In "perhaps the most important season" in Grizzlies history, the team has been "harder to find" in the city "than a parking spot downtown," according to Ed Willes of the Vancouver PROVINCE. The Grizzlies spent 34 hours in Vancouver from October 2-21, as the team spent several days in CA and Phoenix, and only one of its five pre-season games was in Vancouver. Willes: "There are better ways to sell your product. Letting the consumers actually see it would be a place to start" (Van. PROVINCE, 10/23). Meanwhile, Grizzlies coach Sidney Lowe has "implemented a dress code" for the team's players that "outlaws baggy jeans, work boots and the like." Lowe: "I think you should look professional. You can wear jeans but they have to be nice jeans. ... I don't want people to look at our team and say it looks like a high school team" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 10/23). NBA FAN AVIDITY: Scarborough Sports Marketing interviewed 85,000 adults in 64 top U.S. markets from February '99 to March 2000 to learn which cities had the highest concentration of avid NBA fans. Fans defined as avid NBA fans are those who are "very interested" in the NBA. The top five cities were: San Antonio (28%), Indianapolis (24%), Salt Lake City (24%), Houston (20%) and Portland (18%). The study also revealed that avid NBA fans tend to be male (61%), own a home (63%) and have an annual, average HH income of $56,676. (Scarborough Sports Marketing)....The Mavericks are reporting that season ticket sales are up over 80% over last season. In N.Y., Peter Vecsey, referring that the Mavs have 13 assistant coaches, jokes the increase appeared "because each assistant coach is required to buy two apiece" (N.Y. POST, 10/24). TIP-INS: The Raptors "will begin taking a security guard with them" for road games this season, and the "move is seen as necessary with the attention [F] Vince Carter attracts" (AP, 10/24)....Clippers season ticket sales "are up," as the team has sold 700 more season tickets and 2,000 more "big-game packages than at this time last year" (USA TODAY, 10/24)....Magic F Grant Hill, on the recent stabbing incident involving Celtics F Paul Pierce: "I'm always cautious, almost to the point of paranoid, about that kind of thing. I've always thought if somebody wants to get you, they'll probably get you. I just try to be careful about where I go and what I'll do" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 10/24).
