Grizzlies' Barnes: I don't know some teammates' last names

The Memphis Grizzlies' roster has been a haven for transients and vagabonds this season, with a regular rotation guy seemingly going down with injury every other game, only to be replaced by some new call-up on a 10-day deal.

The Grizzlies have rostered an incredible 27 players this season, the most by any NBA team in nearly 20 years, according to ESPN's J.A. Adande. Last week, they had four 10-day guys on the active roster at the same time. They've played multiple games in which not a single member of their opening-night starting lineup has been in uniform. They even brought in Jordan Farmar, who, for all intents and purposed, had been retired.

The constant roster churn is a lot keep track of, and Grizzlies forward Matt Barnes - one of only two players on the team who's missed fewer than 12 games - has had trouble keeping up.

"With all due respect, sometimes I don't know … the last names," Barnes told Adande. "But that's what kind of season it's been."

And yet the Grizzlies, somehow, haven't given too much back in the standings. At 41-31, they remain firmly entrenched as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference. They're 10-9 since the All-Star break, when the injuries really started to pile up. That's good for third in the conference in post-break wins. They've beaten the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers with eight-man units that were more D-League than NBA.

"This ain't our team, but we're taking the best out of it," said recently returned forward Zach Randolph. "The good thing is these guys they're young and they're hungry."

Barnes may not know all their last names, but he's still appreciative of the job those replacements have done.

"Normally when you have this many fill-ins and D-League players, it's for a team that's not competing for (anything)," Barnes said. "The fact that we've been competing for a spot and been maintaining if not gained ground, you've got to take your hat off to those guys who have come in and played."