Brad Hurt's Memphis Grizzlies fan blog

All signs point to a likely retirement for Allen Iverson, who left the Grizzlies for personal reasons following Friday's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.  While he has made no definitive statement to say that he is retiring, Iverson insists that he doesn't want to come off the bench for the Grizzlies.  His comments suggest that he has indeed forgotten about his comments he made when he signed here.  He now says the team should have known he needed to start.  He has said that he feels like he is reaching the end of his career, so retirement is a likely scenario.  He said he doesn't need to fit in with the Grizzlies because the only way he contributes to a team is by playing.  That is the Allen Iverson we have come to know and despise over the past 13 seasons.&nb

Continue reading "Iverson likely to retire"

Allen Iverson has left the Memphis Grizzlies to deal with a "personal matter".  There is no telling what the "matter" is.  I can't in good conscience say he is leaving because he is miffed about his role on the team and isn't man enough to accept it because he very well could have something going on in his personal life.  I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, but if he goes AWOL I will not be shocked.  He clearly doesn't want to come off the bench for this team, and while Lionel Hollins says he may try to work Iverson into the starting lineup, he probably won't be starting every night if that happens.  I hope Iverson gets his issues straightened out and returns to the team because he can be a good contributor when he puts his mind to it.

Continue reading "Iverson takes leave of absence"

Although it is usually a highlight of Lakers-Grizzlies meetings, the Gasol Brothers will not face off tonight when Pau's Lakers host Marc's Grizzlies.  Pau will miss tonight's game as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury, although by all accounts it seems to be completely healed.  As with Allen Iverson's situation, though, with a hamstring you can never be too careful.  Last season, Pau held a slight edge over his younger brother, averaging 16 ppg in the teams' four matchups, all Laker wins, while Marc averaged 13 ppg.  However, Marc outscored Pau in each of the last two meetings, 17-13 and 14-12, respectively.

The Lakers may be somewhat fatigued as they enter tonight's game coming off consecutive overtime games against Oklahoma City and Houston.  I wouldn't count on it, but if the Grizzlies can get off to another quick start and punish the Lakers physically with Zach Randolph and Marc, they could hang around.  They just have to be consistent and efficient on offense.  They absolutely must limit their turnovers because they are going to need all the extra possessions they can get.

Continue reading "Lakers loom as Grizz road trip nears end"

In order to be successful in basketball, a team has to protect the ball, play solid defense and make free throws, among other things.  The Grizzlies did none of those on Wednesday as they fell to Golden State.  Specifically, the Grizzlies need to figure out how to play from ahead.  They know plenty about playing from behind, but they can't seem to hold on to their lead.  This season they are getting off to good starts but allowing their opponents to chip away at their lead, and it happened again against the Warriors.

The Grizzlies led by as many as 13 points in the first quarter, but the lead shrank steadily from there.  Anthony Morrow tied the game with a 3-pointer at the 5-minute mark of the second quarter, and the lead went back and forth into the third.  The Warriors then pulled away with an 11-2 run late in the third.  Until that point, the Grizzlies had played a good third quarter by their standards.

Continue reading "Warriors 113, Grizzlies 105"

I was wrong about Allen Iverson.  I gave him too much credit.  I bought into his offseason talk about just wanting to play somewhere for the love of the game.  When he signed here, I bought his statement that he would do whatever the team needed him to do.  His caveat, of course, was that the team had to win games.  Four games, and three losses, into the season, we have our first disgruntled Iverson outburst.  Iverson now says he is not a bench player, not a sixth man, and he doesn't want to change anything about himself.  I'm sure someone has videotape of him saying just the opposite at his introductory press conference, and I would love to see his reaction to viewing that.  But we knew this would happen eventually.  It's his nature.  I am just surprised it has happened so soon.  Iverson has played on bad teams before.  He just can't fit his ego around the fact that he is not the star in town. 

