returning assets. Heisley sounded baffled by the criticism Hollins has received regarding his rotations in the playoffs. "There's a helluva lot more to coaching than just lineups," Heisley said. "Please tell the people in Memphis to stop looking for a scapegoat because there is none. I have no less opinion of Lionel Hollins. The reality is Lionel has more knowledge about professional basketball in one finger than I have in my body. Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Coaching, Michael Heisley, Lionel Hollins 

"How can people blame Lionel? The way he brought those young kids along. ... What do people want me to do, get rid of the coach? It's ridiculous. You can't go with more than what got you there. He's the best coach we've ever had because we had the best record we've ever had." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Coaching, Michael Heisley, Lionel Hollins 

There are other changes that can be made, of course. It wouldn’t be surprising if a head coaching change were seriously contemplated, especially with Nate McMillan, Stan Van Gundy and Rick Carlisle all possibly available. HoopsWorld

Memphis Grizzlies, Coaching, Nate McMillan, Stan Van Gundy, Lionel Hollins, Rick Carlisle 

During his postgame press conference, Hollins was asked if the season was a success. "No, it was a complete bust," he said, sarcastically. Then he outlined all the reasons that wasn't the case. He talked about the team's all-time best winning percentage during the regular season. He talked about the injuries to Randolph and Darrell Arthur that could have destroyed the year. Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Lionel Hollins 

Naturally, Grizz coach Lionel Hollins was asked why he abandoned the inside-out approach down the stretch. His response was just as inexplicable as his decision to keep his best perimeter defender (Tony Allen) on the bench for almost all of the fourth quarter while the Clippers made a run. "If [Randolph and Gasol] took seven shots and made none [in the second half], that should tell you why we went away from it," said Hollins, who is too smart to genuinely believe something so dumb. I mean, the man who outcoached San Antonio's Gregg Popovich last postseason can't seriously think it's wise to go away from Randolph and Gasol -- the only two Grizzlies who have ever been All-Stars as Grizzlies -- because they missed their first seven shots of the second half when he spent Monday designing countless plays for Gay, who missed 17 of the 25 shots he attempted. So I'm just gonna chalk that answer up to Hollins choosing to be difficult. Otherwise, I'd have to rip a coach after a huge win, and I'd rather not do that because I'd rather look ahead. CBSSports.com

Memphis Grizzlies, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Lionel Hollins 

Kevin Arnovitz: Lionel Hollins retracts his Chris Paul "flopping" statement from Mon. Says he couldn't think of a better word at the time. Twitter

Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Chris Paul, Lionel Hollins 

Geoff Calkins: Reporter asked Lionel Hollins if it's true that he's a no-nonsense guy. Hollins disagreed; "I'm a fun-loving guy." Twitter

Memphis Grizzlies, Coaching, Lionel Hollins 

Chris Palmer: Lionel Hollins: "Chris Paul is the problem and we've got to solve the problem." Twitter

Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Chris Paul, Lionel Hollins 

Alex Kennedy: Lionel Hollins on Chris Paul: "Chris does a good job of flopping, uh, drawing fouls." Twitter

Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Chris Paul, Lionel Hollins 

Chris Herrington: Lionel hollins just said that tony allen missed practice to have his knee looked at by a doctor. No word on availability for tomorrow. Twitter

Memphis Grizzlies, Tony Allen, Lionel Hollins 

Or go back to the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals. The Nets had a 21-point lead to start the fourth quarter of Game 3 and lost. Sure enough, the Nets recovered to win the series and advance to the NBA Finals. "One game is one game," said Hollins. "You have to go play. Last year, Dallas was better than Portland. (In 2006), the Heat were the better team. If you're good enough physically, you'll get it done. If you're not, you won't." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Lionel Hollins 

Jan Hubbard: Lionel Hollins praised G. Arenas in pregame interview: "I don't know why anybody thought he wouldn't fit in." Twitter

Memphis Grizzlies, Gilbert Arenas, Coaching, Lionel Hollins 

When asked whether Love deserved MVP attention Tuesday, Memphis coach Lionel Hollins instead chose to talk about Wolves coach Rick Adelman. "I'd vote more for Rick Adelman as coach of the year than I would for Kevin Love as MVP," he said. "I think the style they've done, since Rick has been there, is terrific." Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Kevin Love, Lionel Hollins, Rick Adelman 

The Chicago-based billionaire stopped short of boldly predicting a significant playoff run given the difficult schedule that looms. But Heisley doesn't mince words regarding coach Lionel Hollins and general manager Chris Wallace's job performances. Heisley said he's got the frontrunners for NBA Coach and Executive of the Year on his side. "Lionel's done a great job. We've got all of these (new) players that have meshed into the system with Lionel, and Chris did a fantastic job of bringing them in," he said. "I couldn't be prouder of Chris and Lionel. I'm proud of our players. They all are really coming into their own. "What stands out is they're playing very good defense. They have a great team spirit." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Coaching, Lionel Hollins 

Griz coach Lionel Hollins said Selby's D-League tour would give him "an opportunity to see four or five game tapes to see exactly what he is. We've been trying to patch him in at point guard. Is he a point guard? We don't know. Is he better at the off-guard spot? We don't know. He's never played it for us. I'd just like to get an opportunity to see him when he's playing a lot of minutes." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, D-League, Lionel Hollins, Josh Selby 

Griz coach Lionel Hollins emphatically refuted a Yahoo! Sports report that cited him as saying forward Zach Randolph would not return this season from a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Hollins said the writer misconstrued his analysis of Randolph's prognosis. "He asked me 'Are you trying to tread water until Zach comes back?' I said 'I'm not paying attention to Zach.' I said, 'when he comes back and if he comes back, I will then worry about Zach,'" Hollins said. "I'm concerned about the players we have now. I'd love for Zach to come back. I want him to come back and I hope he'll be back in the timetable they've said. I don't know if Zach's not coming back this year. I'm not a doctor. How would I know?" Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Zach Randolph, Injuries, Lionel Hollins 

Geoff Calkins: Before the game, Lionel Hollins said @Marc J. Spears mischaracterized his comments about Z-Bo's injury. #BlameTheMedia. Twitter

Memphis Grizzlies, Zach Randolph, Injuries, Lionel Hollins