Continue reading "Grizzlies fall in OT; Iverson gripes"

I was wrong about Allen Iverson.  I gave him too much credit.  I bought into his offseason talk about just wanting to play somewhere for the love of the game.  When he signed here, I bought his statement that he would do whatever the team needed him to do.  His caveat, of course, was that the team had to win games.  Four games, and three losses, into the season, we have our first disgruntled Iverson outburst.  Iverson now says he is not a bench player, not a sixth man, and he doesn't want to change anything about himself.  I'm sure someone has videotape of him saying the opposite, and I would love to see his reaction to viewing that.  But we knew this would happen eventually.  It's his nature.  I am just surprised it has happened so soon.  Iverson has played on bad teams before.  He just can't fit his ego around the fact that he is not the star in town. 

Continue reading "Grizzlies fall in OT; Iverson gripes"

I was wrong about Allen Iverson.  I gave him too much credit.  I bought into his offseason talk about just wanting to play somewhere for the love of the game.  When he signed here, I bought his statement that he would do whatever the team needed him to do.  His caveat, of course, was that the team had to win games.  Four games, and three losses, into the season, we have our first disgruntled Iverson outburst.  Iverson now says he is not a bench player, not a sixth man, and he doesn't want to change anything about himself.  I'm sure someone has videotape of him saying the opposite, and I would love to see his reaction to viewing that.  But we knew this would happen eventually.  It's his nature.  I am just surprised it has happened so soon.  Iverson has played on bad teams before.  He just can't fit his ego around the fact that he is not the star in town. 

Continue reading "Grizzlies fall in OT; Iverson gripes"

Allen Iverson will make his Grizzlies regular season debut tonight in Sacramento, according to a post on Twitter.  His long-awaited appearance in a Grizzlies uniform should provide a spark to the team as it tries to bounce back from last night's loss at Denver.  The Grizzlies need a veteran presence on the floor to settle them down when things start to unravel, as evidenced last night.  I don't expect huge numbers from him since he hasn't seen much action, but once he gets into a rhythm, he could be very beneficial to the team over the course of this road trip.

Continue reading "Iverson to play tonight"

There are no moral victories in the NBA.  Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said so himself.  If there were, Sunday's 133-123 loss at Denver would have qualified.  The 10-point final margin is a bit misleading because the Grizzlies led by five after the opening quarter and hung around for much of the game.  The Grizzlies put up 40 points in the first quarter on 77 percent shooting, which at least ensured they would not start out flat on the road as they did so many times last season.  They shot the ball extremely well, finishing at 57.8% for the game.  Offense is not the problem.  What has hurt them in their first two losses is turnovers.  They gave the ball away 20 times on Sunday and 14 times in their opener against Detroit, robbing themselves of chances to build runs.  With the way they are shooting the ball right now, if they maximized their possessions, they could be undefeated or at least have played Detroit closer.  Against the Nuggets, the Grizzlies just didn't play enough defense to win.  The Nuggets weren't a whole lot better defensively, but the extra possessions they got allowed them to stay just far enough ahead of the Grizzlies to claim the win.

Continue reading "Nuggets hand Grizzlies frustrating loss"

This just in : Zach Randolph is a beast.  Everyone who has said he would be a cancer and wouldn't play hard and is the same thug he was in Portland isn't looking very smart right now.  Randolph can single-handedly dominate the post for the Grizzlies this season.  He proved as much last night against the Toronto Raptors as the Grizz earned their first win of the season 115-107 on Friday.  Randolph led the Grizzlies with 30 points and seven rebounds.

Chris Bosh led all scorers with 37 points.  Sure, that is a high number, but the Grizzlies forced him to try to beat them single-handedly, focusing their defense on Hedo Turkoglu, who burned them in the past as a member of the Sacramento Kings.  Turkoglu managed only 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

The Grizzlies showed some of their youth with an inability to close the Raptors out when they built a double-digit lead in the first half, and lost the third quarter scoring battle as usual, but they outscored the visitors 39-28 in the fourth quarter to snuff out any hope of a comeback.

Continue reading "Grizzlies 115, Raptors 107"